Once My Only, Now Just a Memory Chapter 01

Once My Only, Now Just a Memory Chapter 01

Flora’s POV

The fifth winter after my Alpha rejected me, I saw him again in a bakery.

Five years had passed, but time seemed to favor him. He was towering, broad-shouldered, and muscular, with a face that was as cold as it was striking.

He was still the same dominant figure, the most powerful Alpha ever to take control of Wrenford Pack at such an early age, and the true power behind Wrenford Holdings.

With a clatter, Cillian Wrenford casually placed the plate of bread he had chosen in front of me.

His golden eyes swept over me without a word. My soul remained entirely still.

I didn’t say anything. I simply pulled my mask up higher, lowered my head, and began packaging his items.

“That will be eighty-seven, sir.”

He didn’t answer. He just raised an eyebrow. “Add a box of vanilla macarons. My Luna likes them.”

I did as he asked. I handed the paper bag over without looking up.

Just as I was about to let go, a sharp pull came from the other side of the bag. The sudden tug caught me off guard, forcing me forward. I barely managed to steady myself against the counter.

When I looked up, I met a pair of cold, mocking golden eyes.

My throat tightened. Cillian stared at me.

“Vanilla macarons used to be your favorite.”

“Sir, I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t recognize you just because you are wearing a mask?” Cillian’s lips curved into a sarcastic smirk. “Five years. You don’t seem to be doing very well.”

My gaze fell to my frayed sleeves and rough, calloused hands. A bitter laugh echoed in my mind.

I was indeed not doing well.

Ten years ago, when I graduated from Harvard and became Cillian’s Chosen Mate, rising from an Omega with a humble background to the future Luna of Wrenford Pack, I never imagined I would end up like this.

He seemed to sense something. His brow furrowed suddenly.

“Your wolf is gone? How can you take care of Lumi in this state?”

Hearing that name, my face went cold.

My voice hardened.

“That is none of your concern, Alpha Cillian.”

A suffocating silence filled the air. The heavy pressure of his Alpha aura filled the bakery, making the werewolf coworker beside me instinctively lower her head.

The air in the bakery grew thin. Cillian finally pushed the door open and left, his imposing frame disappearing into the heavy rain outside.

“Oh my god! Was that really Cillian Wrenford? I thought I was going to collapse in here. You actually know him?”

My coworker, Lydia, broke the silence with a startled reaction.

I gave a quiet nod.

She stared at me, her eyes wide as if she were seeing me, a wolf-less Omega, for the first time.

She pressed further.

“Then you must know his former Mate! That Omega from the outer districts who everyone talked about! Years ago, Cillian fought his own grandfather, Former Alpha Edmund, just for her. He even endured a public punishment in the Pack Hall. Later, he threw the most lavish mating ceremony the East Coast had ever seen.”

She shook her head.

“The entire Pack was shocked. An Omega could never legally become our Luna. But Cillian publicly rejected her soon after. I guess he didn’t love her as much as everyone thought.”

“Perhaps he did love her once,” I said, my gaze drifting as if I had traveled back ten years.

“He was willing to reject his fated match for her. He took her skiing in the Arctic, stargazing in the southern deserts, and swore his vows to her in the Moon Temple.”

“He was happy to walk through quiet towns with her, stay up late watching movies, and share simple, inexpensive dinners.”

“When she was hurt, Cillian would skip vital Pack Council meetings. He would stay by her side all night, summoning the top doctors from every allied Pack just for her.”

“They even had a child together, a little girl named Lumi. She was precious. When she was born, she was so tiny and delicate. Cillian held her every single day, completely devoted.”

Lydia stared at me, the excitement on her face fading.

“You…”

“Yes,” I replied calmly.

“I am that Omega. His former Mate.”

Lydia looked me up and down, her expression a mix of shock and pity.

She couldn’t help but ask:

“Then Lumi…”

I didn’t answer this time.

I simply took off my mask to breathe.

Lydia stared at my face.

It was covered in thick, silver marks, each one revealing the hardships I had endured. The words died in her throat.

This was the parting gift Cillian had left me.

Lydia didn’t ask any more questions.

When my shift ended, I took a cake I had prepared earlier out of the freezer.

Holding it tightly, I walked two blocks through the storm and boarded the bus to Westbridge Memorial Cemetery.

Outside, the rain poured down. Thunder rumbled, shaking the ground beneath my feet.

I knelt before a small headstone, holding my umbrella over it to keep the rain away.

I set the cake down and wiped the water off the small photograph on the stone.

“Happy birthday, Lumi. Mom is here to see you.”