The leaves trembled softly in the wind. The letters on the trunk had warped with growth, stretched and swollen, but they were still legible.
"Alaric Nightfang loves Hazel Ashvale. For one life, one eternity."
He had held my hand to carve those words too, and the second time his strokes were steadier than the first.
The tree had grown tall and full now, its canopy thick enough to shade the ground below.
But what we had between us had rotted long ago.
I raised my hand.
The workers who had been waiting behind me stepped forward at once. The saw screamed through the silence.
The one leading them couldn't help asking.
"Miss Ashvale, this tree's grown so well. Why cut it down?"
I was quiet for a long time.
Then I smiled, gently.
"Because from the very beginning, it was a mistake."
What is born from a lie was never meant to remain.
That night, I did not sleep at all. My wolf lay still somewhere deep in my chest, not restless, not grieving. Just still. The way something is still after it has finished breaking.
When the sky lightened, it was the day of Chloe Ashford and "Caelan Vale's" fifth bond anniversary moon feast.
It was also the day I would leave.