Page 17

I smelled him before I saw him.

Ash.

Cedar.

The faint bite of smoke and shame.

Jace.

I stood at the edge of Crescent Fang's southern border, heart hammering as the wind shifted. My wolf growled low in my chest, pacing just beneath my skin like she didn't know whether to fight or run.

But I didn't run anymore.

Kael stood beside me, his presence calm and silent, arms crossed over his chest like stone. He'd come with me when Mira reported the approaching scent trail-because if it really was Jace, he knew I'd have to face him myself.

And there he was.

He stepped out of the treeline like the past itself-familiar and dangerous and far too late.

"Luna," he breathed, eyes wide the moment he saw me.

I didn't speak.

Didn't move.

He looked... different. Older, maybe. Sharper around the edges. But still the same boy who once shared apples and secrets under the trees.

Still the same boy who left me.

"I thought you were dead," he said, voice shaking.

"I was," I replied. "You killed that version of me."

Kael didn't move, but I could feel his energy humming like a blade behind me.

Jace's eyes darted to the mark on my collarbone-the shimmering crescent and flame, still fresh.

He froze.

"You accepted someone else," he whispered.

"I chose someone else," I corrected.

Something shifted in his expression-shock, guilt... jealousy.

"I made a mistake," he said. "I didn't mean to reject you. I was scared. My father-he wouldn't have approved. The pack-"

"I didn't need your fear," I snapped. "I needed your truth. And instead, you walked away like I was nothing."

He looked stricken. "You were never nothing."

"But you made me feel like I was," I said. "And now I know better."

I stepped closer-not afraid. Not weak.

"But let me be clear, Jace. Whatever you think you're here to fix... you're too late."

His jaw clenched. "I came to bring you back."

Kael stepped forward now, his voice low and controlled. "She's not going anywhere."

"This isn't your fight," Jace growled.

Kael's tone turned cold. "She's my mate. Which means her fight is mine."

Jace's eyes locked on mine. "I never stopped wanting you."

"And I never stopped waiting," I whispered. "But you didn't come. Not when it mattered. Not when I broke."

Silence.

Then I said the one thing I knew would end it.

"I don't love you anymore."

He flinched like I'd struck him.

And without another word, he turned and disappeared back into the trees-his scent lingering like regret.

?

I stood there long after he was gone.

Kael didn't speak. Just placed a hand gently on the small of my back.

I exhaled.

"I needed that."

"You earned it."

And though my hands were still shaking, my soul wasn't.

Because I had faced my past.

And for the first time, I didn't want it back.