CHAPTER 58

Beatrice’s POV

The closer I got to my apartment, the more I could think of Robert’s offer. I should forget about it. Assume that meeting never took place. But the promise of more — more freedom, more recognition, more security — wrapped around me like an intoxicating perfume I couldn’t wash off.

Was this a trap?

You deserve better.

The voice of Robert slinked into my head like a venomous whisper.

My mind raced then, which by the time I got to my apartment, gave me a headache from too much analysis. My fingers shook a little as I unlocked the door and walked in.

I was suddenly surrounded by warmth. Sarah was snuggled up on the couch, a heavy blanket wrapped around her, a bowl of popcorn half-empty on her lap. As I walked in, she looked up, her sharp brown eyes scanning my face in one quick motion. I was not expecting her here, though I was sure she had the spare key to my apartment.

Her brows furrowed. She knows something’s up.

“What happened?” she said, putting the bowl to the side.

I blew out, whipped off my heels and collapsed onto the couch next to her. My body was heavy, weighed down by a thousand unsaid things.

“Robert Lee gave me a job ” I confessed. Who?

"The same Robert? Xander's competitor?" Sarah answered.

Sarah’s eyes widened. “What?”

I nodded, rubbing my temples. “Tripled salary. Better benefits. He wants me to be his P.A. — personal assistant.”

Sarah let out a low whistle. “Damn. That’s huge.”

I groaned and let my head fall back against the couch. “That’s why I’m suspicious.”

Sarah leaned and studied her face, her own face curious. “He didn’t say why he wants you?”

I hesitated. “He… suggested that I was being undervalued at Xander’s company. That I deserve better.” A lump formed in my throat. “And he also hinted that he had information regarding me and Xander.”

Sarah’s brows knit together. “Knows what exactly?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. He was vague, but the way he said it …” I shivered a little. “It felt like a warning.”

“Honestly? “This might be a great opportunity.”

I gaped at her. “Sarah!”

“What?” She held up her hands. “I mean, let’s be real. You do deserve better. Ever since you returned from Cape Town, Xander has been cold as a robot. He’s giving you the silent treatment, acting as if nothing ever happened between you two. Perhaps this is your opportunity to get away.”

Move on.

The words struck me like a blow to the chest, expelling all the air from my lungs and leaving a dull ache behind.

Move on.

That’s what I was meant to do. What I had told myself I had to do.

So why, then, did hearing it spoken aloud feel like a sore being torn open? “Unless…” she let the thought linger, tilting her head just so, her eyes too calculating. “You’re still hoping for Xander.”

My stomach turned in knots, my body reacting long before my mind was even able to comprehend the weight of her words. My neck prickled with cold sweat.

No.

That wasn’t true.

It couldn’t be true.

I shook my head quickly, almost too quickly. “Not me,” I said, my voice sounding harsher than I meant.

. “So what’s your problem with the thought of leaving?”

I froze.

The question was so simple. So direct. But it unraveled something within me, something I wasn’t prepared to confront.

I opened my mouth, searching for words — any words — but they never came.

Because I had no answer.

Or, rather, I had an answer that I couldn’t bear to voice.

Because the truth was scary, that is.

Because the truth was…

I didn’t want to leave.

Not yet.

Maybe not ever.

I dug my fingernails into my palms, forming fists as I battled the war within.

If I finally left, I would be free. Liberated from the past, liberated from the pain, liberated from the tempest that followed me every place I went.

But if I left…

I swallowed, steeling my face into some neutral expression before glancing back up at Sarah.

She was still watching me, waiting for an answer I couldn’t provide.

I breathed sharply out, shaking my head again — not in denial now, but in quiet resignation.

Because, for the first time in a long time, I was not sure what I wanted.

Sarah sighed and leaned back against the couch. “I’m not saying take the job. I’m just saying, think about it. Weigh your options. And maybe —” she paused, then went on, “pray to the Goddess for guidance.”

I stiffened.

Praying to the Moon Goddess was something I hadn’t done in years.

Not since I lost my parents.

The night they died, my faith had been shattered. I had pleaded for a sign, for anything to save them, and all that met me was silence. Empty, cold silence.

And I had never prayed again.

But now, here, stuck in uncertainty —

Maybe it was time.

—

That evening I lay in bed staring at the ceiling.

The apartment was quiet, minus the sound of the clock on my nightstand ticking away. Every single second felt as if it took forever.

I held a slow breath, then closed my eyes.

Moon Goddess … if you’re out there, send me a sign.

Silence.

Nothing.

I sighed, rolling over, yanking the blankets to my chin.

What was I expecting? That the Goddess would simply come down from the sky and tell me the answer?

I tried to clear my mind, to will myself to sleep. Instead, my dreams were full of shadows.

I was running.

Fog hung in the air and wrapped itself around my ankles like phantom fingers. The ground was far from level, my footfall sending little bites of dirt flying up in heedless wings.

Something was chasing me.

I didn’t know what it was, but I felt it. Its heaviness bore down on me, stifling, too heavy.

My lungs burned and my muscles screamed, but I kept running.

Then, suddenly—

A silvery light cleaved the darkness.

I skidded to a halt, panting. The light throbbed, became brighter — then it became a shape —

A wolf.

Not just any wolf. A great, angelic wolf with golden-molten eyes.

The Moon Goddess.

I remained frozen as she neared me, her paws quiet on the ground. Her eyes were focused on my own, as old as time and as wise.

Then she spoke.

Not necessarily with words, but with something deeper. A small thing that floated and landed somewhere up inside me, and vibrated through my soul.

"Do not run from your fate."

A gust of wind whipped through the air, and I awoke with a sharp breath.

My room was dark. Silent.

My heart thumped between my ribs. Sweat stuck to my skin, breaths emerged in jagged bursts.

A dream.

It was just a dream.

And yet…

My entire body was trembling.

I sat up, clutching the sheets. The words still reverberated in my brain, seared into my mind.

"Do not run from your fate."

What did it mean?

Was my fate tied to Xander? Or was this a whole other thing?

As chunks of my dream clung to me like thick fog and refused to lift, I swallowed hard. It had seemed too vivid, too intense to have merely sprung from me. All the details, and whispered words reverberated inside me like the cosmos trying to communicate something to me.

I had asked for a sign. Had implored the Goddess that I might see my way. And now… now, I didn’t know if this was an answer or just another cruel twist of fate.

I shut my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to get my heartbeat to slow down. But it was no use. My heartbeat only reverberated louder within the confines of my ribcage, as if it was foreshadowing some unthinkable danger.

Robert’s offer was still hovering at the back of my mind. The promise of more. The temptation of freedom. An exit from a life that had only ever given me pain and trauma. I’d spent years dreaming of a way out, wanting to build a future without always being on the run, without always glancing over my shoulder.

But now… I began to doubt it, a creeping claw sinking into my very being.

Because if the Goddess really had spoken to me tonight, if this dream was something other than pieces hewn from my fear and longing—

Then perhaps my destiny wasn’t to run.

Maybe it was to stay.

To stand my ground.

To face whatever was coming.

I shot up in bed, struggling to catch my breath, gripping the blankets tightly around me. An stillness filled the air and their what there was made wake me shiver. That feeling had roused me from slumber and still overhung me, an oppression on my chest.

Something wasn’t right.

I didn’t know what it was, but every instinct I possessed screamed that a storm was approaching, that danger was just outside my door.

And I was going to discover what.CH