THREE YEARS WITHOUT HIM

AUTHOR’S POV 

The sun was sinking behind the western ridge when Garrick returned from the scouting expedition.

He entered the communal hall carrying a small bundle of wild greens and several mushrooms.

“We found a stream about half a mile north,” he reported. “The water is moving, and the area around it looks clean. We’ll need to inspect it more carefully, but it could be useful.”

Elena looked up from the table where she was sorting the day’s medical supplies. “Did you find any signs of infected people?”

“No. But there are tracks along the northern path.”

“What kind of tracks?”

“Human footprints. Several people, heading west. They were made recently.”

Elena frowned. “Could they be survivors?”

“Possibly.”

“Did you follow them?”

“No. We didn’t want to leave the marked area without telling you.”

She nodded approvingly. “Good. Tomorrow we’ll send another group to inspect the path. For now, I don’t want anyone approaching strangers without caution.”

Garrick placed the bundle on the table. “We also found an old fence near the eastern slope. Most of it has fallen apart, but some of the posts are still standing.”

“Could we repair it?”

“With enough work, yes.”

“Then we’ll add it to tomorrow’s tasks.”

Garrick pulled out a chair and sat down heavily.

For a while he watched her work in silence.

Finally he said, “You know, I never expected this from you.”

Elena glanced at him. “Expected what?”

“This.” He gestured toward the room, where survivors were repairing clothing, preparing food, and tending to the children. “When we first arrived, I thought we’d spend the entire day arguing about what to do. Instead, everyone has been working.”

“Not everyone.”

“No. But most of them.”

Elena returned to her supplies. “They’re frightened. Giving them something useful to do helps.”

“And you?”

“What about me?”

“You’re frightened, too.”

Her hands slowed.

Garrick leaned forward. “I saw your face when we reached the ridge and looked down at the burning settlement. You lost your home last night, Elena. You lost everything you spent three years building. Yet you’ve spent the entire day making sure everyone else has somewhere to sleep.”

She looked down at the bandages in her hands. “I lost a place,” she said quietly. “Not everything.”

“That place was your home.”

“Yes.”

“Doesn’t that hurt?”

Elena was silent for a moment. “Of course it hurts.”

She thought of her cottage, her little garden, the herbs hanging from the ceiling, and the quiet evenings when she had sat beside the window with a book in her lap.

She had built that life piece by piece.

Losing it felt like having the ground pulled from beneath her feet.

“But I can’t bring it back by sitting here grieving,” she continued. “And neither can any of us. We have to work with what remains.”

Garrick studied her. “Where did you learn to think like that?”

Elena gave a small, humorless smile. “Life.”

It was the simplest answer she could offer.

He seemed to understand that she did not want to say more.

After a moment he stood. “I’ll help repair the eastern fence tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

“And Elena?”

She looked up.

“If the others keep looking to you for decisions, you should accept it.”

Her brows drew together. “I’m not trying to be anyone’s leader.”

“Maybe not. But you’re the one making sure we have food, water, shelter, and a plan. That’s more than anyone else has done.”

He paused at the doorway.

“You don’t need to be an Alpha to lead people.”

Then he left.

Elena sat very still.

The words followed her long after Garrick had disappeared into the evening.

You don’t need to be an Alpha to lead people.

She had spent so much of her life believing that power belonged to those who carried titles, inherited territory, or commanded warriors. Kaiden had possessed all those things, and she had once believed his recognition would somehow make her feel complete.

She had been wrong.

She had survived three years without him.

She had built a life without him.

And now, when the world had begun to fall apart, she was the one people turned to.

Not because she had a powerful family. Not because an Alpha had chosen her. But because she was willing to stand up when everyone else was too frightened to move.

For the first time, Elena wondered whether she had ever truly needed Kaiden’s approval at all.

***

That night the survivors gathered in the communal hall around a small fire.

Their first meal was modest—a thin broth made from the wild greens the hunters had collected, a little dried meat, and whatever food families had managed to bring from the old settlement.

No one complained about the taste.

They ate slowly, grateful to have something warm in their stomachs.

Elena moved between them, checking that the children had eaten and that the elderly residents were comfortable. When everyone had been served, she finally sat down with a small bowl of broth.

Her body ached.

Her eyes burned from lack of sleep.

Every muscle in her legs protested whenever she moved.

But for the first time since the warning bell had rung, she allowed herself to sit still.

Luma stirred within her.

You did well today.

Elena looked into the fire.

We haven’t even secured the settlement properly.

You got everyone here alive.

Not everyone made it.

Luma fell silent.

Elena’s fingers tightened around the bowl.

There were faces she could not forget. People who had refused to leave. People who had been separated from their families in the chaos. People whose final moments she would never know.

She wondered whether she should have done more.

Whether she could have persuaded more of them to leave.

Whether there had been a way to save everyone.

But the questions had no answers.

And the dead could not be brought back by punishing herself.

She took a slow breath and looked around the hall.

A father was telling his son a story to distract him from the darkness outside. Two women were stitching a torn blanket together. Garrick sat near the entrance, discussing the next day’s patrol with the hunters.

They were tired, frightened, and grieving.

But they were alive.

And tomorrow they would have work to do.