Chapter 1843:

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“Tell me about your home. You never talk about it.”

A lump formed in my throat.

Home.

I didn’t know which hurt more: the distance in time, or the distance in space. So much had happened, and it was all so far away.

“Beautiful,” I said, and the word slipped from my lips like a heavy sigh.

𝖭𝖾𝗐 𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗄𝗅𝗒 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝗈𝗇 𝗀𝖺𝗅𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅𝗌.𝖼𝗈𝗆

“We had a garden like this one.” I gestured around me. “I liked growing flowers, but Olivia was more practical; she grew vegetables and medicinal herbs. We spent most of our time in that garden, and when the time came, we’d take our flowers and our harvest to the market to sell.”

“Was it just the two of you?” Sera asked.

I shook my head.

“We lived with our grandmother.” A shadow passed over the memory, tightening the knot in my throat. “She’s… she’s the reason I got lost.”

Sera didn’t say anything, but I could feel her there, listening, waiting.

“She slipped and fell during a particularly bad storm,” I said, my voice lowering. “Werewolf healing doesn’t do much for a frail, elderly Omega, and Olivia and I were worried sick. I went to the neighboring village to get an ointment that people said worked wonders for her sore muscles and brittle bones.” I breathed in sharply through my nose. “A simple errand. I would have been back before dark.”

Except I never made it back.

And then Olivia left too, and she never came back either. Never.

How long had our grandmother waited for us? Was she still waiting, or had she left too? Would there be anything left for me back home?

Would there be any trace left of the life my sister and I had once shared?

Could I live never knowing?

“No, you probably can’t.”

I blinked, looking at Sera, and she ducked her head, an embarrassed flush coloring her cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Sometimes I read people without meaning to. Especially when their emotions are this… intense.”

I looked away. I didn’t want her reading my emotions, my intentions. After everything she’d done for me, she didn’t deserve—

“I understand, Mireya.”

The tenderness in her voice, the understanding in it, made me look back at her.

“What do you mean?” I asked, my voice trembling slightly.

She reached over and took my hand.

“I spent so much time searching for a place I could call home. Even surrounded by family, I never truly felt like I belonged anywhere. But now I do. This” — she gestured around us — “is my home. My destiny.” She squeezed my hand. “Everyone deserves to find their destiny, Mireya.”

I parted my lips, but no words came out.

Sera continued.

“From the moment we rescued you from that inn, I knew Nightfang wasn’t your destiny. You’ve always wanted something more; you’ve always leaned toward something else. You’re not meant to go from one set of four walls to another. The only thing holding you back was fear.”

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