He Claimed My Best Friend, I Claimed My Future Chapter 08

He Claimed My Best Friend, I Claimed My Future Chapter 08

Lucian didn’t give up. 

He kept showing up at Ironclaw’s gates every break, just like before. The only difference was that he stopped trying to stop me. 

Sometimes I would catch a glimpse of him whenever I entered or left, but I never paused again. 

Rina would ask sometimes, “He’s still waiting?” 

And I would say, “That’s his choice.” 

But waiting eventually wasn’t enough for him. Packages started arriving for me at Ironclaw’s mail room. Sent from Capital Pack College, with Lucian Blackwood as the return address. 

Inside were training wrist guards, herbal balm for 

sore muscles, and a few bags of Silverpine’s specialty dried meat. 

Each one came with a small note. 

[I heard Ironclaw training is brutal. These might 

help.] 

[Don’t forget sunscreen. You never used to wear 

it.] 

[It’s getting cold. Bundle up.] 

I sent everything back unopened. After a few times, the packages stopped. But Rina told me the figure outside the gates was still there. 

The summer I graduated, I logged into my old social media account for the first time in ages. 

Notifications flooded my screen. I scrolled past most of them, group greetings, spam, the usual. Then one caught my eye. 

[It’s been years since we finished training. Let’s meet up. Same pack dining hall near the training grounds. Next full moon.] 

I stared at the message for a long time. 

Truthfully, I didn’t need to go. Most of my three years of training had been painful memories. 

Being called “shadow,” being betrayed by my best friend and the person I loved most, being 

squeezed into a corner of the long table like I 

didn’t exist. 

But I still wanted to go. 

Not to prove anything. Not to get revenge. I just wanted to find out one thing. 

Would I still be afraid of the people who hurt me? 

The day of the gathering, I wore a plain T–shirt and the cargo pants I trained in. No makeup. I didn’t dress up. I didn’t even do much with my hair. 

But when I pushed open the heavy wooden door of the pack dining hall, everyone inside still went 

quiet. 

“Is that… Nora?” 

“Nora? Goddess, you look so different.” 

“You got darker, but you look… good.” 

I smiled and found a seat in the middle of the long 

table. 

Someone poured me a glass of mead. I took a sip. 

It was sweeter than I remembered. 

Halfway through the meal, someone brought up the old days. 

A wolf stood up with his glass in hand, his face flushed. I remembered him. He was the one who 

had called me “shadow” in the pack group chat. 

“Nora, we said a lot of mean things about you back then,” he said, his voice tight. “We were young and stupid. We followed the crowd. I’m really 

sorry.” 

As soon as he spoke, several other wolves stood 

1. up. 

“Yeah, Nora. We just had loud mouths.” 

“Don’t hold it against us. We know we were wrong.” 

I held my glass and listened to each of them. 

“It’s all in the past,” I said. My voice wasn’t loud, but the whole table went quiet to hear it. “I stopped 

remembering a long time ago.” 

I didn’t say I forgave them. 

Because some wounds don’t need forgiveness. 

They just need to stay in the past. And what stays 

in the past never comes back. 

Near the end of the meal, the wooden door 

opened. 

Everyone turned. 

Lucian stood in the doorway. 

He wore a dark shirt. His jaw was sharper than it 

had been years ago, and the hollows under his 

eyes were deeper. 

The Alpha heir who had once been adored in 

Silverpine’s Pack Hall now looked like someone 

who had been lost for a very long time. 

His eyes swept across the long table and stopped 

on me. 

He went completely still. 

He probably hadn’t expected me to be there. 

“Nora.” His voice was so low it was nearly 

swallowed by the crackle of the fire in the hearth. 

The room went quiet. Everyone was watching us, 

but no one said a word. 

Lucian walked over and stopped in front of me. His eyes landed on my shoulder, on the Ironclaw 

full warrior pin. 

“Nora, I’m sorry,” he said, his voice rough. “I know I 

don’t deserve anything. But I’ll keep waiting. I hope 

you’re doing well.” 

I didn’t stand. I just looked up at him and gave a 

small nod. 

“Okay,” I said. “You should move forward too. Don’t 

get stuck in the past.” 

He stood there, his lips parting. I stood up, grabbed my jacket, and walked toward the door. 

At the end of the hallway, I saw Serena. 

She stood in the shadows, wearing a light–colored 

dress, her hair loose over her shoulders. 

When she saw me, her eyes darted away. She 

opened her mouth, like she had so much to say. 

Once, she had been my best friend, my only 

warmth in this pack. 

But she had chosen to stand beside Lucian. She 

had chosen his attention over my trust. 

When I walked past her, she suddenly called out, 

“Nora.” 

“Can I help you?” I asked. My voice was calm. 

“Nora, I’m sorry.” Serena’s voice broke. “I know 

nothing I say now will matter. But I still wanted to 

tell you I’m sorry.” 

“I was selfish and vain. I knew about you and 

Lucian’s mate bond. I knew you two were together. 

And I still used you as an excuse to get close to 

him.” 

“I watched you hurting and miserable, and I 

pretended not to see it. Sometimes I even felt 

proud of myself.” 

“You treated me like your best friend, and I always 

treated you like a sidekick who made me look 

better. I’m sorry.” 

“After we stopped being friends, I felt guilty all the 

time. I regretted how I treated you. I regretted 

losing you as a friend.” 

She said so much. Every word carried real regret. 

She had genuinely realized how badly she had 

messed up. 

I listened quietly. 

I didn’t feel any anger in my heart. Just calm, like a 

frozen lake, still and undisturbed. 

When she finished, I smiled slightly. 

“It’s all in the past,” I said. “I don’t blame you 

anymore.” 

“We should both move on. Just live our own lives.” 

With that, I waved gently at her. 

“Thank you for protecting me back then.” 

Tears shone in her eyes. We hugged one last time before parting. 

As I held her, the old ache from the severed mate 

bond stirred faintly inside me, then faded away. 

That small flicker of pain reminded me that Serena and I had once shared a true friendship. 

I left Silverpine, returned to my bed at Ironclaw, and turned off the light. 

I closed my eyes and fell asleep to the sound of 

wind over the snowfields. 

No dreams. 

Just tomorrow.