Chapter 3

The next day, Rowan came to the house carrying coffee and breakfast.

I was taking the photographs down from my bedroom wall. He leaned against the doorway and watched me for a while. He probably assumed I was preparing to move into his house, so he did not ask any questions.

“Are you still angry?”

I did not answer and continued removing the frames.

“That’s enough.” Rowan set the breakfast on the table. “Lily told me yesterday that she was afraid you might actually turn against her. She was so worried that she didn’t sleep all night.”

My hands paused.

“Why was she afraid? She wasn’t the one who had her hair cut off.”

“She likes causing trouble, but she doesn’t mean any harm.” Rowan spoke as if the answer were obvious. “You’re her older sister. You can’t hold every little thing against her forever.”

I removed the final photograph and placed it in my suitcase.

It had been taken during the first year Rowan and I were together. In the picture, he was holding me from behind with his fingers tangled in my long hair.

His gaze finally settled on my short hair.

“It actually looks fine. You look more polished than before. Once you put on the crown for the marking ceremony, no one will notice.”

He spoke so casually, as though the seven years I had spent waiting could be repaired just as easily.

I did not take the coffee he offered me.

“Did you already know Lily was going to cut my hair?”

Rowan’s expression stiffened for a moment, but he quickly smiled again.

“I knew she was planning something. A few days ago, she asked what would get the biggest reaction out of you. I told her that the hair you’d spent seven years growing for our marking ceremony mattered most to you.”

My fingers slowly tightened.

“You knew exactly what that hair meant to me.”

“Of course I knew.” Rowan seemed genuinely confused that I still needed to ask. “That was what made it funny. If she had chosen something you didn’t care about, you wouldn’t have reacted. What kind of prank would that be?”

The room fell silent.

Rowan smiled as he tried to reason with me.

“Don’t look at me like that. I just like seeing you worked up. You always hide your feelings, and Lily is the only person who can make you act like you’re actually alive.”

So in his eyes, watching me cry with anger, tremble with fear, and endure everyone’s laughter had always been entertaining.

It was not that he did not know I would be hurt. He knew exactly what I treasured most, which was why he repeatedly handed my weaknesses to Lily. Then, once I had cried enough, he would hold me and play the role of the comforting future mate.

He had never been unable to protect me. Hurting me was simply easier than disappointing Lily.

Just then, Lily returned home and overheard our conversation.

“See? I told you my future brother-in-law knows all of Claire’s weaknesses.”

She walked into the bedroom with a smile.

“The white dress you wore to dinner at Rowan’s house last year was his idea too. He was the one who told me which dress to mess with.”

My breath stopped.

Rowan’s expression finally changed.

“Why would you bring that up?”

“Weren’t you the one who told me it was her favorite and said I shouldn’t touch any of the others?” Lily still had not noticed the warning in his voice. “You also bought me that fake cockroach two years ago.”

“That’s enough.”

Rowan cut her off sharply.

I looked at him and remembered the dinner from the year before. I had worn a white dress chosen especially for meeting his parents, but it was not until I returned home that I discovered someone had drawn a huge red heart across the back with lipstick.

I had cried all night. Rowan held me the entire time, scolded Lily for being thoughtless, and promised that he would protect me the next time.

Before he comforted me, he had already known why Lily chose that particular dress. He was the one who had given her the answer.

Rowan looked away. His guilt made his voice even harsher.

“How long ago did that happen? Claire, you’re not seriously going to drag up something so insignificant and hold it against us again, are you?”

Lily quietly agreed from beside him.

“Exactly. You hold grudges over everything.”

I looked at them and suddenly laughed.

“You’re right. I won’t bring it up again.”

I truly had no intention of revisiting the past. I no longer needed their explanations, and I did not care whether they ever admitted they were wrong.

Rowan visibly relaxed and stepped forward to embrace me.

“That’s better. Once you’ve calmed down in a few days, we’ll retake our bonding portraits. Your short hair won’t matter. The stylist will figure something out.”

I did not move away. I simply looked over his shoulder at the large pale patches left on the wall.

“Okay.”

That afternoon, I contacted the venue handling our marking ceremony and canceled the winter reception and portrait session. I had paid the deposit, so after deducting the cancellation fee, they returned the remaining money to my account.

Then I logged into the Pack Council’s mate registration system and submitted a request to withdraw our bonding application. Since my pack transfer was still under review, both changes would take effect once my new pack officially accepted me.

I placed the spare key to Rowan’s house, the supplementary bank card, my future-mate insignia, and my engagement ring inside the same paper bag.

Lily poked her head into the room from the living room.

“Claire, we’re having barbecue tonight. Mom bought your favorite beef ribs.”

“Okay.”

She did not notice that I had removed every photograph from the walls or that the closet behind me was already half empty.