Nathan’s POV
stared at the war maps spread across my desk, my fingers tracing the edge of the fronjaw pack 3 boundaries where they met those of our enemies.
The pack slept while I plotted our defenses, yet my mind refused to focus solely on strategy.
Her face kept appearing in my thoughts. Her copper hair catching the moonlight, those green eyes that changed with her emotions. The child she carried–my heir. The letter she’d left behind still buried in my pocket, a constant reminder of what I’d lost.
Focus, Alpha, I commanded myself, forcing my attention back to the maps. The western territories were becoming increasingly aggressive, and I needed a solid defense plan to protect what was mine.
A knock at my office door pulled me from my thoughts.
“Enter,” I barked, not bothering to look up.
Tyler approached, his posture respectful yet tense.
“What is it?” I demanded, voice sharp with irritation at being interrupted.
Alpha, Tyler began, clearing his throat. “Even with the tensions at the border, some merchants are still coming through from Goldshore’s islands. Today, one arrived with some decent jewelry…”
I glared at him. Was he seriously interrupting me with talk of trinkets while we prepared for war?
“Victoria is looking through the items,” he continued. “She wants to find a necklace or bracelet to comfort a child named Maya. Her mother went missing during the border skirmish.”
I released a low, threatening growl. “And?”
Tyler shifted his weight, uncharacteristically nervous. “And… while Victoria was browsing the merchant’s jewelry… she found this.”
My vision blurred slightly as Tyler reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar crescent–shaped pendant.
The moonlight filtering through the window caught its silver surface, making it gleam.
Rachel’s necklace!
My heart plummeted to my stomach, a wave of shock and grief washing over me.
I wanted to reach for it, to touch something she had touched, but I feared it might vanish like a cruel mirage.
“Where,” I growled, my voice dangerously low, “wh–where did he get it?”
Tyler shook his head, closing his fist around the pendant. “He acquired it on Vortex Island from another merchant. I wanted to show you first, to see if you wanted us to send warriors to investigate further.”
My heart pounded violently in my chest. My wolf stirred, desperate to follow Rachel’s scent, to track her. For a brief, wild moment, hope flared–maybe she was alive.
Maybe she hadn’t died at the bottom of that cliff!
1/3
Chapter 113
“I know what you’re thinking, Nathan,” Tyler said quietly. “We found evidence that Rachel wasn’t at the bottom of the cliff anymore, but her blood and scent were here, remember?”
I nodded stiffly, acknowledging the crushing reality.
Anyway, Tyler continued, “Victoria bought it for you. She thought you’d want it. I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know if keeping it would… interfere with your arranged marriage to Madison.”
I extended my hand, ignoring how it trembled slightly. When the necklace touched my skin, a ghost of Rachel’s scent washed over
- me.
This had rested against her skin, near her heart. She had worn it, touched it, treasured it.
I’slipped it into my pocket. “Thank you, Tyler. You’re dismissed.” I waved him away, my voice returning to its usual coldness.
Tyler hesitated. “It’s nothing. I just… are you okay? I mean, with the pack responsibilities, the pressure of war, the arranged marriage to Madison–a lot has happened recently…”
“I’m fine, Tyler,” I cut him off.”
With a complicated glance in my direction, he departed, and once Tyler was gone, I retrieved the crescent–shaped pendant from its hiding place.
I remembered how beautiful Rachel had looked wearing it, her eyes shining with surprise and joy. It was one of my favorite memories of her–one of the last times I’d seen her smile.
I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair. What if Rachel was alive? What if…
In my mind, I could see her in a pale dress, her belly more pronounced, protectively cradling it as she walked into a pawnshop. I need to sell this for a new life, she would say, placing the necklace on the counter.
I would give anything for her and my child to have that safety, even if it meant away from me.
But this was just an Alpha’s weak fantasy. Rachel hadn’t taken this necklace to a pawnshop because Rachel was dead. I’d watched her jump over the cliff’s edge. I’d smelled her blood.
Holding something that had once been hers changed nothing. It only reopened wounds the Moon Goddess had abandoned, tearing at my pride and dragging me back to weeks ago.
My fingers brushed against Rachel’s letter in my pocket. The weight of my responsibilities as Alpha and the grief in my chest felt almost unbearable.
I needed air, needed to calm my mind.
I found myself walking outside, drawn to the cliff’s edge where I’d last seen her. I stood at the precipice, the churning water below illuminated by moonlight.
The crescent pendant wrapped around my fingers glinted in the moonlight as I dangled it over the edge.
I considered dropping it into the abyss but realized it would change nothing–her scent would linger in my mind either way.
I failed you both, I thought, closing my fist around the necklace as the night wind carried my silent confession over the water.
Are you still there? I miss you. I really, really miss you so much.
I screamed desperately, “Rachel, will you ever forgive me?” but all that answered was a deafening silence.
2/3
13:29 Tue, May
Chapter 113
With a bitter smile, I mocked my own foolish hope..
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