Chapter 321: _ The Bellamys Who Chose Themselves

"I’m leaving, Nash," she says, her voice trembling. "Amias and I... we’re leaving the pack today. Now."

She waits for him to grab her. She waits for him to tell her he’s going to get his bags. She waits for him to say he can’t live without her.

"I wish you well, Isolde," he says simply.

Isolde gasps as if he’d punched her. "That’s it? ’I wish you well’? What about the plans we made? We were going to see the coast. We were going to build a cabin in a neutral human countryside where the names Bellamy and Beta didn’t matter! Was all of that just a lie?"

Nash looks away, jaw tightened. "I can’t leave now. My parents... they need me. Lira was their golden daughter. She worked so hard, she was the pride of our family, the one who was supposed to carry our legacy and live as a Luna. And she’s gone. My parents haven’t recovered. They can’t lose their only son, too."

"But we are mates, Nash!" Isolde cries, stepping closer, desperate to catch his scent. "The things we shared, the bond the Goddess gave us—"

"The Goddess also gave me a family," Nash interrupts, finally meeting her eyes. There is no love there, only a cold, hard sense of duty. "And right now, they weigh more than a bond that has brought nothing but pain. Farewell, Isolde."

He turns and walks away without looking back.

Isolde stands frozen to the spot, the cheering of the pack in the distance sounding like a mockery. Her legs feel like lead. The world is moving, the sun is shining, and she is dying where she stands.

How... how could he do this to her? To them? She covers her mouth with a palm, trying to stifle the sob about the breakout from it.

"We are mated to a jerk." Auro hisses in both pain and fury.

As Isolde’s knees are about to give out, a hand rests on her shoulder. She turns to see Daphne, her eyes filled with a fierce, protective sympathy.

"Let him go, Isolde," Daphne says softly, pulling her into a hug. "I always knew he was a jerk deep down. A real man doesn’t punish his mate for the sins of a brother. You deserve someone who would burn the world for you, not someone who hides in the ashes."

Isolde weeps into Daphne’s shoulder, the finality of it settling into her bones.

"We are alone," Auro whimpers. "The miracle didn’t happen."

...

The finality of the iron gates looming ahead pulls the air from the courtyard, leaving a vacuum of heavy, expectant silence. Amias kills the engine for one last minute, the sudden quiet of the mountain air ringing in their ears.

Heidi stands at the edge of the gravel, looking every bit the Queen she was born to be, but as Amias steps out of the car, the stoicism breaks down. .

Amias walks toward Darien first. The two brothers—the only two left of a legacy that once boasted four—stare at each other. There is no rivalry here anymore, no shadows of their father’s cruelty.

Darien is the first to break, stepping forward and pulling Amias into a crushing, desperate embrace.

Darien buries his face in his brother’s shoulder, his frame shaking with a sob he hasn’t let out since the funeral pyres.

"You come back," Darien rasps, his voice thick with tears. "Do you hear me? You find your peace, and then you bring your ass back to this pack. I can’t be the last one, Amias. I can’t."

Amias clings to him, his own tears spilling onto Darien’s suit. "I’ll find it, brother. I promise."

When they finally pull apart, Amias turns to Heidi. She is already a mess, her chest heaving as she tries to swallow the grief.

To the pack, she is the Alpha, but to Amias, she is the girl who holds the other half of his soul—the half he has to leave behind to keep from burning them both down.

"Heidi," he whispers.

She doesn’t speak; she simply lunges into him. The impact nearly knocks him back, but he anchors her. His arms wrap around her waist as she sobs into his chest. It’s a raw, gut-wrenching sound—the cry of a mate losing her match, even if it’s only for a season.

"I hate this," she wails, her fingers digging into his travel jacket. "I hate that the world broke us so badly that you have to leave to fix it. Please don’t stay away forever. Please."

Amias shuts his eyes tight, breathing in her scent—wildflowers and rain—one last time. "I’m not leaving you, Heidi. I’m just... clearing the smoke so I can see you clearly again. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be back when I’m the man you deserve to have standing at your side."

He pulls back, wiping her tears with his thumbs, his touch lingering with a desperate tenderness.

Isolde watches from the passenger seat, her own heart feeling like a bruised fruit.

"Look at them," Auro whispers, her voice surprisingly gentle now. "Three parts of a whole, trying to learn how to breathe while being torn apart. It’s a different kind of bravery, Issy. Leaving is the hardest hunt we’ve ever been on."

Isolde knows the truth that Heidi is too heartbroken to see right now. She knows Amias won’t last long away from his mate, but she also knows he is a shattered mirror. If he stays now, he’ll only reflect Heidi’s own trauma back at her. He needs the silence of the neutral territories to glue his pieces back together.

She watches her brothers; Darien, the steady anchor, and Amias, the wandering soul, and realizes that one day, they won’t be rivals for Heidi’s heart. They will be her brothers-in-arms, her family, and her strength. But the path to that healing starts with a goodbye.

Isolde leans out the window, looking at the two people who have become her sisters. "Daphne! Take care of her! If she skips a single meal or works past midnight, I expect a text!"

Daphne wipes her eyes, giving a shaky thumbs-up. "I’ve got her, Issy! Just find that cabin! Find the life you deserve!"

Amias climbs back into the driver’s seat. He looks at Darien and Heidi one last time, gives a sharp, final nod, and shifts the car into gear.

As they roll forward, Heidi stands in the middle of the road, her hand raised in a lingering wave, her silhouette growing smaller in the rearview mirror.

"Adios," Isolde whispers to the glass.

"Adios," Auro echoes, turning her gaze forward to the trees. "The sun is high, the road is open, and for the first time... the Bellamys are finally choosing their own tracks."

The SUV clears the portcullis, and the great gates of the Duskwind estate close with a final, resonant boom, sealing the past behind them as they drive into the light.