Chapter 38
“I made your favorite meal. Come home and eat.”
“Can you swing by the market and pick me up?”
“I have something to tell you. Come back early tonight.”
No response.
Ethan stared at the messages, his fingers hovering over the screen, but he couldn’t bring himself to type anything back.
His wolf prowled inside him, restless, irritated–but not at Lilah. At him. At the silence stretching wider between them, turning into something impossible to cross.
1/12
Chapter 38
+ 5 Points
But there was no changing the truth. It was staring him right in the face.
His phone buzzed again. Maven.
“Ethan, I feel awful… Is Lilah okay? You’re so good, always taking care of the whole pack. It must be hard on you.”
“She must be furious. Let her be mad at me instead. There’s no need for you two to argue over me, Alpha.”
Ethan read the messages. Once. Twice.
And for the first time, his stomach churned, thick and heavy, a feeling he couldn’t quite name–but it made his fingers curl around the device like he wanted to crush it.
Without thinking, he deleted the texts.
2/12
Chapter 38
+ 5 Points
He pushed open the door to the healer’s ward, the scent of antiseptic and herbs clinging to the air–and beneath it, the lingering trace of blood. Her blood.
Lilah lay on the bed, too still, too quiet.
Ethan grabbed a pitcher of water, pouring a glass with steady hands–too steady, forced, like he was trying to convince himself that everything was fine.
He reached for a knife, slicing fruit into thin, precise pieces. He placed them on a plate and set it beside her.
He never once met her eyes.
The lawyer stood, collecting his documents.
The severance papers remained on the
3/12
Chapter 38
+ 5 Points
table, untouched, yet they filled the room like something tangible, like a weight pressing on Ethan’s chest.
Lilah’s gaze dropped to his hand. His grip. on his phone was tight, the faintest tremor betraying his restraint.
“Why don’t you text her back?”
Ethan froze mid–step.
His golden eyes darkened, flashing between control and something raw–something desperate.
“Lilah, why?” His voice cracked, just slightly.
“I know I screwed up. But you know I’ve always loved you. You’re my mate. That hasn’t changed.”
4/12
Chapter 38
+ 5 Points
I laughed. A sharp, humorless sound, slicing through the air like a blade.
“Stop talking to me, Alpha.”
A sudden voice cut through the moment.
“Do you want me to die?”
Maven stood at the doorway, her breath coming fast, her posture perfect–like she had rehearsed this moment in her head a thousand times.
Ethan didn’t move.
Didn’t turn.
Didn’t rush to her side.
For the first time, he stayed exactly where he
was.
5/12
Chapter 38
+ 5 Points
Maven’s lips trembled. She was waiting. Waiting for him to react. Waiting for him to choose her.
He didn’t.
His golden eyes remained locked on me, filled with something unfamiliar.
“Why are you doing this?” His voice was hoarse, rough around the edges. His wolf growled low, uncertain. “You’re scaring me, Luna.”
I tilted my head slightly.
“Since you’re not leaving the pack, at least do me one favor.”
Ethan’s throat bobbed, his mask of authority slipping just slightly. The Alpha of the pack
6/12
Chapter 38
+ 5 Points
was standing in front of me, pleading.
But there was nothing left to give.
I smiled. Not a cruel smile, not an angry one. Just… nothing.
His wolf nudged at mine, seeking warmth, seeking an answer. But there was no response. Just silence.
“I’ll make sure everything goes your way,” he promised.
Then, he left.
I booked my flight.
One week. That was all I needed. Just a few more days, and I’d be free.
No more waiting. No more hoping.
7/12
Chapter 38
+ 5 Points
I’d rely on no one but myself.
Ethan walked out of the healer’s ward, his usual confidence absent. His steps were slow, like his body was moving before his mind could catch up.
Maven was outside, waiting–her scent thick with worry, but her eyes gleaming with something else.
She threw herself into his arms, her sobs coming too fast, too practiced.
“You’re leaving her?”
“You’re abandoning me?”
Ethan didn’t move.
His arms remained at his sides.
8/12
Chapter 38
+5 Points
He didn’t hold her.
Didn’t reassure her.
Didn’t do anything at all.
Then, with slow, deliberate force, he stepped back.
Maven stumbled slightly, blinking up at him.
“I need you to understand something, Maven!”
His voice was steady. Final.
“I will never abandon Lilah.”
Maven’s breath hitched.
“W–What?”
9/12
Chapter 38
+ 5 Points
She blinked rapidly, her lips parting like she had misheard him.
“You’re going to have to find another job,
too.”
The words slammed into her harder than if he had physically shoved her.
Her voice cracked.
“You’re cutting me off?”
Her hands fisted his shirt, nails digging into the fabric, as if she could hold him in place.
Ethan peeled her away from him, his wolf pressing dominance into the space between them like an unspoken command.
Maven’s breath hitched, but she didn’t dare
10/12
Chapter 38
+ 5 Points
fight back.
Then, her expression twisted.
“Lilah’s ruining me!” she shrieked, her voice raw with fury. “No one will take me now!”
Then, like she had done countless times before, she threw herself toward him.
Expecting him to catch her. Expecting him to
cave.
Ethan stepped back.
Maven stumbled, collapsing to the floor, her breath coming fast, uneven.
He exhaled slowly.
“Lilah isn’t the villain you think she is.”
11/12
Chapter 38
+ 5 Points
EEMES
For the first time, Ethan saw Maven clearly.
And for the first time-
She had nothing left to offer.
12/12
