She Rejected the Alpha and Became Her Own Moon Chapter 12

She Rejected the Alpha and Became Her Own Moon Chapter 12

The man carried himself with a warm refinement, 

his features clean, and what was more, he was a 

werewolf, a strong and self–contained one. 

Seeing Ethan, he paused for a beat, and the two 

wolves were already silently sizing each other up, 

but he gave a polite nod right after by way of 

greeting. 

A clear smile lit Aurora’s eyes as she stood and 

took the book, flipping it open for a glance, her 

voice light. 

“Perfect, I was just worried I couldn’t find the 

material. Thank you, Caleb, for making the trip on 

purpose.” 

“It was on my way. I had a meeting nearby 

anyway.” 

Caleb’smiled, then added, “By the way, the city 

horticultural society has a show next week with a 

lot of new varieties brought in from abroad. Want 

to go see it together?” 

“Sure. I’ve been wanting to find some new fall 

varieties anyway.” 

The two of them talked easily, moving from the 

flower show to how to care for the hydrangea in her yard, the conversation light and in step, and Ethan stood off to the side with no way into it at 

all. 

He watched the genuine, easy smile on Aurora’s 

face, a look he’d never once seen in their five years. 

together. 

And all at once he understood. 

He and Aurora had stopped belonging to the same 

world a long time ago. 

He was still stuck in the memories of the past, 

drowning in regret, while she had already moved 

on to a place where spring was warm, and the flowers were open, and she would never turn back 

to wait for him again. 

He didn’t intrude any further. He quietly rose and 

left the flower shop. 

At the end of the lane, he looked back once. The 

door stood half open, warm yellow light spilling 

out, and he could just make out the outline of 

Aurora bent over her book, quiet and lovely. 

Ethan stayed in St. Augustine for a full week. 

Every day, he came to that old street and stood far 

off at the mouth of the lane, watching Spring 

Blossom open its doors, watching Aurora carry in 

her flowers in the morning, sit in the doorway in 

the midday sun with her tea, and send off her last 

customer at dusk before she locked up. 

He didn’t go in and bother her again. He only 

watched from a distance like this, his heart both 

full and hollow. 

He knew he’d truly and completely lost her. 

The day he left St. Augustine, the weather was fine, not a cloud in the sky. 

Standing in the airport gate area, Ethan thought back to that other airport a year and more ago, where Aurora’s parents had torn up her ticket, and she’d stood in the milling crowd with her fingertips shaking in anger, her chin lifted stubbornly, refusing to let a single tear fall. 

Back then, he’d still thought she was throwing a tantrum, still assumed as a matter of course that once Iris was well, he’d come back and bond with her again. 

Looking back now, the man he’d been then was absurd and pitiful. 

He’d chased a boyhood obsession for half his life, 

and only when he looked back did he see that the 

one light that had ever truly brightened his days. 

he’d thrown away with his own hands. 

And she had already stepped out on the spring 

wind into a spring of her own, and she would never 

wait for him again. 

I barely noticed Ethan’s departure. My life settled back into its quiet rhythm without a ripple. 

I still opened my little flower shop every morning, selling cherry blossoms and peonies in spring, jasmine and white magnolias in summer, sweet olive and daisies in fall, and wintersweet and 

pussy willow in winter. 

Helena stopped by often to keep me company, usually bringing homemade treats, while Caleb dropped in every now and then with books about 

plants. 

The two of us sometimes visited the flower 

market or wandered through flower shows together. 

Our friendship was easy and comfortable, and neither of us had ever tried to make it anything 

more. 

My parents came to find me once after hearing 

that I’d opened a flower shop here and was doing 

well. 

They wanted me to go home. They also wanted 

me to help them get in touch with Ethan. 

They said Iris was spending too much money 

overseas, and they didn’t have enough left to 

support themselves in their old age. 

I welcomed them politely and gave them a sum of 

money. 

I told them I would send them support every 

month from then on, but I wasn’t going back, and I 

wanted nothing more to do with Ethan. 

They called me an ungrateful daughter and hurled 

every insult they could think of. 

I listened without saying a word, and after they 

had exhausted themselves, I calmly walked them 

to the door. 

I’d stopped expecting anything from the family I 

was born into a long time ago. 

Now I had my own little flower shop, my own 

small courtyard, work that I truly loved, and 

peaceful, steady days. 

That was more than enough for me. 

One evening, I sat beneath the trellis in my courtyard with a cup of tea in my hands. 

When I looked up, the setting sun blazed across 

the horizon, painting the sky in fiery shades of red. 

A gentle breeze drifted through the yard, shaking loose a shower of jasmine petals that landed on the hem of my dress. 

Their fresh, sweet fragrance lingered in the air. 

Without warning, my thoughts wandered back to 

years ago, to the Pack’s annual honors gala. 

Ethan had stood on the stage in a perfectly 

tailored suit, his posture straight and proud, 

shining so brightly that the younger me had 

thought he was the most dazzling person in the 

world. 

That had been the greatest and most carefully 

hidden crush of my entire youth. 

I smiled to myself and lifted my teacup for another 

sip. 

The jasmine tea tasted light and fragrant, leaving 

behind a clean sweetness that lingered on my 

tongue. 

It was all in the past now. 

The breeze rustled through the trellis. Leaves whispered overhead, and every flower in the courtyard bloomed at just the right moment. 

I lowered my gaze to the white petals resting against the hem of my dress, and a gentle smile 

softened my face. 

He could chase the moon he could never let go of. 

I would keep walking toward the spring that was 

waiting for me. 

From this day forward, our paths would stretch farther and farther apart, and I hoped we would 

each find our own kind of happiness.