Liam's POV
Tyler is pacing my office at Frost Peak like a caged animal.
"You can't let her leave," he says for the fifth time. "She's the Luna. She belongs here."
"She doesn't remember being Luna," I say. I'm sitting at my desk staring at the window because looking at anything real will break me.
"That's temporary. Her memories will come back. The doctors said so."
"And if they don't," I ask. "If she gets her memories back and realizes she still wants Willowbrook. What then. I drag her back against her will. I become the monster she already thinks I am."
Tyler stops pacing. He looks at me like I'm insane.
"Since when do you care what people think," he demands. "You're Alpha. You make the decisions. Emma is your mate. She comes home."
The words hit different coming from him. Because a week ago, I would have agreed. A week ago I was ready to force the bond. I was ready to do whatever it took to keep Emma at Frost Peak.
But then I looked at her face when she asked me to leave. I saw the fear. The desperation. The way she flinched like I was someone to be afraid of.
And I realized something that nearly destroyed me.
I had already lost her. The moment she looked at me and saw a stranger instead of her mate, I lost the Emma I loved. And if I push harder, if I force her to stay, I lose her completely. Not just her memories. Her.
"I'm letting her go," I say quietly.
"You're making a mistake," Tyler says. "A mistake that's going to cost you."
He's right. But there's a difference between making a mistake and doing the right thing even when it destroys you.
I arrange everything myself. A car. Money. A driver I trust. I make sure Emma has protection without her knowing it. Because I'm not stupid enough to think she'll be safe in Willowbrook alone. Marcus Thorn and his rogues are still out there. They know where she comes from. They'll be watching.
But I'm not telling her that. I'm not using that as an excuse to control her movements. She asked for freedom and I'm giving it to her. Real freedom. Even if it kills me.
The morning she leaves, I stand at the hospital entrance watching her load her belongings into the vehicle.
She's wearing clothes the hospital provided. Simple jeans and a sweater. Her hair is down and covers most of the scar on the side of her head. She looks young. Fragile. Like the wind could blow her away.
She also looks relieved.
That's the part that kills me. The fact that leaving me makes her happy.
Grace pulls up in a truck and Emma practically runs to her sister. They embrace and I watch them through the window. Grace is crying. Emma is smiling. For the first time since waking up, Emma looks like herself.
That's when I know I'm making the right choice.
I approach as they're loading the last of Emma's things. Emma sees me and her entire body tenses. Grace puts a protective hand on her shoulder like I might attack.
"I arranged a car for you," I tell Emma. "And some money. For whatever you need."
Emma's jaw tightens. "I don't want your money."
"Take it anyway," I say. "Please. Let me do this one thing."
Something about the please makes her reconsider. She nods once and that's it. That's all the agreement I get.
Grace glares at me. "If you come to Willowbrook and cause her any trouble, I will make you regret it."
I believe her.
I turn to Emma one last time. I want to say so many things. I want to tell her that the bond is screaming at me to keep her here. I want to explain that every Alpha instinct inside me is fighting this decision.
But I don't say any of that.
"I know you don't remember me," I say instead. "I know you don't feel what I feel. But I need you to know something."
She waits.
"I love you," I say. "Not because of the mate bond. Not because you're Luna. I love you because you're brave and strong and you make the world better just by being in it. And if leaving is what you need, then I'm letting you go. Truly. I'm not going to follow you. I'm not going to show up. I'm going to let you have your life back."
Emma's eyes water but she doesn't cry. She's stronger than that.
"I hope you have a good life in Willowbrook," I say. "I hope you find what you're looking for. I hope you find happiness. And I hope one day you stop being afraid of me."
Before I do something I regret, I turn and walk away.
I don't watch them drive off. I can't. I go back to my office and I sit in the dark and I feel my world crumble into dust.
Tyler finds me there hours later.
"I'm sorry," he says. He actually sounds like he means it. "I know you did what you thought was right."
"Did I," I ask. "Or did I just lose the only thing that mattered to me."
Tyler sits down across from me. "You did what she needed. That matters."
We sit in silence for a long time. The sun moves across the sky. The office gets dark. And I'm sitting there thinking about Emma driving away. I'm thinking about how she looked relieved when I let her go.
And I'm thinking about something else.
Something that scares me more than anything has in years.
What if I can't get her back.
What if she's happy in Willowbrook and she never comes back to me. What if my choice to let her go is permanent. What if this is goodbye.
The thought nearly breaks me.
I pick up the phone and call the driver I hired.
"Stay close to her," I say. "But don't interfere. I just need to know she's safe."
"Understood, sir," the driver responds.
After I hang up, I sit with the silence for a long time.
My phone buzzes. A text from the driver.
Safe arrival Willowbrook. Subject reunited with sister Grace at family residence.
I stare at the message.
Emma is home. She's safe. She's exactly where she wants to be.
And I'm here. Alone. Wondering if I made the biggest mistake of my life.
Tyler is watching me carefully.
"What are you going to do," he asks.
I don't answer immediately. The truth is I don't know. Every part of me wants to follow her. Every part of me wants to show up in Willowbrook and remind her why she chose me in the first place.
But that's not fair to her. She asked me to let her go and I promised I would.
So I'll keep that promise even if it destroys me.
"Run the pack," I tell Tyler finally. "I need some time away."
"How long," Tyler asks.
"I don't know yet."
I stand up and walk to the window. In the distance I can see the mountains. Beyond them, hidden in valleys and forests, is Willowbrook. Is Emma.
The mate bond is pulling at me. It's begging me to go to her. To claim her. To remind her that she belongs to me.
But that's the old Liam talking. The Alpha who thought he could force love.
The new Liam understands something different.
If I ever want Emma to choose me, I have to let her be free.
Even if that freedom takes her away from me forever.