My Family Stole My Run I Returned A Leader Chapter 02
The house was unnervingly quiet for the next few days.
Every day I got up on time, did the chores, and read through the materials Gray Harbor University had sent.
Now and then, my family posted a few photos in the group chat.
Tide Coast was outside the range of the Cedar Ridge pack link, but their cell phones worked just fine. Not one of them called to ask how I was doing, alone in the house.
Until the evening of the fourth day, when Stefan called.
I stared at his name on the screen for a long moment before picking up.
“Hello.”
It was noisy on his end; I could hear the ocean.
Stefan sounded annoyed.
“Paloma? That braided bracelet of yours—did you leave it in the side pocket of the blue suitcase?”
I froze.
He had made that bracelet for me by hand eight years ago, before he moved away.
A tiny, deep-blue glass bead hung from it.
It wasn’t a registered courting token.
But for years, I’d treated it as proof that he would keep his promises.
I usually wore it all the time.
For this trip, I’d been afraid the seawater would damage the braid, so I’d tucked it safely into the side pocket.
“Yes.”
I tightened my grip on the phone.
“Why?”
Stefan let out a sigh.
“Bella was unpacking on the beach today.”
“She thought the suitcase was a mess, so she just dumped everything out of the side pocket.”
“The bracelet fell into the sand. We can’t find it.”
My breath hitched. A dull ache throbbed in my canines—my wolf warning me this was no accident.
“You can’t find it?”
“Did you even look?” My voice rose, sharp and thin.
Bella’s tearful voice came through the line.
“Paloma, I’m so sorry…”
“I really didn’t mean to.”
“There was so much sand. I looked for a long time, but I just couldn’t find it.”
Then my mother’s voice cut in.
“Paloma, why are you yelling?”
“It’s just an old piece of string. How much could it possibly be worth?”
“Bella stood in the sun for half an hour looking for it.”
“Her wolf had just stabilized. Now she’s feeling dizzy.”
I bit my lip until I tasted blood.
In their eyes, my things had never mattered.
Stefan took the phone back, his voice clipped with impatience.
“Paloma, your mother’s right.”
“It’s just a bracelet, not some formal courting token.”
“I’ll buy you a new one when we get back. Gold, something prettier.”
“Bella already feels terrible. Don’t make her cry.”
“Be mature.”
There it was again.
I closed my eyes. A single tear fell onto the back of my hand.
But I didn’t make a sound.
After a long silence, I finally spoke.
“No need.”
Stefan paused.
“What do you mean, no need?”
“I mean, you don’t need to buy me a new one,” I said, my voice flat.
“If it’s gone, it’s gone.”
It wasn’t the first time, after all.
There was a brief silence on the other end.
“I’ll bring you a gift from here when we come back.”
I didn’t answer. I just hung up.
I set the phone aside and sat on the bed, hugging my knees to my chest as a chill seeped into my bones.
My wolf no longer nudged me toward Stefan.
When I was little in Gray Valley, the winters were hard.
My grandmother wouldn’t let me into the living room to get warm, so I’d stay in the cellar by myself.
Back then, Stefan had been visiting relatives with his parents.
He found me there.
He pressed his own hand warmer into my hands and wrote me a note.
“Paloma, don’t be scared.”
“I’ll take care of you from now on.”
I kept that note for eight years.
Later, after he moved back to the central district of Cedar Ridge, we stayed in touch.
In his letters, he said he would take me to the sea.
That once we were adults, he would court me properly.
That he would buy me pretty clothes.
For years, he was the only person who made me feel seen.
Now I finally understood that words didn’t become promises on their own.
I got up and went to my desk, then pulled open the bottom drawer.
Inside was a metal tin filled with the letters he had written me over the years.
I took it to the kitchen and turned on the stove.
One letter after another.
The fire slowly devoured the yellowed pages.
I stood beside the stove and watched until the last wisp of ash settled.