Chapter 12
When I opened my eyes, I was back in the healer’s den.
The numbness hadn’t changed–I still couldn’t feel anything below my waist.
Jonah sat beside me, his expression tense. The second he noticed I was awake, his face softened with concern. He took my hand and pressed it against his cheek.
“Greta? You’re awake. Do you feel okay? If anything hurts, I’ll call the healer right now.”
His voice was gentle, his touch careful–just like always. But his eyes… they were empty.
It was almost impressive how well he could fake it.
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I gave him a small smile, reaching up to brush my fingers over the rough stubble on his chin.
“You didn’t sleep, did you? I’m fine, Jonah. You should rest.”
He exhaled, nodded slightly, and within minutes, he was fast asleep.
I glanced at his communicator on the nightstand. Without thinking, I picked it up and unlocked it. The wallpaper was still the pre–taken portrait of our mating ceremony.
It felt ridiculous now.
The message app was still open in the background. At the top of his chats was Naomi.
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I tapped in.
The messages were simple, but each one felt like a gut punch.
[Janelle called for her father again today. She already knows how strong you are. She’s going to be trouble when she grows up.]
[ Janelle ate the fresh kill you sent, finished every last bite. ]
[ She won’t stop asking to run with you during the next full moon. I tried to talk her
out of it, but she wouldn’t listen. Come if you can.]
Jonah hadn’t replied with words, but under every photo, there was a two–hour call log.
I remembered when he once told me he
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didn’t like pups. Now I knew the truth.
It wasn’t that he didn’t like children. He just didn’t like mine.
I checked his gallery. There was a private album for Naomi. The password?
Janelle’s birthday.
Over five thousand photos. Three years of memories that had nothing to do with me.
Jonah had been there for every holiday, every special occasion.
The second chat in his messages was with the mating ceremony planner. From the very start, he had put Naomi’s name down. The ceremonial robes were in her size. The invitations had both their names on them.
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I was never meant to be part of that ceremony.
I let out a quiet laugh and closed the app. No point in reading any further.
Instead, I reached out to my best friend, asking her to find me a healer outside the pack’s reach.
I filed to renounce my Bloodfang Pack
status.
She didn’t question it. She just assumed I had finally woken up, finally seen Jonah for who he was.
She was relieved.
Every message she sent was full of excitement, happy that I was finally letting
- go.
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I set my communicator down and drifted off to sleep.
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