Chapter Nine

No One Came

Aurelia’s POV

I woke to the sound of rain. For several seconds, I didn’t move. I stared at the unfamiliar ceiling above me, trying to understand where I was.

The room was small. A wooden table stood beside a single window. A chair rested against the opposite wall. A thin blanket covered me, and beneath it, my body felt as though it had been beaten against stone.

Then I remembered.

Silvercrest. The fire. The strangers. Cassian.

I shot upright and pain instantly exploded through my ribs. A strangled cry escaped me as I fell back against the wall.

The door opened.

I froze.

A man stood there. He was tall with dark hair, but what really caught my attention was his eyes. They were strangely bright and…gold.

He wore black trousers and a loose gray shirt, both plain but clean. His face was unfamiliar and his expression impossible to read. He stopped when he saw me awake.

“You shouldn’t move.”

I immediately pulled the blanket closer.

“Where am I?”

“Somewhere outside the eastern territories.”

“What pack?”

His eyes remained on me. “No pack.”

That answer frightened me more than if he’d given me a name. I glanced toward the window, then back at him.

“Who are you?”

“Lucien.”

“Lucian what?”

His eyes met mine. “Just Lucien.”

I frowned. “Are you a rogue?”

His expression barely changed. “Does that matter?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t know you.”

For the first time, something resembling approval flickered across his face. “Good.”

My frown deepened.

He stepped inside and placed a cup of water on the table.

“You’ve been unconscious for two days.”

Two days. My heart began racing.

“Silvercrest. W-what happened to Silvercrest?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I wasn’t there.”

I stared at him. “Then where did you find me?”

“Near the eastern border.”

“Alone?”

“No.” I waited but he didn’t elaborate, so I continued to stare at him. He finally sighed. “The people who found you brought you here.”

My stomach twisted.

The three strangers. I remembered their faces. Their voices.

He left you.

He chose the pack.

No one is coming back for you.

I looked away. “Are they here?”

“No.”

Relief washed over me. I wasn’t sure why. Perhaps because I didn’t want to see them again. Perhaps because some part of me was afraid they would repeat the words I was desperately trying not to believe.

But wait, does that mean he wasn’t with those strangers?

Lucien moved toward the door.

“Wait.” He stopped and looked back at me. I swallowed. “Why did you help me?”

“I didn’t.”

I blinked. “What?”

“The people who found you did.”

“Then why am I here?”

“Because you’re injured.”

His answer was frustratingly simple. “You don’t even know me.”

“No.” He looked at me. “Neither do you know me.” Something in those words felt heavy like it carries a hidden meaning that only he knows.

Then he left.

The door closed and all I could do was stare at it. That was it? No questions. No sympathy. No attempt to gain my trust.

Strangely, I preferred that.

I didn’t trust him. I didn’t trust anyone here. For the next several hours, I stayed in bed. I tried to remember everything that happened.

The Blood Moon Festival. My supposed Luna Ceremony. Then, the attack. The moment the packhouse collapsed. The darkness. The strangers and their words.

I kept returning to one sentence.

Cassian knew you were trapped.

I closed my eyes. No.

He wouldn’t. He couldn’t.

Cassian had promised me. He had promised he would never leave me.

But promises were easy to make when the world was safe. I didn’t know what kind of choices he’d been forced to make that night.

Maybe he had no choice. Maybe he’d searched for me. Maybe—

The door opened again.

A woman entered carrying food. She placed it on the table without saying anything.

“Where is he?”

She looked at me. “Who?”

“My Alpha.” My Cassian.

Her expression became cautious. She looked at me like I was mentally sick. Maybe I was starting to be.

“I don’t know.”

“Has anyone gone back to Silvercrest?”

“I don’t know.”

“Has anyone searched for survivors?”

“I said I don’t know.” She turned to leave.

“Wait.” She stopped. “Please.” My voice cracked. “Has anyone asked about me?”

There was pure silence at first, then she shook her head.

“No.”

The door closed.

I stared at the untouched food that she left. I haven’t eaten in two days, yet, I felt no urge to even touch this food.

No one had asked about me. Maybe they believed I was dead. That was what the strangers had said. But Cassian…surely Cassian would have asked. Surely he would have searched.

He promised that he would come back. I believed him. He never breaks his promises.

The first night passed. Then the second, and yet, no one came.

On the third day, I asked again. Still nothing. Just silence and a bunch of I don’t know from the people that only came to check on my wounds and bring me food.

On the sixth night, I sat beside the window. Rain covered the glass and I watched as they fell like the tears I refused to show. I pressed my forehead against it. I could still remember Silvercrest before the attack.

The lanterns. The music. Cassian’s hand around mine. His smile. The way he’d looked at me as though there was nowhere else he wanted to be. I wondered if he remembered.

I swallowed.

But what if Cassian hadn’t made it? No. Don’t go there. But what if I was so busy hating him because of these thoughts when he was also trying to recover? Cassian is an Alpha. He carries such responsibilities, especially now that his pack had been burned to ashes.

He must be struggling right now to rebuild what has been destroyed…right? I’ve always understood that his duties should come first. Maybe after everything was settled, he would come for me.

I hope so.

It was the only way I know how to keep myself from being insane.

I closed my eyes the same time the door opened. I didn’t turn but somehow, I could feel his presence.

Lucien stood in the doorway.

“You should eat.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You haven’t eaten enough today.”

“I said I’m not hungry.” He remained there. I finally looked at him. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Then leave.” I didn’t mean to be so harsh, but I wanted to be alone.

He studied me for a moment before stepping away. I expected him to argue but he didn’t.

I watched as the door closed then I looked back toward the window. For some reason, that irritated me.

I wanted someone to fight with me. To insist. To tell me I was wrong. Instead, everyone simply let me sit here and disappear.

I pulled my knees toward my chest. My fingers curled into the blanket.

“I hate you.” I didn’t know whether I was speaking to Cassian or myself…or to Lucien.

I felt so lost. I don’t know where I was and I couldn’t even leave even if I wanted to. I can’t walk. I can’t sit without needing any help. I’m not like the other wolves who had healing abilities. How can I heal when I don’t even have a wolf?

Coldness seeped through me, gripping my heart like frozen ice. But then, the warmth came afterward.

A faint pulse beneath my ribs.

I froze.

It happened again.

Warm. Slow. Alive.

I pressed my hand against my chest. “What is that?”

Silence. Then—

‘I’m glad you survived. You fought well.’

My breath caught. I looked around the room to make sure no one was there. There was no one.

The voice hadn’t come from outside either. It had come from inside me.

“Who’s there?” No answer. I closed my eyes yet the warmth remained.

A strange sensation spread through my chest, reaching my fingertips. I whispered to myself,

“I don’t have a wolf. I don’t have a wolf.” I chanted the words like a spell.

The answer came softly.

‘You do.’

My heart stopped. I couldn’t move.

For eighteen years, I’d wondered if there was something wrong with me. For eighteen years, I’d waited. And now…now that I had lost everything… Something inside me had finally spoken.

I swallowed.

“Why now?” The question felt strangely familiar. Like I had asked that about a hundred times over before. Maybe I had.

The voice went quiet. Then, almost like a whisper against my soul—

‘Because now you need me.’

My eyes filled with tears.

I didn’t know whether to be relieved or afraid. So I simply sat there. Listening to the rain. Listening to the unfamiliar heartbeat beneath my own. And for the first time since Silvercrest burned…

I wasn’t completely alone.

But I still waited. Somewhere deep inside me, despite everything I had told myself…I was still waiting for Cassian.

And every day he didn’t come…

I hated him a little more.