Chapter 151 WELCOME TO STONEMACK PACK
Chapter 151 WELCOME TO STONEMACK PACK
EPILOGUE
WELCOME TO STONEMACK PACK
CHARLOTTE
I felt the rejection the second the words left Dorian’s mouth. The mate bond did not fade. It tore straight through the center of my chest. Something inside me got gripped and ripped sideways.
My ribs felt like they were cracking under the pressure. Heat flooded up my throat and dropped hard into my stomach at the same time. My knees gave out.
I caught the edge of the bed with one hand and groaned. The sound tore out of me without permission. My vision narrowed. Sweat broke across my forehead and the back of my neck.
My heart slammed against the torn place again and again. Each beat sent another wave of raw pain through my torso. Lumina surged forward inside my head and howled so loud it drowned everything else for several seconds.
My fingers dug into the mattress. I could not straighten up. The bond that had sat quiet and steady in my chest for months was gone. It left a hollow, burning space that pulsed with every breath I forced in.
Dorian stood near the door. More tears moved down his face. His shoulders shook once. He spoke while the pain still held me in place.
“I really do love you. My life is so messed up right now. I don’t understand any of it. I can’t keep living like this and hurting you. I hope things change. I hope they turn around for us.”
He opened the door, stepped out, and pulled it shut. The latch clicked. I stayed bent over the bed for several long seconds.
Lumina’s howls kept rolling through my skull, raw and continuous. The physical pain in my chest did not ease. It sat there, hot and heavy, while my lungs worked in short, shallow pulls.
I forced myself upright. My legs felt disconnected from the rest of me. I turned toward the center of the room. Everything inside me had gone flat.
I registered the walls, the open closet, the half-packed bag on the floor, but none of it landed with any weight. I could not feel anger the way I expected. I could not feel grief the way I expected.
There was only a wide, empty quiet under the remaining burn of the broken bond. My thoughts moved slowly and would not stop.
He rejected me. He said the words and walked out. Zade voted against me. The pack stood there and watched. I have one hour and then I am gone. No one is coming to stop this. No one is going to change their mind.
I am alone in this room and soon I will be alone outside the borders. What am I supposed to do with that? Where do I put the pieces that just got torn out of my chest? There is nowhere. There is nothing left here that belongs to me.
A knock sounded on the door. It opened before I answered. Selina stepped inside. Her posture was loose. She looked at me and then at the bag on the floor.
“Do you need a helping hand?”
I kept my eyes on the clothes I still needed to fold. My voice came out flat. “No. I’m almost done.”
Selina walked to the wall and leaned her back against it. She crossed her arms. Her expression stayed steady, almost casual, but her eyes stayed fixed on me.
“I was forced to push for this because you wouldn’t listen to my warning. That is not a justification. I knew you and Dorian were mates. You were hiding it. That was strange. But it still would not have stopped me from going after him. This life is about taking what you want by force and staying hard and strong no matter what happens. You could have fought me and won. You let your emotions get in the way instead. That is what ruined you.”
I did not answer. I kept packing, folding one shirt after another into the bag. My hands moved without pause. The hollow place in my chest kept throbbing in time with my pulse.
Selina pushed off the wall and walked to the door. She paused with her hand on the handle.
“I hope this sinks into your head and you put it to practice in your new life.” She laughed once, short and sharp. “Dorian will be all mine. I can’t wait to have all of him. Bye, Charlotte. I hope we don’t meet again.”
The door closed. I stood still for another moment, then finished the last of the packing. I closed the bag and set it by my feet. The room looked emptied out. I felt nothing about leaving it.
Dorian returned without knocking. He did not speak. He picked up the bag and gestured toward the door. I walked out ahead of him. Outside, the entire pack waited in a loose line. No one spoke to me.
They fell in behind as Dorian led the way through the trees toward the border. The walk was silent except for the sound of boots on dirt and the occasional shift of clothing.
I kept my eyes forward. The burn in my chest had settled into a constant, dull heat. Lumina had gone quiet, but the absence of the bond still registered with every step.
We reached the edge of the territory. A clear line marked the boundary—worn earth on one side, denser undergrowth on the other. I stopped in front of it. I looked at the line and then at the land beyond it. My mind turned over the same questions without finding answers.
Where do I sleep tonight?
Which packs will even let me approach their gates after what happened here?
How long can I walk before the lack of an Alpha starts to wear on my wolf?
What does a life without a mate bond feel like after today?
I did not look back at the group standing behind me. I did not look at Dorian or at Zade. I stepped across the line and kept walking. My head stayed up. My shoulders stayed level.
Inside, I made the decision clean and final. I will forget every one of them. I will make them pay for the way they treated me—especially Dorian and Zade.
But first I have to become something they cannot break again.
I have to become something strong and emotionless. Nothing else will keep me alive out here.
I followed the map I had taken from the pack’s common room. The path stretched on without landmarks I recognized. Hours passed. My feet ached. The bag strap dug into my shoulder. The hollow place in my chest never fully quieted.
I did not stop. I walked until the trees thinned and a high iron gate appeared ahead. Thick bars rose in front of me.
At the top, bold letters cut into the metal read STONEMACK PACK.
TO BE CONTINUED