A Letter from Alpha After Ten Years Chapter 06

A Letter from Alpha After Ten Years Chapter 06

Life on the island moved slowly. Just like future Liam said it felt like a paradise.

My house was at the western edge of the village.

Two stories, Windows facing west, where I could watch the sunset.

At dusk, I’d open the windows and let the sea wind pour in, making the curtains billow like sails

The islanders slowly got to know me.

One afternoon, my neighbor caught me in the lane. “Little Rose, where are you off to?”

I blinked.

She pointed at the wild roses growing in my yard.

They were everywhere on the island-wild things pushing through cracks in the rocks, crowding together in clusters.

After that, everyone called me that.

Kids called out on the beach: “Hey, Rosie!”

I’d put the twenty million in the bank. There wasn’t much to spend money on here.

I started forgetting things.

My wolf had grown weak. Probably aftereffects from breaking the bond.

The first day I arrived, I could still recite Liam’s number from memory.

Guess I was still holding on.

Lying awake at night, I’d whisper the digits to myself in the dark.

Then the numbers started blurring. I forgot one, then another. Until they all faded.

One day I crouched on the rocks for a long time. When I stood, my head spun.

I grabbed a rock and waited for it to pass.

In that haze, a question surfaced: What day is it?

I tried to remember. Nothing.

I was sick.

My wolf too.

But that’s okay. We’d keep living. We’d get better.

Days passed like tides, ebbing and flowing without end.

Wild roses bloomed and wilted, bloomed and wilted again.

My neighbor said, “Rosie, it’s been a while since you came here, hasn’t it?”

I smiled and shook my head. “I don’t remember how long.”

That evening, I sat by the window watching the sunset.

Footsteps came from downstairs.

My neighbor’s puzzled voice: “Who are you looking for, sir?”

A pause.

Then a voice rose up:

“I’m looking for Serena Blackwood.”

My eyes went wide. Heart pounding.

I thought I’d cut that part of me away. But hearing that familiar voice-all the old memories peeled open, flooding back.

far.

I covered my mouth and crept back into the house.

I was terrified of being found. Terrified of going back to that life.

My neighbor’s voice drifted up, too faint to catch.

At dusk, I went to the dock for fish.

The vendor said the groupers weren’t fresh-a typhoon was coming, and the boats hadn’t gone

I was about to leave when she added, “Liam came to buy fish too.”

My breath caught.

Liam stood at the other end of the dock, eyes fixed on me, unreadable.

His scent carried to me on the wind.

My wolf stirred-excited, but tired.

He’d lost weight. His cheekbones stood out.

Wind swept his hair back, revealing a faint scar above his brow.

I grabbed my fish and turned for home.

“Serena.” His voice trembled. “The typhoon’s coming. Make sure your windows are shut.”

I didn’t look back. Walked home with my fish.

No one followed.

But I knew he hadn’t left.

That night, the typhoon hit.

Wind swept in from the sea, rain lashing sideways. Windows rattled.

I went to close one and saw a figure standing below through the gap.

Liam stood in the rain without an umbrella. Soaked through.