Chapter 8
742words
My mother chose a beautiful estate in the countryside, surrounded by powerful wards.
She hired a few loyal pack warriors to stand guard.
She promised me, with absolute certainty, that Jacob would never be able to find me here.
For a week, I finally had peace.
Just as I'd hoped, Jacob didn't come looking for me.
But then, he called.
He used a disposable, encrypted sim card.
I thought it was someone else until I heard his exhausted voice.
"Emily, I know you don't want to see me. I know you moved just to disappear from my life. But there are still so many things I need to say to you."
Jacob's voice was choked with emotion.
This powerful Alpha was crying.
I gripped the phone tightly, saying nothing.
There was nothing left for us to say.
He had rejected me in front of our entire pack.
When I begged him not to, he pushed me down a flight of stairs.
As I lost consciousness, I saw him run to Olivia, holding her and crying that he would never, ever bond with me.
While I fought death and the agony of a torn soul in the ICU, he and Olivia were already planning their alliance ceremony.
I couldn't endure that kind of gut-wrenching pain again.
Even now that I was a future Alpha, my old friends would tell me that Jacob still loved me, that he had gone crazy after I left.
But I felt nothing.
Nine years of my life. Letting go had taken only a single moment.
I didn't love him like I had nine years ago.
Maybe Jacob was right.
Maybe I had changed.
"Jacob, we're finished. The past doesn't matter anymore. I don't hate you, and you don't need to feel guilty. I just don't love you anymore."
I could hear his breathing stutter over the line.
He let out a sob, his voice breaking completely.
"I never agreed that we were finished! Are you telling me you won't even listen to what I have to say?"
"I've already canceled the ceremony with Olivia. The alliance between the Blackwood and Sterling packs is off. The status gap between us was too wide, Jacob. I wanted to make you my Luna, but I couldn't fight the entire council of elders!"
"If you just come back... if you tell the elders that you're about to become the Alpha of the New Moon Pack, they'll approve of us! They have to!"
I let out a cold laugh.
In the end, it was still all about family and duty, just another excuse.
"You say you don't love me, but I still love you. Emily, our ten years... our fated bond... can you really just throw it all away?"
"Have you forgotten the hunter attack eight years ago? I was the one who ran into that fire to save you! I took three silver bullets for you! You told me you would only ever want me, that you would never leave me. And now you can't even be bothered to hear my explanation?"
My breath caught in my throat.
I closed my eyes.
I had almost forgotten about that.
Eight years ago, when Jacob and I were at the peak of our love.
Hunters had ambushed us.
Our pack warriors were pinned down by heavy fire, but Jacob, reckless and fearless, had shielded me with his own body.
He told me that if we were going to die, we would die together.
Trapped in a sea of fire and explosions, my consciousness was fading, but I could still see him running toward me.
His own leg had been pierced by a silver blade, but he didn't leave me behind.
He just kept screaming my name, telling me not to fall asleep.
At the last possible second, he threw me on his back and burst through the flames.
When I woke up in the medical center, Jacob was holding me, sobbing his heart out.
His leg had been shattered in the attack. His hands were mangled and burned.
Even years later, the silver poison left scars that his wolf's healing abilities could never fully erase.
"Emily, have you forgotten how much we loved each other? Why won't you give me one more chance?"
I took a deep breath, my fingers clenching and unclenching around my phone.
I couldn't deny it.
The memory stirred something inside me.
