On My Drowing Day, He Announced His Bonding to Her Chapter 07
John sat there and watched that footage three times straight through.
He buried his face in his hands, his whole body shaking.
He thought about me holding out my phone, pulling up that old photo.
About me telling him I’d found her myself, that I wanted her alive more than anyone alive.
About the way he’d pinned my neck down and forced
me to my knees at her grave.
Every excuse he’d waved off, every time he’d shut me down cold, came back now like knives.
The door opened. Scarlett walked in with a mug of warm milk.
“John, it’s late. Drink something, get some rest.”
He turned his phone around and shoved the screen right in her face.
“Tell me what this is, Scarlett.“.
Her hand jerked and the mug hit the floor, shattering.
Her first instinct was denial.
“I just wanted to take her for a walk. She slipped in on
her own. I couldn’t hold onto her.”
He grabbed her wrist and pointed at the scab underneath.
“Then tell me where this scar came from.”
“I’m the Pack’s legal counsel, Scarlett. I’m not an idiot.”
She couldn’t keep the act up anymore. She broke down sobbing.
“Fine! It was me!”
“But what was I supposed to do?”
“I knew Violet was coming to you with that vow. The
second you two bonded, you’d be gone for good.”
“I just wanted you to stay. I just wanted you to actually
see me for once.”
She looked up, face soaked in tears, and screamed.
“So a dog died. So what?”
“Why does she get to bond with you without lifting a
finger? Why does she get to win everything?”
He looked at her like she was a total stranger.
He pulled the ring off his finger right there,
“We’re done. The bonding’s off.”
“Tomorrow you’re apologizing at Lily’s grave. And to
Violet’s family.”
Scarlett burst out laughing.
“Apologize? She’s dead!”
“What am I even apologizing for? To the Moon Goddess?”
“You’re pathetic, John. Always trying to say sorry to dead wolves.”
I stood in the study doorway watching the whole thing play out in silence.
There was no satisfaction in it. Just this hollow, empty feeling.
He finally believed me.
But I couldn’t talk anymore. And I didn’t want his belief
anymore either.
He turned and saw me standing there.
He crossed the room, dropped to his knees, and
wrapped both arms around me.
“Lily. I’m sorry.”
“I was wrong. Tell Violet to come back, okay? Please.”
“I’ll bond with her. I’ll swear it in front of the Moon
Goddess, that I’ll be faithful to her the rest of my life.”
His tears hit my forehead, burning hot.
All I felt was sick.
I used every bit of strengun fent in me to twist free and bolt out of the room without looking back.
Scarlett watched me go, muttering to herself.
“If Lily just dies again, he’ll finally stop being
obsessed with her.”
John looked half out of his mind after that, tearing through everything I’d ever left behind at his place.
He pulled open his desk drawer and found the notes I’d written out for him by hand, back when he was studying for his legal counsel exam.
Another drawer held the herbal remedies I’d once
crossed the whole territory to find, back when his wolf
side used to spiral out of control on full moons.
At the very bottom, he found a scorched half of the bonding vow.
He held that scrap of paper and couldn’t stop crying.
I’d handed him my whole future, piece by piece, with both hands.
And he’d burned my only way out to ash, just to keep Scarlett happy.