Not Yours, Not His—Mine
357 Words
Pearl
I didn’t regret the kiss.
But I regretted letting him think it meant more than it did.
River was my past. Ezra was the Alpha who walked away.
But me?
I was the only one who stayed. The only one who rebuilt myself after the rejection, the shame, the silence.
I didn’t kiss River because I missed him.
I kissed him to remind myself that I was still wanted, still dangerous.
The next morning, I found Ezra on the training field.
Sweat clung to his bare chest. His claws were still out. His wolf was angry, simmering just beneath the surface.
He didn’t look at me.
So I made him.
“You saw.”
“I did.”
“And?”
“It hurt.”
He turned to me then, eyes dark and raw.
“You kissed him.”
“I also told him it was for the past. You would’ve heard that too—if you hadn’t run.”
His jaw flexed.
“I didn’t run. I left before I did something stupid. Like kill him.”
“Why? Afraid you’d lose control?”
“Afraid I’d lose you,” he growled, stepping closer.
There it was again.
That pull.
That maddening, magnetic storm between us.
“You already did,” I said softly. “The day you rejected me.”
His hand twitched—like he wanted to touch me but didn’t dare.
“I didn’t know who I was back then. I wasn’t ready to be Alpha... and I definitely wasn’t ready for a Luna like you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“So you chose fear. And now I’m supposed to reward you for finally catching up?”
“No,” he said, voice rough. “You’re supposed to make me fight for you.”
His eyes locked onto mine like a silent vow.
“And I will.”
River
I watched them from the treeline.
Ezra was groveling.
Pearl was glowing.
And me?
I wasn’t giving up.
Because I knew something he didn’t.
Pearl wasn’t just born to be Luna…
She was born to rule without a leash.
- Writer
