19

Finn

The reports landed on my desk with a dull thud, another stack of dead ends in my endless search. Five years of following every lead, every whisper, every trace of her scent – and still nothing. I rubbed my temples, trying to ward off the familiar ache of failure, when quick footsteps approached my office.

A sharp knock, then one of my trackers burst in, his eyes bright with urgency. "Alpha, I have information about the Luna."

My pen clattered to the desk as I shot to my feet, heart hammering against my ribs. "Where?"

"In the human realm," he replied, and suddenly everything made sense – why our best trackers had failed, why her scent had vanished so completely.

“What! Are you sure?”

"Yes, sir. Got that information directly from John."

"Where can I find him?"

"He's waiting at the human portal entrance."

“Thank you.”

I was halfway to the door when my Beta's voice cut through the corridor. "Alpha, where are you going?"

"To the human realm," I called back, not breaking stride. "They've found her, Daniel."

"After all this time?" His voice held a mix of disbelief and hope. "They finally found her?”

"Yes." I threw open the portal that connected our worlds – a gateway I'd never imagined using for this purpose. "I'll be back."

The transition between realms was disorienting, but I was greeted by John's familiar face the moment I emerged. "Alpha, you made it."

"Take me to her," I ordered, following him to a waiting car. "How far?"

"Her café isn't far from here," he replied, sliding behind the wheel. "She's built quite a life for herself."

The words struck me. While I had been consumed by regret and lost in darkness, she had been busy creating something fresh and unique, entirely her own.

Minutes later, we pulled up outside a place called Sweet Escape. Through the window, I could see her – Scarlett, my mate, the woman I'd wronged so terribly. She moved with quiet confidence behind the counter, her red hair caught in the warm lights of the café. My wolf, Storm, paced restlessly within me, recognizing what we'd thrown away with our pride and prejudice.

"Is it really her?" John asked softly.

"Yes." The word came out rough, charged with five years of searching and regret. "She's... extraordinary. Look at what she's built from nothing, while I've been living in the past."

“Are you bringing her back to the pack?”

I opened the car door, my eyes never leaving her figure through the window. "That's not my decision to make anymore. I'll be back, John."

---

Scarlett’s POV

The evening rush at Sweet Escape had finally died down, leaving me alone with the familiar routine of closing duties. Alisha had left early – her night classes at the community college were paying off, and she was determined to get her business degree. I smiled, thinking of how far we’d both come from the wolves we used to be.

The bell above the door chimed. “Sorry, we’re closed,” I called out without looking up from wiping down the espresso machine.

“Scarlett.”

One word. Just one word in that voice I’d tried so hard to forget, and my entire world tilted on its axis. My hands froze, and Ray stirred within me, awakening from her usual contentment into high alert.

No. It can’t be.

I turned slowly, my heart thundering against my ribs. Finn stood in the doorway, his broad frame silhouetted by the street lights behind him. He looked different – his usually immaculate appearance was slightly disheveled, his eyes carrying shadows I’d never seen before.

“How?” The question came out as barely a whisper.

He took a step forward, and I instinctively backed away, bumping into the counter. The flash of pain across his face at my reaction was something new – the Finn I remembered would have maintained his cold mask of indifference.

"I’ve been searching for you for years," he said. "Ever since I found out what Dickson... and his mistress did—" He couldn’t finish the sentence.

Rage flared through me, hot and sudden. “*Our?* There was never an ‘our’ anything. You made that very clear when you rejected me, that you didn’t want to have anything to do with me.”

“I was wrong.” The words hung in the air between us. “I was so terribly wrong, Scarlett.”

I laughed, but it came out bitter and sharp. “Wrong about what? About treating me like I was worthless because of who my father was? About walking away from our mate bond like it meant nothing? Or about leaving me to marry an alpha who—” My voice cracked, and I hated myself for showing even that much vulnerability.

Finn moved closer, his steps careful, as if approaching a wounded animal. In a way, I supposed that’s what I was. “About everything. I let my hatred for your father blind me. I convinced myself that rejecting our bond was for good, but I was just being a coward.”

“Stop.” I held up my hand. “Just stop. You don’t get to walk in here after five years and try to rewrite the past. I built a life here – a good life. Without you, without any alpha, without a pack.”

“I know.” His eyes swept around the café, taking in the warm décor Alisha and I had chosen, the display case of pastries we’d learned to make from scratch and the wall of photos showing our journey from a tiny coffee cart to this thriving business. “You’ve done amazing things, Scarlett. Please come back. I’m hurting.”

“Good,” I spat. “I hope it hurt. I hope you felt even a fraction of what I felt when you looked me in the eyes and said you’d never accept a mate from my bloodline.”

He flinched as if I’d struck him. “I deserved that. I deserve worse. Your father’s crimes against my pack were heinous, but you were innocent. You were always innocent, and I punished you for sins that weren’t yours.”

Ray whined inside me, responding to the genuine pain in his voice. Shut up, I told her. He doesn’t get to come back and make us weak again.

“The night I heard about the baby,” he continued, and my hands clenched into fists, “something in me broke. The thought of you alone, imprisoned, suffering... I realized what a fool I’d been. What I’d thrown away because of pride and prejudice.”

“I wasn’t alone,” I corrected him. “Alisha helped me escape. She’s been more family to me than any mate or pack member ever was.”

A small smile touched his lips. “No one believed you could survive in the human world, but look at what you’ve built.”

“Why are you here, Finn?” I asked. “What do you want from me?”

He ran a hand through his hair – another un-Finn-like gesture that spoke of how much he’d changed. “I want to make things right. I want a chance to prove that I’m not the same arrogant wolf who let you go. I want—”

“No.” The word came out firm and clear. “You don’t get to want things from me anymore. That right disappeared the moment you rejected our bond.”

“Scarlett, please—”

“Do you know what it was like?” I cut him off, years of buried pain erupting. “Do you have any idea what it did to me, being rejected by my mate and then treated like property by my husband? Having my baby—” My voice broke, but I forced myself to continue. “Having my baby murdered because of harem jealousy?”

He took another step toward me, and this time I held my ground. “I failed you,” he said softly. “In every way a mate could fail their other half, I failed you. But I’m not asking for forgiveness, Scarlett. I’m asking for a chance to earn back your trust, even if it takes years.”

“And if I say no? Will you try to force me back like Dickson would?”

Horror crossed his face. “Never. You’re free to tell me to leave and never come back. I’ll respect your choice – it’s the least I can do after disregarding your feelings before.”

The sincerity in his voice made something deep inside me ache. Ray stirred again, more insistent this time. He’s changed, she whispered. We’ve both changed.

I studied him – really looked at him for the first time since he’d walked in. The proud, cold alpha I’d known was gone, replaced by someone who looked like he’d been through his own kind of hell. There were strands of silver in his hair that hadn’t been there before, and lines around his eyes that spoke of sleepless nights.

“I can’t,” I snapped. “I can’t give you what you’re asking for. That Scarlett – the one who dreamed of a mate and a pack and happily ever after – died in Dickson’s cell. The woman I am now... she doesn’t need a mate to complete her.”

Finn nodded slowly, pain and understanding warring in his eyes. “I understand. But know this – I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make up for my mistakes, whether you give me another chance or not. You deserve at least that much.”

He turned to leave, then paused at the door. “You’ve become extraordinary, Scarlett. I’m sorry I was too blind to see your strength before.”

As the door closed behind him, I sank into one of the café chairs, my legs suddenly weak. Ray whimpered softly, mourning what might have been.

We made the right choice, I told her firmly. We can’t go backward.