Chapter 31
Elodie’s POV~
I should never have come back.
The Bellini University hall was buzzing with voices, old classmates laughing like the years hadn’t scattered us across different Packs and lives. But for me, it felt like walking through a ghost town where every shadow reminded me of who I used to be before Dante, before I became nothing more than his Luna in name but never in soul.
Johnny sitting over there, hadn’t changed much. He was still warm, still carrying that boyish charm that once made lectures bearable. Seeing him again was like opening an old wound I thought had scarred over.
We talked about the past. About our professor, the sharp-tongued old wolf who never let us breathe easy. I smiled at the memory, though it hurt. “I saw in the Pack news that he came back for the celebration,” I said softly.
Johnny smirked. “Still the same. Still calling us disgraceful students p>
I laughed, but it cracked halfway, before it turned into silence. My chest tightened. I missed this, the freedom, the hunger to learn, the way my world used to stretch beyond the walls of Dante’s mansion.
Then Johnny’s voice dipped lower. He leaned closer, eyes searching mine. “Come back, Elodie. You were born for this. Not for… that life p>
The teacup in my hand rattled against the saucer. My fingers were trembling. I stared at the dark liquid, afraid to meet his eyes. “Alright,” I whispered, though my throat burned with the weight of it.
Because I wanted to. More than anything, I wanted to step back into the life I left behind. I wanted to be the woman who spent nights scribbling formulas on papers, not the woman who spent nights lying awake beside an Alpha who never noticed her tears.
“I threw it all away,” I said quietly, more to myself than to him.
Johnny’s eyes softened. He didn’t push, just asked gently, “When can you return p>
I swallowed hard. “I need to wait. Someone has to take over my current work first. It’ll take time p>
He nodded, patient. “That’s fine. No rush. Just knowing you’ll come back is enough p>
But it wasn’t that simple. Nothing ever was, not when you were tied to a man like Dante. He was the Alpha of Italy’s most feared Pack, the Bellini Pack. You don’t just walk away from a man like that. You don’t walk away at all.
When Johnny finally excused himself to meet someone, I sat there alone, trying to breathe through the ache in my chest.
That’s when I saw her. Amber.
Dante’s sister. Bellini royalty. The Alpha’s daughter who never had to fight for a place in this world because the Pack bent to her the way it never bent for me. One of the numerous people who hated me in Dante’s family. Only Dante’s grandmother truly saw and loved me and aside her, no one else.
She walked into the hall like she owned it, her heels striking the floor like a warning.
“Elodie.” Her voice was flat, her were eyes cold.
I forced myself to sit straighter, though my insides were slightly tightening. “Hello, Amber p>
Her lips curled, eyes scanning me up and down. “What are you doing here p>
“It’s the university’s celebration. I thought I’d My words faltered, because what did it matter? She’d never see me as anything more than Dante’s mistake.
Amber raised a brow, smirking. “Right. You did graduate here, didn’t you?” Her tone was dripping with disbelief, like the idea of me belonging here was a joke.
Her words hit like a slap. Firstly, I had seen her in the news and never expected to run into her. Secondly, This place had been mine once. My dreams were born here. Now even that was being stripped away, turned into another reminder that I no longer belonged anywhere.
She didn’t stop there. She leaned in slightly, her perfume sharp. “David wants your cooking again. I’ll send him to you and Dante’s later p>
My heart sank. David, her son, rebellious and neglected, had clung to me these last years. My cooking was the only thing he found comfort in, and even that, Amber reduced to an errand.
Once, I would’ve forced a smile. Once, I would’ve said yes, even if David rolled his eyes at me, even if he treated me more like some servant than an aunt. I’d tell myself it was for Dante’s sake. For his family. For the bond that I thought held us together.
But things were different now. Dante and I were crumbling, and there was nothing left inside me to bend anymore.
So I looked her in the eye and said softly, “No, Amber. I can’t p>
Her brows shot up, her lips twisting in disbelief. “Can’t p>
I swallowed the tightness in my throat and forced the words out again, firmer this time. “I’m busy p>
“Busy with what?” she shot back, her voice thick with disdain. “You don’t have Dante anymore. You don’t even have Liora with you. What could you possibly have that’s more important than helping family p>
The words slammed into me like claws to the chest. For a second, I couldn’t breathe. My hands trembled at my sides, nails digging into my palms, but I refused to let her see me fall apart.
Family. She had the audacity to call me family when in her eyes, I was nothing without Dante. Without Liora. Without the Alpha title beside my name.
I bit down on the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood, because if I didn’t, the tears waiting at the edge of my throat would spill. And I wouldn’t give her that satisfaction.
“It doesn’t matter to you,” I said quietly, my voice barely holding.
Her laugh was cold. “I suppose not p>
Before I could walk away, voices called her name. A group of Pack elites from Bellini Pack swept in, glittering in their silks and jewels, their laughter filling the hall.
“Amber!” They embraced her warmly, then their eyes flicked to me.
“Who’s this?” one of them asked.
Amber didn’t even blink. “Just a friend p>
Not my brother’s mate. Just… a friend.
The humiliation was merciless, but worse than that, it was expected. I stood there, watching their curious stares skim over my dress, my face, my entire body and then dismiss me completely. They clung to her, their laughter ringing in my ears, leaving me stranded in silence.
Once, that dismissal would’ve gutted me. I would’ve gone home, curled into bed, and let the grief eat me alive. But tonight? Tonight it felt like confirmation of something I had always known: I had never truly belonged here.
When they finally drifted away, Amber didn’t even look back at me. She vanished into their circle.
I stood frozen, clutching my bag, the ache in my chest spreading until it pressed against my ribs, against my throat. And then, slowly, I walked out into the night.
My heels clicked against the pavement, as I walked. The city lights of the Pack blurred as my eyes stung.
I had given everything for Dante, for his Pack, for his family who never wanted me. And what did I have left? A broken bond. A daughter caught in the middle. And me, hollow, exhausted, invisible.
By the time I reached the street, my phone buzzed in my bag. The flight had landed. Dante and Liora were back.
My breath caught. My heart twisted so violently it hurt. I wasn’t ready.