AMARIS

The tears started flooding down my face the second I was out of sight, practically running down the hallway toward my room like I was being chased.

I burst through my door and slammed it behind me, sliding down to sit on the floor with my back against the wood.

Then I cried. Wailed. Bitterly. Profusely. Ugly dirty tears.

I cried for what felt like hours, weeping and sobbing until my throat was raw and my eyes were so swollen I could barely see. My chest heaved with the force of it, my whole body shaking.

What did I expect from this situation? A happy ending?

Did I actually think Ryker would stop being an insufferable asshole and treat me like I was more than just a tool to hurt his father? Did I genuinely believe Rowan would break up with his politically advantageous fiancée for me so we could live happily ever after?

Did I think Alpha Corvin would just accept my refusal of artificial insemination and mate me traditionally after I rejected the one clause he had given me the moment I stepped foot in this godforsaken pack?

I was an idiot.

A naive stupid idiot who let herself get used and discarded by men who saw me as either property or revenge or political inconvenience depending on which one I was talking to.

I was not sure when I drifted to sleep on the floor, my body exhausted from crying and my mind too overwhelmed to stay conscious.

But the soft sound of Nia’s voice gently nudging me out of sleep brought me back to this nightmare I called a life.

"Amaris," she whispered. "You need to wake up."

I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes with the back of my palm and immediately regretting it when the dried tears on my skin scratched my already raw eyelids.

I looked around and saw that Nia had helped me pack while I was sleeping. My luggage sat by the door neatly organized, a visual representation of how thoroughly I was being erased from this place.

The sight of those bags almost spiraled me into another wave of devastating sadness but I held it together through sheer force of will.

I had no tears left to cry anyway.

Nia helped me stand up and I noticed there was sadness in her eyes that I had never seen before. She knew I was leaving, obviously. Maybe the whole pack knew by now and were actively celebrating my departure.

Good riddance to the outsider who tried to came to replace the memory of their perfect Luna.

"The driver is already waiting outside," Nia muttered quietly.

I swallowed hard and nodded, unable to say anything because I was afraid that any words would shatter whatever fragile composure I had managed to construct and traject be right back to my flood of despair.

Nia grabbed my luggage and we walked outside together in silence.

I thought about Ryker as we descended the stairs. Thought about Rowan. I thought about the fact that neither of them even wanted to say goodbye to me. There were no sad faces except Nia’s. No sympathizers because I had just barely been here. Just a shadow who had passed through.

Well what did I expect? A tearful farewell where they begged me to stay?

I stopped at the bottom of the front steps as the chauffeur opened the car door for me. He was the same chauffeur who had brought me here from the Stormshadow pack. How ironic he would be taking me back.

Ironic or pathetic. I am not sure I knew the difference anymore.

He took the luggage from Nia and placed it carefully in the trunk while I turned to face her.

"Thank you," I managed to say, my voice coming out hoarse. "Truly. For everything."

Nia smiled but it did not reach her eyes. "Take care of yourself, Amaris."

Then she turned and walked back toward the house without another word.

I stood there wondering if she would at least give me a hug, some final gesture of the friendship I thought we had built.

But she just kept walking.

Maybe at the end of the day all the people in this pack were exactly the same - using others for their own purposes and discarding them when they became inconvenient. Even Nia who had been so nice to me could not be bothered to stay until I actually left.

I looked up at the mansion and saw Alpha Corvin staring down at me through the window of his study.

His expression was completely deadpan, emotionless and cold as he watched me prepare to leave his territory. When our eyes locked he turned away slowly and closed the curtain with deliberate movements, not in a hurry but with calculated coldness that made it clear I meant absolutely nothing to him.

I climbed into the car and settled into the backseat, my body feeling heavy and numb.

"Please put on your seatbelt," the driver instructed politely.

I complied mechanically, clicking the buckle into place with shaking hands.

The engine started and so did the tears I had been fighting desperately to hold back. They streamed down my face silently as the car began moving down the long driveway away from Gravemoon.

I closed my eyes and refused to think or regret or replay every mistake I had made.

I just let the fresh air from the cracked window hit my face and skin, let it dry the tears as they fell, let myself exist in this moment of transition between one horrible situation and another.

The wind felt good against my overheated skin, cool and clean and—

A loud sound exploded through the air before I could react or make sense of what was happening.

The vehicle flipped violently and my body was thrown against the seatbelt with enough force to knock the air from my lungs.

The world spun in nauseating circles - sky, ground, sky, ground - while metal shrieked and glass shattered around me.

Then everything went dark.