Chapter 84
Kane's POV
I broke my promise.
I still couldn't resist stealing one last look at Ella.
Outside the Wolf House, a guard handed me my packed bundle. I should have just left—set out on the journey to Blood River territory to find the Lightning Wolf Pack.
Alpha Walter had given me answers, but those answers were only a beginning, not an end.
I needed to see for myself, to confirm, to confront.
The weight of the bundle pressed on my shoulder, but heavier still was the indescribable emotion in my heart. I turned to leave, but in that moment, I caught sight of her.
Fiona bounced onto a carriage, her laughter ringing especially clear in the morning air.
"Sister Ella, do you think the lizard man at Dawn Harbor really breathes fire?"
My steps froze.
Ella was in that carriage.
I should leave...
I had already made my decision, already reconciled with Julian, already apologized to Father and Jenna.
What I owed Ella was far more than an apology could repay, and the best compensation was to disappear from her life.
But my legs felt leaden, unable to move.
Blaze growled in my mind: "Go see her. Just one last look."
"That will only make things harder," I responded, my voice trembling slightly.
"So what?" Blaze's tone carried a desperate stubbornness. "We've already lost her. Don't we even have the right to look at her one last time?"
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Then I made a decision I knew I would regret.
I turned toward a deserted alley and shed my human form in the shadows. The pain of bone reformation was familiar as always, but I had grown accustomed to it.
Black fur covered my body, four limbs touched the ground, and Blaze took control.
He picked up the bundle in his jaws and silently followed the carriage.
We maintained enough distance, hidden in the forest shadows. The carriage traveled along the winding mountain road, Fiona's laughter occasionally drifting back, along with Ella's gentle responses.
That voice made my heart ache with every beat.
Blaze's steps were light, making almost no sound. He was an excellent hunter who knew how to track prey without being detected. Only this time, what we tracked wasn't prey, but someone we had hurt yet still deeply loved.
"What are we doing?" I asked Blaze.
"Protecting her," he answered briefly. "Even just watching from afar is better than doing nothing."
I didn't argue.
The carriage continued forward. Gradually, I caught the salty scent of seawater.
Dawn Harbor had arrived.
I hid behind rocks near the harbor, watching Ella step down from the carriage. Today she wore a beautiful dress, her hair tied with ribbons that fluttered gently in the sea breeze. Sunlight fell upon her, making her look like some unreal vision.
She spoke with the lizard man proprietor. I couldn't make out her expression, but I could sense her relaxation and joy—things I had never given her.
Then I saw her drink that glass of wine.
Immediately after, the massive wooden ship moored at the harbor began unfurling its sails.
It was an enormous crimson sail, snapping loudly in the sea wind. The pattern painted on the sail made my breath catch instantly—it was Ignis.
Ella's wolf, that flame-like crimson she-wolf, was meticulously depicted on the canvas. Every strand of fur, every detail was vivid and lifelike, as if she might leap from the sail at any moment and transform into real flames.
I stared blankly at that sail, an indescribable emotion surging in my heart.
It was jealousy, regret, and a kind of desperate recognition.
Julian had accomplished what I never had—he saw Ella's true worth and was willing to proclaim it to the world.
Blaze whimpered softly in my mind.
I saw Julian descend from the bow, his golden hair gleaming in the sunlight. He waved toward Ella, his face bearing a tender smile.
It was an expression I had never seen on his face—no calculation, no pretense, only pure love.
Ella boarded the ship.
I watched her converse with Julian, watched him draw a crown from inside his coat. Even from this distance, I could recognize it as the Orta Crown. Blue and red gemstones sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight.
My claws dug deep into the sand.
Ella didn't immediately accept the crown. She turned and walked toward that crimson sail, and with Brian and Gregory's help, slowly lowered and rolled it up.
I saw disappointment flash across Julian's face. He thought she had refused.
But I knew she hadn't. I understood her...
No!
Perhaps I should say I once thought I understood her, but now I realized I had never truly known her. I had only treated her as my possession, my weakness, my burden.
I had never, like Julian, treated her as a complete, independent person worthy of respect.
Ella handed the rolled sail to Julian and said something.
Then she took the crown from his hands and slowly placed it on her own head.
Even from this distance, I could feel the weight of that moment.
It wasn't just a crown—it was a promise, a choice, a new beginning.
Fiona cheered beside them, Brian and the other guards all wore smiles. Julian stepped forward and gently kissed Ella's forehead.
The sea breeze blew past, carrying the scent of salt and freedom.
Watching them, an emotion too complex to express surged in my heart.
I finally understood.
Ella had never been mine.
She was her own. And now, she had chosen to give herself to someone truly worthy.
Someone who could give her happiness.
Blaze said softly in my mind: "Leave, Kane. This is the only thing we can do for her now."
I took one last look at her.
Sunlight bathed her, the crown sparkled atop her head, her smile brighter than I had ever seen.
In that moment, a stone that had pressed on my heart for years finally settled.
Not because I no longer loved her, but because I finally accepted a truth—some mistakes, once made, cannot be remedied; some people, once lost, can never return.
"May you be happy, Ella," I said silently in my heart. "May you never meet someone like me again."
Seagulls circled overhead, crying out sharply. Waves crashed against the rocks with eternal thunder.
I turned around, picked up the bundle in my jaws, and slowly walked toward the other end of the harbor.
Blaze's steps were heavy but resolute.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"To Blood River territory," I answered. "To find the Lightning Wolf Pack. To figure out who I really am."
Blaze howled softly, his voice carrying a long-absent anticipation.
We left Dawn Harbor, traveling south along the coastline.
Behind us, the ship with crimson sails gradually became a small dot, finally disappearing beyond the horizon.
I didn't look back.
Because I knew looking back would only make leaving more difficult, and I had already made my choice.
The sun gradually sank westward, casting a golden path across the sea surface.
The cries of seabirds grew distant, leaving only the sound of waves crashing against rocks and my own heavy breathing.
Blaze's pace gradually quickened, from walking to running, finally to full sprint.
Wind howled past my ears, sand flew beneath my claws.
We ran, away from the past, toward the future.
Away from the girl I had once loved deeply but ultimately lost, away from mistakes that could never be remedied and harm that could never be undone.