Chapter 3 She’s Gone

Chapter 3

Eugene lowered his head.

He looked exhausted. Almost broken.

Once, seeing him like that would have destroyed Irene.

Now, all she felt was pain.

“The battle was intense,” he finally said. “You wouldn’t understand. You weren’t there.”

He paused before adding, “I was lonely.”

Something inside Irene turned cold.

“So your solution was to sleep with another woman?”

Eugene’s expression tightened.

“You don’t understand how I felt!”

“You’re right. I don’t.”

Her voice trembled, but she refused to look away.

“I don’t understand how you could return with another woman and her child, then expect me to accept it.”

“You weren’t the one fighting those Lycans!” Eugene snapped. “You don’t know what it was like to almost die every day!”

“And you don’t know what it was like to wait for you.”

That silenced him.

“I waited an entire year,” Irene continued. “I studied everything expected of a Luna because I wanted you to be proud of me when you returned.”

Her eyes burned, but she refused to cry.

“I was lonely too, Eugene. Every day and every night.”

His expression shifted.

“I prayed for you. I waited for you. And not once did I think about being with another man.”

The mate bond stirred between them.

Through it, Irene felt his guilt and regret.

But she felt something else too.

Even now, he was still trying to defend himself.

“It was different, Irene.”

She stared at him.

“Different?”

“Our situations weren’t the same.”

His answer hurt more than she expected.

“You haven’t even apologized.”

Eugene froze.

“I thought you would at least be sorry for hurting me,” she said.

Something changed in his face. For the first time, he seemed to understand what she had been waiting to hear.

“Irene…”

His voice softened.

“I’m sorry.”

The words should have comforted her.

They did not.

“You don’t mean it.”

His eyes widened.

“You regret what happened, but that isn’t the same as being sorry for what you did to me.”

“I do regret it.”

“Then why did I have to ask for an apology?”

Eugene had no answer.

Instead, he stepped closer and took her hands.

“Irene, we can fix this.”

She stared at him.

“Fix this?”

“We can still be together.”

For a moment, Irene could not believe what she was hearing.

He had betrayed her. He had brought Ruby and her child into their pack. Now, he spoke as if their broken relationship could simply continue.

“How?” Irene asked.

Eugene hesitated.

That brief silence told her everything.

“You don’t even know how,” she whispered.

“Irene…”

“If you think I’ll simply accept this, then you never really knew me.”

She pulled her hands free.

Eugene stared at her.

For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.

He finally understood that she might leave him.

But it was too late.

Irene turned and ran.

She did not know where she was going. She only knew she could not remain in that room for another second.

Music still filled the pack house. Warriors laughed as their families welcomed them home. Everyone was celebrating.

But Irene could barely hear them.

Her thoughts were filled with Eugene.

Ruby.

The child.

The lies.

Suddenly, the mate bond twisted inside her.

Pain tore through her chest, forcing her to stop. She grabbed the wall and struggled to remain standing.

The bond was still there.

After everything Eugene had done, she could still feel him.

His pain.

His fear.

His desperation.

For one terrible moment, Irene considered rejecting him.

If she broke their bond, there would be no going back.

She would lose her mate and the future she had spent an entire year waiting for.

But perhaps that future was already gone.

Irene closed her eyes.

Eugene had made his choice.

Now, she had to make hers.

For the first time since his return, she was no longer certain she wanted to choose him.

But she could not reject him.

Not yet.

Because the worst part was that she still loved him.

Days passed.

One day became two, then three.

By the end of the week, Irene barely left her room. She kept the curtains closed and stopped answering the door.

Eugene came every day.

Sometimes he knocked softly. Sometimes he called her name.

When she refused to answer, he would remain outside for a while before finally leaving.

Irene never opened the door.

She could not face him.

Only a few people knew what had truly happened. Luna Lorraine, Alpha Dave, and Irene’s closest friends knew the truth.

The rest of the pack only saw the growing distance between Irene and Eugene.

They noticed the silence.

They whispered.

They watched.

But none of them knew how badly she was falling apart.

“Irene, you can’t stay in here forever.”

Skylar sat beside her on the bed.

“Come outside with me. Just for a little while.”

Irene shook her head.

“I don’t want to.”

Skylar remained quiet for a moment before gently touching her shoulder.

“I know you’re hurting, but hiding won’t make the pain disappear.”

“I don’t want the pain to disappear.”

The words escaped before Irene could stop them.

Skylar looked at her.

“I just want to disappear.”

Concern filled Skylar’s face.

“Irene, don’t say that.”

Irene lowered her gaze to her hands.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do anymore.”

Skylar wrapped an arm around her.

“You don’t have to know yet.”

She stayed beside Irene in silence.

That was who Skylar had always been. They had grown up together in the orphanage, and Skylar had seen Irene at her weakest many times before.

But this time, even she did not know how to help her.

After a while, Skylar spoke again.

“There’s a party tonight.”

Irene almost laughed.

“A party?”

“It’s for our warriors and the Lycan pack. They’ll be staying here for a week.”

Irene looked at her.

“Their Alpha is arriving tonight for the peace treaty discussions,” Skylar continued. “All five wolf Alphas are already here.”

The world was moving forward without Irene.

Warriors were celebrating. Alphas were forming alliances. People were laughing and living their lives.

Only Irene’s world seemed to have stopped.

“I don’t want to go.”

“I know.”

Skylar squeezed her hand.

“But maybe you should.”

Before Irene could answer, someone knocked.

The door slowly opened, and Luna Lorraine stepped inside.

She studied Irene for a moment. Her eyes held the same guilt Irene had seen since Eugene’s return.

“I want to show you the dress prepared for you tonight,” she said.

“I don’t want to go.”

“I know.”

Luna Lorraine walked closer.

“But you deserve to be there.”

Irene looked away.

“Why?”

“Because you shouldn’t have to hide because someone else hurt you.”

The words stayed with her.

Irene wanted to argue. She wanted to say that Luna Lorraine could never understand what she was going through.

But that was not entirely true.

For the past week, Luna Lorraine had watched Irene fall apart.

Perhaps she did not understand everything, but she understood enough.

“I can’t pretend I’m fine,” Irene whispered.

“You don’t have to.”

Luna Lorraine sat beside her.

“You don’t have to smile or speak to anyone. Just come downstairs.”

Irene remained silent.

The thought of seeing Eugene made her stomach tighten, but staying inside this room had become its own kind of prison.

For seven days, she had hidden from Eugene.

From the pack.

From herself.

It had changed nothing.

The pain remained.

The betrayal remained.

And so did the mate bond.

Maybe it was time to stop running.

Irene slowly looked at Luna Lorraine.

“What if I don’t want to see him?”

“Then you don’t have to.”

“And if he approaches me?”

“I won’t let anyone force you to speak to him.”

Irene studied her face.

For the first time in days, she felt something other than helplessness.

It was not happiness.

It was not forgiveness.

It was something smaller, but stronger.

Courage.

She drew a slow breath.

“Fine.”

Skylar’s eyes widened.

“Really?”

Irene nodded.

“I’ll go.”

Luna Lorraine smiled softly.

“Good.”

She stood and offered Irene her hand.

Before taking it, Irene looked at the closed curtains.

For seven days, she had hidden behind them.

Tonight, she would open them.

Not because she was ready to forgive Eugene.

She was not.

Not because she had healed.

She had not.

She would go because she needed to know whether some part of her was still strong enough to face him.

Irene rose from the bed.

Her legs felt weak, but she remained standing.

Skylar smiled at her.

“That’s my Irene.”

Irene could not smile back.

Instead, she walked to the window and pulled the curtains open.

Light flooded the room.

For the first time in a week, Irene looked outside.

The pack was alive. People were already gathering for the celebration, and music drifted through the grounds.

Somewhere downstairs, Eugene was waiting.

Irene took one final breath before turning toward the door.

She had spent a week hiding from the man who had broken her heart.

Tonight, she would walk into the same room as him.

But before the celebration ended, Irene would meet someone who would change the future she thought she had lost forever.