I Left Before He Learned My Worth novel Chapter 100

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**TITLE: I Left Before He Learned My Worth**

**Chapter 100**

**ARIA**

The air in the kitchen buzzed with tension, the kind that settles thickly like fog. “She won’t leave,” Martha declared, her voice steady and resolute. “This place is her sanctuary. And now that she has that young man, Jason, paying attention to her, she might finally have a reason to stay that has nothing to do with the Alpha.”

A chorus of agreement rippled through the room. “They do make a cute couple,” someone chimed in, a hint of warmth in their tone. “Did you catch them at the demonstration? The way he helped her, and the way she looked at him? It was like they were in their own little world.”

“Much better match than some others would have been,” Martha added, her tone sharpened with an edge that didn’t go unnoticed. “Jason’s a good man. Steady and reliable. He’s devoted to his sister. He’d treat Ivory right.”

“Better than being strung along by someone who was always going to prioritize political convenience over genuine connection,” another voice interjected, the criticism hanging heavy in the air.

The subtext was unmistakable. They were talking about Kael. About how he had chosen me over Ivory, and now Jason was being painted as the better option for her, a stark contrast to what Kael could ever provide.

A part of me should have felt validated, perhaps even relieved that they viewed Ivory moving on as a positive development. Yet, instead, I felt an unsettling emptiness. Beneath their enthusiastic endorsement of Jason lay a thinly veiled critique of me—the political convenience, the inadequate substitute in their eyes.

I slipped out of the kitchen, my heart heavy as I made my way to the main dining hall. The space was beginning to fill with pack members, their voices mingling in a lively symphony of chatter and laughter, the familiar chaos of community that usually brought me comfort.

Choosing a seat at one of the smaller tables against the wall, I attempted to blend into the background, hoping to remain unnoticed while I absorbed the conversations swirling around me.

At the adjacent table, a group of older women—mothers and grandmothers of the pack—were engaged in a spirited discussion, their voices animated and punctuated by knowing glances.

“I always thought they’d end up together,” one of them remarked, her tone filled with nostalgia. “Kael and Ivory. Even before the curse, there was something undeniable between them.”

“Absolutely,” another chimed in, her agreement fervent. “The way he looked at her, and how she’d blush whenever he was near—it was so obvious to anyone who bothered to pay attention.”

“And during the curse, when she was the only one who visited him regularly? Spending hours in that den with him? We all knew something was brewing there.”

“My daughter walks that path sometimes,” a third woman whispered conspiratorially, lowering her voice as if sharing a secret. “She said she could smell them on each other. For years, they weren’t exactly discreet about it.”

“Why would they be? Everyone assumed the bonding would happen eventually. Once the curse broke and things settled down, they’d make it official,” another added, her tone laced with certainty.

“And then the Blackwood girl showed up, and everything shifted.”

The Blackwood girl. That’s what I was to them. Not Luna Aria. Not their Alpha’s mate. Just the outsider who had disrupted the natural order they had come to expect.

“She’s not entirely to blame,” one of the women said, though her tone suggested she wasn’t fully convinced. “Kael made his choice. He could have bonded with Ivory instead.”

“Political considerations,” another dismissed, waving her hand as if to shoo away the thought. “Ivory has no family connections, no alliance value. The Blackwood girl, on the other hand, brought the potential to end a conflict, to keep Damon from stirring up more trouble.”