Chapter 30
Samantha’s POV
“You’re thinner than the last time I saw you.”
+25 BONUS
Lena’s voice pulled me from my thoughts as she placed a steaming cup of tea on the small table between us. She settled into the chair across from me, scanning me in the way only she could–half affectionate, half appraising.
I let out a short laugh, one that felt foreign and awkward after years of keeping myself guarded. “I guess life has a way of wearing you down,” I replied.
She frowned, her lips pressing into a thin line. “You’ve been through too much, Samantha. More than anyone should have to endure.”
I avoided her gaze, my hands warming against the teacup. The years apart had not dulled her ability to see right through me. It was comforting and unsettling all at once, after all, when my mother died, she took me in, cared for me, and raised me to be the Luna I had been. But fate decided to hand me a cruel life I had to escape from.
“I’ve managed,” I replied after a moment. “The Moonstone Pack has been good to me. It’s peaceful there.”
Lena tilted her head slightly as she focused her eyes on me, searching. “Peace is important. But it’s not everything,” she finally said. It was no wonder to me how she managed to reach me. I knew Dominic must have told her where I was. And when she contacted the Moonstone Pack, requesting my presence and contact details, who was I to decline? So I took the contact details that she used in reaching out to the Pack and contacted her for an afternoon tea. Despite the fallout between me and Dominic, I wouldn’t deny that I still missed Lena. She was like a mother to me already – always been nice, and caring
Seeing her again after all these years felt surreal, like stepping into a memory that was both familiar and foreign.
“I’ve missed you,” I admitted, my voice softer than I intended. “More than I realized.”
Her expression softened, and she reached across the table to squeeze my hand. “I’ve missed you too, Samantha. You were like a daughter to me. You know that, right? Losing you… it felt like losing her all over again.”
Her words hit me harder than I expected. Lena had been my lifeline after my mother’s death. She filled the void left by my mother’s absence. Hearing her speak of that loss reminded me just how much we had shared.
“I never meant to disappear,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “But I could not stay. Not after everything that happened.”
“I know,” Lena said, and despite the understanding in her tone, there was a tinge of sadness. “I don’t blame you, Samantha. You did what you had to do. And I apologize because I was not able to do anything.”
Lena filled me in on the changes the Silver Crescent Pack had undergone since I left new alliances forged, territory disputes settled, and the growing strength of its warriors. Yet, as she spoke, her tone shifted, her voice growing heavier when the conversation inevitably drifted toward Dominic and the life she had lived after I disappeared from his life.
She hesitated before mentioning his name.
“He hasn’t been the same,” Lena finally said, avoiding my eyes for I know that I had frowned at his name and if possible I would have wanted to avoid the topic about him.
“Losing you… it broke something in him.” She was almost hesitant, as though speaking the truth aloud might hurt me.
I forced myself to meet her eyes, even though it felt like peeling open an old wound.
1/3
+25 BONUS
Chapter 30
“And whose fault is that?” I asked although I did not intend to be rude.
Her expression faltered, the discomfort evident in the sligl downturn of her mouth. For a moment, guilt stabbed at me. But it was fleeting, easily swallowed by the bitterness I carried.
“He made his choices,” I continued, softer this time because I understood that this was not in her hand. We both knew that she could not do anything about it. His son was stubborn and no one could stop him. However, the pain pushed me to utter the truth and not coat it with sugary lies “He chose his woman, over everything else. I was there, I endured it all. Though I know this was neither of our fault, I do not think I can do it again, Lena. I’m sorry.”
Lena did not defend him, and did not offer the excuses I half expected. Instead, she nodded slowly, agreeing, or perhaps understanding where I was coming from.
“You’re right,” she replied. “And he is paying the price for it.”
I opened my mouth to ask what she meant, but she continued before I could speak.
“After you left, he became… different. Withdrawn, harsher. He drove himself into his duties – training, securing alliances, strengthening the pack like it could fill the void you left. But nothing did. He pushed himself and everyone else to the edge, demanding perfection because it was the only thing he could control.”
I sat back, stunned by her words, and surprised at how Dominic, as if I could see it all in my head how he might have been. But I tried not to show any concern. I could picture it vividly – Dominic, commanding with perfection, and throwing himself into work because facing the truth was too painful. I knew the feeling. I’d been there, burying myself in work just to divert my mind from the pain he had been causing me when I was still with him. I wanted to sympathize, but the part in me that wanted revenge stopped me from feeling sorry.
“There were nights,” Lena continued, her voice quieter now, “when he would not even come home. He would spend hours alone in the training grounds, beating himself against targets long after everyone else had gone to bed. He never said it outright, but it was clear to anyone who knew him – he was punishing himself. For losing you.”
I felt a pang deep in my chest, a mix of anger and something softer I did not want to acknowledge, and my wolf felt it too, whimpering in the back of my mind, quietly scolding me for leaving our mate. “He didn’t lose me,” I remarked. “He pushed me away. There’s a difference.”
Lena did not argue, but her expression told me she understood more than she let on.
“He doesn’t talk about it,” she said after a pause. “Not to anyone. But the cracks are there. He is still carrying the pain of your absence, Samantha. Even if he will never admit it.”
I looked away, staring into the tea that had long since gone cold. Memories from that time came flooding back— the way Dominic’s anger had overshadowed everything else, his relentless need for control that left no room for compromise or understanding.
“I was there, Lena. But he chose someone else. So I had to leave. The relationship that was supposed to be just for the two of us became too crowded… He doesn’t get to be broken over something he chose to destroy.”
Lena nodded again and sighed, shifting the conversation away from Dominic. But her words lingered, pressing against the walls I had built around myself., no matter how much I tried to bury it away from my memory and erase the vivid image of Dominic miserably getting through his day since the day I left.
Dominic was broken. But so was I. And neither of us had figured out how to put the pieces back together.
But as the afternoon wore on, Lena’s tone grew more serious.
“Samantha,” she began carefully, “you know the Silver Crescent Pack will always be your home.”
2/3
Chapter 30
+25 BONUS
I stiffened, sensing where this was headed. “Lena-
11
“Let me finish,” she interrupted gently. “I am not asking you to return as Luna. That is your decision, and I will respect whatever choice make. But you
you
do not have to carry that burden if you don’t want to. You can come back just as you are.”
I stared at her, not knowing what to say, but I knew for sure that I would not want the twins anywhere near Dominic. And that place… I did not want to be around Olivia I did not want to go back to the place I tried so hard to escape from. I feared that if I return, I would find them again, tangled within each other’s arms. I did not want to suffer like I did in the past again.
“Even if you don’t want to lead,” she continued, “you are still part of us. You always will be.”
The Silver Crescent Pack had been my entire world once. Leaving it had been the hardest decision I had ever made, but staying had felt impossible at the time.
“I don’t know if I can,” I admitted. “My life in the Moonstone Pack… it’s quiet, Lena. It’s more peaceful.”
She nodded, “I understand. But promise me you will think about it. You do not have to decide now. Just… don’t close the door entirely.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said after a pause, although I was genuine with my response, I was also uncertain.
A small smile tugged at her lips, and she reached out to squeeze my hand again. “That’s all I ask.”
As the conversation wound down, a thought began to take root in the back of my mind allowed myself to fully entertain until now.
Lena did not know about the twins.
– a thought I hadn’t
She didn’t know about the two little lives that were as much a part of Dominic as they were of me. And while I had done everything in my power to keep them safe, to shield them from the chaos of my past, a part of me could not ignore the guilt that came with keeping them a secret from her.
She had been like a mother to me. She had loved me when she didn’t have to, guided me, and stood by me when I had no one else.
Didn’t she deserve to know them?
Lena hugged me goodbye.
Someday, when the time was right, I would let her meet them.
For now, the twins were my secret, my only support against the storm that Dominic’s return had brought into my life. But Lena… she was different. She was family.
And perhaps, letting her into their lives would be the first step toward something I hadn’t dared to hope for in
years
healing.
3/3
