“If you want to be part of Aiden’s life,” I said finally, softer now, “then you have to show up. Not just with presents. With presence. With love. With support. You have to earn his trust. His love. Not buy it.”He didn’t argue, he just nodded slowly, like each word I’d spoken had cut through to som
ELENAI sat cross-legged on the edge of Aiden’s bed, carefully peeling the corner of a sticker he’d just plastered onto my jeans. He’d decided I looked “too serious” and was now decorating me with sparkly stars and cartoon wolves.“I think you need one right here,” he said, grinning as he stuck a br
Derek stood slowly, watching me. “Only if you’re okay with it.”Aiden looked between us, eyes big and hopeful. “Can we all do something together? Like… like a real family?”A real family? Was something we weren’t. All the traumas with Derek that I’d just relived had me feeling like I was standing in
DEREKI was twelve the first time I thought I might die.The rogues had come out of nowhere—snarling, vicious, too fast to outrun. I didn’t know then that most of them were older wolves who’d lost their pack bonds. All I knew was that I couldn’t shift, and that my cousins had dared me into the woods
She looked up when I entered, surprised but not unpleasantly so. “Hey.”I nodded. “Can we talk?”She closed the book. “Of course.”I walked closer, rubbed the back of my neck, then sat in the chair across from her. “I’ve been… distant. I know that. And I know it’s not fair. Especially with everythin
DEREKAiden had barely stopped talking the entire visit.He’d rambled about his favorite Moonstone warrior stories, asked if I could teach him how to throw a proper punch once his shoulder finished healing, and told me—very seriously—that he planned to make his own battle armor.Out of cardboard and
I looked between her and Cassandra. “Then what if I pay you privately to come by? You could do sessions just for us. I’ll cover whatever it costs.”Amy’s eyes darted to Cassandra.“I’ll… I’ll think about it,” she said quickly, then began wiping off the probe and shutting everything down.She packed
ELENAAiden asked me with those big pleading eyes, the kind that made saying no feel like I was stomping on a puppy.“Can Dad come for lunch?”He was up and walking now—slowly, with a slight limp when he got tired, but up nonetheless. And somehow, even on minimal sleep and a house still reeling from
My parents had pulled out all the stops. White-gloved servers, silver candelabras, a string quartet in the corner playing soft music. It was the kind of dinner that only happened when my mother was trying to impress—or intimidate.I spotted the way Erin's eyes flicked over the crystal glasses, the w
ELENAThe soft hum of Dr. Voss’s voice was like a current running under my skin—steady, focused, grounding. I let myself sink into it, the earthy scent of burning herbs drifting from the brass bowl on the table beside me. My hands were clenched in my lap, but my breathing had evened out, and my mind
For the first time, I didn’t follow her.Didn’t chase.Didn’t apologize.But I didn’t forget, either.And some part of me always carried that moment—like a shard of glass pressed into the soft part of my palm.***I found Cassandra in the solarium, stretched out on the chaise in a pale silk robe tha
DEREKI remember the exact moment my father died.Not when I found out—when it happened. I didn’t know then, of course, but looking back, there was a sudden weight that settled in the air that day, like the wind itself knew something had shifted.Something in the bond between us snapped.We were out
Still, watching Aiden throw his head back in joy as he sped around the rose bushes, hair flying behind him and helmet finally strapped tight—I couldn’t deny the truth of what I’d said.Derek had done something for him today that I never could have.And it mattered.Derek stayed quiet, the gravity of
ELENAI hadn’t expected it to hit me like that.Watching Derek teach Aiden to ride his bike… I don’t know. It gutted me in a way I wasn’t prepared for. Not because it hurt, but because it was right. The way Aiden beamed up at him.The way Derek knelt beside him, patient and calm, catching him every
Still nothing.“A good friend of mine was hurt. She saved my life a long time ago, and I thought she needed me.”I paused.“But even if that’s true… I didn’t handle it right. And I want you to know—I get it. I let you down.”Aiden was quiet for a long time.Then, softly: “I think the meatballs weren
DEREKI’d never felt more nervous about knocking on a door in my life.And that included negotiating with rival Alphas and walking into rogue territory with a barely-functioning truce.This was worse.Because this was Aiden.Because I’d let him down.Elena opened the front door of the Moonstone esta
“Mason is blinded by love,” he muttered. “He’s not going to see sense or reason. Even if I backed it up with evidence.”I blinked. “Evidence?”He hesitated. Sighed. “Alpha Derek found documents while investigating Pierce. Moonstone correspondence. Reports. Internal logistics. It was part of what led