Valerie’s POV
The room was still after Karl left, but my mind was anything but quiet. His words lingered, his confession echoing in the corners of my thoughts.
Yet, all I thought about was my decision to leave.
I had thought about waiting until everything is slowly planned out.
However, without knowing what the council was planning and seeing Mike’s attitude, I couldn’t continue to stay anymore.
The decision sat heavy in my chest, but it was also liberating. For the first ti in years, I wasn’t waiting for soone else to decide my fate. I wasn’t clinging to scraps of affection or begging for scraps of dignity.
I was choosing myself.
The next morning, I rose before dawn. The pack house was silent, the corridors empty. I moved carefully and deliberately packing so luggage into a small suitcase.
I didn’t want to take anything that didn’t belong to .
So, the luxurious clothes and shoes Lady Bernice bought were left behind.
I took my modified laptop that had beco my lifeline.
Each item I packed felt symbolic. Not of what I was taking, but of what I was leaving behind.
The bruises. The humiliation. The endless whispers of "traitor’s daughter."
I folded my clothes neatly, though my hands kept trembling.
My wolf stirred inside , restless, as if sensing the change.
"Freedom," it whispered.
"Val, are you sure about leaving so abruptly?" Lizzie asked as soon as she realized what I was doing.
"Of course I am. We don’t have any other choice. Mike doesn’t want us. So, we should leave early instead of waiting to get kicked out or resu my status as a slave." I explained.
"You have a point. I always feel like the council pushing you to prove yourself isn’t simple. It’s better to leave than to be forced to expose ." Lizzie comnted and it turned out her thoughts were similar to mine.
I don’t believe for a second that the council just started targeting because I encouraged so won to beco stronger and more independent.
There must be sothing more to it.
"Yeah, also, now that Karl knows about my plans too. It’s not a secret anymore. So, it’s safer to leave earlier." Waiting was no longer an option.
Especially after Karl’s confession.
What if he took action to try and force to go with him?
I wouldn’t want that.
"That’s true. That guy can’t be trusted at all. For all we know, he might have been coaxing you just to finally win the bet. We can’t be careless." Lizzie agreed imdiately that Karl couldn’t be trusted.
"Mmmm.....I agree."
"Also, it’s good for you to leave now. If you wait for the night of the full moon, you might not get through it unscathed." Lizzie warned.
"What do you an?" I didn’t know why I would be in danger during the full moon.
"When you didn’t have a mate, getting through the full moon was easy because you never felt anything. However, now that you have a mate and are coming of age in two days, being close to Mike will make you lose control. You will go on heat and will Mike in heat as well, you won’t even know what you are doing until it’s done. So, being far away is the best option." Lizzie explained softly.
I never thought that coming of age ca with so many problems. Moreover, having a mate was also an issue.
And to make matters worse, it was a mate I wasn’t even supposed to touch.
"Alright. Let’s leave earlier. We can take care of other things later."
Once the decision was made, everything else beca simple.
There was no room for hesitation anymore.
I zipped up my suitcase slowly, the sound loud in the otherwise silent room. For a mont, I just stood there staring at it.
Apart from that small suitcase, I wasn’t taking anything else with .
I was leaving behind a life that was never mine. After all, I wasn’t born to be a slave.
A title that was forced upon and a mate who never wanted .
My fingers tightened around the handle of the suitcase.
I wouldn’t think about him anymore.
He doesn’t deserve that.
"Why didn’t you just reject him? That way, you won’t be in so much pain when you think about him." Lizzie asked with doubt.
"If I reject him, then I will imdiately go back to being a slave again. Even though I hate this title and the status of Luna is suffocating, it is still what is giving the opportunity to get my life together. So, I can’t reject him yet. Besides, who is to say that if I reject him, he will accept?"
Mike is a proud man, if I rejected him, he would probably just get angrier at and wouldn’t accept my rejection.
Unless he initiated the rejection himself.
"Let’s go," I whispered.
Lizzie didn’t respond, but I could feel her steady presence.
I turned off the lights and opened the door quietly.
The hallway was empty as expected.
It was still and dark. I have no idea who had turned off the lights, but they did a great favor.
I stepped out, pulling the door shut behind without a sound.
And just like that, I walked away.
Each step down the corridor felt heavier than the last.
Not because I wanted to stop.
But because sothing deep inside ...was resisting.
I didn’t need to be told that the mate bond seed to have sensed the intended separation and was fighting back.
Pulling as if urging to stay.
I clenched my jaw slightly, ignoring the faint ache building in my chest.
"Don’t look back," Lizzie warned softly.
"I won’t." I replied imdiately.
And I ant it.
Because I knew that if I gave myself even the slightest chance to hesitate, I might change my mind and stay.
But I couldn’t afford that after finally mastering the strength to leave.
I moved quickly, taking the less crowded paths, avoiding the main halls where early risers might already be moving around.
The pack house was large with complicated twists and turns.
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