I didn’t follow. Not immediately. Instead, I let the minutes drag on, joining the crowd, pretending to listen to meaningless conversations. My wolf itched to confront them, to expose their lies, but I forced her down.
When I finally approached the lounge, the door was ajar. Their voices filtered through, low and intimate.
“You should’ve left her,” Celeste was saying. “She doesn’t belong here, Lukas. She never did.”
“You think I don’t know that?” he snapped. “Do you have any idea what this is costing me?”
I stepped into the doorway, my heart pounding but my face calm. “Am I interrupting?”
Celeste froze, her eyes widening. Lukas turned slowly, his expression shifting from anger to something unreadable.
“Ayla,” he began, his voice steady but strained. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Really? Because it looks like you’re discussing how inconvenient I am for both of you.”
Celeste opened her mouth, but I cut her off. “Save it. I’m not here to argue.” I stepped closer, meeting Lukas’ gaze. “I just want you to know that this is the last time you’ll humiliate me.”
He frowned. “What are you talking about?”
I smiled—a cold, bitter smile. “You’ll see.”
The sound of laughter echoed through the hall as Lukas and Celeste strutted toward the pack, their eyes shining with a calculated gleam that had always made my stomach churn. I stood there, watching them, the weight of the past few weeks pressing down on me, but there was no way I’d let it break me now. Not anymore.
The sting of betrayal still burned, but it wasn’t the sharp ache I’d felt days ago. No, now it was a cold, steady rage that ran through me like fire in my veins. I wasn’t the girl who had begged Lukas for scraps of affection anymore. I wasn’t the girl who would cry alone in the shadows, waiting for his call. I was done.
As Lukas and Celeste disappeared into the crowd, I turned and walked in the opposite direction. No one stopped me. No one tried to pull me back into the cage they thought I belonged in. I had earned my independence. They could all see it now.
I didn't need Lukas or Celeste to define me. I didn’t need anyone to tell me who I was.