WE MEET AGAIN

ASTRID

I didn’t speak for a long time.The silence stretched between us, thick with the weight of everything left unsaid.The wind stirred again, gentle and cool as it slipped past us like a quiet sigh. It tugged at the strands of my hair that had escaped their tie, brushing them across my face like ghostly fingers. I didn’t bother to push them away. I just stood there, staring at the garden below.Bathed in moonlight, it looked unreal. Silver light spilled across the flowers, turning every petal, every leaf, into something magical—something that didn’t belong to this world. It felt distant. Like a memory I couldn’t hold onto. Or a dream I was never meant to touch.“I don’t expect you to understand,” I said at last. My voice broke the stillness like a single drop falling into a quiet lake. The sound felt too loud, yet too fragile—soft, like it had been shaped from the ache in my chest rather than my throat. It came out more like a whisper than a statement. Barely there. “But I feel him.”I didn’t mean to, but my hand moved. It rose slowly and pressed against the center of my chest—right where the ache always lived. Not a wound. Not sharp. Just a dull, constant heaviness that never truly left. It waited beneath my ribs, tucked deep like a secret I didn’t know how to forget. “In here,” I said, voice low and shaky. “Every time I close my eyes, he’s there. He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t move. But he’s waiting. For me.”Beta let out a breath. I heard it, faint but clear. A soft exhale that carried more than just air. It sounded tired. Not from lack of sleep, but from carrying too much for too long. It wasn’t angry or disappointed. Just… worn. “Astrid,” he said gently, his voice threaded with concern, with a quiet plea I couldn’t quite name. “You’ve built your life around this. Around a dream. You’ve turned away every suitor. Ignored every elder. Even your father—”“I know,” I cut in. Too fast. Too harsh. The sharpness in my voice startled even me. The words bit down hard on my tongue and left the sting behind. I closed my eyes, pressing my fingers deeper into my chest like I could hold myself together through the pain. “I know what I’ve done. I know what it’s cost.”A pause stretched between us. Not empty. Just full of things we didn’t know how to say. My voice dropped to a hush, barely audible over the wind that stirred the leaves around us. “But I’d rather spend the rest of my life chasing the truth than force myself to love someone who isn’t him.”The silence returned, heavier now. It pressed down on us like thick fog, wrapping around every unspoken word. Beta didn’t speak. I didn’t need him to. Maybe he didn’t know what to say. Or maybe… he finally understood.I lifted my gaze to the sky. The stars shimmered above like shards of light scattered across endless velvet. Each one flickered in and out of focus, like they were watching, waiting. They reminded me of his eyes—the ones from my dreams. Gray, like smoke and shadows. Eyes that glowed in the dark, wild and ancient, filled with something untamed. Something that belonged to me and no one else.“I don’t care how long it takes,” I whispered. My throat tightened, but I pushed through it. My voice didn’t shake this time. “I’ll find him. Even if I have to walk through every forest. Cross every river. Search every pack until I can’t stand anymore. I’ll keep going. Until the moon stops rising.”Beta stepped closer, quiet as always. I didn’t turn, but I felt him. The weight of his presence. The warmth he carried like armor. His hand brushed my shoulder—light and steady. He didn’t pull. He didn’t try to stop me. He just stood there, beside me.“You’re strong,” he said. His voice was soft again, like a whisper wrapped in truth. “But even strength can break when it carries too much for too long.”I nodded slowly. The truth of his words settled inside me like a heavy stone dropped into water. The ripples moved through my chest, but they didn’t drown me. They reminded me I was still here. Still standing.And still sure.Because something inside me knew. Something deep and unshakable.That wolf in my dreams wasn’t just a fantasy. He was real. Flesh and bone. Somewhere in this world. Breathing. Waiting.And when we met—when our eyes finally found each other—the world would make sense again. Everything would fall into place.This time, Beta didn’t let the silence grow roots.“You’re twenty-seven, Astrid,” he said. His voice had changed. The softness faded, replaced by a firmer tone. Duty had returned to his words, sharp like the edge of a blade. “The Lycan King is worried. The elders are restless. They think you’re being reckless.”I let out a sharp breath, the sound almost a laugh. “Let them talk.” I stood up slowly, brushing the wrinkles from my dress with unsteady hands. The silk felt heavier than before, like it carried the weight of all their expectations. “They always do.”He stepped closer, shadows brushing his face under the moonlight. “He wants you to marry,” he continued. “You’ve turned down every proposal. Every alliance that could’ve secured peace. Do you understand what that means for the realm?”I looked up at him, jaw tight. “I told Father the same thing I’m telling you now. I’ll only marry my true mate. I don’t care about titles. I don’t care about diplomacy. If it’s not him—it’s no one.”The moment the words left my lips, something in him changed. His gaze lost its warmth. It turned sharp, solid—like stone. His jaw locked tight, and for a second, I forgot how to breathe. He had always worn his emotions like armor—controlled, quiet, careful. But now, his control cracked, just a little.“You’re being foolish,” he said, his voice low and hard.My heart slammed against my ribs. The pounding filled my ears, louder than his words. I swallowed back the sting in my throat and forced my voice to rise.“Then let me be foolish,” I snapped. “Let me ruin my life if that’s what it takes.”I thought he would argue. I waited for the usual calm that always came with his warnings. That steady voice that never rose, never wavered. I thought he would reason with me again—tell me to think, to wait, to be patient like I always had. But he didn’t. The silence that followed held weight. It stretched too long, too tense. It felt like the world stopped breathing with me.When he finally spoke, something in him had already shifted. I saw it in the way his shoulders straightened, in the tight press of his lips, in the storm building behind his eyes. What came next wasn’t calm. It wasn’t even anger. It was something deeper. Something that bled into every word he said.“I can’t watch you keep chasing a dream anymore.”I flinched. My breath hitched and caught halfway in my chest. I blinked at him, confused and shaken. “What are you—?”“I’ve loved you for years, Astrid.” His voice cracked as the words spilled out, too fast, too raw. “And I’m not your mate. I know that. But I’d marry you in a heartbeat. I’d stand beside you in front of the court, the kingdom, the gods. If you’d just stop waiting for someone who may not even exist.”The garden around us faded. The air turned still and heavy. His words echoed louder than the wind. My lips parted, but no sound came. I stared at him, trying to find something—doubt, hesitation, even bitterness—but I saw none. Only truth. Clear and heavy and painful.“Beta…” His name fell from my lips like a plea, but it shook as it left me.He stepped forward, slowly. “I’m not asking for the throne,” he said. “I’m not asking to be the prince in your story. I just want to be allowed in it. Let me try. Let me be the one.”My chest felt too tight. The world blurred around him, and I realized it was because of the tears that stung my eyes. My hands trembled, useless at my sides. He meant it. Every word. And that was what hurt the most—because I couldn’t give him what he wanted. I couldn’t give him me.“No,” I whispered, broken. “No, I—”The words crumbled before I could finish. My breath came short. Shallow. I turned and ran.The halls before me stretched endlessly. Cold stone and echoing silence wrapped around me. My footsteps pounded against the floor, but all I could hear was his voice. Still there. Still lingering. Still aching.He called my name.Just once.But I didn’t stop.Because the wolf in my dreams had gray eyes.And Beta didn’t.