Four Alphas Chose Her Over Me, Until I Disappeared and They Searched the World for Me Chapter 10

Four Alphas Chose Her Over Me, Until I Disappeared and They Searched the World for Me Chapter 10

Every time Kellan won something new, he photographed the trophy and sent it to me.

Lucian uploaded the recovered clips, one at a time.

Ronan recut a new coming-of-age documentary.

He called it The Empty Place.

The cover was the old oak at the pack compound-the hole where we’d buried the time capsule as kids, the

one we’d never filled back in.

I watched every second of it.

Then I deleted all of it with one tap.

Not out of hate.

There was just nothing left worth keeping.

The launch event for our results was set in Crown City.

The base sent a car for us.

As we drove back into the city, the billboards along the route were already running the promos.

My name sat first on the core team roster.

On launch day, all four of them showed up.

They sat in the last row.

Five years had passed.

Kellan had grown into himself.

Lucian didn’t hide behind those cold glasses anymore.

Ronan had cut his hair short.

And Soren had gotten thin.

When I walked out on stage, all four of them stood up at once.

The emcee’s voice rang through the hall.

“Researcher Rhea Wren and her team have completed a new desert energy conversion system.”

“It will be deployed across twelve test sites in the Northern Frontier.”

Applause broke out.

I watched Soren’s eyes turn red.

Afterward, he was the first to reach me.

“Rhea.”

I stopped.

“Did you need something?”

He hadn’t expected me to be this calm.

Five years of rehearsed words-and not one of them would come out.

In the end, all he did was hold out the silver wolf pendant.

My name had been re-engraved on the back.

“I found it at the border checkpoint.”

I didn’t take it.

“Thank you.”

“You keep it.”

His hand hung in midair.

“It’s yours.”

“It was.”

“It isn’t anymore.”

Kellan stood off to the side, eyes rimmed red.

Lucian and Ronan didn’t step forward either.

They had finally learned

to stop making my decisions for me.

Soren asked, quiet, “Can I come see you in the Northern Frontier?”

“No.”

“What if the base opens to visitors someday?”

I thought about it.

“Sure.”

“Book through the standard visitor process.”

That one line was clearer than any rejection could have been.

He wasn’t my boyfriend anymore.

Not the boy I’d grown up with.

Not anyone who got special treatment in my life.

Just a visitor.

The next day, Mom and Dad threw me a small family dinner.

Soren and the others weren’t invited.

Mom held me for a long time.

Dad burned three dishes in a row in the kitchen and finally gave up and ordered takeout.

Halfway through the meal, Mom asked, out of nowhere, “Will you ever come back to Crown City?”

I shook my head.

“Phase two is still in the Northern Frontier.”

“Another five years?”

“Maybe longer.”

Dad’s hand stilled over the serving dish.

In the end, all he said was, “Do what you love.”

“The door here is always open for you.”

Before I left, I went back to the pack compound one last time.

The old oak still stood.

The hole from the time capsule had finally been filled in.

A new tin box sat on the fresh-turned earth, a note taped to the lid.

[For Rhea]

I didn’t open it.

I just walked around it.

Soren stepped out from behind the tree.

This time, he didn’t block my path.

“The box is our apology.”

“I know you don’t want it.”

“So don’t read it. That’s fine.”

I nodded.

“Okay.”

He watched me.

“Maren left Crown City last year. Went overseas.”

“None of us have spoken to her since.”

“You didn’t have to tell me that.”

“I know.”

His smile came out crooked. “I just wanted to explain.”

“Soren.”

I cut him off.

“You tricked me into Northreach.”

“Not because Maren mattered so much-”

“because you were all so sure I’d never actually leave.”

The color left his face by degrees.

“You kept hurting me because you were certain I’d forgive you in the end.”

“So whether you picked Maren after I left-none of it ever mattered.”

“What matters is this: I’m never going back to the spot where I was always put last.”

He was quiet for a long time.

“I understand now.”

“Do you really?”

“I do.”

“Then stop waiting.”

“Walk forward.”

His tears finally fell.

“And you?”

I looked past him, to the black research transport idling outside the compound gates.

“I’ve been moving forward this whole time.”

I never stopped for anyone.