For four months now I have been living alone in a small hut in a forest far away from my old home. Every now and then Ethan would come by to see how I was doing. Otherwise I spent my time hunting and chopping wood.
It was all behind me and I was doing pretty well on my own now, although I must have been thinking about Lou several times a day, but knowing that she was okay made me enjoy life in a new way.
Just as I was about to disappear into the woods with my hunting rifle, I heard a car and turned to see Ethan parked on the narrow dirt lane.
"What do you want here?" I asked him and walked towards him a bit.
"Hello first," he began, lighting a cigarette. "If you want to see Lou one last time, you should come with me."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked him worried and took a step closer to him. My heart was pounding at the thought that something might have happened to her.
"She's having a goodbye tomorrow night. You and Alec are getting out of Woodlin. Maybe for good."
I caught my breath, but quickly calmed down.
"No, I don't want to see her!"
I growled under my breath and really had trouble saying it believably. Of course I wanted to see her one last time, but what if it all started all over again. It had taken me so long to even find the courage to go on living again, so what if I really saw her for the last time and even knew about it. Could I take losing her again?
"You really should think twice," Ethan snapped me out of my thoughts and threw down the cigarette to stump it out under his shoe.
"Is she happy?" I asked him and immediately saw that he was uncomfortable answering me, but he did it anyway.
"Yes."
I took a deep breath and turned my back on him. I desperately wanted to see her one last time, to convince myself that she was really living the life she deserved, no matter how much it would destroy me all over again.
"I'll come with you," I said quietly and ran back to the hut to put on a jacket and put my rifle away.
Ethan was already in the car when I came out of the cabin and started the engine. I sat down next to him and just stared thoughtfully out the window as we drove, the sky darkening and Ethan driving down the streets in silence.
For hours we drove through forests, cities and over deserted roads. The sun was rising again in the meantime, but we would still need hours for sure.
Inwardly, I prepared myself for my last conversation with her. I wasn't sure if she even wanted to see me, but it would be goodbye forever and didn't we both deserve to at least wish each other all the best after such a long time?
When I saw the familiar forest in front of us, I just shifted nervously in the seat. It suddenly seemed idiotic to have driven with him. What if she didn't want to see me? This thought kept coming back to me and made my head pound a little, but before I could think about it further, we were standing in front of the Wialtrama in the dusk.
"I'll take the car away and then I'll catch up," Ethan said and I got out of the car with a racing heart to stop for a few minutes and take a deep breath.
For the last time, I thought to myself and ran through the black double doors and through the curtain. I looked through the crowd and then saw her laughing sitting at a table with Alec. Her laughter gave me goosebumps and, ignoring the others, I walked over to them as the music pounded in my ears and the lights flashed past me.
When she recognized me, her gaze changed immediately. It looked like she was about to stop breathing and I only stopped when I was right in front of her table, where Alec then looked up at me too.
"Would you give us a minute," I turned to him and even though he looked like he didn't like it, he nodded and disappeared further away, leaning against a wall with his eyes on us.
I sat down across from her and watched her chest tremble as her brown eyes locked on mine.
"Hey," I whispered, placing my hands on the table just inches from hers.
"Hey you," she smiled and my body started shaking slightly.
"So you're going away?" I asked her in a trembling voice, struggling to get the words out of my mouth.
"Yes," she breathed, glancing down at my hands and then back into my eyes.
"I just wanted to say goodbye," I then explained, pulling my hands back to pull out of my pocket something I'd bought to keep with me at all times.
I pulled out the bracelet with the moon charm and carefully took her hand to put it on her.
A single tear rolled down her cheek as she looked from her wrist back to my face.
"So you don't forget me," I smiled and pulled my hands away from her to get up. Every second that dawned destroyed me more and more and I just had to go far away again to cope with it.
"Chace!" she breathed, getting up to stand in front of me and look up at me. "I'll never forget you," she whispered, flashing me her prettiest smile. "Thanks for the trailer."
I turned my back on her and ran quickly out of this hell of torment. So close and yet so far. The pain tore me up and when I got outside I decided to walk to our hut to mentally relive everything one last time. I wanted to savor every memory and tearfully walked through the dark forest while my heart dissolved. Just the thought of Alec making her laugh kept me breathing.
I watched after Chace and knew it was the last time I saw him. I stood paralyzed and stared at the curtain he'd disappeared from until Alec grabbed my hand and jerked me out of my place.
"Shall we go?" he asked and I smiled at him and nodded my head.
His Bmw, which he had bought especially for us, was already parked outside the Wialtrama and, being polite as he was, he held the door open for me so I could flop onto the seat.
I turned back to the Wialtrama and let my mind wander to my past until my future got in beside me and gave me a wink, then started the engine.
We drove across the bridge in the dark and I looked out into the night and played with the pendant that hung loosely around my wrist. Chace had certainly disappeared over the mountains as a wolf and now lived his life on.
I turned my head to Alec who looked at me and suddenly brought the car to a halt at the curb.
"What's going on?" I asked and he leaned in to give me a long, deep kiss. It wasn't until he pulled away that I saw the tears in his eyes. I didn't understand what was going on until he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and took a deep breath.
"You will never love me like him and I love you too much to do that to you."
I parted my lips, speechless, not knowing what was happening until he leaned over me and opened my door. His next grip unbuckled me and the first tears ran down my cheeks.
"Alec," I breathed, placing my hand on his cheek.
"I should have known from the start," he whispered, taking my hand to kiss it gently.
"But the marker," I whispered, my voice shaking, and he gave me a sad smile.
"I know a healer who can undo anything."
I looked him deep in the eyes one last time and gave him a loving kiss on the cheek to say goodbye, which should show him my full gratitude.
I got out of the car, completely confused, and closed the door to watch him for a long time until the lights faded further and further into the darkness.
Only then did I walk back to Woodlin and stopped just before the Wialtrama to collect myself. The tears just ran down my face and I made my way to my hut to get my life on my own. The whole evening was too much for me and I was just grateful that Alec had recognized something I was trying to suppress myself. I still loved Chace.
When I got to my cabin, I froze when I saw Chace come out the door, staring at me with wide eyes. My heart was pounding and I was crying, covering my face with my hands in danger of collapsing, but before I lost my footing, I felt his strong arms around my body and I finally felt whole again. Only at that moment did I realize that only we belonged together.
I clung to him as tightly as I could, sucking in his scent as if to prevent anyone from ever taking it away from me again.
"I'll never leave you again," he whispered in my ear, and I cried so much from happiness that I could hardly breathe.
"Don't ever let go of me," I sobbed and he pulled me even tighter into his body.
I snuggled into his chest, listened to his heart and knew I was finally home after a long time. Even after my tagging by another man, he still loved me and wasn't afraid of my closeness. This was real love that no fate in the world could ever destroy.
We got through it all, we went through hell, but when he pulled away from me and showed me his dimples and I saw the moon in the sky behind him, everything bad was forgotten.
"My moon," I breathed, standing longingly on my tiptoes, finally enjoying the feel of his lips on mine again. My heart was beating in time with his and I knew it would be like this forever. Nothing would separate us anymore.
end
Thank you for reading,
I 'm so sorry for those who wished for an ending for Alec and Lou, but I knew from the start that this is going to be about the love between Chace and Lou and how deep honest feelings can be . One should learn that true love hurts, but also can forgive and that if it is real , it is invincible .
I might write a new book about Alec if anyone wants it , but I would n't have considered ending with Lou for him . That would no longer have been my book .
I hope you are still happy with the ending and I was able to entertain you with this story ♡♡♡