Chapter 3

3.

I thought that encounter at the mall would be the last time I saw Dominic.

But with just ten days left before my departure, after I had already told my boss I was quitting, the unexpected happened.

That evening, feeling a bit wistful, I was taking a walk near my apartment by Central Park when a tall figure in the shadows startled me.

I was about to grab my pepper spray when a scorching hot hand covered my mouth.

"Elena, it's me."

Dominic's sharp, angular face emerged, looking unusually pale in the moonlight.

I violently shoved his hand away and took several steps back, creating distance between us.

He stared down at the hand I had rejected, a look of confusion on his face, as if he couldn't understand why my wolf wasn't responding to him.

"What are you doing here? You didn't even text," I said, letting my annoyance show.

"I was just passing by," Dominic said, his eyes darting around like a predator's. "I wanted to surprise you."

A surprise? More like a scare.

Under the moonlight, the man looked at me with a puzzled expression, as if I were a child throwing a tantrum.

I sighed, fighting the urge to just tell him the truth.

But I held back―I didn't want any more complications before I left.

"You should be with Serena. Don't let her get the wrong idea. Aren't you two about to get engaged?" I mocked.

"What's there to misunderstand? There's nothing going on between us."

Dominic told a lie so blatant it would make a newly turned wolf pup laugh.

I tilted my head, not bothering to call him out on it. "Whether there is or isn't, I'm just the ex―or should I say, the ex-fuck buddy."

The air went still.

The New York night wind was strong, as if trying to carry my words far away.

After a long moment, Dominic looked up and tried to explain, his tone stiff. "It was wrong of me to suspend our bond temporarily."

"But I can't let Serena be branded a homewrecker. You know how much she cares about her reputation on the Upper East Side."

I took a frustrated step back. I couldn't understand it, and I didn't want to.

So, Serena couldn't have her name tarnished, but it was perfectly fine for me to be laughed at by the entire werewolf community as the pathetic Luna who was abandoned nine times?

"How very considerate of you, Mr. Dominic. I have nothing more to say," I said, looking down to avoid his eyes, which felt like they could pull me in.

Dominic opened his mouth to say something else.

But his phone rang―a custom ringtone. It was Serena.

I looked at the name flashing on his screen and said calmly, "You should get that. Don't keep her waiting. We can talk about... us... later."

Dominic glanced at me several times before finally walking away to answer the call, his voice instantly softening.

I went back to my apartment, bolted the door, and slid the chain lock into place.

It was as if I was locking away everything that had just happened, and everything that had come before, in the past.