"Where's my mother?" Ashley finally asked, the thought of her real biological mother suddenly surfacing in her mind as she looked toward the omega.
But the omega acted as if she hadn't heard anything.
She continued tidying the room, avoiding Ashley entirely. This time, however, her movements became noticeably quicker, hurried, almost frantic, as if she had been caught by someone she desperately didn't want to deal with and was eager to leave as soon as possible.
Not long after, the omega finished and slipped out of the room without answering a single question.
Ashley was left alone.
She slowly looked around the room again.
Everything was still the same, the same furniture, the same decorations, the same familiar space.
And yet something was different.
Nathan wasn't there.
He wasn't sitting somewhere waiting for her like he usually did.
Her gaze eventually landed on her phone lying silently on the bedside table.
She reached for it and tapped the black screen.
Nothing.
The battery had completely drained.
Ashley opened the cabinet of the bedside table, remembering that she had once left a charger there.
After rummaging around for a moment—
"Found it…" she murmured softly.
She immediately plugged the phone into the charger and waited for it to power on. But before it could even boot up, her stomach let out a loud, embarrassing rumble.
Only then did she realize how hungry she was. Ashley climbed down from the bed, took a quick shower, and changed into clean clothes before heading toward the cafeteria.
But the moment she stepped into the hallway, she felt it.
The gazes.
They came from every direction.
She could almost feel their emotions pressing down on her, the scorn, disgust, anger, and disdain. Every kind of negative feeling was directed straight at her.
For the first time in her life, Ashley felt painfully small.
This was the first time she had ever experienced such naked malice.
She knew she couldn't completely deny their resentment. After all, she had unknowingly benefited from someone else's misfortune for eighteen years.
But knowing that didn't make it hurt any less.
Now, whenever someone came within a meter of her, they would immediately step back, widening the distance until a strange vacuum formed around her.
No one wanted to be close to her.
They treated her as if she were some kind of plague.
Ashley would be lying if she said it didn't hurt.
All she could do was bite down hard on her lip, trying to ignore it.
But despite her effort, her entire body had already begun trembling.
But she recognized them immediately, faces that had once greeted her with respectful smiles and quiet admiration. Not long ago, they had believed she would become their future Luna. They had listened to her as if her words carried the same weight as their Alpha's, offering their loyalty without hesitation. That was how they showed their respect.
But now… those same people looked at her as if she were something foul.
The warmth was gone, replaced by open disdain. Their expressions twisted with disgust, as though merely breathing the same air as her would taint them, as if standing too close would soil them. They didn't even bother to hide it.
Ashley felt her chest tighten painfully, as if her heart were being ripped from her body. The ache was sharp, suffocating. Instinctively, her eyes searched the hallway for that familiar silhouette, the one presence that always steadied her and gave her strength.
But he wasn't there.
There was no one.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she lowered her head and kept walking. The urge to turn back, to run to her room and hide from all of this, pressed heavily against her resolve. For a moment, she almost gave in.
But she was already here.
And turning back now would only make her seem smaller and weaker. The fragile remnants of her pride refused to let her retreat so pathetically.
So, holding onto that last thread of defiance, Ashley forced herself forward, step by step, until she reached the cafeteria, where even more scornful gazes awaited her.
By now, it didn't matter how hungry she was; her appetite had long since vanished. Food felt meaningless. Still, she forced herself toward the counter, choosing something at random before turning to find a seat.
But every time she approached an empty spot, she was met with the same response.
"Sorry, this seat's taken."
"Ah, there's no space here. Maybe try somewhere else."
The words were polite. Too polite.
No one raised their voice, no one openly insulted her, but the meaning was unmistakable. Their eyes said everything their mouths refused to. They weren't rejecting her outright… they were toying with her. Passing her along, one table to another, like a joke everyone was in on except her.
It would have hurt less if they had just told her to leave.
At least that would have been honest.
Instead, she was left standing in the middle of the cafeteria, clutching her tray like a fool, like a clown put on display for everyone to watch.
And through it all, she still couldn't find Nathan.
The one person who was supposed to stand by her. The one who promised to protect her, to support her no matter what. Yet now, when she needed him the most, he was nowhere to be seen.
This was the first time she had ever experienced something like this, being shut out, isolated so completely. It left her shaken, her thoughts tangled, her chest tight with a quiet panic she didn't know how to handle.
She didn't know what to do.
And even though a part of her already felt it, that Nathan had changed, she still couldn't stop herself from searching for him, from wanting to rely on him like she always had.
After all… he was the one who had taught her to depend on him so completely that, somewhere along the way, it had become instinct.
But no matter how long she waited, Nathan never came.
In the end, she was forced to take a seat near the trash bins, the only place no one bothered to claim. Around her, conversations carried on as if she didn't exist. They spoke in hushed tones, or at least they tried to, but every so often someone would forget, their voice rising just enough for her to hear.
And every word was about her.
Her failure to awaken her wolf.
Her mother.
What she was.
The whispers bled into one another until they formed a constant, suffocating noise. Ashley could hear almost everything, but she didn't have the strength to respond. What was there to say?
They weren't wrong.
With her head lowered, she ate in silence, each bite tasteless, her heart sinking deeper and deeper into a quiet, consuming darkness.
Then, the cafeteria doors opened.
A familiar scent drifted through the air.
Ashley froze.
Her entire body trembled as recognition struck, hope and long-suppressed grievances surging all at once. For a fleeting moment, she wanted to run to him, to throw herself into his arms like she always did, to tell him everything, to let him see how much she was hurting.