He brought a box of my favorite pastries.

And a jar of healing salve.

He came in and sat down in front of me, taking my hand in his.

Gently, he applied the salve.

So he knew—about the frostbite covering my hands.

As he worked, he sighed softly.

“Jessie, what you did was wrong.”

“Asking you to change your name might have upset you, but that didn’t give you the right to touch Briella’s necklace.”

“That necklace was a keepsake from the late Lycan Queen. How could you have touched it?”

I stared at him.

And laughed silently.

Talon kept his eyes down, not noticing.

“Thankfully, Briella is reasonable and won’t hold it against you.”

“She’s only having you confined for a few days.”

He massaged the back of my hand, his touch tender.

“The mark ceremony won’t happen tomorrow.”

“I’ve already spoken to Briella. You’ll apologize to her in front of all the guests, with a proper acknowledgment.”

“And then we’ll consider this matter settled.”

I laughed again.

This time, Talon noticed.

He frowned. “Jessie, Briella is a Lycan Princess. This is already a great concession on her part.”

“Oh.”

He sighed again.

“As for officially marking you as my mate, give me some more time.”

“I’ll make sure it’s done before the next full moon.”

“Oh.”

“Jessie.” His tone sharpened, displeased.

I picked up a pastry and took a bite.

“Jessie.” He grabbed my arm.

“When you apologize tomorrow, be sincere. You know how to show proper respect, don’t you?”

“Talon.” I chewed the pastry slowly. “I’m going home.”

We won’t have a tomorrow.

“Jessie Carroll!”

I looked up.

Talon’s brows were furrowed tightly, as if I’d just spoken some unforgivable lie.

“Tonight, go back to your room.”

“Tomorrow, no matter what, you will acknowledge Briella and apologize properly!”

I blinked. “Oh.”

Talon gritted his teeth, stood abruptly, and stormed out, his coat flaring sharply behind him.

I don’t understand why Talon is so angry.

I didn’t lie to him.

I’m going home.

But I never imagined it would happen like this, on this day.

The next day, the entire Southern Pack was buzzing with excitement.

The Alpha was marking Briella Phillips as his mate, and the whole pack was celebrating.

Only in my quarters was there silence, broken by Adelynn’s quiet sobs.

Last night, after I returned, Talon had all the pack members in my quarters removed.

He made it clear:

From now on, the pack would only have one “Luna.”

I sighed.

“Adelynn, I’d like some of those honey cakes from the bakery in the north district. They’re probably still open, right?”

Adelynn blinked, then nodded quickly. “I’ll… I’ll go get them! Right away!”

Silly girl.

As soon as she left, the room fell into stillness.

The rejection letter was already written.

The mate bond certificate had been burned.

Everything in the room that needed to be dealt with had been taken care of.

I waited quietly.

The sound of the marking ceremony’s music grew louder, and the front courtyard was filled with cheers and laughter.

I wrapped myself in a cloak.

As I stepped out, someone sneered,

“Oh, the new Luna hasn’t even arrived yet. Can’t wait to kneel and beg for forgiveness?”

I ignored them.

Only when the sky filled with one glowing firework after another did I pause to look.

“Fly together, never part.”

A thousand fireworks, a thousand blessings.

All lit by hand.

For a moment, I remembered the boy who once said, “I will never betray you.”

I had imagined countless endings.

He would never remember me…

He would finally remember me…

A reunion under the moonlight, or a parting in the shadows.

But I never imagined it would end like this.

That boy was gone.

And Jessie Carroll would soon be, too.

As the first firework lit up the sky, I pushed open the gates.

Amid the noise of “Congratulations to the Alpha and his new Luna,” a group of warriors knelt in unison.

“We respectfully welcome the Lycan Princess back to the capital!”