Chapter 4

On the exact day of our anniversary, Kaelen finally returned.

The moment he stepped inside, he walked straight over and handed me an elegant velvet box. I opened the lid to find a beautiful floor-length gown, soft as moonlight, folded inside.

Kaelen’s amber eyes dropped to my pale face, swimming with heavy guilt. "“After today, I’m not going anywhere," he murmured. "You are my most important mate."

He paused, his amber eyes locking onto mine with a burning, desperate intensity. "And tonight... right after dinner, we will hold the Marking Ceremony. I absolutely won't break my promise this time."

I nodded slowly. "Alright."

He breathed a sigh of relief. As we headed toward the door, he reached into his leather vest and pulled out a faded piece of folded parchment. It was the reply I had written to him seven years ago, right after receiving his very first love letter.

"Do you still have the first letter I wrote to you?" He asked.

I brushed past him, stepping out into the cool evening air. "Probably," I said with total indifference. "I don't know where I threw it."

He froze, utterly bewildered by my cold tone, but after a moment of hesitation, he hurried to catch up with my strides.

The moment we sat down at our reserved table in the tavern, a loud, cheerful voice pierced the romantic atmosphere. "Kaelen! What a coincidence!"

It was Elara, flanked by two of her friends. Without waiting for an invitation, they pulled up chairs and squeezed into our booth.

Knowing our ceremony was scheduled for tonight, Elara’s eyes darted between us before she smiled brightly, pulling out her perfect excuse. "Emma, since tonight is your big night, I wanted to get you a special blessing gift to celebrate!" she chirped. "But I really need Kaelen's help to pick it out at the market. I’m going to borrow him just for a little bit!"

I remained silent, taking a slow sip of my water. "Sure. Go ahead," I said softly.

Kaelen looked completely dumbfounded. He stared at me, clearly confused by how easily I was letting him go right before our ceremony, but the impatient tugging from Elara distracted him.

Figuring he was just doing this to get a gift for me, he offered a quick apology. "I'll make this quick," he promised, looking back at me as he was dragged toward the tavern doors. "Wait for me at the Altar tonight. No matter what happens, we are completing the ceremony. I swear it."

I sat alone for a moment, listening to their fading laughter. Then, I calmly stood up, dropped a few coins on the table to cover the bill, and walked out.

I returned to the empty, silent house and gave my packed belongings one final check.

Just then, Kaelen called. "Elara twisted her ankle—I've gotta take her to the hospital. I'm probably gonna be late, so just hang on for me, okay? Only an hour! Meet me at the altar!" he said, and hung up before I could get a word in.

But I didn't do what he asked.

I and picked up the leather satchel.

Making sure the small glass vial of the red potion was safely in my pocket, I walked into the night with my leather satchel.

An hour later, I was on a carriage leaving the pack behind, and I never looked back.

At the same time, Kaelen rushed out of the hospital, ignoring Elara's tearful pleas, and sped toward the altar.