Chapter 6

No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't escape the inevitable end.

The words I had suppressed in my heart for five years were finally sent the moment Violet returned.

I turned off my screen and stepped onto the plane.

As the plane hit turbulence, I stared down at the thick layers of clouds, feeling as though I was trapped in a dream.

I used to think that as long as I was with Jack, I would never have the chance to board a plane.

In the past, every time I mentioned wanting to go on a trip abroad, he would shut me down instantly.

He’d say he had no time, that the pack was too busy.

Back then, I was too blind to see the truth. I even made excuses for him, believing he was working tirelessly for our future.

I even defended him in front of my father.

It was only when I saw those sixty-three flight transactions on his bank statement that I realized how stupid I had been.

A man who loves you will fly across the country just to have dinner with you, even if he only has a weekend.

A man who doesn't love you will sleep in the same bed as you every night and still claim he’s "too busy."

After being rejected by Jack so many times, I had grown too scared to travel far on my own.

I truly believed I would spend my entire life trapped in that city.

I never expected that I would be the one to end things.

And I certainly didn't expect that after the breakup, I wouldn't collapse. Instead, I found the strength to fly to a completely new country all by myself.

My eyes burned with unshed tears.

When I reached up to rub them, my fingers came away wet.

When did things start to change between us?

Or had I simply never known the real him from the very beginning?

I remembered when we first met. It was at the Silvercrest Pack's New Year Gala.

He was the young, charming Alpha of the Red Ridge Pack, attending as an honored guest.

In a hall packed with werewolves, he stood out effortlessly.

I was drawn to him, completely captivated.

Using the gala as an excuse, I struck up a conversation and slowly got to know him.

On the surface, he seemed warm and polite, but deep down, he was incredibly cold and distant.

I tried to steer our conversations from pack politics to more personal matters.

He rejected me three times.

But just when I was ready to give up, he unexpectedly asked me out to a romance movie.

To this day, I couldn't even remember what the movie was about. I couldn't even recall the title.

I only remembered the pitch-black theater, my heart hammering so loudly against my ribs that I was sure he could hear it.

His breath was so close to my ear.

From that day on, we grew closer and closer.

But whenever the topic of our relationship came up, it felt as though there was an invisible, thick wall between us.

I couldn't see through him. I couldn't understand him.

Yet back then, my courage was endless, and my hope seemed exhausting.

The colder he acted, the more passionate I became.

Three weeks after the gala, he sent an official invitation, asking me to visit the Red Ridge Pack territory.

That was the day we officially started dating.

I bought a bouquet of Black Baccara roses and brought them to the Red Ridge Pack's reception hall.

I handed them to him myself.