Chapter 8
She was keenly aware that her change in behavior hadn’t gone unnoticed–Elio’s furtive glances and quiet concerns had only grown more frequent. But the quiet sting of his betrayal, his unwavering defense of Phoebe, and his failure to recognize the hurt he had caused her had created an unscalable wall between them. If he couldn’t see who she truly was, why bother showing him anything at all?
At the packhouse, Sylvia moved like a ghost, drifting through hallways without pausing to exchange pleasantries. She no longer greeted Elio in the mornings or returned his once–warm smiles. Conversations with him had become short, formal exchanges that felt utterly foreign, as though she were speaking a language she no longer
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understood. His eyes followed her, brow furrowed with concern, but she remained closed off–her wolf steely and silent within her.
One morning, as Sylvia walked down the hallway, she heard Elio’s voice call out behind her.
“Sylvia.”
She paused, not from kindness but out of an ingrained politeness that was slowly eroding. She turned, her expression flat, showing nothing but the barest flicker of interest.
“Yes?”
Elio stepped forward, his gaze searching hers as if hoping to find some trace of the person she used to be. “Where are you
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going?”
A flash of irritation stirred within her, but she quickly suppressed it. She met his gaze, calm and unyielding. “You don’t need to
know. Why don’t you go focus on Phoebe? She’s pregnant, after all.”
His face faltered, hurt crossing his features for just a moment. “But I want to know. Please, tell me.”
Sylvia’s lips twisted into a small, bitter smile. “Are you serious?” she asked, her voice cold, almost detached. “Do I have to report every move to you now?” She let the words hang in the air before adding, “You know what? Just leave me alone, like you’ve been doing lately!”
Elio’s face was painted with confusion, as if he couldn’t quite grasp the distance she had placed between them.
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“You’re acting like I abandoned you,” he said, his voice laced with frustration. “I just… I thought Phoebe needed me. She’s carrying my child. I’m doing what I need to for her.”
“Support”
she repeated with a derisive laugh. “Yes, I can see how desperately she needs you… Very well.” She let the silence stretch between them, watching Elio’s face twitch as he searched for words. But none came.
Elio took a tentative step forward, his usual self–assuredness faltering as his gaze darted between them. “I thought you understood?” His voice was edged with frustration, eyes narrowing.
“Sylvia, why are you shutting me out? You can’t get pregnant, the least you can do is support Phoebe’s pregnancy!”
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Sylvia let her eyes drift over both of them, the distance between them growing wider with each passing second. How strange, she thought bitterly, that she had once relied on him, believed he would always be by her side. That bond now felt as fragile as smoke, dissolving with even the slightest breath of air.
“Do you have nothing left to say?” Her voice was as even as ice, though the words cut deeper than she intended.
Elio’s jaw clenched, his lips pressed tight. “You don’t have to be like this, Sylvia. Phoebe never wanted to come between us. She’s just… a breeder, carrying my baby.”
A hollow laugh escaped her, sharp and bitter. “Oh no, she didn’t just want to carry your child. She wanted you, didn’t she? And from the looks of it, she got exactly what she
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“Sylvia, stop this,” Elio barked, his patience snapping. “You’re being unfair.”
She didn’t give him the satisfaction of answering right away, simply slicing through his
Words with a look so cold it could freeze
the air around them.
“God, I’m the one being unfair now?” Sylvia shook her head, a laugh escaping her despite the bitterness that rose in her throat. The absurdity of it all struck her–yet, she couldn’t deny that she understood. She wasn’t blind. She knew why he was doing all of this, why he’d dragged Phoebe into it. It all came down to one thing.
Because she couldn’t give him a child.
Later that evening, Sylvia slipped away
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into the woods that bordered the pack’s land, seeking the solitude the forest always provided. The stillness of the trees, the cool, quiet air–it was the only place that ever truly seemed to silence the chaos inside her.
She found herself standing at the edge of a small clearing, one she had visited countless times before, back when everything was different–before their worlds had shifted irreparably. It had been a place where she and Elio used to play as children, laughing freely, no secrets between them. They had once been inseparable, each other’s refuge, sharing whispered promises that felt as though they could never be broken.
Now, she was alone, surrounded only by the towering trees, the wind stirring the leaves like a gentle reminder of what she’d lost.
For the first time, Sylvia allowed herself to
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feel the weight of it all–the ache that had been buried beneath her anger for so long. She clenched her fists, the pressure of her nails digging into her palms, her breath shaky. She closed her eyes, letting the tide of emotions rush through her, then release, like the wind carrying them away into the night.
