Two Homes, No Place for Me Chapter 06

Two Homes, No Place for Me Chapter 06

Holden still comes the next afternoon.

He drags my suitcase to the dorm and waits for me downstairs.

He has cleaned it until it looks brand-new. Inside are the clothes, photos, and certificates I left in

the storage room.

He even takes the admission papers Derek threw into the trash bags, smooths out every page, and

organizes them in a folder.

“I got everything sorted for you.”

His eyes are bloodshot when he says it, like he hasn’t slept all night.

In the past, seeing him like this would have been enough to make me soften immediately.

But this time, I only take the folder. I don’t take the suitcase.

Holden keeps one hand on the handle, refusing to let go.

“Anne, come home with me. I’ve already talked to your parents. Your dad will turn the study back into your bedroom, and your mom will have Cole move out for now. We’ll add your fingerprints to both houses.”

I look at him, “Why do they have to move someone out now?”

He freezes.

I continue, “If those rooms were supposed to be mine, why did someone else have to move out for me to get them?”

Holden opens his mouth, but no answer comes.

I look straight at him.

“Because you never gave me a room in the first place.”

“Anne…”

“Derek didn’t take my room by accident. Cole didn’t either.”

My voice stays quiet.

“You all made those choices. You just never made one for me.”

Holden’s face slowly drains of color.

“Those rooms weren’t planned properly. We didn’t think everything through.”

“No.”

I cut him off.

“You didn’t forget to plan for me.”

“You just planned everything around Juliet.”

Dad and Mom prepared two rooms for her.

Derek personally installed her starry lights.

Holden spent two weeks helping her test mattresses.

They were all busy.

Everyone knew what Juliet liked, what she was used to, and what she needed.

Not one of them remembered there was an Anne too.

Holden’s grip tightens around the suitcase handle.

“Anne, I thought you were going to a local college.”

His voice grows quieter.

“You’ve always been independent. I thought you could handle the dorm stuff yourself.”

I look at him.

“What am I majoring in?”

His lips part.

No answer.

“Where am I going to school?”

Again, silence.

I ask one more question, “What time was I supposed to check in on September 3?”

Holden has nothing to say.

After a long silence, he finally murmurs, “I’m sorry.”

I say nothing.

He doesn’t know which university I’m attending.

He doesn’t know what I’m majoring in.

He doesn’t even know where I’m starting my new life tomorrow, despite promising to drive me to

orientation.

Yet he remembers exactly how soft Juliet likes each mattress, where every lamp belongs, and which pillow goes in which house.

One is his mate.

The other is the girl he has always held closest to his heart.

Yet he doesn’t even know where I’m supposed to begin my new life.

I reach into my pocket and pull out a bracelet.

It’s the one he gave me for my eighteenth birthday.

Back then, he held my hand and promised,

“When you go to college, I’ll tell the whole pack you’re my future Luna.”

We never held an official mate-bonding ceremony.

But in both packs, everyone has always assumed we’ll eventually make our mate bond official.

I used to think so too.

But now, standing in front of him, even my wolf doesn’t stir at the scent of my mate.

As if the bond that once made my heart race has already snapped beneath the weight of disappointment after disappointment.

I gently place the bracelet on top of the suitcase.

“You don’t have to come pick me up anymore.”

Panic finally flashes across Holden’s face.

‘Anne, I just missed the messages. I didn’t mean to leave you behind.”

I look at him, “But you did.”

His breath catches.

I speak slowly, making sure he hears every word.

“When someone keeps forgetting you over and over again, what’s the difference between being forgotten and being abandoned?”

Holden reaches for me.

I step back.

“You promised you’d help me and Juliet move. You said nothing would get left behind.”

I look at the suitcase in his hand.

“You kept your promise to Juliet.”

“Every lamp, every pillow, every little thing she wanted made it from one pack house to the other.”

My voice grows softer, “Except me.”

“You forgot me, along with my luggage, in that storage room.”

Holden stands there.

His eyes slowly turn red, “Anne…”

I don’t listen anymore.

I take the suitcase from him and turn toward the dorm.

Holden instinctively follows me for two steps.

But the access system flashes red: [Access denied.]

He is stopped outside.

The administrator glances at him, then looks at me, “Do you know him?”

I pause for a moment. Then I answer, “I used to.”

I scan my key card and walk inside.

The glass doors slowly close behind me.

This time, I don’t look back.

And no one can open them for him.