Chapter 315: Left

Rebecca’s POV

​"Oh."

That was all I managed to say.

Kaden gave me a solemn, single nod. His expression remained hard and distant, the cold mask of an Alpha King settling back over his sharp features.

"I have a lot to attend to back at my pack," Kaden said, "Council matters, pack issues, and things I’ve already pushed aside for too long. And you need space, Rebecca."

My fingers tightened around the bedsheet. He was right. That was what I had been asking for from the moment he arrived. Space. So why did hearing him say it feel so terrible?

Kaden paused, resting his hands at his sides. He looked at me with those dark, unblinking eyes, keeping every bit of his beastly aura tightly controlled.

"If it is okay with you, I was thinking I could come back on weekends," he added quietly. "Just to see how you’re doing and be involved with the pregnancy. But only if you’re comfortable with that."

My throat felt painfully tight. There was no demand in his voice. No Alpha command. No assumption that he had the right to appear whenever he wanted. He was asking me. I looked down at my hands, my heart hammering against my chest, before forcing myself to look back up at him. I swallowed hard. "Yes. Weekends are fine."

His shoulders relaxed just a little, and he gave a brief movement of his chin. "Okay. Take care of yourself, Rebecca."

"You too," I managed to say.

For a long, lingering moment, we just stood there looking at each other. The silence felt heavy enough to crush me, the bond pulling painfully between us. Laura was completely silent now, but I could feel her sadness.

Then Kaden took two slow steps toward me. I stiffened slightly, and he noticed immediately, slowing down to give me enough time to pull away if I wanted to. I didn’t. He leaned down, his large, warm hand cupping the side of my face for a split second, and pressed his lips gently against my forehead. Just once. A soft, gentle kiss—nothing demanding. The touch was so tender it almost broke me.

He pulled back, looked at me one last time, and turned around without another word. He walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.

The moment the latch clicked shut, my legs gave out. I collapsed backward onto the bed, burying my face in the soft duvet.

Hot tears immediately gathered in my eyes and spilled over, soaking into the duvet.

"No," I whispered, wiping a tear away angrily. "No, no, no. Why are you crying?" I shouted at myself, my voice muffled by the blanket. "Stupid girl, why are you crying?"

I was the one who said no. I was the one who asked for space. He had even agreed that after the baby was born, if I still wanted the rejection, he would give it to me. Everything was finally going the way I wanted. But logic does not mean a thing when your mate bond is screaming at you that half of your soul just walked out the door.

Mate is leaving, Laura whimpered.

"Shut up," I muttered into the pillow.

She didn’t answer—maybe because she knew she didn’t need to. I lay there on my back and just kept crying. I stared at the ceiling, wiping my wet cheeks over and over, telling myself that this was for the best. I needed time. I needed space to heal. But maybe pain didn’t always mean something was wrong. Maybe sometimes doing the right thing hurt.

I did not leave my room for the rest of the day. Lunch came, and I barely touched it. Dinner came, and I ate just enough for the baby before pushing the tray away. The sun went down, painting the sky in deep shades of orange and purple, but I just stayed indoors, watching the lights outside. Kaden was still somewhere in the same house, but knowing he would be gone by morning made everything feel different.

It was after nine in the evening when a knock came at my door. Stephanie pushed the door open quietly, wearing dark blue medical scrubs with her hair tied back in a loose bun. The second she saw my face, her smile disappeared.

"What happened?" she asked, closing the door behind her.

"Nothing."

"Rebecca. You look like you’ve been crying."

"I haven’t." When she just stared at me, I sighed. "Fine. Maybe a little. Don’t start."

Stephanie kicked off her shoes and pulled her legs onto the bed, sitting beside me. "What happened?"

I ended up telling her everything. I told her about the fight, my argument with Kaden, what I had said about him being a terrible father, Callum admitting he had provoked him, Kaden clearing my name publicly, my apology, his agreement about the rejection after the baby, and finally, that he was leaving tomorrow.

Stephanie listened without interrupting. When I finished, she was quiet for a long time, looking at me with soft, sad eyes. "You love him, Rebecca."

My chest tightened. Usually, I would have denied it immediately. I would have told her she was crazy. But tonight, I didn’t have the energy to lie. "I don’t know what I feel."

"You didn’t say no," Stephanie said gently, reaching over to hold my hand. "You can love someone and still not be ready to forgive them."

My eyes burned again. "I don’t want to love him. He hurt me, Stephanie. So why does him leaving hurt?"

"Because feelings don’t disappear just because someone hurt you." She squeezed my hand softly. "Maybe this is the best thing for both of you right now. He goes home. You get space. He visits on weekends. You don’t have to decide your entire future today."

"And if I never forgive him?"

"Then you don’t." Simple. No pressure, no speeches about the Moon Goddess, no telling me I had to accept my mate.

I rested my head on her shoulder. "For now," she whispered, "just breathe and take care of yourself."

I nodded. Eventually, she left for her own room, and sometime after midnight, the exhaustion took over and I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next morning, I woke up later than usual, a little after eight. For one beautiful second, I forgot everything, until Laura stirred inside me. Mate. My eyes snapped open. Kaden. He was leaving today.

I sat up quickly. Surely he hadn’t left yet. Kaden was a creature of habit; he would eat breakfast first before making the long trip back. I showered quickly, dressed in a comfortable sweater and jeans, brushed my hair, and headed down the grand staircase. I tried not to think about why I was moving so fast, telling myself I definitely wasn’t rushing just to see him before he left.

When I reached the dining room, I stopped.

Kaden was not there.

Sitting at the long mahogany table were only my mother and Lord Callum, sipping tea and talking quietly.

"Good morning," I said, taking a seat across from my mother.

"Good morning, sweetheart," my mother smiled, while Callum greeted me with a polite nod.

A maid placed breakfast in front of me. I served myself a small portion of fruit and toast, but my eyes kept darting toward the double doors of the room. Once. Twice. Then again. Why had he not come down yet? Maybe he was packing, or speaking to Logan, or taking a call.

My mother set her teacup down gently on the saucer and looked at me with understanding eyes. "Rebecca."

"Yes?"

"Kaden left. He left early this morning, around five o’clock. He should already be back in his territory by now."

I swallowed hard, the toast turning to ash in my mouth. Five in the morning. He left without even saying a proper goodbye to me. A heavy knot formed in my stomach, and I suddenly lost every bit of my appetite. I set my fork down, staring blankly at my plate. He had kissed my forehead last night—maybe that had been his goodbye. Still, I hated that he had gone without seeing me this morning, even if feeling that way was completely ridiculous.

My mother stood up from her chair and walked over to me, resting a hand on my back. "Rebecca, let us go for a walk. Let us take your mind off him."

I frowned. "Off who?"

Mother gave me a look, her lips twitching. I sighed. "Fine."

We walked out into the bright morning sunshine, heading straight for the quiet stone pathways of the garden.

"I haven’t properly started teaching you about your abilities yet," my mother said as we reached a wide, grassy clearing surrounded by rose bushes. "Your teleporting ability is different from mine. When I teleport, I open a portal first and see the path. But the times you teleported, you didn’t create any visible opening. You simply disappeared and appeared somewhere else, jumping through space using pure thought."

"Both times I was remembering Kaden’s garden," I noted, folding my arms.

"Yes. Your power could be connected to thought, emotion, or both, which is why we need to teach you control so you do not end up stuck inside a wall or in the middle of an ocean."

"That sounds safe," I muttered.

Mother laughed softly. "We start small. Close your eyes and think of somewhere inside Stone Pack that you know very well. Try your room."

I closed my eyes. I pictured my bedroom—the bed, the window, the soft blanket, Stephanie sitting beside me last night. I waited. Nothing happened.

I opened my eyes. "Nope. Still here."

"That’s good," Mother said calmly. "It means you aren’t teleporting simply because you picture somewhere. There is another trigger. Let’s try something different. Instead of a place, think of a person. Someone you genuinely want to see."

My stomach tightened immediately. "That sounds dangerous."

"Trust yourself," she smiled. "Close your eyes. Remember how you felt the other times. Don’t force the power—let your mind reach for the person."

I closed my eyes again. Someone I genuinely wanted to see. Stephanie? I had seen her last night. Kane? Maybe, but my mind didn’t settle on him.

Instead, a face appeared without permission: green, intense eyes, a sharp jawline, and the overwhelming scent of mint and rain.

Kaden.

I tried to push him away, but my mind filled with images of last night—his soft kiss on my forehead, his voice telling me he was leaving, and then the empty chair at breakfast. He had left at five without saying goodbye. I wondered what he was doing right now. Probably sitting in some council meeting, buried in reports, looking cold and untouchable.

My chest tightened with a sudden, desperate urge. I wanted to see him. Just for one second. Only to know he was okay.

Before I could stop myself, the magic inside my blood snapped like a stretched rubber band.

"Rebecca!" my mother sharply called out, but her voice faded instantly.

A sharp breeze whipped past my ears, and the smell of fresh garden roses vanished. The warmth of the morning sun disappeared, replaced by the cool, indoor air of a massive space. My feet hit hard stone floors.

I gasped, snapping my eyes open.

The garden was gone. I was standing right in the middle of a grand, towering hall. Long wooden tables lined the room, and dozens of high-ranking werewolf elders and council members were seated on either side, holding stacks of official papers. Voices around the room stopped all at once.

And at the very head of the hall, sitting on a high black throne, was Kaden.

He was dressed in a dark, formal suit, looking every bit the ruthless Alpha King, a folder open in front of him and a pen in his hand.

The entire council hall went dead silent. Every single member turned their head, staring at me in absolute shock.

Kaden froze. He slowly stood up, his eyes widening in complete disbelief as he looked at me standing right in the center of his pack hall.

"Rebecca?"