Updated Dec 21, 2025 • ~8 min read
Drake found me on the third night, while Kaian was hunting with his guards to give me space.
I was sitting by the stream where we used to meet, back when I’d thought he was my future. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
“You shouldn’t be here alone,” he said, approaching cautiously like I was a spooked deer. “It’s not safe.”
“I’m a Moon Wolf mated to a vampire lord.” I didn’t look at him. “I’m the most dangerous thing in this forest.”
He sat anyway, keeping careful distance between us. For a long moment, we listened to water rushing over stones and wind through pines. Sounds that used to mean home.
“I’m sorry,” Drake said finally. “For everything. For marking Lyla. For not questioning why the bond felt wrong. For standing there while you—” His voice cracked. “While you looked at me like I’d killed you.”
“You did kill me. The version of me that loved you, anyway.” I picked up a stone and tossed it into the stream. “She died the moment you marked Lyla’s neck.”
“I didn’t know. Lira, I swear I didn’t know about the blood magic or the parasitic bond or—”
“Didn’t you though?” I finally looked at him. “You courted me for two years. Told me I was your mate, your future Luna. Then overnight, suddenly Lyla was irresistible? Her scent called to you? Her wolf completed yours? And you never questioned it?”
Shame colored his face. “I should have. I knew something felt off. The bond was there but it was—muted. Wrong. But I was the Alpha. I couldn’t admit I might have made a mistake in front of the entire pack.”
“So you let me suffer to save face.”
“Yes.” The admission came out broken. “I was a coward. I chose pride over you, and I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
Part of me wanted to rage at him, to make him hurt the way he’d hurt me. But the larger part—the part that had chosen mercy for Lyla—just felt tired.
“The bond will be broken soon,” I said. “Elder Edith is preparing the ritual. You’ll be free of Lyla.”
“And then what? Do I—” He swallowed hard. “Do I get a chance with you? A real one?”
I almost laughed. “No, Drake. You don’t.”
“Because of the vampire.”
“Because of you.” I stood, and he scrambled to his feet. “Even without Kaian, even if I’d never met him—I wouldn’t choose you. You had me, Drake. You had my love, my loyalty, my devotion. And you threw it away the moment something easier came along.”
“It wasn’t easier—”
“Yes it was. Lyla made herself irresistible with blood magic because she knew you were weak enough to fall for it. And you were.” I stepped closer, watching him flinch. “A true mate bond can’t be faked, Drake. Not completely. Somewhere in you, you knew Lyla wasn’t right. But you chose to ignore it because admitting the truth would be hard.”
“I loved you,” he whispered.
“No. You loved the idea of me. The weak wolf who’d be grateful for an Alpha’s attention. Who’d follow orders and make you look good and never challenge you.” I tilted my head. “But I’m not weak anymore. And I’m done making myself small so men like you feel big.”
His wolf pushed forward, eyes going gold. “I could have given you everything. Pack, power, a place—”
“I have those things. A mate who waited three hundred years. A city that doesn’t see me as lesser. Power I earned instead of begged for.” My own eyes glowed silver. “I don’t need anything you have, Drake. I never did. I just didn’t know it yet.”
“The vampire’s manipulating you. Lira, he’s had centuries to perfect his lies—”
“Stop.” Power rippled through my voice, and Drake physically stepped back. “Kaian has been nothing but honest with me. He’s told me about the bond, about the curse, about the three hundred years he spent searching. He’s let me choose every step of the way—to stay or go, to help Lyla or walk away, to complete our bond or wait.” I met Drake’s eyes. “You want to know the difference between you and him? Kaian respects me enough to let me make my own choices. You respect me so little you think I’m being manipulated when I don’t choose you.”
The words hit like physical blows. Drake actually staggered, his wolf whining.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Yes, you did. You’ve always underestimated me, Drake. Seen me as something to protect instead of someone who could stand beside you. And maybe old Lira would have been okay with that. But I’m not her anymore.”
“Then who are you?” It came out desperate, confused.
“I’m the Moon Wolf who survived her sister’s betrayal and a vampire’s three-hundred-year search. I’m the woman strong enough to help her worst enemy and walk away from the only home she’s ever known. I’m—” My voice softened. “I’m someone who deserves better than you.”
Silence fell between us, heavy with everything we’d lost and everything we’d never actually had.
“Does he make you happy?” Drake asked finally. “The vampire?”
I thought of Kaian’s patience, his support, the way he looked at me like I was worth centuries of waiting. “Yes. And more importantly, I make myself happy. He’s just someone I choose to share it with.”
“I could have made you happy.”
“Maybe. In another life. If you’d been brave enough to trust the bond when it mattered.” I touched his shoulder, brief and final. “But this isn’t that life, Drake. And I’m done mourning what could have been.”
I turned to leave, but his hand caught my wrist. “Please. Just—tell me one thing. Did you ever really love me? Or was it always the vampire?”
The question was so vulnerable, so raw, that I almost lied to spare him. But he deserved truth, even when it hurt.
“I did love you. For two years, I loved you completely. You were my whole world.” I gently extracted my wrist from his grip. “But Kaian is my destiny. And now that I’ve remembered who I was, who I’m meant to be—there’s no going back. I wouldn’t want to, even if I could.”
I left him standing by the stream, his devastation palpable even without turning around. Part of me felt guilty for being so harsh.
But the larger part felt free.
I found Kaian waiting at the edge of pack territory, his crimson eyes tracking my approach.
“You heard?” I asked.
“Every word.” He pulled me into his arms. “Are you alright?”
“Better than alright.” I tilted my head up to kiss him, pouring everything I felt into it—relief and certainty and the beginning of love. “I’m done carrying the past. Done apologizing for being strong. Done making myself smaller.”
“Good.” His thumb traced my jaw. “Because the woman I’ve been waiting for doesn’t apologize. She conquers.”
“I don’t want to conquer,” I murmured against his lips. “I just want to be free.”
“Then be free.” He kissed me deeper, and I felt the mate bond surge—still not complete, but closer. So much closer. “Be strong. Be fierce. Be exactly who you’re meant to be. And I’ll be right here, waiting for you to choose me.”
“I do choose you.” The words felt like a vow. “Not because of the bond or the past or destiny. Because you see me. Really see me. And you like what you see.”
“I love what I see.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “And when you’re ready—when you’ve helped your sister and settled your debts and become whoever you’re meant to become—I’ll still be here. Still waiting. Still yours.”
As we stood there in the moonlight, the pack den at my back and vampire territory ahead, I realized I wasn’t caught between two worlds anymore.
I was creating my own.
One where I could be strong and merciful. Where I could help my sister and love a vampire. Where I could honor my past without being chained to it.
“Three weeks,” I told Kaian. “Give me three weeks to stabilize Lyla’s wolf and complete the severing ritual. Then I’m coming home. To you. To Nocturne. To the life I choose.”
“I’ll count every hour.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “And Lira? Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For choosing yourself first. For being strong enough that when you do choose me, I’ll know it’s real.”
As he disappeared into the shadows—giving me space to work without the pack’s anxiety about vampire presence—I stood at the border and felt my wolf settle.
She approved. Of Kaian, of the choice to help Lyla, of the path forward.
And for the first time in my life, I approved too.
Not of what I’d lost or what had been stolen.
But of who I was becoming.
Someone worthy of a three-hundred-year wait.
Someone brave enough to choose love over hate.
Someone whole.
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