He Chose Her, So I Refused to Become His Luna Chapter 10

A year later, the new Pack territory in Philadelphia is officially established.

It is one of the largest territory development projects the Pack has taken on in recent years, and the first major project I personally oversee after becoming the Alpha of Ironhowl Pack.

By the time the celebration ends, it is already ten at night.

Some of the Pack members ask if I want to grab some late–night food with them. I am about to say yes when

a message from my mother comes through first.

[Oreo is sitting by the door waiting for you.]

There is a photo underneath.

Oreo is sitting guard over my slippers, his tail flicking back and forth in annoyance, looking like he is

personally owed an explanation by everyone in the house.

I can’t help laughing: [I’ll be home soon.]

My new home is not far from Ironhowl Pack’s Pack Hall.

The balcony is spacious and gets sunlight all day. Oreo loves lying there, turning himself into a warm little

ball of fur.

When I move in, my father asks what I plan to do with the spare bedroom.

I think about it for a moment before turning it into a study.

Not a guest room. And not a nursery.

I no longer reserve a place in my life for someone who hasn’t arrived yet.

If someone is going to walk into my life someday, they should choose to walk in on their own. I’m not going

to keep waiting in an empty room, hoping someone will finally choose me.

Jasmine is eventually sentenced by the Pack court.

Benjamin later comes to Philadelphia to see me once.

He brings a photograph Caleb left behind.

In the picture, five boys have just climbed out of a river, soaked from head to toe but grinning from ear to ear.

It is the first time they save Nathan from drowning together.

Benjamin looks at the photograph, his voice low.

“When my son saved them back then, he never expected anything in return.”

“If he knew that his sacrifice would one day become an excuse for them to hurt you, he would never have been at peace with it.”

I gently push the photograph back toward him.

“Ben, my life was saved by Caleb. The people who hurt me were them.”

“I know the difference.”

When Benjamin leaves, he bows deeply to me.

After that, I never follow another update about Jasmine.

As for Nathan, William, Marcus, and Henry, they gradually disappear from my life too.

They were once the most promising Alpha heirs in their respective Packs.

They were also my friends for as long as I can remember.

But now, they no longer belong in my life.

William stops sending me toys for Oreo.

Marcus donates the replacement cloud lamp to an orphanage for young Omegas.

Every year, Henry sends me a single message on the anniversary of the day I left.

[I’m sorry.]

I never reply.

Nathan never contacts me again.

I only hear from old friends that he still hasn’t sold the Alpha House.

The nursery has been restored to the way it used to look, and a cat tree has been placed back in the living

room.

The security system is still registered under his name, but it never gets to welcome back the person it was

meant for.

There is no child there.

No Oreo. And no me.

He guards a house that has been restored to its original state, as if putting everything back where it once belonged will somehow make me open the door one evening and walk back inside.

But he forgets something.

A home is never built from furniture and security access.

A home is where someone stays when you’re sick.

Where someone comes running when you’re afraid.

Where the person who loves you stands beside you without hesitation when you’re hurt.

Those are the simplest things in the world.

And they failed at every single one.

After the project is completed, the Pack Council approves my extended leave.

My parents ask where I want to go.

I choose a city by the ocean.

Nathan used to tell me that once our Bonding Ceremony was over, he would take me to see the ocean.

For ten years, we make plans.

But every time, something comes up with Jasmine, and the trip gets canceled.

She gets her heart broken.

She gets sick.

It’s her birthday.

She has a nightmare.

My plans can always wait.

Eventually, even our Bonding Ceremony and our baby can be pushed aside for her.

The day I arrive at the coast, the weather is beautiful.

My mother walks along the shore with my father, her arm linked through his.

I sit on the terrace with Oreo in my arms, soaking up the sunlight.

The sea breeze blows across my face, and Oreo closes his eyes contentedly.

Suddenly, I remember the night I left the Pack hospital.

Back then, I sit in the car thinking I have lost my baby, my mate, my home in the Pack, and the man I have loved for ten years.

I think the accident has shattered my entire life.

Only later do I understand that what I lost were simply four people who kept putting me last, over and over

again.

The life that truly belongs to me is only just beginning.

My mother turns around from the beach and calls out, “Becca, come take a picture!”

I hug Oreo and run over.

My father raises his phone and deliberately complains that the two of us are walking too slowly.

The sun is setting behind us.

In the frame, there is no Nathan.

No William, Marcus, or Henry.

And no Jasmine, the woman they once believed they had to protect at any cost.

There is only me and the family that truly loves me.

After the picture is taken, I look down at the screen.

Then I lift my head and smile, “Let’s take one more.”

In this picture, there is no place I need to give up for anyone.

And no one can ever erase me from my Pack, my life, or my own future again.