Chapter Title: Fading Bonds
Rosa's POV
It had been three days since I last saw Bryant. Three long, silent days. The halls that once felt too grand for someone like me now felt like cages. And my chambers—lavish as they were—felt colder than the northern winds.
I barely touched my meals. Paige tried, at first, to talk to me. But when she realized I had no energy to respond, she stopped asking questions. Instead, she brought in my food quietly, left flowers on the windowsill, and folded my blankets. The silence between us became a language of its own.
I sat by the mirror one morning, brushing my hair slowly. My reflection stared back, pale and lifeless, until something flickered—Laura.
My wolf.
But she didn't speak. She didn't smile. She stood silently behind the foggy glass, her white fur duller than ever. Her head hung low, her eyes heavy. She looked... tired.
> "You haven't said anything in days," I whispered, not expecting a response.
"You've been quiet."
There was a pause, then a whisper echoed in my mind.
> "I'm weak… I feel like something is keeping me from breathing properly. From feeling."
I swallowed hard. "Is it the mate bond?"
"I don't know. I still feel something strong… but it's not clear anymore. Everything is blurry, like something's standing in the way."
I exhaled shakily and looked down at my lap. "That's because we're not his mate anymore. Or maybe we never were."
Laura didn't answer. And then… she disappeared.
---
That night, I sat on the edge of my bed, the golden canopy casting long shadows across the floor. I looked around the room. The shelves lined with books I no longer touched. The silken curtains that used to make me feel like royalty. The fireplace that had gone cold.
All of it—just a beautiful prison.
> I couldn't stay here any longer. Not when Bryant didn't want me. Not when I was no one but a name on a throne, playing Luna to a Pack that never truly accepted me.
> And most of all—not when every door to my past had been slammed shut by his orders.
I couldn't meet any historian. I couldn't leave the palace without permission. I couldn't ask questions without someone "coincidentally" getting reassigned or silenced.
It was clear now. Bryant didn't want me to remember who I was.
Maybe he had a reason. Maybe it was something painful. But I was done waiting for answers that would never come.
---
I stood up and walked to my closet, pulling out one of my simplest gowns—something plain, without embroidery or shine. Something no one would recognize.
I began packing in silence.
A few coins. A dagger. A spare cloak. And an old brooch my mother once gave me—it was one of the few things I had managed to hide when I first arrived.
I sat at my writing desk and pulled out a quill. My hand trembled as I scribbled down a short note for Paige.
> "Thank you for your kindness. Please do not look for me. I will be alright. – Rosa"
My eyes stung. My heart raced. I wasn't sure if I was strong enough for whatever came next—but staying here, waiting to rot in a palace where I didn't belong, was not an option.
I threw on my cloak and tucked the dagger into my waist.
One last glance at the room, at the life that had never really felt like mine.
And then I left, closing the door behind me.
---
Outside, the moonlight coated the palace grounds like a silver veil. I crept through the quieter passages—ones Paige had shown me long ago in case of emergencies. I knew which guards rotated every hour. I knew which corners of the walls cast the deepest shadows.
The gates were still far off, but I didn't look back.
Because if I did, I might lose the courage to keep walking.
—
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