Chapter 33 Kaelen’s Distance 2

Chapter 33: Chapter 33 Kaelen’s Distance 2

Talia’s POV

I did not bother to eat. I ignored the servant who was knocking, and she left.

I just lay on the bed for the rest of the day.

The second day, I started to worry.

I woke up alone, ate breakfast alone, and walked the hallways alone.

No one looked at me differently, and no one whispered more than usual. The pack went about their day like nothing had changed.

But something had changed.

Kaelen was gone, and no one would tell me why.

I went to the garden and sat by the fountain. The water sparkled in the sunlight, and the flowers swayed in the breeze.

I thought about the night he had touched my chin. Then he had said, ’Stay, and find out.’

I had stayed, and I was still here. But he was not.

The water in the fountain kept moving. It did not stop because someone left, and it did not stop because the world was cruel. It just kept going, and I wanted to be like that. I wanted to keep going too, even if he never came back.

I took a deep breath, then I closed my eyes and listened to the water.

That evening, while I was in the room looking out the window, a servant knocked on my door.

I walked to the door and opened it.

She was young, with brown hair and a face that did not judge. She was not the kind servant, but a different one.

She stepped in and dropped a tray of food on the desk.

"The Alpha sends his apologies," she said. "He will not be returning tonight. He asks that you eat and rest."

I stared at her. "Is he alright?"

She hesitated. "He is... handling matters."

"Where is he?" I asked.

"I cannot say, miss," she answered softly.

She bowed and walked away.

I closed the door and leaned against it. My hands were shaking, and my chest was tight.

He was sending servants now? Not even a note with a message in his own words.

I walked to the desk and looked at the tray of food. There was bread, soup, and a cup of water. I was not hungry, I was angry, so I pushed the tray away.

On the third day, I was sure he was avoiding me.

I did not leave my room.

I sat on the bed, staring at the wall, thinking about everything that had happened since I arrived.

He had given me a blanket when I was cold, he had bought me clothes I did not ask for, and he had brought me hot chocolate because he saw me cuddling my body in the mornings.

But now he was gone for three days, with no explanation, and no sign of when he would return.

Maybe he had decided I was not worth the trouble. Maybe he was waiting for the trials to begin so he could watch me fail, and maybe he had already chosen someone else.

’Did he choose Serena?’

The name burned in my chest as I thought about it.

She was beautiful and confident. She knew how to talk to him, how to stand beside him, and how to be the Luna the pack wanted.

I was none of those things.

I lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

He was going to reject me, and I could feel it. The distance between us was growing, and I did not know how to stop it.

That night, I made a decision.

I could not control what Kaelen did. I could not make him come back, and I could not make him care.

But I could control myself.

I sat up and walked to the desk. The tray of food was still there, untouched. I picked up the bread and took a bite. It was cold, but I did not care. I ate it anyway.

I ate the soup, and I drank the water. They were both cold, but I did not care at all.

I washed my face after and changed into my nightgown. I climbed into bed and lay in the dark.

I thought about my promise.

’I am staying in this pack for two reasons: to find out what happened to my mother, with as many resources as I can access here in Blackmoor Valley, and to make the Cress family pay for every year they abused me.’

If Kaelen rejected me, I would be sent back to Cresswood. I would lose everything, including my chance to find my mother, my chance for revenge, and my chance to be something more than the girl in the storage room.

I could not let that happen, but I could not make him want me either.

So I would focus on what I could control.

Which were the trials, my strength, my survival, my hands, my breath, and my next step. That was all I could hold. Not Kaelen, not the pack, and not the whispers. Just me, and just this moment.

’I just want to survive one breath at a time, one day at a time, and one trial at a time.’

I closed my eyes and pressed my palms against the mattress.

I had survived fifteen years in the hands of Vivienne and Celeste, so I would survive this too.

Even if it meant facing the trials and the pack alone, and even if it meant losing Kaelen before I ever had the chance to know him.

And in this pack, from this day onward, I would never hope for anyone’s support, or for them to see me differently again.