Chapter Six

The Last Goodbye

The night was restless, humming with the tension of things unsaid. I moved through the shadows, the envelope from my father pressed against my side as though it were the only heartbeat I could trust. My feet carried me away from the pack house, not toward the woods this time, but toward a small cluster of cabins where two familiar faces lived.

Hannah and Louis.

My closest friends. My only friends.

I should have gone straight into exile. That’s what Father wanted. But if I vanished without a word, without a goodbye, the weight of it would break me before Derrick ever could.

The air was sharp with pine as I approached Hannah’s cabin, the lantern in the window still burning. She never slept early — a habit of hers that once annoyed me, but now it felt like fate.

I tapped lightly on the door, heart pounding. It opened almost instantly, as if she’d been waiting for me.

“Kim?” Hannah’s eyes widened, then softened into alarm. She grabbed my hand and yanked me inside. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be locked away after—” Her voice faltered as she took in my torn dress, the swelling on my cheek, the split lip. “Gods, he hit you.”

I swallowed hard, the memory of Derrick’s hand flashing in my mind. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does,” Hannah snapped, pulling me into the light to examine the damage. Her touch was gentle, her fury anything but. “You can’t stay here. You have to—”

“I know,” I whispered. “I’m leaving. Tonight.”

Her hands froze on my shoulders. “Leaving?”

“Yes. Father gave me money, papers… a chance.” My voice trembled, but the words steadied me. “I don’t know where I’ll end up, but if I stay, Derrick will own me. And Mona—”

The name scraped my throat raw.

Hannah’s jaw tightened. “That snake. I told you she’d stab you in the back the first chance she got. I warned you.”

“You did.” I gave her a weak smile. “And I didn’t listen. You were right.”

Her eyes glistened, but she forced the tears back. That was Hannah — strong where I broke, fire where I faltered. She pulled me into a fierce hug, clutching me as though she could anchor me to this moment forever.

When she let go, Louis was there, standing in the doorway. He had clearly overheard everything. His broad frame filled the space, his usual easy smile absent. Instead, sorrow shadowed his features.

“You’re really going,” he said quietly.

I nodded.

Louis crossed the room in three strides and folded me into his arms. Unlike Hannah’s embrace — burning, desperate — Louis’s was steady, solid, the way the earth feels beneath your feet after a storm. “I’ll miss you, Kim.”

Tears pricked my eyes, but I forced them back. “I’ll miss you both more than I can say.”

“You don’t have to go alone,” Hannah argued, pacing the floor like a caged wolf. “We could come with you. You don’t even know where you’re going. You’ll need allies.”

The offer almost broke me. The image of the three of us together, surviving in the wild, rebuilding a life free of Catherine’s cruelty and Mona’s shadow — it was too sweet, too tempting. But I couldn’t let them pay the price for my sins.

“No,” I said firmly. “If you leave, Derrick will know. He’ll call you traitors. You’ll be hunted, branded outlaws. I can’t do that to you.”

Hannah rounded on me, furious. “But what if you’re killed out there? What if he finds you?”

“Then that’s my fate,” I said quietly. “Not yours.”

Silence fell heavy, filled only by the crackle of the lantern flame.

Louis placed a hand on Hannah’s arm, steadying her anger. “She’s right. If Derrick thinks we helped her, he’ll destroy us. The only way we can protect her now is to stay, and keep suspicion away.” He met my gaze, his eyes heavy with a promise. “But Kim… if you ever need us, if you send word, we’ll come. No matter the cost.”

Emotion clogged my throat. I nodded. “Thank you. For everything. For being the only ones who saw me, who believed in me.”

Hannah’s composure shattered then. She grabbed my face in her hands, pressing her forehead to mine. “You are not broken,” she said fiercely. “Don’t let anyone make you believe otherwise. Not Mona, not Derrick, not anyone.”

A sob caught in my chest. “I’ll try.”

“No.” Her voice was steel. “You’ll do more than try. You’ll survive. And one day, you’ll come back. Stronger. I know it.”

Her certainty settled deep inside me, planting itself like a seed.

We lingered a moment longer, three souls bound by love and loss, then I forced myself to turn away. If I stayed any longer, I wouldn’t leave at all.

At the threshold, Louis pressed something into my hand — a small wolf pendant carved from bone. “It was my mother’s,” he said. “For luck.”

I curled my fingers around it, the sharp edges biting my palm. “I’ll keep it with me. Always.”

The night swallowed me as I stepped outside. The wind tugged at my hair, cool and insistent, carrying with it the scent of pine and something darker — shadows moving where no shadows should be.

I knew before I turned that Lucien was there again. Leaning against the tree line, silver hair catching the moonlight, coal-black eyes watching with unnerving patience.

“Goodbyes are always messy,” he said softly, almost mockingly. “Are you ready now?”

My grip tightened on the wolf pendant. Behind me, the light of Hannah’s cabin glowed warm and steady. Ahead of me, only darkness and danger waited.

I took a breath, tasting freedom and fear in equal measure.

“Yes,” I said, stepping toward him

. “I’m ready.”

And without another glance behind, I followed Lucien into the night.