He hated himself for not noticing the signs and thinking my silence meant maturity. He also hated himself for praising me when I was giving up. If he had just paid more attention, he might have noticed something was wrong. But he hadn’t.
Now, it was too late. Tears streamed down his face as he held my body and walked out of the hospital in a daze.
On the way home, his phone rang. It was Ruby. “Caleb, where are you? The bonding ceremony is about to start. Why aren’t
you here yet?”
“Ruby, I’m sorry. The ceremony’s canceled. Something else came up,” he said, then paused and ended the call.
He held me tighter, his tears landing on my lifeless face. “Zoe, how could I go bond with someone else when you’re not even here anymore…”
It was only then that he realized that Ruby’s life and death didn’t matter to him. It had always been me. If he had known I was dying, he would have never let go.
“Zoe, I’m taking you home,” he whispered.
Caleb gave me the grand funeral he thought I deserved. Wearing a black suit, he stood in front of my photo, completely undone with grief.
1/2
25 BONUS
Day after day, he blamed himself for not seeing it sooner. If only he had known that I had Wolf Dissolution Disorder and if only he had been paying attention, maybe I wouldn’t have died. This was all his fault.
“Zoe, how could you leave me like this… You promised we’d go to Snowland together… You said we’d watch the aurora. You can’t go back on that.”
One by one, mourners approached to comfort him. “Mr. Lowe, my condolences. I’m sure Luna wouldn’t want to see you like
this.”
“Yes, you’re still young. In time, you’ll find someone else…”
Just then, Ruby approached. She wore a black dress, her face painted with false sorrow. She said softly, “Caleb, don’t grieve too much. Zoe wouldn’t want to see you this way.”
Caleb didn’t look at her. He just murmured something inaudible in return.
She continued, “Caleb, even though Zoe is gone, you still have me. I’ll take care of you. After the funeral, we can still have our
bonding ceremony. I’ll learn how to be a proper Luna for you-”
Before she could finish speaking, he cut her off, “Don’t bring up the bonding ceremony again. It’s not happening.”
“What?” Ruby blinked, stunned. “Caleb, what did you say?”
“I said the bonding ceremony is canceled,” he replied, his voice cold and final. “I’ll only ever have one Luna in this lifetime.
And it will always be Zoe.”
“But…” She tried to speak again, but the look in his eyes froze her where she stood.
Whispers broke out among the guests.
“Doesn’t she have any shame? Luna just died, and she’s already pushing the Alpha to bond?”
“Seriously. She’s nothing compared to Ms. Johnston.”
“Who does she think she is, trying to take the Luna’s place?”
The murmurs continued.
Ruby’s face turned pale, then flushed red as the whispers grew and fled the funeral in disgrace.
Ouder Under the weight of everyone’s judgment, she turned
Even after the ceremony ended, Caleb refused to leave. He wandered in the rain, clutching my photo to his chest. The smile
on my face had long lost its warmth, yet it became his only source of solace.
He stumbled through the downpour like a man possessed, his eyes vacant and lifeless. No one knew how long he wandered before finally returning home.
On the nightstand, he found the journal and voice recorder I had left behind.
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