Chapter 3

I turned around.

Riley was standing right behind me, her arrival completely silent.

Her expression was ice-cold, her gaze fixed on my fully packed suitcase.

Alexa leaned against the bedroom doorframe, looking at me with an equally frigid stare.

Wesley had followed them in and was quietly staring at my luggage.

The barely concealed anticipation in his eyes was impossible to miss.

For a moment, I considered telling them the truth.

But then I remembered Riley's impatient words: Those things aren't our concern. You don't need to tell us.

Suddenly, I didn't dare speak openly anymore.

This way, when I finally left, I could at least lie to myself.

I could pretend they simply didn't know I was leaving, rather than admit they didn't care.

My hand slipped into my coat pocket, knuckles aching from how tightly I clenched my fist.

I spoke with feigned casualness. "I'm just moving my things to change rooms. Like I said, the master bedroom is for Wesley."

Riley's expression softened slightly.

But she quickly hardened again. "Wesley won't be staying here. You pushed him down the stairs three days ago. Do you think we'd feel comfortable letting him live under the same roof as you?"

I automatically responded. "Then I'll move to campus housing."

Riley's briefly softened expression turned completely dark.

I truly hadn't meant to provoke her.

With my departure imminent, I just didn't want to make things difficult for them anymore.

Wesley put on his careful, modest face. "This is your room, brother. I really can't take it from you."

I replied flatly. "Don't worry. Once I move out, I won't come back."

Wesley's eyes flickered with satisfaction for just a second before he caught himself and lowered his head.

Alexa shouted angrily. "Who are you threatening?"

Riley laughed coldly. "If you want to leave, then leave. Did you think anyone would beg you to stay?"

I said nothing more and continued packing my belongings.

Having lived in this home for over twenty years, I had accumulated too many possessions.

I couldn't take everything, so I selected only the essentials and the items my parents had left me before they died.

I filled two large suitcases and wheeled them toward the door.

Behind me, Riley's furious voice rang out. "If you've got the nerve, don't ever come back!"

I struggled with the heavy luggage down the stairs and out through the entrance hall. Each jolt of the suitcase against the steps pulled at the wound in my side. I kept my face still and kept walking.

From behind, Riley's angry, sarcastic voice followed.

"After all these years of drama, we'll finally have some peace and quiet. Don't come crawling back when you can't last three days on your own."

I had intended to grab an umbrella.

But her words choked me up, and I stepped directly into the pouring rain instead.

The downpour was heavy, soaking me completely within moments.

As I crossed the front yard, the rain blurred my vision.

Riley's raised voice continued behind me.

"From now on, whoever dares to open the door for him can leave with him!"

My eyes stung so badly I could barely open them.

I couldn't tell whether it was rain or something else blurring my vision.

Red began to seep through the side of my soaked coat. The fall last night, the suitcase down the stairs, the cold rain — the wound had given up.

Long ago, in the fire that claimed our parents, I was severely burned protecting Alexa. My wolf was so damaged she lost most of her self-healing abilities.

I felt no pain now, just numbness throughout my body as I dragged my suitcases away from the mansion.

I wondered if the dormitories at school would still be open at this hour.

Truth was, I had no idea where I was going.

Wesley ran out after me, his voice careful and concerned in that specific tone he used when he wanted Alexa and Riley to hear.

"Brother, I'm sorry. Please don't go. If you don't want me here, I can be the one to leave."

Then came Riley's urgent voice restraining him.

"Wesley, you're not the one who should leave. You can't get soaked in the rain."

I didn't smile. I didn't have the strength.

My wolf was already weakened from the old burns, and I'd been exhausting myself these past days. The reopened wound was bleeding faster now. My vision began to darken.

Just as my body started to collapse, a hand suddenly caught me.

At the same moment, the rain pounding on my head stopped.

With effort, I looked up. After a moment, I recognized Nora, the Alpha of the Shadow Pack.

She'd been working tirelessly to solve the problem of silver poisoning among werewolves.

She admired my herbal research abilities and had invited me multiple times to join her pack as Head Healer.

But the silver poisoning project was too important — the research materials couldn't be leaked. It required isolation from the outside world for at least fifteen years, which is why I'd refused many times before.

This time was different. I had accepted because there was nothing — no one — left outside worth staying for.

Her car waited in the pouring rain.

She caught me before I hit the ground and her hand came away red.

Her face went hard.

"You're bleeding."

"Old injury. It's nothing."

"That's not nothing." Her voice dropped low. "When was this done?"

I didn't answer.

Without asking, she took my luggage and placed it in the trunk. Then she half-lifted me toward the passenger door, taking most of my weight without comment.

Riley's cold laugh came from behind me. "Leaving so quickly? I see you've found yourself powerful protection."

She must have followed me out specifically to witness my misery.

Nora looked at my soaked, bleeding state and her voice went colder than I'd ever heard it.

"Why do you still acknowledge them as your sisters? In a few days, you'll be leaving anyway — "

I frantically interrupted. "Nora — "

Nora fell silent immediately.

She opened the car door and helped me inside.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Riley's face darken instantly.

"Nora, what are you implying?"

Nora sneered with disgust. "What am I implying? In a few days, you'll find out."

My heart leaped into my throat.

Riley stood frozen in place, as if she couldn't process what was happening.

After a long moment, as the car was about to leave, she rushed forward and grabbed for my door.

Nora had already gotten in and locked the vehicle.

Through the window and sheets of rain, I could barely make out Riley's lips forming the words:

"Caleb. Get out of the car."

Her expression was angry, but also mixed with something else — something unusual I couldn't identify. Maybe fear. Maybe shame.

I couldn't tell.

By now, my departure was meaningless to her anyway. Meaningless to both her and Alexa.

I closed my eyes, refusing to look at her anymore.

As the car drove away, the rearview mirror showed Riley still standing there, unmoving in the rain.

Nora drove with one hand and dialed her pack healer with the other.

"I'm bringing in Caleb. Border injury, ten days old, just reopened. He's been bleeding for at least an hour. Get the operating room ready."

She glanced at me.

"You should have told someone."

I closed my eyes against the cold leather of the headrest.

"I did try. Alexa was busy."

Nora didn't say anything for a long moment.

After a long silence, I spoke softly. "They used to be very good to me."

Nora didn't believe me.

I'd only met her in college; she'd never seen how Alexa and Riley had once cared for me.

My eyes misted over, and I quietly repeated:

"Really. They used to be very, very good to me."