Chapter 50 Departure
LISA'S POV
I announced my temporary departure to the pack two days after waking up in the medical wing and the silence that followed my words was deafening. The pack hall was filled with warriors, families, and elders who had gathered for what they thought would be a routine meeting. Instead, I was telling them their Alpha was leaving.
"I am not abandoning my position," I said clearly, my voice carrying to every corner of the hall despite the bandages still wrapped around my ribs. "Daniel will serve as acting Alpha in my absence with Nathan and Ryan supporting him. The pack will function smoothly under their leadership."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd but no one protested outright. They could see the exhaustion in my face. These people had watched me fight Viktor, survive an explosion, and learn that my father murdered my mother all within days. They understood I needed space to heal.
"How long will you be gone?" one of the pack members asked from the back.
"Just a month," I answered. "Maybe less if I can figure things out sooner but maybe a little more if I need more time. But I will return to lead this pack on time, I promise you."
Daniel stood beside. "Your Alpha has been everyone else's strength through impossible situations," he said to the gathered pack. "Now it is time for her to be her own strength. We will hold Moonstone Pack secure until she returns."
The pack meeting ended in no time. People approached me to offer words of support or well wishes and I accepted their concern with gratitude that felt genuine.
Ryan was devastated but he did not try to stop me or argue against my decision. I saw him standing at the edge of the crowd with his face pale. He had learned that controlling my choices only pushed me further away and the growth showed in his restraint even though it clearly cost him.
Nathan approached me after most of the pack had dispersed. His hand reached for mine and his thumb traced patterns across my knuckles. "Let me come with you," he said quietly. "You do not have to process everything alone."
"I need to do this alone," I said, pulling my hand back gently. "I need to figure out who I am without everyone's feelings and needs influencing my decisions. Without the mate bond or political alliances or guilt over past hurts clouding my judgment."
Nathan nodded slowly. "I understand. Just know that when you come back, I will be here."
Daniel found me in my office later while I packed what I needed for the trip. He watched me fold clothes my a while before speaking. "You have been everyone else's strength through hell and back," he said, echoing his earlier words. "It's time to be your own strength, Lisa. Take whatever time you need."
"Thank you for holding things together while I am gone," I said,
"That is what brothers do," Daniel replied simply.
Adrian arrived the next morning to escort me to Western Pack.
The goodbye was painful as if I wasn't coming back. Emma cried and held me so tight my ribs ached from the pressure. "Call me whenever you need to talk," she whispered. "Day or night, I am here."
Daniel hugged me, playing with my nose. "No one messes with my sister," he said. "Not even herself. Be kind to yourself out there."
Nathan kissed my forehead that it made my chest ache. His lips lingered against my skin and I felt everything he could not say in that simple touch.
Ryan stood apart from the others, Our mate bond ached with separation already beginning and I wondered if physical distance would make the pull worse or finally give me clarity.
Before I could leave, he approached with an envelope in his hands. His fingers trembled slightly as he held it out to me.
"Do not read this now," Ryan said, his voice rough. "Read it when you are ready. It is everything I should have said years ago, written down because I can never find the right words in the moment when it matters."
I took the letter but did not promise to read it.
The drive to Western Pack was quiet and Adrian did not push conversation or try to fill the silence with meaningless chatter. He just let me process while mountains gave way to rolling hills and familiar territory faded behind us.
When we got to Western Pack, Adrian took me to a private cottage. It was isolated enough for privacy but close enough to the main compound for safety.
"You do not have any obligations here," Adrian said as he carried my bags inside. "You are a guest here, not a prisoner or patient or anything else. Just someone who needs space to think and heal."
"Thank you," I said.
Adrian left me alone after a few minutes as I unpacked my things slowly. No memories here, no ghosts of past mistakes haunting corners.
That first night alone in the cottage, I sat on the bed and pulled Ryan's letter from my bag. My hands shook as I broke the seal and unfolded pages covered in his familiar handwriting.
The letter was not what I expected. Instead of apologies or explanations or justifications for his failures, it was a confession that tore through my heart.
“I have loved you since you were twenty-one and too fierce for your own good. I have loved you through every mistake I made, every silence that hurt you, every moment I chose wrong. But I have never loved you the way you deserve, freely without the weight of destiny or duty pressing down on us both.
I am learning how to do that now, even if it is too late. Learning to separate what the mate bond demands from what my heart freely chooses. Learning that loving you means putting your happiness before my need to keep you.
If you come back and choose Nathan or Adrian or anyone else, I will accept it because your happiness matters more than my heartbreak. All I ask is that you do not choose someone else just to escape me. Choose them because they make you happier than I ever could.
And if someday you decide you want to try again with me, I will spend the rest of my life proving I am worth that second chance.”
The letter was signed simply with his name and I read it three times before the words fully registered. Ryan was letting me go. Actually, truly releasing me from the mate bond's expectations and his own possessive need.
I kept the letter on the nightstand and lay back on the unfamiliar bed, staring at the ceiling while tears tracked down my temples. Everything felt complicated and I had no idea what I wanted anymore.