The One He Left Behind Chapter 01

The One He Left Behind Chapter 01

For three long years after Killian Sterling was blinded by silver poisoning, I was the one who looked after him.

The second his sight returned, he headed straight for the council hall of the Blackwood Pack, ready to claim his old mate—the she-wolf who’d mocked him openly in his weakest days.

I’d thought he’d simply made a mistake.

That was until I stood outside the door and overheard him talking to his Beta.

“Killian, it wasn’t Lydia who took care of you all these years. It was that orphan Omega from the borderlands.”

“I know,” he replied flatly.

“Then why on earth are you—”

A cold, cruel edge laced Killian’s voice. “You’ve heard the saying, haven’t you? When a blind wolf regains his sight, the first thing he does is break the walking stick that guided him.”

“She saw me at my lowest. Weak, pitiful, crawling on the ground like a stray mutt. She will never be the Luna of this pack. She’s a part of my past I have to leave behind.”

I stood silently in the shadows by the door, then turned and walked away.

I left the pack that very night.

……

The day Killian got his sight back, nearly every member of the Shadow Pack turned out to witness the moment.

The area outside the council pavilion was packed tight. Servants, warriors, elders, even distant relatives who rarely showed their faces gathered there, all hiding behind the pretense of caring for their heir.

I lingered at the edge of the crowd, holding a small bouquet of moonblossoms. Morning dew still clung to the petals, just like my heart, heavy and restless in my chest.

Three years. More than a thousand days and nights.

I’d cleaned his wounds, fixed his meals, wiped away his tears when he gave up on himself, and stayed up through countless nights to calm him when thunderstorms pushed him to the brink of breakdown.

I’d told myself everything would change once this day came.

Layer after layer of bandages fell away, and the air grew so still it felt heavy enough to suffocate.

Slowly, he opened his eyes.

I stepped forward half a pace on instinct, and the thorns on the flower stems pricked my palm. My wolf stirred, wild with joy.

He’d promised me. He said he’d propose today, make me his mate and the future Luna, and that we would build a happy life together.

Those beautiful blue eyes scanned the crowd, and when they landed on me, I held my breath. This was it. He spoke my name.

“Lydia.”

I froze.

That was not my name.

He walked right past the crowd and headed for Lydia Wayne, who stood off to one side of the raised platform.

This was the same woman who’d crushed his sunglasses and sneered at him just three days after he lost his sight, calling him nothing more than a dog groveling at her feet.

Killian pulled a ring from his coat and dropped to one knee, his movements smooth and practiced, as if he’d rehearsed this a thousand times over.

“Thank you for staying loyal and standing by me through all these years.”

Lydia pressed a hand to her lips, feigning pure delight. Cheers erupted across the pack, and flowers were tossed high into the air.

I stood rooted to the spot, my mind going completely blank.

“No,” I pushed through the crowd, voice shaking. “No, Killian. The one who took care of you is—”

Cold hands closed around my arms in an instant. I spun around and met the icy gaze of Elinor, the pack’s Luna and Killian’s mother.

Her words cut into me like shards of ice. “Child, we need to talk.”

Faint sounds of celebration drifted into the healing chamber from outside.

Elinor sat down and let out a soft sigh. “You have to understand this. You and Killian live in two entirely different worlds.”

“If that accident had never happened, your paths would never have crossed at all.”

My lips parted, but no words escaped me.

“I swear before the Moon Goddess, I hate to see any bond fall apart,” she went on. “If Killian had realized the truth before the mating ceremony, then things would have run their natural course.”

“But if he never figures it out… then you simply were never meant to be his fated mate.”

“Killian’s position is fragile right now. He needs a partner of equal bloodline and status to secure his place as heir.”

I glanced through the doorway toward Killian and Lydia.

They stood side by side, looking every bit the perfect pair. A sharp, aching pain tightened my chest, overwhelming and impossible to name.

But Killian… why?

Three years. How could you not recognize my voice? I told you my name was Senya. It means dawn.

Did you never truly learn it at all?