Chapter 8

The moment the ritual ended, a cheer went up from Gloria's room.

"She's awake! She's awake!"

"Gloria, how do you feel?"

"It worked! The curse is gone!"

I lay on the cold stone altar, feeling completely hollowed out.

But strangely, I wasn't in pain.

Instead, I felt a sense of freedom I'd never known.

Like a bird caged for years, finally set free.

"Fabian!"

Gloria's weak but sweet voice carried across the square.

Everyone, including my parents who had been watching over the ritual, rushed to her room.

No one even glanced my way.

I sat up, looking at the empty altar grounds.

Alone in the moonlight.

I tried to feel my inner wolf, but there was nothing there.

I was no longer a whole werewolf.

But I was also no longer Fabian's mate.

The memories of my past life came flooding back. But the invisible chain that had bound me for two years was finally, completely gone.

I climbed off the altar, trembling, each step like walking on knives.

Back in my quarters, I grabbed the encrypted communicator.

"Elder," I said, my voice weak but steady. "It's me."

"Child! Where are you? I heard about the ritual!" Elder Samuel's voice was filled with fury.

"I'm in my quarters. Elder, you said if I needed help…"

"Of course! I've already arranged everything," his voice softened. "In one hour, someone will be waiting for you at the north gate. A black SUV."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me, child. You never should have had to endure any of this."

I hung up and started packing.

There wasn't much to pack.

This had never been my home.

I found a small backpack and threw in a few changes of clothes.

Then I saw the journal.

I picked it up and flipped to the last page.

Below "Task 101: Leave him. Reclaim myself," I added one more line:

"Mission complete."

I tossed the journal into the fireplace. The girl who wrote it had died in the Silver Room. This was her funeral.

An hour later, I dragged my weak body to the north gate.

The pack was quiet, everyone celebrating Gloria's recovery.

At the north gate, a black SUV was waiting silently.

The driver, a middle-aged man, nodded at me.

"Miss Hazel?"

"Yes."

"Please, get in. Elder Samuel said you need to go to a neutral city?"

"Yes. New Moon City."

I climbed into the back. The car door clicked shut behind me, the sound as final as a coffin lid closing.

The engine started, and the vehicle moved slowly toward the pack border.

The SUV drove through the forest, passing through one magical ward after another.

I leaned against the window, watching the trees fly by.

Further and further away.

Finally, the vehicle passed the last ward.

I didn't look back.

The place that had been my prison for two years was fading into the darkness.

My parents were there. My pack was there. The man I once loved was there.

But starting tonight, none of it had anything to do with me.

I turned my head and looked at the endless road ahead.

At the end of that darkness was a new world.

A world where no one knew me.

A world where I could start again.

"Goodbye, Fabian," I whispered to the night. "And goodbye to the fool who loved you."