The Wolfless Omega: The Alpha's Runaway Bride

Chapter Ten

Raine's Perspective

The archives officer came out through the side door.

I stared at the file in her hands, my nerves stretched taut.

My information had to be in there. I had been human from beginning to end.

Under my almost burning gaze, the officer set the file on the table and spoke with solemn formality. "Raine's identity has been verified. She was indeed registered as a missing person in human society five years ago. All records match—parental identity information, home address, school files. Everything checks out."

She pulled a card from the folder and pushed it toward me. "This is the legal identification we've reissued for you. Please sign this document, and after that—"

She smiled. "You can go home."

Home.

The moment those words sank in, the whole world seemed to brighten. My tears poured forth, streaming silently down my cheeks and dripping onto the paper I had just signed.

I took a deep breath and wiped at my face with the back of my hand, then wiped again, but I still couldn't get it clean.

The officer stood and gently patted my back as I sobbed.

"Alright. Pull yourself together. You can go back now."

When I finally calmed down and looked up, I realized Ronan had moved to stand just a few steps from the table.

He didn't advance on me the way he used to. He simply stood there quietly, watching me with a complicated expression I had never seen before.

The overhead light cast long shadows beneath his lashes. Those forest-green eyes looked misted over—sorrowful, gloomy, like a rain-soaked forest.

My chest trembled faintly.

In a daze, I remembered our first meeting. A beautiful and cruel beginning.

We held each other's gaze for a long moment. Then the corner of his mouth lifted into a smile tinged with regret. "Raine, could you stay? The truth is... I never saw you as just a servant."

Beside him, Silas couldn't hold back and muttered under his breath, "Do you know the Alpha postponed his engagement for you—"

Ronan shot him a glare, and Silas shut his mouth instantly.

The hall fell quiet again.

I looked at that familiar face, my fingertips lightly tracing the ID card in my hand.

"No matter what, it's impossible," I said. "I want to go home."

My eyes conveyed my resolve. Ronan fell silent, his hands hanging at his sides, his lashes lowering with them.

I knew we had to end this. I didn't want to feel any more pity or reluctance.

Cut them off.

"I understand. But I still hope... you won't think of me as entirely bad. Whether you believe it or not, I truly knew nothing about the trafficking. After you go back, I will investigate thoroughly and give those girls justice."

"I'm willing to compensate you for these five years—a sum of money, enough for you to live comfortably in human society. Consider it... wages for your years of work in the werewolf Pack."

The officer beside me murmured, "Take it. It's what you deserve."

I looked at Ronan's face. The sincerity in his eyes didn't seem feigned.

"You really want to compensate me?" I asked.

He nodded.

"But I don't need your money." I drew a deep breath. "If you truly feel sorry for me, then make sure this never happens in your Pack again."

I didn't wait for his answer. I turned and walked toward the door.

The door opened, and light poured in from outside. I couldn't help glancing back at him one last time.

"I wish you a smooth engagement."

With that, I left without hesitation.

When my feet stepped into human territory, I wandered along the path toward the town.

The autumn wind rushed up to meet me, cool and crisp, carrying the dust of the street and the scent of grass.

The farther I walked, the more people I saw. Shops were lit. Someone dozed on a park bench. Someone pushed a stroller at a leisurely pace. Someone sat by the roadside chatting on the phone, their faces relaxed and unguarded.

They all had free souls.

I breathed deeply of the air here, and the brightest smile of the day spread across my face.

Finally. I had finally come back.

The first thing I did upon returning was exchange the valuables I had for a small sum of money. I bought a clean set of plain clothes in town and rented a room at a small inn for the night.

The room was tiny but had everything I needed. The window had a screen, and there was none of that damp, musty smell of an Omega servant's quarters.

I took a long, comfortable hot bath. When I looked in the mirror afterward, I found my face both familiar and strange. It was a confident, pretty face, but far too gaunt. Most importantly, from years of repression and self-doubt, the corners of my eyes had developed a habit of drooping, making me look timid.

I tried on my most polished smile and thought: yes, this is how I want to meet my parents—at my best.

The exhaustion of days of travel and the sudden release of tension all piled up in my body. I thought I would sleep deeply that night, but instead I woke up several times.

Memories from the past kept surfacing in my mind in a jumble.

My real home. My parents. The process of my abduction. The Ashgrave Pack. And... Ronan.

Everything that happened today felt like a dream.

When Ronan said he would let me go, I had been shocked myself. Most of the time he was so arrogant, so unwilling to be crossed. How could he have let go?

At the embassy today, the last look he gave me—reluctance, loneliness, hurt. But did he really feel reluctant? His feelings for me were mostly just possession, weren't they?

Did he truly know nothing about the trafficking?

Thinking back over the years, Ronan had lived in privilege and rarely set foot in the Omega living quarters. But he didn't seem to have actually done anything abusive to Omegas.

But that didn't make him any better! All looks and no substance—a bastard at heart.

I would never see him again!

Thinking and thinking, I somehow fell asleep.

The next day, I felt off all over—dizzy, unsteady, nauseous.

Just as I thought—dreaming of Ronan never brought anything good!

I had no choice but to go to the hospital for a checkup, and passed out midway.

Something slick seemed to glide over my belly...

When I woke, the doctor was smiling at me.

A bad feeling rose in my heart.

"Doctor... what's wrong with me?"

"Congratulations. You're pregnant."