Chapter 25: I’m leaving
Chapter 25: I’m leaving
(Celeste’s POV)
The air felt electric, brimming with tension so thick it was hard to breathe. Lucas’s claws dug into my silver–scarred arm, the pressure sending jolts of pain radiating through me.
My skin burned under his grip, but I refused to flinch. Refused to cry out. Refused to show him
weakness.
His golden eyes burned with anger, his wolf surging dangerously close to the surface. “What
did you do to her?” he snarled, his voice hot with accusation.
I could feel the dominance radiating off him, pressing against me like a storm expecting me to
bow.
I met his gaze head–on, even as his claws pressed deeper. “And what exactly do you think I did,
Lucas?” My voice didn’t tremble, but it came out low and clipped.
My wolf recoiled from the oppressive weight of his aura, curling deeper inside me, but I kept
my chin steady. “Do you really believe I brought your precious Luna to tears simply by
existing?”
His grip tightened. “Don’t play games with me!” he snapped. His voice was sharp, cutting,
through the evening air like a blade.
“She’s crying because of you! She hasn’t been herself since you came back.” His fangs slightly peeked out as he growled again. “Ever since–no, every single time–it’s you.”
I let out a sharp, bitter laugh. The sound of it felt foreign even to me. “Of course. Blame me. Why not? That’s what you’ve been doing since Scarlett came back, haven’t you?”
“Don’t twist this around,” he hissed. His golden eyes narrowed further, glowing unnervingly bright. “She cried because you did something. Admit it!”
The fire in my chest surged. Bitterness clawed its way up my throat like bile. Years of
swallowing every emotion, every desperate feeling for survival, came rushing out in quick,
sarcastic words.
“You mean, like how none of you cried four years ago?” My lip curled faintly. “How funny, Lucas, that now tears come so easily. Strange, isn’t it, that there was no room for those when I
was shackled in Moon Shadow Prison? How convenient.”
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Chapter 25: I’m leaving
His wolf bristled visibly. “You deserved-” He stopped short, his words dying on the tip of his tongue, but the meaning behind them echoed loud enough. His jaw twitched furiously as he snapped his gaze back to me.
“You think I deserved it,” I said quietly, filling in the unspoken accusation. My voice was calm, but inside, pain thudded against the walls of my chest. “Say it, Lucas. Tell me you truly believe I deserved every whip of’silver. Say it to my face.”
Lucas’s growl was low and menacing. His grip didn’t loosen. Instead, he leaned closer, his voice dropping into something dangerously quiet. “You always twist everything. Always playing the victim.”
My breath hitched against his words, but I forced myself to keep steady. Forced my gaze to stay locked with his despite the unbearable heat of his dominance crushing against me.
My wolf, scarred and weak, whimpered faintly in submission. But my human side had endured
worse.
“Victim?” I repeated, my lips curling into something almost unkind. “Was I the one who made myself a scapegoat for Scarlett? Dragged myself into your Alpha King’s dungeon? Did I c***k my own bones under that whip, Lucas? Was it my hand holding the silver chains while my
wolf screamed?”
His eyes flickered, just briefly. Confusion, guilt, frustration–whatever it was, it was there long enough for me to catch it. Yet it didn’t last. His anger surged back, covering whatever vulnerability had dared to show.
“You always had a way of looking innocent,” he said through gritted teeth. “But not to me. Not anymore.”
“Lucas. Let her go!”
Victoria’s voice rang out, trembling yet stern. Her footsteps were hurried as she approached, green eyes wide with fear. Her wolf whined audibly through their bond, projecting distress in
waves.
She pushed herself between us, her hands on Lucas’s chest. She shoved lightly, her voice rising with desperation. “Stop this! I said let her go!”
Lucas’s head snapped toward her, his golden eyes flashing dangerously. “You’re defending her?” he barked, his voice raw and filled with incredulity. “She’s manipulating you, Mother. Open your eyes.”
Victoria’s hands pressed harder against his chest. “Lucas, this isn’t her fault! She didn’t do
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Chapter 25: I’m leaving
anything!” Her voice cracked at the edges, her wolf desperate to calm the growing fire in her
son.
Lucas didn’t back down. His wolf surged even closer to the surface, its growl vibrating faintly in the tense air. “How can you defend her after everything–after what she’s done?”
Behind me, Nina took a careful step closer. Her presence was steady, though her silver–gray wolf bristled in agitation. “Master Lucas,” she said, her voice firm but respectful. “Release her.
You’re hurting her.”
Lucas’s focus swiveled sharply toward Nina, his fangs slightly bared. “You stay out of this,” he
snarled, his voice seething. “She’s my sister. This is family business.”
“She’s my charge,” Nina countered sharply, her wolf taking a defensive stance. “And I’m here to
make sure she’s not harmed.”
I pulled my arm back sharply, breaking Lucas’s bruising grip the moment the opportunity
presented itself.
My arm throbbed fiercely where his claws had dug in, but I swallowed the pain. I wouldn’t let
him see my discomfort. Wouldn’t give him the smallest victory.
Straightening myself, I stepped closer to Nina for support. The weight of her presence soothed
my trembling limbs, even as Victoria’s fractured voice filled the crackling air.
“Lucas, this isn’t you!” she pleaded, her hands reaching for his. “This anger, this hatred–it
wasn’t who you were before! Stop letting it control you!”
Lucas stared past her, his chest heaving, his wolf pacing within him. His lips curled faintly as
if biting back another growl, but he didn’t respond.
I couldn’t tell whether her words had reached him or only deepened the storm in his soul.
I inhaled slowly, steadying both my voice and my trembling hands. “Enough.” My tone was
soft but carried an unnerving sharpness. “Lucas, let’s stop pretending. Do you honestly think I
want to stay here? To breathe the same air of a pack that abandoned me the second they didn’t need me anymore?”
His gaze snapped back to me. The sharpness in his golden eyes lessened but didn’t fully dull. He didn’t answer, waiting to hear what else I had to say.
“I’ve accepted the mate claim from Marcus,” I said, letting the words hang heavy in the air.
The very phrase twisted something sharp in my chest, but I forced every syllable out. “Does
that comfort you? Knowing I only have three moons left in this pack before I’m gone?”
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Chapter 25: I’m leaving
Lucas’s frown deepened. His wolf’s dominance faltered slightly as an unsettling confusion clouded his aura.
“Yes, three moons,” I continued, my expression cool and detached. “That’s all the time you need to tolerate my presence. And in those three moons, Lucas, I ask only one thing.”
My gaze bore into his. His wolf bristled under the weight of my stare.
“Leave me in peace, Brother,” I said, my voice soft but unshaking. “Just let me live these final
days here without your endless accusations. That is all I ask of you.”
Victoria recoiled as though the reality of my words had struck her like a physical blow. Her
wolf whimpered audibly, its energy reverberating through the space.
Her lips quivered faintly, but her desperation for family unity shone clearly in her tear–filled
eyes.
“You don’t have to go,” she whispered faintly. “You’re still-
“I’m leaving,” I said, cutting off whatever reassurance she tried to offer. “And that’s final.”
I took a step back, my body worn but steady. Despite the ache flaring in my arm and the suffocating weight of Lucas’s aura, I curtsied–a formal yet distant gesture aimed at both of
them.
Turning away, I let Nina guide me toward the cool safety of the pack house’s halls. My legs trembled slightly, but I forced them to keep moving forward.
I didn’t look back.
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