Chapter 15
I ignored him, pulling my blanket tighter.
A storm hit the village that night. I figured Ethan was long gone, but when I opened the door, there he was, collapsed in the rain, burning with fever.
I sighed and called Marcus to take him to the hospital.
After a day of treatment, Ethan woke that evening, my name on his lips.
Marcus blocked him. "Ethan, you've got a high fever and pneumonia. You're staying here."
"Move!" Ethan ripped out his IV, blood dripping as he tried to stand.
Marcus shoved him back onto the bed, voice rising. "Enough! Don't you see she's finally living in peace? You're unbound now. Why mess with her life? Do you need to hurt her again to feel satisfied?"
Ethan's chest heaved, pain slicing through him. "You don't get it. I have to clear things up with her. I'll beg for forgiveness. She loves me—she won't turn me away."
He pushed toward the door. Marcus blocked him again, silent.
Ethan's eyes flashed with rage. He swung a fist, catching Marcus's jaw. Blood trickled from Marcus's lip, but he hit back. They traded blows until Ethan collapsed, gasping. "Marcus, don't think I can't see what you're after. I know you want Melody. You couldn't win her as a pup, and you won't now."
Marcus froze, silent as stone.
Ethan smirked, thinking he'd won, and moved to leave. But at the door, he stopped dead. "Melody..."
He'd believed I was dead. After Zoe's death, he'd tried to end it all, slicing his wrists until friends saved him. They told him to live, to tend my grave, or I'd be alone in the afterlife.
He didn't dare die, afraid no one would honor me.
He never imagined he'd see me again.
Tears spilled as he reached for me, fragile as a broken pup. "It's really you..."
I blocked his hand. "Ethan, let's talk."
He stepped aside, hopeful, not knowing I just wanted him to let go.
The door shut, and my voice was ice. "I know everything. Bella told me."
His lips trembled, hope flaring. "You know? Do you forgive me?"
He thought the truth would fix us.
"I forgive you," I said.
His smile started, then shattered. "But Ethan, I don't love you anymore."
The room fell silent, his heart breaking in the quiet.
I glanced at his bleeding lip, handing him a tissue. "You say you had no choice, but in those three years I was locked up, you had plenty of time to visit. I waited for you, for one explanation. I told myself if you said you were forced, I'd forgive you. But I waited until I was empty, until I stopped loving you. I thought I needed answers. Now I know I don't. Ethan, the moment you chose Zoe, we were done."
His blood seemed to freeze. It took him ages to speak. "It's not over..."
His tall frame hunched, like a stray begging for scraps. "I was wrong, weak. The Meadows pack is gone now. I'll start over, climb high again—maybe not in law, but somewhere else. I'll work hard, give you a new, beautiful life!"
His promises only made me laugh. "You still don't get it. You don't love me—you love status, power, the top spot, the perfect future. Your childhood pain gave you that obsession. I used to think we saved each other. Now I see I was wrong. No one can save anyone. You've got to save yourself. Ethan, I'm starting fresh, and I wish you the bright future you want. But don't come back."
I didn't look at his face as I walked out.
The door opened, and light fell across my face. Marcus stood there, smiling softly.
A year later, Marcus and I formed a sacred bond in a small village ceremony.
Afterward, I got a seashell and an anonymous text: If only there was a next life.
Without a thought, I tossed the shell in the trash, deleted the message, and walked toward Marcus, smiling.
Meanwhile, at the pack's shore, the waves claimed a lone figure, pulling him into the abyss.
[The End]
