TAKE YOUR SHITS OUT!

ELENA'S POV

For the first time that night, I was not asking him to choose me. I was not asking him to reconsider the rejection or promise me a future.

I only wanted the truth.

“Does the distinction matter?” he finally asked.

I stared at him. “Yes.”

“To what end? If I told you it was the council’s decision, would that change anything? If I told you I had considered the matter myself, would that make the outcome easier for you to accept?”

“At least I would know.”

He exhaled slowly.

“The council has a responsibility to protect this pack. The Thornes control resources we need, and their military support would strengthen our borders. A union between our families would benefit everyone.”

“Everyone except me.”

His expression tightened. “This is not about you alone.”

“But my life is the one you’re deciding.”

“I am not deciding your life. I am deciding my own.”

The words struck me with unexpected force.

For a moment I could not speak.

Then I nodded slowly. “You’re right.”

He seemed surprised by my response.

I looked down at my hands.

“You are deciding your own life. You have every right to choose the future you want, just as I have the right to choose mine.”

I raised my eyes to his.

“But I need you to understand something. I never wanted to become your Luna because of your title. I never wanted your position, your wealth, or your influence. I wanted you because I believed there was something good in you beneath all the responsibilities you carry.”

My voice trembled, but I continued.

“I thought that if the Moon Goddess chose us for each other, perhaps you would see me as more than a healer. Perhaps you would look at me and decide that I was worth choosing too.”

Kaiden remained silent.

I swallowed the ache in my throat.

“Tell me one thing. If I had been born into a powerful family—if my father had commanded an army and my family controlled valuable territory—would you have chosen me?”

The question hung between us.

Kaiden looked at me. His lips parted slightly, but no words came.

I waited for him to deny it. To tell me that my family had nothing to do with his decision. That I was simply not the woman he wanted, regardless of my circumstances.

I would have accepted that answer, painful as it might have been.

But he said nothing.

His silence stretched until it became unbearable.

And in that silence, I found the answer I had been searching for.

I gave a small, bitter smile. “I see.”

“Elena, the situation is more complicated than you understand.”

“Perhaps.” I turned away to pick up my travel bag. “But I understand enough.”

He watched me lift it onto the bed.

“Where will you go?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“You cannot survive alone outside the territory without protection.”

I looked at him over my shoulder. “Then I suppose I will have to learn.”

“You are a healer, not a warrior.”

“And you have made it very clear that my only value is what I can offer your pack.”

His eyes darkened. “That is not what I said.”

“It is what you meant.”

He took a step toward me. “Elena, don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be.”

I stared at him, scarcely believing he could still say such things.

For three years I had dreamed of being close enough to hear his voice whenever I wanted. Now that he stood in my room, I wished he would leave before I forgot how to breathe.

“Do you know what the worst part is?” I asked quietly.

He said nothing.

“It isn’t that you rejected me. It isn’t even that you chose an alliance over the bond we share.”

My fingers tightened around the strap of my bag.

“It’s that for one moment tonight, when I felt the bond snap into place, I believed I was finally going to be loved by someone I had spent years admiring.”

I looked directly into his eyes.

“I was so happy, Kaiden. I thought the Moon Goddess had finally given me something that belonged to me.”

My voice broke.

“And then you stood in front of everyone and told me I wasn’t good enough.”

Something shifted in his expression. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but whatever words came to his mind remained unspoken.

I turned away before he could see the tears gathering in my eyes.

“Please leave.”

“Elena—”

“Please.”

The silence that followed was long and heavy.

Then I heard his footsteps moving toward the door.

He stopped before leaving.

“I hope you will reconsider your decision to leave the territory. You have friends here, and the pack values your work.”

I closed my eyes.

Even now, he could not understand.