All Chapters of First and Second chances: Chapter 31 - Chapter 35

Cassy is already standing behind her bar when I spot her. Her hair is pinned up, her make-up done with care. The only thing missing is her work outfit for the evening. She is standing on a small step ladder, reaching a little too far to the left to straighten one last decorative element. When she looks my way, the serious expression on her face breaks into a smile.“There you are,” she says, immediately climbing down to pull me into a hug. After a brief embrace, she looks me over from head to toe. “Huh… you look different. You’re glowing.”I laugh at her comment. “It is a radiant day,” I say with a wink. I roll up my sleeves and look around to see what still needs doing. Glasses that need lining up, bottles that have to be placed in order. Cassy follows my gaze.“Ethan’s still at the pub,” she says. “He’s picking up the last things I was missing.”I nod. “Alright. W

Why does everything hurt so much?My head is pounding and my entire body aches. My eyes feel heavy and I really don’t want to open them. Every breath brings a fresh wave of pain with it. I try to swallow, but my mouth is so dry it burns. How much did I drink last night? Too much, that much is obvious.I try to turn, to nestle deeper into my bed, but my body doesn’t respond the way it should. The surface beneath me is hard. There’s no blanket covering me. That’s strange.I try to organise my memories of last night, but it feels like I’m looking through thick fog. How did I get home? Cassy was there. Ethan too. I remember champagne, glasses that just kept coming. Soft classical music in the background. Important wolves laughing together, toasting. The images flicker past like shadows and then suddenly stop, sharp and clear.Mike.His arm around Annabelle. His hand on her hip. The kiss on her cheek, light and intimate. So

I don’t remember what day it is anymore. Or whether it’s even day or night at all. The light beneath the door appears and disappears without any clear pattern, and I’ve stopped counting. I wake up because I’m in pain, and I slip away again because I’m too exhausted to stay awake. The blankets are too thin to ever truly get warm, and right now I would give anything for something as simple as a hot shower.My head still hurts. Not like it did on that first day, no longer sharp or all-consuming, but dull and nagging, as if there’s constant pressure pressing down on it. Still, my head isn’t the source of the worst pain. That lies deeper, in my heart.My heart is bleeding, and every time Mike is intimate with Annabelle, I feel it. As if the wound is being torn open all over again. There is no rest, no healing. No moment where it stops. Only that relentless, overwhelming pain that reminds me that what was once mine… no longer is.Was it ever truly ours, Luna? I ask her in my mind.There is