CHAPTER 261: CLOSURE

Natalie~

I took a long, deep breath before stepping out of my room. My fingers lingered on the doorknob, hesitating, then I pulled it open and stepped into the quiet hallway of our home. The scent of fresh roses from the vases lining the corridor clung to the air, soft and calming—but it did nothing to ease the tight knot in my chest.

Each step I took echoed off the polished marble as I moved towards the grand staircase. I could feel Zane’s eyes watching me from down the hall, even though he hadn’t followed. He didn’t need to. His presence lived inside me now, like a second heartbeat.

But this wasn’t about him. Not right now.

This wasn’t just a conversation. This was about closure. A long-overdue closing of a Chapter that Griffin had shattered. For the mess that he had created—the one Shadow’s curse never let him to explain.

Each step I took up the stairs felt heavier than the last, like I was climbing through memories instead of air. The soft carpet beneath my boots muffled the sound, but it didn’t quiet the storm building inside me. Jasmine stirred, restless and tense, like a caged wolf pacing behind my ribs.

"I hate this,"she growled, her voice curling like smoke through my mind. "Every time you go near him, I feel it all over again. The betrayal. The rejection. If Jacob hadn’t begged we protect him—literally begged—I wouldn’t have let him within a mile of you, much less let you be the one guarding his sorry life."

Her anger pulsed hot under my skin, sharp and raw.

"He hurt us, Mara. He doesn’t deserve your words. He sure as hell doesn’t deserve your mercy."

I paused at the top of the landing, my hand brushing the banister like it might ground me. The hallway ahead stretched out in eerie quiet, but my heartbeat was loud enough for both of us.

"I know," I whispered back, my voice low, more thought than sound. "But this isn’t about what he deserves. It’s about what I need to say... and what I need to walk away from."

Jasmine didn’t answer. But I could feel her pacing, her claws scraping against the edges of my thoughts. And still, I kept walking.

Because sometimes the only way to heal is to face the ghost that broke you.

As I reached the top landing, I turned toward the guest wing, where Griffin had been staying since Shadow appeared in our lives. I didn’t need to knock. He was already waiting. The door swung open before I even reached it, and there he was.

Griffin.

His face looked calm—too calm. The kind of calm people wear like a mask. His smile was polite, faintly hopeful. But his eyes... goddess, his eyes betrayed him. They were filled with guilt, shame, and something else I couldn’t quite name. Regret, maybe.

I crossed my arms. "Can I come in?"

He stepped back immediately, opening the door wider. "Of course."

I walked past him without another word, taking in the guest room. Neat. Immaculate. Not a single thing out of place. This had to be Bubble’s doing.

I took the chair near the small window, the one overlooking the estate gardens. The air smelled like roses and distant rain.

Griffin sat on the edge of the bed across from me, elbows on his knees, his fingers loosely intertwined. He looked up at me, waiting.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, voice neutral.

"I’m... fine," he said, offering a little shrug. "Better, actually. Stronger."

I narrowed my eyes slightly. "Can you say his name now?"

He blinked. "Shadow?"

Nothing happened.

No coughing. No blood. No sudden collapse. He stayed perfectly still—healthy.

Relief spread through me, and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. "Good. That means the stone is gone. The curse is broken."

He nodded. "Yeah. Looks like it."

I looked at him then—really looked. His face was the same boyish charm people always fell for. The kind that could disarm you if you weren’t paying attention. But I’d learned better. I knew how masks worked now.

I leaned back in the chair, arms still folded tightly over my chest. "I’m not going to ask you what happened between you and Shadow. I don’t want to hear some sugar-coated lie."

His jaw clenched slightly.

"Which is why," I added, eyes glowing faintly with silver-blue light, "I’m just going to take a look myself."

His eyes widened. "Natalie—"

Too late.

I reached out with my celestial energy, a cool and almost imperceptible current wrapping around me and sinking into his mind. Jasmine stirred again, but this time, she was silent. She wanted to know too.

The room around me faded away.

And I was there—inside his memory.

A dark void. No walls. No floor. Just endless blackness. Griffin stood at the center of it, tense, confused. And then a voice slithered through the shadows.

"I will give you what your soul aches for. Natalie. Yours again. All of her—her heart, her wolf, her body, her power. Freed from Zane’s corrupted hold." Shadow whispered. His voice coiled like smoke around us. "All you have to do is give me what I want—information on Jacob."

Griffin hesitated—but only briefly.

Then came his answer. "Fine. If it means she’ll be mine again, I’ll do it."

My stomach twisted.

Then Shadow’s hand, slick and inky like it had been carved from the night itself, slipped into existence out of thin air. No sound. No warning. Just shadows bending to its will. And in its grasp was the soul sucker, the eerie, green crystal, pulsing like it had a heartbeat of its own.

I glanced at Griffin, but of course, he didn’t react. Bet he didn’t see the shadowy hand. Most mortals wouldn’t. It takes a certain kind of vision—celestial-level awareness—to catch things that slither through the veil like that.

"This," the voice hissed, "is the solution to your problems. Just place it under your pillow tonight, and it’ll do the rest."

The memory dissolved.

I blinked and found myself back in the guest room, heart pounding in my chest. The lights seemed brighter. The air felt thicker.

Griffin looked at me with cautious hope. "Natalie...?"

I stood slowly.

"You let him use you." My voice came out low and hard. "You sold me out."

His face fell. "Wait—I didn’t know what he was really planning! I thought—I thought he just wanted info on Jacob. I didn’t know he wanted to possess Zane. Or that Kalmia—"

"You thought giving him anything was okay? After what he and Kalmia did to you? What he did to others?" I stepped forward, trembling with restrained rage. "You brought that stone into my home. You put Zane and Alex in danger. Me in danger. After everything I’ve survived, you didn’t think doing that to me would be horrible?"

He stood too now, panicking. "Natalie—please. I was desperate. I missed you. The broken bond between us hurts. I just... I just wanted another chance. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t know Shadow was going to do all he did and also curse me. He tricked me!"

I held up a hand. "I don’t care what you meant to do. I only care what you did."

Griffin’s voice cracked. "Please. I—I regret everything. Everything I did. I’ve been paying for it every single day."

I shook my head, stepping away from him.

"Don’t apologize," I said softly. "I’m not interested in your guilt."

Silence fell between us, heavy and suffocating.

"Now that Shadow is gone," I said, standing straighter, "you’re free to leave. Go wherever you want. I don’t care who you meet or what you do with your life, but I never want you near me again."

His throat worked as he swallowed hard. "You don’t mean that."

"I do." My voice was firm. "You don’t get to hurt me and then ask for forgiveness like it’s a prize. I don’t hold grudges, Griffin—but I do set boundaries."

He looked at me, desperate, broken. "I loved you, Natalie."

I smiled coldly. "Then you should’ve protected me. Not betrayed me."

He tried to reach for my arm, but I took a step back.

"And just to set the record straight," I said calmly, "I will never be yours again. Not in this life. Definitely not in the next. So do yourself a favor and start looking for your actual mate."

I turned, walked toward the door.

My fingers brushed the handle. I hesitated for just a second. Then I looked over my shoulder, one last time.

"You’re not a monster, Griffin. But you’re not my hero either. You’ve never been."

He didn’t speak.

I opened the door and stepped into the hallway, closing it softly behind me.

My legs felt heavy, but I moved with purpose. I didn’t cry. I didn’t break.

Because I was done letting pain define me.

Zane was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. He didn’t say anything when he saw me. He just opened his arms.

I walked straight into them.