Farewell, Alpha

I returned alone to our cold, empty packhouse.

I curled up under a heavy blanket, shivering and drenched in sweat as waves of excruciating pain washed over me.

I swallowed a handful of human sleeping pills, lying to myself: If I fall asleep, it won't hurt anymore.

In the drug-induced haze, I had a dream.

I dreamed of when I was twenty. Back then, Silas was a rogue without a pack, dirt poor, but he loved me with all his heart.

On my birthday that year, we walked past a high-end bakery in the human city. I saw a couple sitting by the window, the girl eating a delicate strawberry cake. It looked exquisitely beautiful and mouth-wateringly delicious—and, of course, outrageously expensive.

It was snowing heavily. I remember scooping up a handful of fresh snow, molding it into shapes, and laughing as I looked up at Silas. "Look, Silas! Doesn't this look just like that cake?"

Silas clenched his jaw, his eyes blazing with fierce love and deep shame. He pulled me tightly into his arms, burying his red-rimmed eyes into my hair.

Three days later, he stood outside my door holding that exact same cake.

A whole cake cost fifty dollars. He had braved a freezing blizzard, handing out flyers in the human city for three days just to earn twenty bucks. I have no idea how he got the rest of the money.

When I saw his frostbitten, bleeding knuckles, I broke down and sobbed.

"Silas!" I cried, pounding on his chest. "Your hands are meant for fighting, for leading, for achieving greatness! Not to be ruined just to buy me some sweets!"

I told him I didn't deserve something so expensive.

Silas frowned and cupped my face. "Aria, you are the most amazing woman in this world. You deserve every beautiful thing the Moon Goddess has to offer."

I finished that cake through my tears. So many years had passed that I couldn't even remember how it tasted. All I knew was that I had never tasted anything better since.

I slept for a long time. Half-awake, I heard my phone ring. I picked it up, and through the speaker, I heard his deep, raspy voice.

"Aria?"

I smiled, lost in the illusions of the past. "Silas... it's snowing so hard. I want to eat cake."

Before he could answer, I rolled over and let the darkness swallow me once more.