Chapter 2

Amanda Robinson stood alone inside the hospital morgue, staring at the cremation consent form placed in front of her. Her hand was shaking uncontrollably as she held the pen, while the cold room seemed painfully quiet around her.

The medical examiner looked at her with sympathy. “Miss Robinson, should I contact another family member for you? This is not something you should have to handle alone.”

Amanda tightened her grip on the pen until her nails pressed into her palm. “No. There is no one else who can do this. When can my father be cremated?”

The medical examiner lowered his voice. “Tomorrow morning at nine.”

Amanda nodded slowly. “Okay. I'll be here.”

She signed the form with trembling fingers, officially giving permission for the cremation of Alpha Richard Robinson, the former Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack and the father who had protected her since she was a child.

The moment she put the pen down, tears slipped down her cheeks.

“Dad...” Amanda whispered. “I'm sorry I couldn't save you. If I can only turn back time. I wish you not give up that easily.”

Darcy, her inner wolf, whimpered inside her mind. We should not be alone right now.

Amanda closed her eyes. But we are.

As she stepped away from the counter, an old memory suddenly returned to her.

Several months earlier, Amanda had been sitting beside her father's hospital bed after Alpha Richard became seriously ill from the pressure surrounding the pack and his failing company. Amanda had been crying when Louis Jones entered the room.

He had sat beside her and gently held her hand.

“Don't cry, Amanda,” Louis had said softly. “Your father will get through this.”

Amanda had looked at him with tearful eyes. “What if I lose him? My mother already gone, he is the only one I have.”

Louis had squeezed her hand. “You won't face it alone. I'm here with you. I will never leave you alone.”

He will never leave her alone… but here she is. Grieving solely.

The memory disappeared as Amanda returned to the present. She wiped her tears and took out her phone before calling Sandro Bruce, her father's accountant.

Sandro answered quickly. “Miss Amanda, I'm so sorry about Alpha Richard. I don't even know what to say.”

Amanda closed her eyes. “Sandro, I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything, Miss Amanda.”

“Liquidate Robinson Holdings,” she said, her voice trembling. “Sell everything that can be sold and settle the remaining debts.”

Sandro went silent. “Miss Amanda, are you sure? Your father spent his entire life building that company.”

Amanda looked toward the morgue door. “My father is gone, Sandro. I don't want to keep pretending the company can return to what it was.”

“But what about the employees?”

“Make sure everyone receives whatever they are owed,” Amanda replied. “After that, close everything.”

Sandro sighed heavily. “I'll handle it.”

“Thank you.”

Meanwhile, at the Silver Moon Pack mansion, Louis Jones sat in his private office with Francine beside him. One of his assistants stood before the desk, holding a report concerning Alpha Richard's death and the current situation surrounding Amanda.

“Alpha Louis, there is something you should know about Alpha Richard,” the assistant said carefully. “We received confirmation from the hospital that—”

Louis raised his hand impatiently. “Enough.”

The assistant stopped.

Louis leaned back in his chair. “Amanda has been under a lot of pressure since her father's company began failing. Don't bring me every story she creates to gain sympathy.”

“But Alpha, the hospital confirmed—”

“I said enough,” Louis repeated coldly. “If Amanda is trying to manipulate me into giving her more money, I won't fall for it.”

Francine remained beside him, quietly watching the assistant.

Louis glanced at her. “You can leave.”

The assistant bowed and left the room, still carrying the report.

Francine looked at Louis. “Maybe you should listen to him.”

Louis shook his head. “Amanda knows I am the only one who can save her family's company. She probably thinks using her father's situation will make me give in.”

Francine said nothing, but a faint smile appeared on her lips.

Back at the hospital, Amanda stood outside the morgue, staring at her phone.

She had almost no money left.

Her father's company was finished, and she refused to ask Louis for help after the way he had treated her that morning.

Then she remembered the expensive watch and necklace Louis had once given her.

Amanda slowly opened her phone and listed both items on a resale app.

She stared at the pictures for a long moment.

Those gifts had once represented love.

Now, they were simply things she could sell.

Someone purchased them quickly, and the payment reached her account.

Amanda wiped her tears and whispered, “I guess this is the only thing your gifts can give me now.”

She walked into a nearby funeral home and approached the counter.

“I need an urn,” Amanda said quietly.

The staff member showed her several choices. Amanda selected a simple one and checked the price.

She took a breath before showing her payment.

“Please prepare this one.”

After the payment was completed, the staff carefully wrapped the urn and handed it to her.

Amanda accepted it with both hands.

It was so light.

Yet the moment she held it against her chest, her arms began to ache as though she were carrying something impossibly heavy.

She slowly walked outside the funeral home and sat alone on a bench.

The Silver Moon Pack continued moving around her, but Amanda barely noticed the passing wolves.

She lowered her eyes toward the urn.

“Dad...” she whispered through her tears. “I'm taking you home.”

Her fingers tightened around the urn as she cried silently.

The man who had once ruled the Silver Moon Pack was now reduced to ashes inside a small container in his daughter's arms.

Amanda lowered her head and held the urn closer.

For the first time, she truly understood that her father was never coming back.