Chapter 3
1167 Words
Kira's pov
Margeret rushed to greet them like Serena was royalty.
"Oh, Serena! Come in, it's been so long." She took Serena's hands, her face lighting up. "I had the cook make bone broth just for you. Flying must be exhausting. Look at you, you need proper nourishment."
Her warmth was worlds away from how she treated me.
Serena smiled softly. "Thank you, Mrs. Thornwood."
Then she glanced at me with cold indifference, like taking what belonged to me was the most natural thing in the world.
Damon finally noticed the urn in my arms. For the first time since walking in, he spoke to me, his voice carrying a tone of explanation.
"Serena wasn't feeling well today. That's why I couldn't accompany you to retrieve your parents' ashes…”
Before he could finish, Margeret's yelled across the room.
"What? Those are ashes?!"
She stormed toward me, glaring at the urn. "How dare you bring such bad luck into this pack house! Get them out. Now!"
She pointed at the door, her disgust plain to see.
Bad luck?
I stared straight at her, my voice trembling from all the anger I had been suppressing. "These are my parents' ashes. Show them some respect."
She flailed her arms wildly, spit nearly hitting my face. "I don't care who they were! Dead people's ashes carry dark energy! You're not keeping that thing here. Get out!"
"Mom." Damon finally spoke, but it was just a mild warning with no follow-up.
I tightened my grip on the urn. "This is my home too. It's pack property, shared by Damon and me as mates. You have no right to kick me out."
"Shared property?" Vivian scoffed, her voice dripping with contempt. "Don't make me laugh. It was all bought with Damon's money."
She turned to Damon with a pointed glance. "Damon, ashes carry curse. Make Kira take that thing outside."
Damon looked at me, his lips moving hesitantly. "Kira, you..."
I cut him off, anger burning in my heart.
"Damon, when you started your company, I worked right beside you through every hard day. When your mother's wolf sight began failing and healers said she'd go blind, I took her to every medical wolf in the region. I pulled every string I had to get her an appointment with the kingdom's top healer. I saved her sight."
I took a breath.
"I treated your family like my own. But did any of you ever respect mine?"
My words made their faces darken. A flicker of emotion passed through Damon’s eyes—guilt? Or was it the embarrassment of having family matters overheard by Serena?
Vivian snapped, "What do you mean you helped Mom? It's because Damon has money that the best healer treated her! And 'worked alongside him'? Please. He was supporting you! His company went public because of his own skills. Don't act like you deserve any credit!"
Hesitation flickered in Damon's eyes as he wavered between his family and me.
Those few seconds felt like an eternity.
I prayed he'd say something to defend me but in the end, he avoided my pleading gaze.
"Kira, keeping your parents' ashes at home isn't appropriate. You should find a proper resting place for them."
I couldn’t believe these words came from my mate, the man I've been married to for three years.
I stared at him, my eyes burning as tears welled up.
"Damon... do you also think my parents' ashes are bad luck? That they can't even stay here temporarily?"
"I didn't mean that. Don't overreact." He frowned, then glanced at Serena. "We have a guest, we can talk about this later."
I hugged the urn to my chest and stepped forward. "What if I insist on keeping them here?"
SLAP!
Pain exploded across my cheek and my ears rang.
Margeret stood before me with a twisted expression, her hand still raised.
I stumbled backward, my grip on the urn slipping.
I reached out as fast as I could, but it was too late.
The black wooden box fell from my arms and crashed to the floor, The urn shattered scattering ashes everywhere.
Those were my parents’ ashes… my mind went completely blank.
"What have you done?!" I screamed, my legs giving out as I dropped to my knees.
I reached out with trembling hands, trying to gather the ashes, but they slipped through my fingers like sand.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry, Dad..." I sobbed as I stared at my ashy hands, my heart breaking each second I stood there.
This was the only connection I had left to them. The battlefield had taken everything—my father’s hearty laughter, my mother’s gentle touch—everything was gone, not even the necklace.
This was all that remained.
I desperately wanted to gather their ashes together, yet it was as futile as trying to save them from the battlefield.
Margeret stood there, still yelling. "Serves you right! You shouldn't have brought that cursed thing in here! Hurry up and sweep it clean!"
I didn’t move, the heavy weight of my heart breaking held my legs captive, the tears still fell but I wasn’t sobbing anymore.
“Am I talking to myself? When did you become deaf?” she kept yelling, “Damon, I warned you that this would happen if you make this wretched thing your luna.”
I looked up sharply, my tear-filled eyes locking onto Damon.
He looked shocked, as if he hadn't expected his mother to go that far but he said nothing.
Damon stood there, witnessing the entire scene, his mother striking me, the urn shattering, my desperate attempts to gather the ashes. Yet he did nothing to stop her.
"Kira, clean this up first," he said finally. "I'll make it up to you later. I'll arrange a proper memorial service for your parents."
I gathered the scattered ashes carefully back into the broken box, then stood up.
That’s enough. All those farce should ends here.
I took a deep breath and looked at Damon, my voice firm but without condescension. "I don't need your compensation."
For three years, I'd believed in us. I'd chosen him because he was there when I received the news of my parents' death. He'd held me, promised to protect me forever.
Under the moonlight, before the gathered elders, we held our ceremony. The tall, handsome Alpha went down on one knee and slipped the meticulously crafted moonstone ring onto my finger, his eyes shining with love and joy.
“I designed this ring for you—the purest moonstone from the North, worthy of the one I love most.”
From then on, we shared our lives, arguing over how to make breakfast, and celebrating business milestones with nights of passionate love.
I once believed we had chosen each other as mates, that he at least had some genuine feelings for me.
But perhaps he had never loved me at all.
"Damon, I'm going to apply to sever our mate bond."
- Writer
