Chapter Nine
Ava’s POV
The night I left the pack, I didn’t look back. Hunter’s words, his promises, and even his apologies no longer held meaning. I wanted a fresh start, and I wanted it far from the territories he controlled as Alpha. The city was far enough that no one from the pack would see me again unless they came looking.
It wasn‘ t easy to detach myself. Even after filing for a mate–bond dissolution, the process dragged on as Hunter found every possible reason to delay it. He might have called himself my Alpha, but to me, he was nothing but a painful memory I needed to leave behind.
Some of my former packmates kept me informed. Apparently, Katherine hadn’t given up on him; she‘ d show up at the pack house daily, hoping to catch his attention, despite the scandal of her leaked
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video. Meanwhile, the pack’s respect for Hunter plummeted, and even some of the neighboring packs began to question his leadership. A few of the pack elders reached out to me, asking if I’d consider returning to help stabilize things, but I told them no. The weight of the pack wasn’t my responsibility anymore.
Noah, the beta of my new city‘ s pack, noticed my distraction one evening while we were out for coffee. “Need a hand with something?” he asked gently. “Not for him,” he added quickly, “but maybe just for the pack?”
I shook my head, grateful for the offer but unwilling to revisit those ties. “Thank you, Noah. But I’m done with them.”
Noah’s smile softened as he handed me
two front–row tickets to a concert. “Then
how about a break?”
I took the tickets and laughed a little. Years ago, when I’d been newly mated to Hunter, I’d dreamed of sitting front–row
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at one of these concerts. When the concert day arrived, I stepped into the crowd with Noah, feeling a strange mix of excitement and nostalgia. But as the lights dimmed and the music rose, someone caught my
eye. There, by the edge of the crowd, stood. Hunter.
His face lit up when he saw me. “Ava, I knew you‘ d come!”
Noah took a step forward, positioning himself between Hunter and me. I touched his arm lightly. “It’s fine, Noah. He’s just someone I used to know.” With that, I took Noah’s hand and walked away
without looking back.
Months passed, and I finally received the dissolution decree I’d been waiting for. Free at last, I poured myself into my new life and let my past fade–until one night when an unknown number from the old
territory flashed on my phone.
“Ava,” a stranger’s voice came through the line. “I’m Dr. Jason, from the city
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hospital. Alpha Hunter was in a serious car accident. He’s badly injured and asked us to call you… He wanted to speak before going into surgery.”
I took a deep breath, feeling an odd calm settle over me. “He’s got the wrong number,” I replied, my voice steady. “Tell him I don’t know him.”
A few weeks later, word spread through the pack grapevine. Hunter had survived but was left with lasting injuries that affected his mobility. Katherine, who had been in the car with him, wasn‘ t as lucky too- she’d suffered injuries that left her unable to walk. In a strange twist of fate, her family demanded that Hunter marry her, insisting he take responsibility.
It didn’t take long for me to hear how it ended. The night of their wedding, Hunter, who had always kept himself restrained, turned to drinking. He ignored Katherine completely, treating her with cold disdain. That anger finally broke him.
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One night, drunk and careless, he started a fire in the pack house while Katherine was asleep. Neither of them made it out in
time.
That day marked the anniversary of the night I had lost everything.
