The Pup He Never Wanted Chapter 10
Six months later.
I stood in the back garden of my coffee shop, looking up at the full moon.
My wolf spirit was so weak I could barely feel her presence—the after-effects of those drugs would likely be with me for the rest of my life.
But I wasn’t sad anymore.
“Moon.”
Caleb came and stood beside me, handing me a mug of hot cocoa.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“I’m thinking… that I’m happy now,” I smiled. “I lost a lot, but at least I still have myself.”
“And you have me,” he added.
I turned to look at him. In the moonlight, his eyes were still so clear.
In these six months, he never pried into my past, never tried to possess me, never even mentioned the word “mate.”
He was just there for me—fixing the coffee machine, shoveling snow, and holding my hand when I had nightmares.
“Caleb,” I asked suddenly. “Why did you run away?”
He was quiet for a moment. “My pack wanted me to mate with someone I didn’t love—for a political alliance. I didn’t want to repeat my parents’ miserable story, so I left.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Never,” he said, looking at me. “Because if I hadn’t left, I never would have met you.”
My heart started beating faster.
“Moon,” he said, taking my hand. “I will never push you into anything. If you want things to stay just as they are, I’m happy with that. But if one day… you’re willing to trust again, I’ll be right here.”
I looked at him, this man who was both a stranger and my closest friend.
He wasn’t an Alpha. He didn’t have a powerful family or a huge pack.
But what he had was honesty, patience, and respect.
“I need time,” I said softly.
“I have all the time in the world,” he smiled. “After all, werewolves live a very long time.”
That night, for the first time, I reached out and took his arm.
It wasn’t a mating bond, it wasn’t a mark. It was just a simple, human touch.
But it was enough.
One year later.
Business at the coffee shop was booming. I hired two part-time employees, which gave me more time to do things I loved—painting, hiking, reading.
Caleb bought a house nearby, but he spent most of his time at the shop.
We didn’t have a mating ceremony, and we never officially defined our relationship.
But everyone in town knew we were together.
Sometimes, I’d hear news from the Blackwood Pack—through the werewolf network or from passing rogues.
Caden eventually left the pack and moved to Europe. Some said he joined a reclusive pack of wolf monks, praying for penance in a monastery in the Alps.
Marcus and Vivian settled in the neutral territories and opened a small clinic, offering free medical care to rogues who couldn’t afford it—their own form of atonement.
As for Chloe… she took her son and returned to the human world, marrying a wealthy human who knew nothing of her past.
Her wolf spirit was severely damaged during childbirth, and she could no longer fully shift.
Maybe that was the Moon Goddess’s idea of justice.
And me, after losing my wolf, my mate, and my family, I had found true freedom.
On the night of the full moon, I stood on the balcony of the coffee shop and felt Caleb’s arms wrap around my waist from behind.
“You know,” I said quietly, “I used to think that after I lost my wolf, I wasn’t a whole person anymore.”
“And now?”
“Now I realize… maybe I never needed a wolf to tell me who I was.” I turned to face him. “I’m just me. Moon. Not Luna, not the Graymark family’s imposter daughter. Just… Moon.”
Caleb gently kissed my forehead.
“You were always whole. Always.”
In that moment, I finally forgave myself—for my weakness, for my foolishness, for my blindness.
Because all of that led me to where I was now.
A silver dagger had pierced my stomach, and betrayal had torn my heart apart.
But I survived.
Not for revenge, not to prove a point.
Just to live. To live for myself.
And that was my victory.
Epilogue: Three Years Later
“Mommy! Look!”
A little girl ran into the coffee shop, holding up a perfect maple leaf.
Her eyes were gray-blue—just like Caleb’s.
“It’s beautiful, Stella,” I said, crouching down to take the leaf from her. “Do you want to make a bookmark out of it?”
“Yeah!”
Caleb followed her inside, carrying a pile of firewood. “It’s going to get cold tonight. I brought some extra.”
Three years ago, I made a difficult decision—to undergo a surgery to repair the damage those drugs had done.
The surgery was a success. Two years ago, Stella was born.
She’s a healthy little girl with the sharp senses of a werewolf, but she hasn’t shown any signs of her wolf yet. The doctor says she might have her first shift during puberty.
Or she might not.
It doesn’t matter.
“Moon,” Caleb said, setting the wood by the fireplace and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “The local werewolf community invited us to the full moon gathering next month. Do you want to go?”
I watched Stella carefully making her bookmark in the corner and thought for a moment.
“Let’s go. It’s time she met more of her own kind.”
“Are you sure?” Caleb asked, a hint of worry in his voice. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”
“I won’t,” I said, taking his hand. “That’s all in the past now.”
And it was.
Whenever I think about those six years—the lies, the betrayal, the pain—I no longer feel anger or sadness.
It just feels like someone else’s life.
The life of a person named “Luna Moon Graymark.”
But now, I’m Moon Rivers—Caleb’s partner, Stella’s mother, and the owner of this coffee shop.
And that is more than enough.
That evening, after Stella was asleep, Caleb and I sat in front of the fireplace.
“You know,” I said, leaning against his shoulder, “sometimes I wonder what would have happened if Chloe had never stabbed me.”
“What do you think?”
“I probably would have spent my entire life as the ‘imposter Luna’ of the Blackwood Pack, living in a lie, never knowing the truth,” I smiled. “From that perspective, that silver dagger actually saved me.”
“That was one hell of an expensive salvation,” Caleb said.
“But it was worth it,” I said, looking up at him. “Because it led me to you.”
Outside, the full moon was rising again.
My wolf spirit is still weak and might never fully recover.
But I don’t need her to define me anymore.
I am who I am.
A woman who was reborn from betrayal.
A woman who found true happiness after losing everything.
The scar from the silver dagger is still there, but it doesn’t hurt anymore.
It’s just a reminder.
Of how strong I am.
Of how brave I am.
And that I am worthy of being loved.
[END]