Chapter 109
The pack clearing was quiet in the late afternoon. Most wolves were either resting after the long night or working on border patrols. The air smelled of woodsmoke and pine, and the sun filtered through the trees in golden shafts that made the ground look like scattered coins.
Rhianna walked alone along the narrow path that led from the healer’s hut to the river. She needed space. Alden had finally let Hardin sleep without constant watching, and she had left him resting, his breathing even, his hand still warm in hers when she slipped away. She wasn’t running from him. She was running toward clarity.
She reached the riverbank—the same stretch where she had fallen in months ago. The water was calmer now, slower, almost gentle. She sat on a flat rock, knees drawn up, cloak wrapped around her shoulders. The sound of the current was steady, soothing, like a heartbeat she used to know.
Footsteps crunched behind her.
She didn’t turn.
She knew who it was.
Sebastian stopped a few paces away.
“Rhianna.”
His voice was rough, cracked from too much mead and too little sleep. She could hear the weight in it—the guilt, the regret, the desperation.
She kept her eyes on the water.
“What do you want, Sebastian?”
He took one step closer. “I just… I needed to see you. To talk. To explain.”
Rhianna finally looked at him.
He looked older than she remembered. Hollow cheeks. Dark circles under his eyes. No Alpha mark on his shoulder. Just a man carrying too many mistakes.
“There’s nothing to explain,” she said quietly.
Sebastian swallowed. “There is. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I know I don’t deserve anything from you. But I—”
“Stop,” she said. Her voice was calm. Cold. Final. “Don’t.”
He stopped.
She stood up slowly. Turned to face him fully.
“You broke our bond,” she said. “You chose Brittany. You marked her. You let her poison you. You let her poison me. You stood by while she sent men to kill me. You knew I was dying. You knew my wolf was fading. You knew I had less than a year. And you walked away.”
Sebastian’s eyes filled. “I thought… I thought it was for the pack. For the title. For the future—”
“You thought about yourself,” Rhianna said. “You thought about power. You thought about Brittany and the child she carried. You never thought about me. Not once.”
Sebastian took a shaky breath. “I loved you. I did. The bond—”
“The bond is gone,” she cut in. “You severed it. You chose to sever it. And when you did, you killed whatever love was there. You killed me, Sebastian. Not the river. Not the hunters. You.”
He looked down. Tears fell onto the dirt.
“I know,” he whispered. “I know what I did. I see it every time I look at my son. I see it every time I look at Brittany. I see it every time I breathe. I hate myself for it. I hate that I let her convince me. I hate that I believed the elders when they said the pack needed a strong Alpha, not a weak Luna. I hate that I believed her when she said you were dragging me down.”
Rhianna’s voice stayed even. “You believed her because it was easier. Because it let you keep the title. Because it let you keep her. You chose comfort over me. You chose power over love. You chose to break what the Goddess gave you.”
Sebastian looked up. Eyes red. Desperate.
“I want to fix it,” he said. “I want to make it right. I want—”
“You can’t,” Rhianna said.
He flinched.
She stepped closer—not out of tenderness, but to make sure he heard every word.
“Whatever happened between us is in the past. It’s dead. Buried. Gone. You killed it the day you marked her. The day you let her send those men. The day you stood by while I faded. There is no fixing it. There is no going back. There is no second chance.”
Sebastian’s voice broke. “Rhianna, please—”
“No,” she said. “Don’t call me that like it means something. You lost the right to call me anything the moment you chose her.”
She looked at him—really looked.
“I don’t hate you,” she said quietly. “I don’t feel anything for you anymore. Not love. Not hate. Not even pity. You’re just… a man who made choices. And those choices cost me everything. My health. My wolf. My home. My life. But I survived. I came back. And I’m not here for you. I’m here for me. For Hardin. For the truth.”
Sebastian’s shoulders sagged. “Hardin…”
Rhianna’s voice hardened. “Don’t say his name. You don’t get to say his name. He never stopped looking for me. He never stopped loving me. He gave up everything—his title, his place, his future—to find me. To bring me home. You? You gave me up for a title you don’t even have anymore.”
Sebastian looked away. Tears streamed down his face.
“I know,” he whispered. “I know I failed you. I know I failed the pack. I know I failed myself.”
Rhianna stepped back.
“Stay away from me,” she said. “Never come close to me again. Don’t speak to me. Don’t look at me. Don’t try to fix what you broke. It’s over. It’s been over since the day you marked her.”
Sebastian opened his mouth.
She cut him off.
“Whatever happened with us is in the past. Leave it there.”
She turned.
Walked away.
Sebastian stood frozen on the riverbank.
He watched her go.
He didn’t follow.
He couldn’t.
Rhianna walked back toward the healer’s hut.
Her steps were steady.
Her heart was heavy but clear.
She had said what needed to be said.
She had drawn the line.
And she would not cross it again.
Hardin was waiting.
The pack was waiting.
The future was waiting.
And she was ready.
For whatever came next.