Mother says nothing. She rises from her chair and crosses the room to stand in front of me.
“Let me tell you something,” she says softly. “About your father.”
I go still. She rarely talks about him. The pain of losing him, even after all these years, is still too fresh.
“When I first met him, I was trapped.” A small smile crosses her face. “A snowstorm, not unlike this one. My car broke down on a mountain road, and this enormous bear shifter appeared out of nowhere to help me.”
“I’ve heard this story,” Ronan mutters.
“Then you can hear it again.” She doesn’t look away from me. “I was terrified of him at first. He was huge and gruff and he didn’t know how to talk to humans. He said all the wrong things. Made me feel like an inconvenience instead of a person.”
That sounds familiar.
“But he never gave up,” she continues. “Even when I was cold to him, even when I pushed him away, even when I told him I wanted nothing to do with him. He was relentless in his pursuit. Not aggressive. Not demanding. Just... present. Consistent. He showed me, over and over, that he was safe. That I could trust him. That underneath all that gruff exterior was a man worth knowing.”
Her hand comes up to touch my cheek, her fingers tracing the edge of my scar.
“Be gentle with her, Tolin. Show her the son I know has always been there, underneath all that armor. The one who makes sure his clan has enough wood for winter. The one who visits his mother even when he’s too proud to come home.”
“I’ve ruined it,” I whisper.
“No.” Her voice is firm. “You haven’t. There’s still time to fix this. But you have to be vulnerable with her. You have to be honest. You can’t earn her trust while you refuse to be honest with yourself.”
“What if she never forgives me?”
“Then you’ll have to live with that.” She doesn’t sugarcoat it. “But I don’t think that’s how this ends. She’s your fated mate, Tolin. Mother Fate doesn’t make mistakes. She just makes us work for what we want.”
I nod slowly, letting her words sink in.
Be gentle. Be vulnerable. Be honest. Don’t give up.
I can do that. I have to do that.
“I need to show you something,” I say to Ronan.
He follows me outside, into the still-raging storm, to where I left her car.
He stares at it for a long moment. The missing door. The smashed window. The frame dented where I gripped it too hard.
“Damn, man.” He shakes his head slowly. “What the hell.”
“I lost control.” The shame burns fresh. “My bear... when she tried to leave, he just...”
“I get it.” Ronan circles the car, assessing the damage. “I don’t condone it, but I get it. The thought of your mate leaving, of never seeing her again...” He trails off. “I’ve heard stories of bears who’ve done worse.”
“Can you fix it?”
He snorts. “It’s not pretty, but yeah. We can fix it. Give me a couple of days.”
“Thank you.”
He looks at me, and something shifts in his expression. The jealousy fades, replaced by something that looks almost like hope.
“Maybe she’ll be the reason you come home,” he says quietly.
I hold his gaze. My brother. My Alpha. The man who scarred my face and shattered my pride. The man who’s been trying to bring me back to the clan for years.
“Maybe,” I say.
