Eleanor handed me a thick manila folder once we were safely on the road.
"Inside are your new legal identity, bank cards, and the keys to a private apartment in the human city. From this day forward, you are no longer connected to any pack. You are free."
Her voice was calm and reassuring.
I slowly opened the folder.
Inside was a new ID card bearing an unfamiliar name and a new photograph.
The girl in the picture had short, cropped hair, wore a crisp professional suit, and carried a calm, distant expression stripped of all softness and longing.
She was nothing like the naive girl who had waited seven hopeless years for Adrian.
"Thank you so much, ma'am," I whispered.
She looked at me gently.
"Remember this, Elara. Werewolves without a mate bond are far stronger. The only person yo
