Penelope’s POV
The roar of celebration filled the great hall, but the sound felt muffled, distant, as if I were drowning. Seraphina had just claid her birthright as Alpha of the Nebula Fang. My hands trembled against the wooden armrest of my chair, fingers digging deep enough to leave marks.
Then I saw him.
Nolan stood at the crowd’s edge, unchanged after all these years, infuriatingly perfect. Six years had passed since his banishnt from the Zenith Fang. Six years without a single word from the man who once promised forever.
The sight of him hit like a punch to the chest. My wolf, dormant for so long I’d forgotten what her voice sounded like, suddenly exploded back to life. Her desperate howl echoed through my mind, a sound of pure anguish mixed with devastating relief. Mate. Our mate is here.
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. I had to get away before he noticed crumbling.
Without explanation to anyone, I fought through the celebrating crowd, my legs moving on pure instinct. The Fang House corridors blurred past until I found myself in an forgotten wing, stumbling into a tiny, neglected bathroom at the hallway’s end.
The door’s flimsy lock clicked pathetically as I secured it. I collapsed onto the frigid tile, wrapping my arms around my knees, trying to contain the storm raging inside . My chest felt crushed, unable to hold the fury and heartbreak coursing through my veins.
Here I was, hiding on a filthy floor, falling apart over a man who couldn’t be bothered to send one letter in six years.
A trendous crash shattered the silence.
I looked up as the bathroom door exploded inward, cheap wood splintering across the small space. Nolan filled the doorway, dust swirling around his imposing fra. He looked exactly as I rembered, powerful and devastatingly handso, those dark eyes that haunted my dreams finding mine instantly.
The possessive hunger in his gaze, the sa desperate love I rembered, tore through like a blade.
He closed the distance before I could react, hauling up from the floor and crushing against his chest. His arms locked around with familiar strength that made my traitorous body rember what ho felt like.
I’d imagined this mont countless tis over the years. In my fantasies, I was stronger, colder. I would reject him with dignity. Instead, pressed against the only man who ever made feel complete, breathing in his intoxicating scent, I shattered completely.
A broken sob escaped my throat, followed by tears I’d held back for years. I cried for the dream of us that died. I cried because he felt so real, so warm. And I cried because everything we’d had was built on lies.
"Let go," I whispered through my tears.
His hold only intensified. "Never. I just got you back, Penelope. I won’t lose you again. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you."
I shoved against his chest with everything I had. He stumbled backward, shocked by my sudden violence.
"Don’t touch !" My voice bounced off the cramped walls. "You had six years to miss . Six years of silence!"
"Baby, please, just listen to ," he pleaded, reaching for again.
I backed away, shaking my head frantically. "Listen to what? More lies? You made your choice, Nolan. You threw away everything we had, our entire future, just to save Roxanne. What words could possibly undo that damage?" My voice broke on the last word. "If I’d known you were here, I would never have co with Seraphina."
Before I could stop him, he pulled back into his arms, holding so tightly I couldn’t escape.
"I can explain everything. I’m not the sa man who left you," he murmured against my hair.
"I don’t want your explanations!" I scread, fighting against his iron grip. "You destroyed , Nolan! You left in pieces and disappeared!"
But his touch was my weakness. Every place his skin t mine sent my wolf into ecstasy, making feel truly alive for the first ti in years. It was torture, a cruel reminder of what his betrayal had stolen from .
With one final surge of rage, I broke free, wiping tears from my face.
I laughed then, a harsh, bitter sound that cut through the tension. "You want to know what makes this unbearable? You didn’t even care enough to check if I survived your abandonnt!"
My glare could have cut glass. "Six years of silence, Nolan. Not one letter, not one ssage. If you had sothing to say, you should have said it then. Instead, you left to pick up the pieces alone."
The tears stopped, replaced by ice-cold determination. Six years of hell had forged into soone new, soone stronger.
"Listen carefully," I said, my voice deadly quiet. "I ca here with Seraphina. My loyalty belongs to her now. If you or anyone else threatens her safety, I will end you myself. She’s the only person who stood by when my world collapsed. I’ll protect her with my life."
He stared at with profound sadness. "You’re not the sa woman I left."
"No, I’m not," I confird, standing straighter. "The woman you abandoned was weak, dependent on her mate’s love. That woman died when you chose another woman over your bond with ."
I took another step back, putting precious distance between us. "I survived the whispers, the pitying looks, the sha of being mated to a banished traitor. I endured it all without you there to shield from the cruelty."
My voice turned to steel. "But I did more than survive. Seraphina saved when no one else would. She’s earned my absolute devotion. Cross her, and you’ll discover exactly what six years of abandonnt taught about survival."
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