[BOOK 6] 10 YEARS LATER...
Ten years ago, Aspen left Beacon Hills for good and never once looked back. The pack had mostly gone their separate ways over the years, living in all different parts of the country. But what brings them all back together...
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25th DECEMBER, 2024 CHRISTMAS DAY
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Christmas Day— a day of smiles and celebration, a day of family and friends, of laughter and joy.
But not this year. This year, it was a day of denial, anger, bargaining, and depression. It was a day of tears, of emptiness, of grief.
It was the day Stiles' world officially fell apart.
Stiles thought that six years ago, when Aspen handed him back the engagement ring and walked away from him— he thought his world couldn't crumble any more than it did that day.
But in the six years that followed—despite the ache of his heart and the longing in his soul—all that time, he knew that she was still out there somewhere. And for as long as she was out there, there was a chance of her coming back to him.
But after holding her dead body in his arms for hours, crying and begging her to open her eyes, as he watched the blood pour out onto what was once a perfect white wedding dress— he knew that from that moment on, Aspen couldn't come back to him anymore.
She was gone— and she wasn't coming back.
And somehow, Stiles had managed to let himself believe that this outcome wasn't an option. Perhaps it was because he wanted to believe it so badly—he needed to believe it so badly—that he just refused to accept that his and Aspen's fate could ever come to this.
Stiles couldn't go on without her—he could barely breathe without her. His whole existence had been orbited around her, his love for her kept him grounded in the darkest times of his life. She was the angel that brought him out of the darkness every single time he got too close to the precipice, without even realising she was doing it.
She saved him every day just by loving him—and then the last thing she ever did before she died, was save him one last time.
The world guilt wasn't strong enough to describe what Stiles felt as Scott walked him back to his motel that night. It was hours later—Stiles had spent hours holding Aspen's lifeless body in his arms, refusing to accept the truth.
Nor Scott or Stiles could speak a word on their walk back to Stiles' place at around five in the morning. Any time either of them opened their mouths to say anything—all that followed was silence.
Until they finally made it to the door of Stiles' room—as he reached for his keys to open it. The last time he was in this motel room, Aspen asked him to marry her. He hesitated for so long before turning the key—he didn't know if he could ever be ready to see this room again, after what had happened.
