Understanding dawned. "From your mother."
I nodded.
He opened his arms and I went to him, let him wrap around me, let the bond settle as our scents mixed. His heartbeat was too fast against my ear.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked quietly.
"She ran." The words were muffled against his chest. "Felt the bond suffocating her. Felt herself disappearing. So she chose herself and left."
His arms tightened. "Vespera—"
I pulled back to look at him. "She warned me. About Alphas who'd see me as property. About biology overriding choice. About becoming smaller." I traced the claiming mark on his throat—permanent evidence of everything we'd been through. "She was right. You did all that."
He flinched. "I know. I'm sorry—"
"But she was wrong too." I cut him off. "She didn't think anyone could change. Didn't believe a bond could be anything but a cage."
"What are you saying?"
I stepped back. Needed space to say this without the bond clouding everything. "I love you. I've said it and I meant it. But I need you to understand something."
He went very still. Waiting.
"Saturday, I'm standing on that stage and being extraordinary. Everyone will be watching. Everyone will see that I'm more than an Omega. More than pack. More than biology." I met his eyes. "And if the bond ever starts making me smaller? If I start disappearing? I'm gone. I don't care how much it hurts. I won't lose myself."
"I would never—"
"You already did." My voice was flat. Factual. "Before. When you tried to control me."
His jaw clenched. "You're right. I did. And I'll spend the rest of my life making up for it."
"Good." I crossed my arms. "Because I'm not my mother. I'm not running. But I'm also not disappearing into being someone's Omega. Your Omega, sure. But mine first. Always mine first."
Something shifted in his expression. Not hurt. Understanding. Maybe even relief.
"I don't want you any other way," he said quietly. "The Omega who disappeared? That's not who I fell in love with."
"Then remember that." I picked up my bag, pulled out the letter. "I'm keeping this. As a reminder."
"Of what?"
"That I have a choice. Every day. To stay or go. To be yours or mine." I looked down at the worn paper. "She ran. I'm staying. But only because I'm choosing to."
He crossed the distance between us in two strides. His hands came up to frame my face, and when he kissed me it was desperate. Grateful. Like he'd been terrified I'd come home with a different answer.
When he pulled back, his ice-blue eyes were bright. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For choosing to stay. For giving me the chance to prove I'm worth it."
I touched his chest, felt his racing heart. "Don't make me regret it."
"Never." He pressed his forehead to mine. "I promise."
ThatnightIlayin bed with the letter on my nightstand. Dorian was asleep beside me, one arm draped across my waist.Through the walls I could feel the others—Oakley in his room, Corvus in his office. The whole pack settling around me.
My mother ran from this.
