Chapter 1

The head healer called James five times before he finally came to my room.

He shoved the door open, then froze at the entrance.

His hand stayed on the handle.

He looked at me without moving closer.

I pushed myself up against the pillows and managed a small smile.

"Jimmy.Been a long time."

James swayed.

His eyes reddened at once.

He rushed over, took my hand, and held it between both of his.

His fingers shook.

"Chloe..."His voice broke.

"The healer said you woke up. I didn't dare believe it. It's real. You really... you really woke up..."

I looked up at the face I knew so well.

The healer on duty had just told me I had been unconscious for five full years.

Five years had barely changed James' face.

He'd changed his hairstyle.

Gold-rimmed glasses framed the eyes that had once lit up whenever he looked at me.

The gray hoodies he loved had become fitted suits.

He looked older.

More polished.

More unfamiliar.

I opened my mouth, ready to speak, when a figure appeared outside the room.

Emma dropped to her knees beside my bed.

"Chloe, you're awake. Thank the Moon Goddess."Tears streamed down her face.

"What happened back then was my fault. I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry..."

I stared at her.

James frowned, stepped forward, and pulled her to her feet.

"The floor is cold. Why are you kneeling? Stand up and talk properly."

He glanced at me.

"Chloe has a kind heart. She knows the fire was an accident. She won't hold it against you. Emma, stop doing stupid things in the future."

Emma looked up at him through wet lashes.

James looked away.

I swallowed the words rising in my throat.

James had forgotten to ask whether I forgave her.

I had only woken up from five years of darkness.

Pain kept stabbing through my head.

I told myself to stay calm.

This wasn't the time to fight.

James poured me a glass of warm water, then turned to Emma.

"Go handle Chloe's discharge papers.Move faster."

Emma stood to leave.

James called after her.

He took off his suit jacket and tied it around her waist.

"It's cold today. Why are you wearing such a short skirt, Emma? Do you have any sense at all?"

When the door closed behind her, only James and I remained.

He sat quietly beside my bed.

I looked out the window.

The open land I remembered had become a towering office building.

The James who had once told me everything had changed too.

He had given his anger, happiness, and pain to someone else.

Only silence remained for me.

After Emma finished the discharge paperwork, I followed James out of the hospital.

He walked ahead of me, frowning as he complained about Emma's mistakes.

"She keeps missing details. I'd told her three times to bring the right documents. She still mixed them up. She's careless with everything."

He stopped beside a car I had never seen before and unlocked it.

Emma opened the front passenger door and slid into the front seat as though it belonged to her.

She fastened her seat belt.

James had already buckled his.

Only then did he seem to realize I was standing behind them.

His expression changed.

He hurried around the car and opened the back door for me.

"I'm sorry, Chloe. Emma got used to sitting in the front passenger seat these past five years. You don't blame her, do you?"

I said nothing.

James seemed to take my silence as acceptance.

The car's interior was pink.

James and I had never liked pink.

The car diffuser no longer carried the scent of freesia I loved.

Emma's perfume filled the space instead.

The car moved through streets I barely recognized.

No one spoke.

James finally pulled into the driveway of our villa and looked at me with guilt on his face.

"Chloe, you just left the hospital. Go inside and rest. I need to attend a meeting about pack business.It can't wait."

I stood in front of the villa and watched his car drive away with Emma inside.

My eyes burned.

James and I had designed this home before our marking ceremony.

I had imagined us walking through the garden hand in hand, carrying grocery bags inside and cooking dinner together.

If that fire had never happened.

I unlocked the door.

Everything inside looked exactly as it had five years ago.

The furniture sat in the same places.

Even the calendar on the coffee table still showed the date from five years earlier.

It looked as though time had stopped.

The refrigerator wasn't running.

The closet in the master bedroom stood empty.

At two in the morning, a nightmare pulled me awake.

I reached toward James' side of the bed.

The sheets were cold.

The living room beyond the bedroom was dark.

I was afraid of the dark.

During those five years of sleep, darkness had surrounded me every day.

I had searched for my Mate inside it.

I called James.

"James, where are you?"

His sleepy voice came through the phone, thick and groggy.

"What? I'm home..."He paused."Chloe! I'm sorry. I was half asleep. Wait for me. I'll come back."

He had spoken the truth before he could stop himself.

He had another home.

Just not this one.

I ended the connection.

My tears finally fell.

Emma had stopped James and me from completing our marking ceremony with that fire.

Now I needed to leave.

I would leave his pack.

James would never be my Mate again.