Chapter 5
Chapter 5
+ 5 Prints
By the time I got my boarding pass, the money from the sale of the house had already been deposited into my account. That house in the center of the pack had originally been my dowry. Selling it didn’t feel like a betrayal to me; it felt like reclaiming something that was rightfully mine.
What about Jameson and Kieran coming home
to find they were locked out? Yes, that was no longer my problem.
Before boarding the plane, I stopped by a boutique and treated myself to some new clothes-finally, no more oversized.
hand-me-downs or faded athletic wear. There
were still many other changes I had yet to
make.
But ever since I walked out of that house and
chose freedom, something deep within my wolf
had changed as well. At last, we could breathe
again.
For the first time in years, when I opened my
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eyes, there wasn’t a mountain of housework waiting for me.
I chose a small, peaceful pack-so small that it made me feel like I had finally found a place I truly belonged. The money from selling the house was enough for a simple living space. The remainder would allow me to live comfortably for the rest of my life.
Throughout my forty years as Jameson’s mate, I’d lost track of how many times I imagined severing our mate bond. While washing dishes, folding clothes, being ignored at the dinner table, and lying next to a mate who hadn’t touched me in years, I dreamed of having my own territory and living my own life.
I wanted to wake up at my own pace, not be roused by calls for breakfast. I wanted the right to rest when I was tired and eat when I was hungry. I no longer wanted to be a maid, a mother, or a body perpetually in pain.
But every time I was on the verge of leaving,
fear would hold me back. I hadn’t worked for
decades. How would I survive? And what about
our son? Through elementary, middle, high
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school, and college, I waited. For forty years, I
waited.
Until now.
I finally did it-completely walked away. It was only then that I realized living for myself wasn’t nearly as hard as some had claimed. Leaving wasn’t hard. The heavy burden was the excuses I clung to all those years, not reality.
For forty years, I buried my fears beneath responsibility and guilt. Now, after all this time, I finally allowed myself to live.
The true beginning came when I went house hunting. My realtor was a young she-wolf, maybe in her twenties. She didn’t see me as an outcast or a lost cause. To her, I was just
another client.
While signing the papers, I found myself asking her, “Do you often have clients like me?”
I didn’t explain what I meant, but she didn’t even bat an eyelash. She just continued typing and replied casually, “Every day. People from all walks of life take that step every single day.”
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Her words seeped into my heart like warm
sunshine.
Of course.
The world is a vast place full of countless she-wolves like me. I wasn’t the first. I wouldn’t
be the last.
Maybe to others, it seemed like I woke up too late. But to me, any time left was still precious
and mine.
And just like that, I settled into my new pack-a territory that was finally mine alone.
The mate bond ceremony was grand and
luxurious, full of life. Jameson spent two
hundred thousand dollars to make sure his beloved daughter-in-law had the ceremony of her dreams. Partly, it was also to make
amends with Alice. Although Kieran was Alice’s biological son, he never called her “mom.” Both
Jameson and Kieran felt guilty about that.
As for me? To Jameson, Zara Phelps was a she-wolf who brought misfortune upon herself.
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He still remembered our mate bond ceremony. Back then, I was beautiful, graceful, and dignified. But as the years passed, he claimed I had let myself go.
After our pup was born with congenital heart disease, I completely fell apart. Our first pup only lived a few years. I gave everything to save him. I barely slept; I barely ate. I was no longer “presentable.” I was just a desperate mother.
Jameson said I no longer looked like a she-wolf but a bloated dog lying in bed. Even after I lost the weight, grief had drained me, and it made no difference. In his eyes, I had broken something irreparable. He convinced himself that maybe all married she-wolves ended up this way. So, he endured it. He settled.
Then Alice came back. Seeing her reignited a spark in him. At first, he remained loyal. After all, Alice was my best friend, and despite everything, I was still his mate. But Jameson knew Alice had feelings for him too. He could
see it in her eyes every time they met.
Still, I had just lost a pup, and neither of them dared to cross the line. In the beginning,
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they avoided each other outside our home. But fate seemed determined to bring them. together. They ran into each other at a concert, discovered they both liked rare coffee blends, and enjoyed the same books. Since our first. year together, Jameson had never shared any
of this with me.
As time went by, he persuaded himself that Alice was his soulmate. In his eyes, no vows
were broken. Alice had no desire to remate,
and Jameson didn’t want to act “recklessly.”
So, they started meeting in secret—nothing too obvious, just enough to make each other feel special.
All those years, after losing our first pup, I was engulfed by grief. And Jameson? He had long
moved on.
Then one day, I came home and told him I wanted another pup.
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