---- ancestral hall for a whole day and night, letting the biting wind chap his skin and the freezing rain soak through his clothes. Only after receiving news that Aria's mother had boarded a flight overseas did he, like a walking corpse, book himself a ticket on the soonest flight... also heading overseas, that very night. In a remote, harsh mountainous area on the edge of a distant, unfamiliar foreign land, he saw Aria -the one who was supposed to have 'crashed and died." She, her mother, and a few loyal pack members were sitting in front of a simple, makeshift camp of tents, sharing a simple meal. Her face showed a hint of exhaustion, but her eyes were remarkably calm, even showing a trace of relieved ease. He fought back the crazy urge to rush over and pull her tightly into his arms. Hiding behind a large rock some distance away, he listened to their intermittent conversation. ---- "Aria, I know you've actually always liked that boy, Connor. Mother has already broken the mate bond with his father. If you really can't let him go, you could..." Aria's mother's voice was hoarse, with a hint of subtle probing. Aria gently shook her head, a bitter yet relieved smile playing on her lips. "Mother, it's all in the past. That so-called mate bond, that so-called Alpha protection... it was all like a nightmare, and I've woken up." "Thank you... for not telling him where I am." "This way now... far from all the conflict and lies, this is the best ending for me." "I'm sorry, Mother... It's my fault, I'm a bad daughter, I've dragged you and our pack members into this..." Watching Aria and her mother hugging and crying, comforting each other, Connor's heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, so ---- tight he could barely breathe. Without a word, he silently turned and left the remote mountainous area. Before he left, he used a brand new, anonymous account to send a short message to Aria's old, deactivated number: "May the rest of your life... be peaceful and happy. Your loving... Alpha." Only when the screen showed that the message had been 'Delivered to voicemail' did he turn and board the plane back to the pack territory filled with his sins and regrets. The plane took off. Outside the window, there was endless darkness and cold stars. And his world, too, had completely lost all its light and warmth.