Full Circle
Returning to work, I discovered the controversy had subsided. My landlord called to report someone had been waiting outside my apartment for three days.
I hurried back to find Karl sitting at my doorstep, cigarette smoke mingling with his distressed Alpha scent.
Discarded cigarettes formed a small mound at his feet. When he saw me, he stood unsteadily.
“Isabelle…”
I frowned in distaste. “What now?”
“Natalie has been handled. She won’t trouble you again. I didn’t expect her to become so… unhinged.”
“But isn’t this entire situation your creation? Without your betrayal, none of this would have happened.”
I interrupted him and locked my door, leaving him outside.
After that day, Karl began appearing regularly near my home.
Every evening after work, I would find something at my doorstep–sometimes wildflowers from the mountainside, sometimes hand–carved wooden figurines.
I discarded each offering without hesitation.
Winter solstice approached again. Nate invited me to dinner, and I prepared to meet him.
At the crossroads near my apartment, instead of Nate, I found Natalie.
Few pedestrians walked the snowy streets. A vehicle’s engine roared aggressively as Natalie, her eyes wild with rage, accelerated toward me.
“Go to hell, Isabelle!” she screamed.
The headlights blinded me. A figure lunged forward, pushing me clear of the vehicle’s path.
Blood splashed across the snow, and I gradually lost consciousness.
When I awoke in the hospital, Nate sat vigilantly beside me. Seeing me stir, he immediately
called for the healer.
After confirming I would recover fully, relief washed over his features.
Once the healer departed, Nate hesitated before speaking.
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Full Circle
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“Karl died instantly,” he said quietly. “Natalie succumbed to her injuries shortly after.”
I remained silent, fragments of memory surfacing.
“I’m sorry, Isabelle…” Karl had whispered before his eyes closed forever.
This ending seemed predestined from the start.
Eight years ago, he had sworn a sacred oath to the Moon Goddess. Eight years later, he finally paid the price for breaking it.
On the day I was released from the hospital, Nate escorted me home with mysterious excitement.
“Close your eyes,” he instructed, his voice warm with anticipation.
“Why?” I asked, clutching his arm for balance.
“Trust me.”
When he removed his hands, I gasped at the transformation before me.
My apartment overflowed with winter blossoms, and at its center stood a magnificent evergreen tree decorated with crystalline ornaments that caught the moonlight streaming through the windows.
I turned to find Nate kneeling before me.
He took my hand and pressed his lips to my palm with reverence.
“May I be your companion beneath the moon’s light?”
Tears welled in my eyes as I nodded without hesitation.
“Yes.”
The following winter solstice night, I embraced my new beginning, running freely beneath the full moon with my true mate by my side.
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Chapter 1
Tai Jun is a dreamer and storyteller who believes the sky is never the limit. He spends most of his time with his friend Lian, chasing new horizons and crafting tales that soar beyond boundaries.
