"After your family lost everything, my mom threatened to kill herself if I didn't leave you. She forced me to break it off. "

"Elena-" Bran started, but she held up a hand, her tears spilling freely now.

"I didn't want to go!" Her voice cracked.

"Do you know what it's like to think about someone every day and not be able to reach out? To want to know if they're okay, but be too scared they'll hate you?"

"Elena, stop-"

"No!" She stood suddenly, her chair scraping loudly against the floor.

"When I saw you at the airport, I thought it was a dream. But then you brought me here, and now I don't know."

Her voice dropped, trembling. "Bran, tell me the truth. Did you bring me here because you still care? Or is this your way of showing me that I'm nothing to you?"

Bran and Elena were childhood sweethearts, inseparable until university.

They loved deeply, and Bran once confessed he'd marry her the moment they graduated.

But fate intervened.

The year Bran's pack, Silvermoon, faced ruin, Elena was away studying in another pack. When she heard, she ended things over a phone call-cold and final.

Bran spiraled into despair.

Everyone knew I was chasing him, ignoring the warnings.

"Aren't you scared? Bran loved Elena with his whole soul," his friends teased.

I was naïve, believing I could be his salvation.

When a border tumult hit Silvermoon, everyone fled, but I dragged two suitcases of food through the chaos to Bran's doorstep. I earned his house code that day, but not his heart.

For three years, I waited.

Until one night, tears streaming, I asked, "Do you even like me?"

He pulled me into his arms.

"Let's try," he whispered.

Three months later, Elena returned.

Tonight was the final blow.

In the shower, I scrubbed off the humiliation. Dressed, hair dried, I stepped out of the room to overhear him.

"Elena's had a lot to drink. Aunt Sasra, make her some soup when she gets home. Keep an eye on her tonight, okay?"

My breath caught. A breakup years ago, yet he still had her family servant's number, still worried over her like she was his mate.

I recalled how he treated me drunk-

"Get off me. You stink of alcohol. Disgusting."

I'd once thought it was tough love. It wasn't.

"Bran," his friend asked casually, "are you getting back with Elena? Laura looked upset."

He scoffed. "Upset? So what? She won't leave me."

I closed the door and sat in silence.

Later, Bran staggered into the room, collapsing onto the bed. "Everyone's gone. Go clean up and turn off the lights."

I didn't move.

"Bran," I said.

"What?"

"We're done. Let's not see each other again."

The room went quiet.

For a moment, I thought he'd fallen asleep. Then-

"Do whatever you want."

Just indifference, like discussing the weather.

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

I packed silently.

Bran sat up suddenly, his eyes flashing with irritation. "You're noisy as hell."

When Bran left, I ordered emergency crates online. At dawn, I entered his study, taking the last thing I bought for him-a wolf-patterned blanket.

The moving crew arrived quickly, only to be blocked by Elena at the door.

"Leaving already? That's it?" she sneered.

I shot her a glare, telling her to move. She stepped inside, surveying the place like a queen.

"You're not planning to empty Bran's house, are you? Anything that's not yours, leave it."

She ripped open the crate, dumping its contents onto the floor-an old compass, a cracked watch, and scattered sketches of hunting maps.

"These are mine. Stay out of it." I shoved her aside and bent to gather them, only for her to kick them further away.

"Yours?" She smirked.

"Women like you never leave empty-handed after splitting with someone wealthy. You paid for these? As if."

She'd forgotten she was the one who fled when Bran's pack hit rock bottom. Now, with Silvermoon thriving, all she saw was his glory, forgetting who stood by him in the ashes.

Anger surged. I shoved her against the wall.

Heavy footsteps approached, and a strong grip wrenched my arm.

Elena teared up instantly, her voice trembling.

"Bran, don't blame her. I was just worried she might take your things and asked too many questions."

Bran sighed.

"Laura, what are you doing this early? Can't you let me have some peace?"

I didn't want to care anymore, but his scolding still stung like a claw to my chest.

Keeping my tone steady, I replied, "I'm leaving and taking what's mine. Is that a problem?"

Bran hesitated.

Then, like a storm cloud about to break, he growled, "Stop playing games. Don't joke about breaking up."

Elena, clutching her head dramatically, whimpered.

"Bran, I'm feeling dizzy. Could you take me to the hospital?"

Without hesitation, he swept her into his arms and left.

The house fell silent.

Back at my small, rented apartment, I discarded everything unnecessary, paying extra for the movers to dispose of the rest.

Before they left, one of the workers hesitated at the door.

"Miss, be careful who you trust next time."

Even an outsider could see Bran wasn't worth it.

Yet I'd wasted the best years of my life on him.

Half a month later, my phone rang. It was a friend.

"Hey, I heard you and Bran broke up?"

I nodded.

"You chased him for so long. Just like that, you're done?" she teased.

I chuckled.

"I once left him a perfectly roasted deer flank. He gave it all to Elena. What else was I supposed to do-eat the scraps?"

Her laughter was cut short by a low, familiar growl.

"You told me you weren't hungry." Bran's voice snapped through the line.

My heart clenched, but I masked it with indifference.

"What do you want, Bran?"

A pause. Then, softer:

"I just wanted to ask. Where did you put my old talisman? My head's killing me."

Bran's headaches were a lingering curse, a pain like claws raking through his skull.

I told him it was on the fireplace mantel.

He grumbled.

"Next time, don't move it. It's important. You should've thought of that."

This wasn't the first time.

He'd scolded me before for shifting it, saying it should always be in its rightful place.

I hung up mid-sentence, severing the connection.

Then I quietly removed that "NAME" from my life, too.

Bran's mother reached out to meet. I agreed.

When we met, I slid a leather pouch across the table. Inside was the crescent-moon pendant she'd once given me.

"This should've been returned long ago," I said evenly.

"Apologies for the delay."

Her gaze lingered on the pouch before she sighed.

"Laura, you're too good. You know as long as I'm here, Elena will never set foot in this family."

Three years ago, when the pack was locked down during the territory dispute, she admired how I stood by Bran, unwavering.

After we made it official, she gifted me the pendant, calling it the family's blessing for their Luna.

But that chapter had closed. I no longer deserved it.

"Are you sure there's no chance?" she pressed.

I managed a faint smile.

"Three years, and I still hate how it ended. But I can't lie to myself anymore."

She clasped my hand, her expression regretful.

"Bran told me something after you two became official. He said every woman before you only cared about his power. But you? You didn't."

Her words pierced deeper than intended. So that was it. He chose me because I didn't crave his title-nothing to do with love.

Bran never should've said, "Let's try."

He should've spared me the false hope, the heartbreak.

"Mom." The familiar voice froze me mid-thought.

I turned, rigid, as Bran's tall frame approached.

He stopped a few paces away, his eyes locking onto mine before darting to the pouch.

"Come here," his mother demanded.

Suddenly, I felt exposed. Betrayed.

"Laura," she said quietly. "It's my fault. I kept hoping you two could make it work."

I stood abruptly, masking my disgust with indifference.

"Apologies. I have other matters to attend to."

Bran's hand clamped around my arm before I could escape. His gaze bore down on me.

"Still playing hard to get after a month of this?"

"Let go," I snapped.

"Laura, I'm only here because my mother asked me to be. Don't flatter yourself. You're the one who stormed off because I snapped at you about that deer. A deer, Laura. And let's not forget how you shoved Elena."

The memory of his condescension ignited something feral in me. I grabbed the nearest glass of water and flung it at his face.

He released me, cursing, as I set the glass down with deliberate calm.

I turned to leave but collided with someone rushing through the doorway.

"Bran! Are you alright?"

Elena was here.

She dabbed at his dripping face with napkins before turning to block my path.

"Apologize," she demanded.

I reached for Bran's mother's untouched tea and dumped it over Elena.

For the first time in weeks, I felt relief.

Bran's mother's expression twisted.

"Laura, this temper of yours. Why can't you speak calmly? "

"She's always been like this," Elena cut in.

"Once, Bran asked if she'd eaten during a hunt, and she just glared at him instead of answering. How could anyone bear that?"

She stepped closer to Bran's mother,.

"I know I shouldn't be here, but when I saw what he's been enduring, I couldn't stay away."

Bran's mother said nothing, but her disappointed gaze spoke volumes.

"Laura," she finally muttered. "I never knew. I truly misjudged-"

"Enough." My voice cracked as I raised a hand to silence her.

"Meeting any of you was the worst stroke of luck in my life."

Bran slicked back his soaked hair, his face dark with anger.

"Laura, if you've got any pride, don't ever come near me again."

I walked away without looking back.

He didn't know this would be the last time we'd meet.

Tomorrow, I'd leave the pack for good.