8 Chapter 8
Gabriel and I returned after three days in Alaska. We were headin
Temple to register our mating bond.
At the entrance, I was shocked to see Ethan.
He rushed toward me from the side and grabbed iny arm.
“Sarah… you can’t go in!”
Gabriel immediately stepped in front of me.
“Let go of her.”
Ethan stared at me desperately.
“Five minutes… please, just give me five minutes!”
to the Moon Goddess
I calmly pulled my hand away. Ethan’s palm was suddenly empty, and he stumbled.
Then, Ethan’s knees hit the ground. He knelt heavily on the steps of the Moon Goddess Temple.
“I know I was wrong… the ceremony, your appointments, Kira… everything was my fault!”
He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a velvet box. Inside was the ring he had proposed with.
“You said that as long as I came back, you’d always be there…”
I looked down at the ring and smiled bitterly.
“Ethan Thornfield, do you remember what you said on the day you proposed?”
Ethan froze.
“I said… I would be good to you for the rest of my life…‘
I looked him in the eyes.
“But did you keep that promise?”
“What makes you think I have to give you chance after chance? What makes you without you?”
Ethan’s eyes grew red, and tears fell.
“I was wrong. I was too confident… No, I was just an asshole.”
I looked at him with cold eyes.
“Ethan, some mistakes can’t be fixed by kneeling.”
I took Gabriel’s hand. As we turned to leave, Ethan’s mother blocked our path.
think I can’t live
“Sarah, I know Ethan has been a fool, but you two have been together for so many years… He truly has you in his heart.”
I met her gaze evenly.
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“Auntie, do you really believe that if Kira called him right now, he wouldn’t leave immediately?”
Ethan’s mother froze and looked at her son.
Ethan looked panicked. He opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say.
I shook my head gently.
“Auntie, you’ve lived a long life. You know that’s not what love is.”
Ethan’s mother let go of my arm, her head lowered in shame.
Gabriel and I completed our registration. Ethan was still kneeling at the entrance to the temple.
“Sarah…”
I didn’t want to see his pathetic performance anymore. I got in the car with Gabriel and left.
The next day, Ethan posted on social media.
“One last trip to Aurora Peak. A final goodbye.”
He tagged me, but I didn’t respond.
Leo tried to reason with him.
“You’re going to the undeveloped area? They just issued a blizzard warning, and you’re still going?”
“Are you insane? You almost died there last time!”
Ethan gave a bitter smile.
“I have to take a gamble. If she still cares, she’ll come…”
Leo was stunned, not knowing what else to say.
After all, this was his own doing.
When the blizzard hit, Ethan was at the entrance to Aurora Peak.
He waited, but I never appeared.
Leo urged him, “Go back. She’s not coming.”
“Don’t throw your life away for this. It’s not worth it.”
Ethan wouldn’t give up. He contacted me one last time.
“Sarah… are you really not going to care about me anymore?”
Hearing his pleading, choked voice, I responded coolly.
“Ethan Thornfield, you’re an adult. You’re responsible for your own life.”
“But you used to…”
“I used to love you. Now, I don’t.”
Ethan was speechless, his hands shaking uncontrollably.
I hung up, wanting nothing more to do with it.
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Half an hour later, I received a video from him.
He had gone into the mountains.
The wind howled, and snow flew everywhere. Ethan’s lips were purple from the cold, his voice trembling.
“Sarah… look, this is where we took a picture last year…”
In the video, he stumbled through deep snow, the camera shaking violently.
A second video came through.
“Remember? You grabbed me right by this rock… when I almost slipped…”
A sudden gust of wind nearly knocked him over, but he stubbornly righted himself and kept recording.
“I know you hate me… but can you just… just say one word back to me?”
I watched them silently and set my phone aside.
What difference would it make if I replied or not?
Could we ever go back to the way things were?
He called me childish, but he was the one being a child.
The blizzard intensified. Visibility dropped to less than fifteen feet. The mountain warning signs
were buried in snow.
Ethan smiled at the camera.
“Sarah, look, I made it to the highest point we reached last time…”
Suddenly, his foot slipped. Ethan cried out and fell.
“Wait, this ice isn’t right…”
The ice cracked. The camera spun wildly, and the video cut off. The last message read, “Sending failed. No signal.”
My heart leaped for a second, then went still.
Gabriel’s large hand rested on my shoulder. He looked at me gently.
“…Should I notify the pack’s rescue team?”
The phone had been quiet for a long time.
He was probably in trouble.
I thought for a moment.
“No”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow, confused.
“I thought you might have a soft spot for him.”
I shook my head.
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8 Chapter 8
“When I fell for him… he mind–linked Kira first to tell her he was safe. He waited half an hour
before calling a rescue team.”
“He has family and friends. It’s not my place to call for help for him.”
That evening, I got a message from Leo.
“The rescue team found Ethan. His spine is severely damaged.”
“Can you come see him? He keeps calling your name.”
