Chapter 2: The Room That Was Never Mine

Ember POV:

The hospital corridor stretched endlessly before me, bright white and painfully sterile.

Each step left a faint smear of blood on the polished floor.

My knee was throbbing.

My head was spinning.

But nobody stopped to help.

Nobody asked if I was okay.

The Alpha had ordered me out, and the pack obeyed.

I was invisible.

I was disposable.

I was Ember Blackwood.

The unwanted sister.

I leaned against the cold wall outside the VIP room, trying to steady my breathing.

The voices inside carried clearly through the thin door.

"I want to go to Moon Island now," Willow whined.

"I don't feel safe with her around."

I closed my eyes.

There it was.

The performance.

The victim act she wore better than anyone.

"We'll leave tonight," Ryker promised immediately.

"I'll have the jet prepared."

"Can Ember come?" Willow asked sweetly.

A trap.

I knew that tone.

Axel fell for it instantly.

"Absolutely not," he snapped. "She's unstable. Her jealousy is becoming dangerous."

"She doesn't deserve to step foot on Moon Island."

My chest tightened.

Moon Island.

The place our parents loved most.

The place where Dad taught Ryker to fish.

The place where Mom taught Axel how to identify medicinal herbs.

The place they promised would always belong to the three of us.

Now I wasn't even welcome there.

The door opened.

Axel stepped into the hallway.

For a moment, his gaze landed on the blood soaking through my jeans.

A flicker of concern appeared in his eyes.

The doctor's instinct.

Then he looked at my face.

And the concern vanished.

The wall came back up.

"Since you're here," he said coldly, checking his watch, "I need you to move your things."

"What?"

"Willow needs your room."

The words stunned me more than they should have.

"My room?"

"It gets the most sunlight," Axel explained. "It'll help her recovery."

My room.

The room with the herb garden on the balcony.

The room Mom painted yellow because she called me her little sunshine.

The room where every happy memory I still possessed lived.

"Axel," I whispered. "That's my room."

"It's a room inside the Alpha's house," he corrected.

"And honestly? You're more of a guest than family at this point."

The words should have hurt.

Instead, something inside me simply went quiet.

"Pack your things," he continued. "Be out by tomorrow."

A dry twig breaking in winter.

That was what it felt like.

Not a dramatic shattering.

Not heartbreak.

Just the final crack after years of pressure.

"Okay," I said.

Axel blinked.

"Okay?"

"I'll move out."

"Enjoy Moon Island."

For the first time, he looked uncertain.

Almost uncomfortable.

I pushed away from the wall and limped toward the elevator.

I never looked back.

Back at the Pack House, the servants watched me silently.

Pity filled their eyes.

Nobody offered help.

Nobody dared.

I went straight to my room.

The late afternoon sunlight spilled across the yellow walls.

For a moment, I simply stood there.

Memories surrounded me.

Mom reading bedtime stories.

Dad teaching me card games.

The three of us laughing before everything changed.

Before Willow.

Before the fire.

Before I became a burden.

I didn't pack much.

Just the things that truly mattered.

A photograph of my parents.

My Silver Dawn acceptance letter.

My laptop and hard drive containing five years of research on Silver Poison syndrome.

My work.

My future.

Everything else stayed behind.

The clothes Ryker once bought me.

The medical books Axel used to gift me before he stopped seeing me as family.

The memories.

I packed one suitcase.

Nothing more.

The next morning, I stood in the foyer.

The suitcase rested beside my leg.

The house was unusually quiet.

Everyone was preparing for Moon Island.

Axel descended the stairs carrying travel documents.

The moment he saw my suitcase, a smirk appeared.

"Running away?"

"No."

"Then where are you going?"

"University housing."

A lie.

But one he would believe.

"You wanted the room," I said. "It's yours."

Willow appeared at the top of the staircase wearing the silk dress I had bought her.

The same dress she used to accuse me.

She spun in a circle.

"Look, Axel! It fits perfectly!"

Her ankle seemed completely healed.

Miraculous.

She smiled at me.

The smile never reached her eyes.

"Leaving already, Ember?"

"Yes."

Ryker walked into the foyer carrying coffee.

His eyes moved from my suitcase to my face.

A faint frown appeared.

For a brief second, his wolf seemed uneasy.

"You're leaving?" he asked.

"You didn't invite me," I reminded him.

"Stop being dramatic," he muttered.

"We'll be back in two weeks."

"Make sure the house is clean when we return."

I almost laughed.

Even now.

Even after everything.

He still assumed I'd be waiting.

"I won't be here," I said quietly.

"Good," Axel snapped immediately.

"Maybe some distance will improve your attitude."

He paused before delivering the final blow.

"If you're not back by the time we return, don't bother coming back at all."

Silence filled the foyer.

I looked at him.

Then nodded.

"Okay."

That answer seemed to bother him more than anger ever could.

I picked up my suitcase.

"And Ember," Axel called.

I paused.

"Don't expect financial support."

"You're on your own."

"I know."

I opened the front door.

Dark storm clouds covered the sky.

Rain threatened in the distance.

"Get out," Axel spat.

I stepped across the threshold.

The heavy wooden door slammed shut behind me.

The sound echoed through my chest.

For years, I had begged for love.

For years, I had fought for a place in that family.

Now it was over.

I stood alone on the porch.

Homeless.

Broke.

Injured.

Forgotten.

And yet, as the cold wind brushed against my face, I felt something unexpected.

Relief.

For the first time in ten years...

I was free.