Rise Of A Shattered Luna (Natalie) by Kave Derry novel Chapter 31

Chapter 31 The Day She Chose To Leave

Chapter 31 The Day She Chose To Leave

Jensen’s POV

She had smiled, embarrassed. “It’s supposed to bring someone back safely?”

I had them strung into a wind chime.

Not because they were beautiful.

Because they were proof that someone had stayed.

And now they were gone.

“Who removed it?” I barked.

My beta, Felix, stepped in behind me. “What?”

“The crane chime–who took it down?”

He looked confused. “No one came in here after that day.”

I moved fast.

Through the bedroom, closet, and st

Through the bedroom, closet, and storage cabinets, and still nothing.

Not a single wooden carving remained

Not one.

“What was the crane for?” he asked, but I ignored him and continued searching.

I stopped in the center of the living room.

My eyes landed on the smart speaker on the console table.

The device Natalie had insisted on installing.

“It’s convenient,” she had said. “In case you forget things.”

I never used it.

She had set up the account under my credentials

I pulled out my phone, downloaded the app, and logged in.

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Chapter 31 The Day She Chose To Leave

The system synced immediately.

Footage history from ten days ago.

The timestamp matched.

I opened the recording, and the camera angle showed the living room.

I saw myself dressed in formal black.

Sharon’s call had come through minutes earlier.

She had sounded distressed, said she needed me

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I remembered Natalie standing near the window silently, watching me put on my jacket.

I remembered not meeting her eyes.

On the screen, I saw it clearly.

I walked past her and left.

The door closed.

The room stayed still for a long moment, then Natalie moved.

Like someone who had just been struck but refused to fall.

She stood by the window and stared at the crane chime.

Her shoulders trembled once, but she didn’t cry

She just picked up her phone and dialed a number.

The audio caught her voice clearly.

“I accept the training placement with Greycrest Archives.”

Her tone was steady.

“I am withdrawing from Nightfang jurisdiction.”

My hand tightened around the phone.

“With immediate effect.”

Cairn went rigid.

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Chapter 31 The Day She Chose To Leave

“I will be leaving Jensen permanently.”

The recording ended.

The living room felt smaller after hearing her say it.

Permanently.

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I didn’t move, the phone was still in my hand. The screen had gone dark, but I could still hear her voice inside my head.

Felix hadn’t spoken while it played.

He stood a few feet behind me, silent, arms folded across his chest. He had watched the screen the second time without interrupting.

When it ended again, he inhaled slowly.

“She wasn’t angry, just disappointed.”

I didn’t look at him.

“She had every right to leave,” he said.

There was no accusation in his tone, just certainty.

“She wouldn’t have left.” I said.

Felix didn’t answer immediately.

He stepped closer, eyes on the blank screen in my hand.

“She filed for permanent departure,” he said quietly. “That’s not something done in anger.”

“She was upset,” I snapped. “Anyone would be.”

“She applied for cross–territory clearance ten days ago,” Felix replied. “That process takes planning; you don’t do that in a moment of hurt

My jaw tightened.

“She wouldn’t have left me.”

Felix’s gaze shifted to me then.

“She already did.”

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Chapter 31 The Day She Chose To Leave

The words landed flat and solid between us.

I stood abruptly.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He didn’t flinch.

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“I know what I saw,” he said. “You walked out, she stood there, and she chose to walk away.”

“She knew why I did it.”

“Mated another woman in front of the pack?” Felix asked evenly. “Yes, she knew.”

The air between us sharpened.

“You think that didn’t matter?” he continued. “You marked Sharon beneath the Moonstone altar, you announced her as your Luna before the elders.”

“She is not my Luna,” I said coldly.

“That’s not the point.”

His voice didn’t rise; it hardened.

“You claimed another woman publicly. In our world, that isn’t politics. That’s final.”

“It wasn’t final.”

“To her, it was.”

The words hit harder than I expected.

“She knew the situation,” I said. “The rib donation, the pressure from the elders. The alliance.”

“And she stayed through all of that,” Felix replied

That made me pause.

He stepped closer now, not challenging, but firm

I stepped toward him.

“You think she stopped loving me because of one ceremony?”

“I think she stopped believing she had a place here.”

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Chapter 31 The Day She Chose To Leave

The words felt like a strike.

“That’s not true.”

“You stood beside Sharon,” he said. “And Natalie stood alone.”

“She should have fought,” I said.

“For what?” Felix asked.

The question lingered.

“You had already chosen.”

I looked at him sharply.

“I chose Sharon for the pack.”

“You chose Sharon in front of her.”

The distinction hurt more than I expected.

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“She never asked you for anything,” Felix said. “Not status, not title. Not even recognition after transcribing for years. She just stayed.”

My throat tightened.

“And the one time she chose herself,” Felix finished, “you’re calling her cruel.”

Silence swallowed the room.

I couldn’t find words.

Felix straightened slightly, his composure settling over him again.

“She loved you,” he said quietly. “More than you deserved.”

That was the only line that felt personal; I forced my expression back into control.

“Get out.”

He didn’t argue.

He held my gaze for a long second, regret flickering there, then he bowed his head slightly.

“Yes, Alpha.”

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Chapter 31 The Day She Chose To Leave

He turned and walked out of the penthouse.

The door closed.

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Felix had seen Natalie as a sister over the years, and I know he also felt the pain of losing her.

I thought back to the race.

Sharon cheering, Natalie waiting.

I had nearly died proving something meaningless.

Sharon had left the country when the consequences hit, but Natalie had stayed.

She went to the Witch Doctor.

Traded favors, bargained, and stayed when I needed her most.

When I woke, Sharon returned and donated a rib.

She stood by my hospital bed long enough for the elders to see her.

That act complicated everything–pack politics, public opinion, and the debt of the rib.

But love?

That had never been Sharon; it was always Natalie who received them.

I moved into the bedroom.

Her closet door stood open, half empty.

She really wanted to leave me; her travel bag was gone.

Her documents drawer was cleared.

She had planned it carefully.

Ten days ago,

“She was leaving,” Cairn repeated.

“I know.”

I sank onto the edge of the bed.

I remembered the warehouse again.

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Chapter 31 The Day She Chose To Leave

Sharon screaming my name.

Natalie silent.

“If you had called,” I muttered, staring at the floor. “If you had said my name.”

Cairn’s voice came low.

“She should not have had to.”

That sentence cut deeper than anything else.

I leaned back against the wall.

The realization settled piece by piece.

My vision blurred as I dragged a hand over my face.

I curled forward slightly, elbows on knees, phone still in my grip.

She had stood in this room and chosen herself.

“How could you do that?” I whispered to the empty room.

Cairn did not soothe me.

He did not defend her.

He did not comfort me.

He simply stayed.

Present.

For the first time since the fire.

And that, somehow, made it worse.

“How could you do this to me? We promised we’d be together forever.”

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