THE ROGUE ALPHA’S FORSAKEN MATE

Chapter 19

I told Kael what Sera had said.

He didn't look surprised. He didn't look angry. He just looked tired, the way he always looked now, as if he had been carrying the weight of this moment for a long time and had only been waiting for it to arrive.

"I knew they were stalling," he said. "But this is worse than I thought."

"We need to go."

He nodded. "Tonight."

I waited for him to say something else. To argue. To tell me we should stay and fight. But he didn't. He just stood there, looking at me with those dark eyes, and I realized he had been waiting for this. He had known, from the moment he arrived in Ashford, that the pack would never accept him. He had stayed anyway. For me.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"For what?"

"For bringing you here. For asking you to stay. For putting you in danger."

Kael shook his head. "You didn't put me in danger. I chose to come."

"You chose to come because I asked you to."

"I chose to come because I wanted to." He took a step closer. "I knew what I was walking into. I knew they would never accept me. I knew there was a chance I would have to leave. I came anyway."

"Why?"

He looked at me for a long moment. Then he said, "Because you asked me to."

I didn't know what to say.

"We need to prepare," he said. "If we're leaving tonight, we need to be ready before the pack goes quiet."

I nodded. "I need to talk to Mara."

"She should come with us."

"She said she'll follow later. She has things to settle first."

Kael frowned. "I don't like leaving her behind."

"Neither do I. But she's made up her mind."

He was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded.

I walked back to the house. The pack grounds were quiet, the paths empty. Most of the wolves were inside, finishing their evening meals, preparing for sleep. They didn't know what was happening. They didn't know that two of their own were planning to disappear in the middle of the night.

I found Mara in the kitchen. She was sitting at the table with a cup of tea, but it was cold. She hadn't touched it. She looked up when I walked in, and her expression changed immediately.

"What happened?"

I sat down across from her. "I need to talk to you."

She set down her cup. "I'm listening."

I told her about Sera. About the warning. About the elders' plan. About what Corvin had said about Kael. Mara listened without interrupting, her hands folded on the table in front of her.

When I finished, she was quiet for a long moment.

"The elders made their decision," she said.

"No. They're going to. They're planning to rule against me. They're going to marry me to Garrett."

Mara's expression hardened. "Who told you?"

"Sera. A young wolf. She overheard them."

Mara was quiet again. Then she said, "You need to leave. Tonight."

"I know."

"I'll come with you as far as the border. I need to settle things here first. But I'll follow soon."

I felt tears prick my eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I've never been more sure of anything." She reached for my hand. "You were never meant to stay here, Nova. You were meant for something more."

I hugged her. She held me tight.

***

We stayed like that for a long time.

When I finally pulled back, Mara's eyes were wet. She didn't try to hide it. She didn't wipe them away. She just looked at me with that steady expression I had known my whole life, the one that said she was proud of me, the one that said she had always known this day would come.

"I need to tell you something," she said.

"What?"

"You remember what I told you last night. About your mother."

I nodded.

"There's more." Mara paused. "Something I didn't tell you."

I felt my heart skip. "What?"

"Your mother didn't just come to Ashford to hide. She came because she was looking for someone."

"Who?"

"She never told me. She only said that she had been separated from her pack. That she had lost everyone. And that she was trying to find the one person who might still be alive."

I stared at her. "Did she find them?"

"No. She died before she could." Mara squeezed my hand. "But she made me promise that if you ever asked about her, I would tell you the truth. All of it."

"What truth?"

"That you are not alone." Mara's voice was quiet but firm. "You have family out there, Nova. Somewhere. People who share your blood. People who might still be alive."

I didn't know what to say.

"I don't know where they are. I don't know who they are. But your mother believed they existed. And she believed that one day, you would find them."

I felt tears slide down my cheeks. I didn't wipe them away.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Because you weren't ready. And because I was afraid." Mara's voice broke for the first time. "I was afraid that if you knew, you would leave. And I would lose you."

"You were never going to lose me."

"I know that now." She smiled through her tears. "But I didn't know it then."

I hugged her again. This time, we both cried.

***

We spent the next hour preparing.

Mara helped me finish packing. She moved through the house with quiet purpose, gathering things I hadn't thought to bring, tucking small items into my bag. A knife. A small pouch of herbs. A map of the territories beyond Ashford.

"You'll need this," she said, handing me the map. "It's old, but it's accurate. It shows the paths to the northern territories."

I looked at it. The lines were faded, the edges worn. But it was something. Something I could hold onto.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet." Mara's voice was firm. "You still have a long way to go."

I finished packing. Everything I owned fit into a single bag. I looked at it for a long moment. My whole life, reduced to this.

Mara followed me to the door.

"Be careful," she said. "Trust your wolf. Trust Kael. But don't trust anyone else."

"I won't."

"And Nova?"

I turned.

"Don't let them win." She met my eyes. "You are stronger than they think. Stronger than you think. Don't forget that."

I nodded.

Then I hugged her one last time.

She held me tight, the way she had when I was small, the way she had when I was scared, the way she had when the world felt too heavy to carry. I breathed in the smell of her. Lavender and old wood and something warm that I had never been able to name. Home. She smelled like home.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too," she said. "More than you will ever know."

I pulled back. Her eyes were wet again, but she was smiling.

"Go," she said. "Before I change my mind and try to keep you."

I smiled through my tears.

Then I walked out the door.