He Wouldn’t Marry a ‘Widow’ So I Left Him and His Brother Both Chapter 05

He Wouldn’t Marry a ‘Widow’ So I Left Him and His Brother Both Chapter 05

Her little face tightened, and she burrowed into my arms.

I stroked her hair, said goodbye to Toby and his mother one last time, and never looked toward the bonfire again.

After getting Rory settled, I carried her treasure box to the courtyard gate of the home Ronan and Callum shared.

The things inside had once meant the world to her, and I did not want to leave them behind in our house. Once the clan gave the place to another female, the box might simply be thrown away as trash.

After thinking it over, I had decided to return it.

I bent down and was just about to set it on the ground when the door suddenly opened from inside.

Callum stood in the doorway.

The moment he saw me, his entire body went rigid.

“W-Winter?”

He stammered, his fingers tightening around the doorframe.

His panic told me everything I needed to know. Ronan must have warned him before going out not to show himself and risk being seen.

I did not call him out. I simply held out the box.

Callum accepted it instinctively.

When he looked down and recognized Rory’s belongings, his throat worked.

“What does this mean?” he asked hoarsely.

“Rory said a few things inside were broken. She wants Ronan to fix them.”

It was a lie, but realization flickered across Callum’s face, and he believed me.

I quietly studied his lowered eyes and suddenly felt as though I were looking at a stranger.

During all those years, which one had I truly loved, Ronan or Callum?

Even I could no longer tell.

Perhaps I had loved them both, each in part.

None of that mattered anymore.

“Callum.”

I suddenly spoke his name aloud.

The familiar yet strangely foreign name was swallowed by the wind.

Callum looked up blankly, as though he had not heard me clearly.

I paid it no mind and continued, “I’ll come back for the box after everything is fixed.”

That was a lie too.

I would never come back.

Callum’s eyes brightened, and he nodded.

“No problem. If you’re busy, I can bring it over to you.”

I smiled at him without answering and turned away.

I had no idea that behind me, his amber eyes stayed fixed on me as I walked away.

After I had walked some distance, Rory spotted me from far away and came racing over.

She grabbed my hand.

“Mama, hurry! I made a new friend. I want you to meet him!”

She tugged so hard that I stumbled, then I climbed onto the wagon.

A tall shifter was leaning against the wagon.

A cloth covered the lower half of his face, leaving the strong bridge of his nose and a rare pair of deep-set, lake-blue feline eyes visible.

He gave me a brief, indifferent glance.

Rory crouched in front of him, watching in fascination as the cord twisted into different shapes between his fingers.

The old shifter, his pipe clenched between his teeth, poked his head into the wagon and counted the passengers.

“Everyone here? If so, we’re leaving.”

The wagon wheels slowly began to turn.

Rory clutched the little butterfly the shifter had woven for her from red cord and leaned into my arms.

As the final streak of sunset disappeared, I lowered my head and kissed my cub’s forehead.

I wanted neither Ronan nor Callum.

From now on, it would be just Rory and me.