Chapter 10 · I Accepted Another Alpha's Mark

Chapter 10

Another scene suddenly flashed through my mind.It was the dead of winter, freezing cold. My hands were cracked and raw, the splits so deep that I could see the red flesh underneath. Every time my hands touched water, it burned like a fresh cut.Omegas weren't allowed to use the pack's healing supplies, so I wrapped my hands in rags and waited for them to heal on their own.But when I woke up the next morning, my hands were already treated. There was a jar of ointment on the table that I didn't recognize. It was cool and a little bitter, nothing I'd ever seen before.By the next day, my hands were completely healed.Later, I found out it was called Dewmist Salve. It was a rare medicine, only for the Alpha and Luna, and only used in life-or-death situations. No one would ever waste it on an Omega. Except Adrian.My breath hitched, and I froze. My fingers kept loosening and tightening, over and over. I felt trapped in the middle of nowhere, unable to move forward but unwilling to turn back.My inner wolf, seeing me waver, pressed even harder. "Remember how he stood up to everyone just to bring you to the alliance meeting between the two packs?"I shut my eyes and stood there, letting the icy wind flood through me.At the alliance meeting between the two packs, Omegas weren't even allowed to get close.But I wanted to go anyway. My father had walked that road his whole life. It was where his story ended.I wanted to sit in that cabin and feel what it was like when he was still alive. I missed him. I missed my family.Adrian was the one who stood up to everyone and brought me along. Everyone was against it, but he ignored them all.'He saw you as someone worth bringing along, someone he wanted others to see. You were different to him," my inner wolf whispered. Her voice was soft, but every word pushed me deeper into the abyss.I couldn't take it anymore. I curled up on the ground, my forehead pressed to my knees, crying so hard that I couldn't make a sound.Yeah, these were all things he did for me. Every single one was real, and for a while, it made me feel like someone actually cared about me.But then, everything changed.Tears fell onto the moonstone shards in my palm and seeped into the wounds. The sting cut deep, from my fingertips all the way into my bones.The mating bond inside me spasmed, flickering in and out like a dying heartbeat. Each throb left me gasping for air.'Go back and explain everything to him,' my inner wolf urged. 'You will find the evidence. You can expose Vivian. He has been deceived. It must be her doing. If you only—'"I said stop." I cut her off, eyes shut, voice low and rough through clenched teeth. "If you want to stay with me, then pick. Him or me. You can't have both. I've made up my mind. Stop."My inner wolf fell silent.I continued, "He broke his promise first," I whispered. "Then he fell for someone else. He betrayed me, then left me behind. How could I ever forgive him? How could I ever go back?"I slowly lifted my head, my eyes so swollen I could barely open them. My face was streaked with tears and mud, and my palms were bloody.I added, "It is over for us. I will never choose him again. Even if I end up a lone wolf for the rest of my life with no mate, I won't go back to him. Let go. Stop holding on."As I spoke the last word, my breathing grew shallow. My inner wolf went quiet for so long that I thought she might be gone for good.Then she howled from deep inside my chest, long and mournful. It rushed through my veins, my bones, my skin, echoing through me over and over.It was a goodbye. A surrender. Like a wolf finally lowering its proud head, accepting that some things were out of reach.Once the howl finally stopped, all my memories shattered into dust and disappeared into the darkness.Then there was nothing but total silence.

Chapter 10