The Ones We Leave Behind Novels & Stories

“Enough. Thank you. Not yet.” The mirror dimmed. The Hall exhaled quietly, understanding. We’d chosen to leave the future hungry, on purpose. --- POV: Chaos Departure Gift Before leaving, I gave them something honest: a sound. A heartbeat that didn’t yet exist braided from ash and light, hidden beneath silence so even gods must strain to hear it. > Begin, I told them. Not by saying you will but by acting like you already have. And I left them the stars. --- POV: Araya

"We're interested in living our lives." The other council member leaned forward. "Power doesn't last if you don't seize it. Today you're heroes. Tomorrow you'll be forgotten." "Good," I said. "We don't want to be remembered. We want to be left alone." They left by noon. Disappointed. Some are angry. Others are respectful of our choice. As the last horse disappeared down the valley road, Theron's final words echoed. "You're throwing away your legacy." Maybe. But I looked at our home. Our garden. Our daughter is playing in the sunshine. Elara and Kael beside me. The peace we'd built.

At the wedding reception, every place card at the last table bore an online username instead of a real name. I turned to my husband and quietly asked who these people were. Before he could answer, a young woman at the table blinked at me and said playfully, "Hey, we're not strangers. I've been hiking with Zane for three years. Every time we go out, we sleep in the same tent." The others at the table burst out laughing. "Say it. Does Zane snore in his sleep?" I stood there frozen, wineglass in hand, utterly humiliated. To my surprise, Zane laughed along with them. "They're all my friends. I bought you tickets to Caldera Bay for our honeymoon, but I'm not going. I finally have some time

In Black Wolf Pack, when a pup was born, the parents would place a moonstone on the Moon Goddess' Altar for safekeeping. Before the pup reached adulthood and underwent their first shift, the moonstone was crafted into a protective amulet to be worn at all times. This granted them the Moon Goddess' protection for the rest of their lives. Before my coming-of-age ceremony, my boyfriend, Steven Payton, personally made protective amulets for my twin sister, Wendy, and me. Wendy's protective amulet was an exquisite gold necklace set with two moonstones. It had a crescent mark engraved on it to symbolize the Moon Goddess' blessing. Mine was a plain gold wolf-bone pendant. I froze. "Steven, wh

F A R A H we laugh, we cry. Sometimes we feel like giving up finding ourselves in an unfortunate predicament. When it's too much to handle we feel like hurting ourselves or doing something out of character. Such thing leads us into shutting out the people dear to us, Chasing away the people that are good to us. One thing to keep in mind is that no matter the hardship, sorrow, or any dilemma we should have faith in Allah, and know that Allah is with us. Whatever we're going through will come to pass someday. Insha Allah. Such is life.

Kian leaned close and whispered, "Want me to have him escorted out?" I shook my head. "Nah. Let him stay and see that I'm better off without him." Cade lingered at the crowd's edge, glancing at me from time to time. Eventually, he left quietly.

On our trip, I had glued to Elias and said, "When we get there, let's buy a pair of love locks and lock our lives together." It meant nothing now. Without hesitation, I threw the box straight into the trash. ... The wedding music began. I linked arms with my father and walked toward the man who had promised to spend his life with me. Whether that promise would last or not didn't matter anymore. At least I was willing to give it a shot right now.

He deliberately trailed off, sliding his hand down Kelly's arm to grab her wrist. I sniffled, but as I stared at that hand that had held mine countless times before, I suddenly found that I had no tears to cry. My voice was a lot calmer and steadier than I had expected when I said, "No need. We're no longer an item, so I wish you two all the best." With that, I turned to leave. The smile on Zachary's face froze momentarily, but then he let out a scoff. "What's with the tough and stubborn act? You'll definitely come crawling back to me within three days. Anyway, I guess I'll just have to enjoy myself with my new babe for today."

I got to the Warwolf pack's border checkpoint in the middle of the night. As soon as I handed over my travel pass, I spotted Dad smiling and waving me over. I got into his car, noticing a big bag on the seat, stuffed with all my favorite candies and pastries. Mom was sitting beside me, unwrapping a piece of candy before popping it into my mouth with a happy smile. When I noticed the faint lines at the corners of Mom's eyes, everything I'd been holding back just came pouring out. "I never want to leave again. I just want to stay with you and Dad forever."

Only a short line on the memo: For shelter, for light. "They believe in you," she whispered. Caelan didn't speak. Just kept his gaze on the horizon. "I think," she went on, "you were correct." "About what?" "Permanence. It's not about what remains. It's about what we leave behind for others to step on." His voice rumbled low. "And if we stand with them." --- 7:21 PM – Balcony of the Penthouse Dinner was leftovers and silence and the sharp kind of exhaustion that seeps deep into bone.