جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 40

Novah’s POVI sat on the edge of the worn bench outside the training hall, pretending I had a reason to be there.I didn’t.Classes had ended hours ago, but going home felt harder than just… waiting.Jason had gone ahead. He always walked me to the gate, but I told him I’d stay back today. I said I needed to meet with one of the teachers.It was a lie.I just didn’t want him to see the way my hands shook or the way my eyes kept darting toward the hallway where the elite wolves trained. Where Ashton might walk by. Where Loveth would definitely walk by.I pulled my hoodie sleeves over my hands and stared at my shoes. They were scuffed. One lace was torn. The soles were thin from walking home instead of taking the car Father insisted on keeping for show. Because of course, the Alpha’s daughter had to appear like she was cared for.That was the key word: appear.The wind whistled outside the cracked window, and I flinched as the old frame creaked.I hated how easily I flinched.The traini

Novah’s POV The morning felt colder than it should have been.Not the weather—though the crisp wind did bite a little—but something else. Something inside me that couldn’t find its warmth anymore. I sat by the windowsill of my room, staring blankly at the small backyard where the pack kids played chase around the tree line, their laughter echoing up into the gray skies.It was a sound that once made me smile.Now, I couldn’t even pretend.Last night still clung to my skin like ash—dry and dirty and impossible to wipe away. Loveth’s laughter haunted me in fragments. Ashton’s silence was louder than any word he could’ve said.I had seen it with my own eyes. His lips on hers. His hands on her waist.And maybe the worst part was that it hadn’t shocked me.It had just broken something soft.Something stupid.I hadn’t slept much after that. Just lay in bed, wide-eyed, counting the seconds in my head like that would keep me from thinking about them. About how her fingers had curled in his s

Novah’s POV The next morning smelled like lavender and unease.It wasn’t the kind of lavender that calmed you. No, it was sharp—almost medicinal—the kind they put in rooms when people were sick or had been crying. I stared at the breakfast tray left at my door, untouched. Toast, tea, and a single orange.I didn’t want it.I didn’t want anything.But I got dressed anyway. Not because I wanted to, but because it was expected. That’s what being an omega meant here. You did things because you had to. Not because you mattered. Not because you had a choice.The pack house buzzed with a strange energy that morning. Maids whispered in corners. Dresses were being carried down halls. I caught glimpses of blush pinks and ivory silks—wedding colors.My wedding.To Lucien.It still didn’t feel real.Camilia had ordered a seamstress. Lucien’s family was in town. There would be a small gathering tonight to celebrate the upcoming bond. I was supposed to smile. Be thankful. Be glowing.But I just fel

Novah’s POVThe morning after Lucien left me in the garden, the air felt too thin to breathe.I kept waiting for someone to knock on my door. Maybe Camilia, to scold me again. Maybe Lucien, to say he’d thought it over. Or even Ashton—to offer some half-apology that would only tangle things further.But no one came.The sun rose slowly, its rays spilling through my curtains like golden threads. But they didn’t warm me. I sat on the edge of my bed, in yesterday’s dress, the one with the rip from the bush. I hadn’t brushed my hair. I hadn’t eaten. I hadn’t even cried.Not because I wasn’t hurting.But because even my tears had learned to abandon me.A knock came just past noon.I jumped up too quickly and stumbled. My feet had gone numb.I opened the door, breath caught.It was Mira.Of course it was Mira.She looked at me like I was something she’d stepped on.“Did you forget we have school?” she asked, chewing gum lazily.“I…” I blinked. “No. I just…”“Lucien wants to make an announcem

NOVAH’S POVThe silence after the howls wasn’t peaceful. It was heavy. Like a thick, suffocating blanket thrown over the world. Over me. Moonlight, cold and pale, painted stripes across my bedroom floor, highlighting dust motes dancing in air – tiny, insignificant things, just like me. I hadn’t moved from the window. My cheek still pressed against the cool glass, my breath fogging a small circle that vanished almost as soon as it appeared. *Just like hope,* I thought dully.*Let me matter to someone.*The plea echoed uselessly in the hollow chamber of my chest. The moon hadn’t answered. The wolves hadn’t paused their wild song. Why would they? An omega’s whispered desperation was nothing against the primal call of the pack, the strength of the alphas, the sharp wit of the betas. I was background noise. Static. Easily ignored.The ache in my bones from the morning hadn’t faded; it had settled deeper, a constant thrum of exhaustion beneath the dull numbness. School had been… expected. T