"If I were you, I would send her away," Sean said. Then he reminded Patrick indifferently, "She had everything to do with Gabrielle's death. Patrick, you're just shocked at how much Gloria has changed. After all, the members of the two packs grew up together. Therefore, you're shocked by the change in her. That's all.
Patrick was silent for a moment. Then he said, "Let me think it through."
As the Alpha of the Black Thorn Pack, Patrick had been taught that he didn't need a mate from a young age. He shouldn't be affected by feelings. Therefore, he had never been in a relationship, and now he failed to figure out what he wanted.
However, no matter how bad he was at relationships, he was aware of his change. He couldn't turn a blind eye to Gloria. He could not strangle her, the damned woman, though she had become so hideous now!
Sean and Stewart left Patrick's office.
Stewart pulled Sean. "Why did you say that to him on purpose?"
Stewart knew. Even he could tell the problem, let alone Sean, the shrewd man.
Sean glanced coldly at Stewart. "People can become ugly on the outside. What about their inner world? She has become so resentful. She held a grudge against the woman who died because of her. She insulted the woman, who died three years ago. Do you still think Gloria is good enough for Patrick? The Black Thorn Pack deserves a better Luna than Gloria."
Stewart was speechless. He had to admit that Sean was right.
The day after Alger and Camille left Gloria's dormitory, Gloria learned that they had gone to the Elders to announce that they had officially kicked her out of the pack.
At that moment, Gloria, who had no wolf, felt that the hidden bond between her and the Silver Spring Pack had broken.
She suddenly lost all sense of belonging, which somehow upset her. However, what made her feel more painful was the feeling deep down.
She realized that she had become a complete rogue.
Unable to be completely free, Gloria lost her motivation to work hard. On her day off, she wandered around the dormitory alone.
Today's sunshine was a bit dazzling, and it was hot today. Gloria wrapped her coat tighter. Whenever someone passed her by, they would look at her strangely.
"What's wrong with her?" People were confused and thought, 'Why is she wearing so much? Today is so hot.'
A young couple passed behind Gloria, looking back at her and whispering.
Gloria heard their voices. She was used to it. She was not surprised by the usual startled looks of those who passed her by.
She knew how terrifying her current attire was in others' eyes.
She glanced at the long-sleeved shirt she was wearing and regretted it a bit. She figured that she should have worn a thicker coat.
A couple passed by her on bikes leisurely.
The girl was wearing a bikini and jeans, and the boy was wearing a baggy T-shirt. Gloria could hear them chatting briskly from a distance.
"Honey, let's go to the amusement park later. It's such a fine day. It'll be a pity if we don't go there."
"Sure. Whatever you say. Let's go to the amusement park.
"And let's go camping tonight, OK? I bought a tent."
They chatted as they rode their bikes past Gloria.
"Hey! Wait," Gloria said suddenly.
"What is it?" The couple was surprised. The boy supported himself with one foot on the ground and stopped to ask, "You called us? What's the matter?"
The boy looked suspicious, and Gloria was stunned. She didn't want to stop the couple at first, but she did anyway.
"Are you alright?" The girl tilted her head and waved her hand in front of Gloria.
Gloria didn't know what to say.
"You are lost, aren't you? It's fine. Where are you going? My boyfriend lives here. He knows everything around here."
The girl was youthful and energetic. Gloria quickly lowered her eyes and blinked. She raised her hand and wiped the corner of her eye while looking casually before she said gently, "It's going to rain today. The weather forecast says so."
After she finished speaking, she turned and left. Her feet made her walk strangely, and there was a certain awkwardness while she was walking away.
The young couple's voices grew distant.
Gloria could vaguely hear their conversation.
"What? Is it forecast to rain today?" asked the girl.
The boy was puzzled as well. "Perhaps she saw it wrong. But she's such a nice person..."
Their voices faded away. Gloria smiled bitterly and thought, 'Am I a nice person?
If they knew I had been in prison, would they still think so?'
Gloria walked on aimlessly, and when she looked up, she froze.
She saw a man in a white shirt and khaki slacks under a tree in the park.
He stood in the shade with his hands in his pockets and looked at her with a wicked smile.
In a trance, she seemed to be back to the summer of that year. She hurried over, and he urged her with an impatient and cold face, "It's taking you forever. You are such a pain in the ass. Hurry up! I'll be gone if you dawdle any longer."
Though he claimed so, he was still standing under the tree and waiting for her quietly.
She thought, 'When did our relationship become so tense and irreparable? When did we become so strange and distant?
I can't remember.'
She opened her mouth to the man in the shade in a daze, "Pat..."
Suddenly, the man in the shade called out to her in a delighted voice. "I knew it. I knew you'd be here, Gloria."
His carefree voice made Gloria tremble. She came back to her senses and looked at the man under the tree with his hands in his pockets. A bitter smile appeared on her face.
"Hello, Mr. Fisher," she greeted the man under the tree politely.
Derrick grinned. He tilted his head and said to her, "Come here. Why are you so far away from me? Come here."
He waved at her.
Gloria walked toward him slowly and asked, "Mr. Fisher, are you waiting for me?"