I lift the jar to be polite. It burns my nose hairs clean off. “Cheers,” I croak.
They laugh thunderously, delighted.
But then the noise fades as Thorne steps closer, face sobering.
“Look,” he says, “the way you and your brothers were treated? That wasn’t right.”
Talon nods. “Three pups cast out? An alpha doing that should lose his title.”
My stomach twists.
I don’t want their pity, but hearing someone finally say it—someone with power, someone who could have made a difference—ignites something in me that I thought was long dead.
Thorne’s voice gentles. “You’re strong, loyal, and clever. You surrendered yourself for a human woman. Half my pack wouldn’t do that for their own mother.”
“It wasn’t like that,” I start.
He raises a brow. “Wasn’t it?”
I look at Violet again. My heart answers for me.
He chuckles. “We’d take you in. If you wanted.”
The breath leaves my lungs like a blow.
A pack. A real pack. After all these years. My wolf rises fast, pushing warm, golden hope into my bloodstream.
But…
I swallow. “I can’t.”
Talon tilts his head. “Why?”
“I…” My voice catches. “I think I already belong somewhere.”
Their gazes flick toward Violet with slow, knowing smiles.
“Ah,” Thorne murmurs, amused. “Your alpha-female.”
“She’s not?—”
I stop.
Because she is. She is my equal. My anchor. My reason.
She’s the one who walked into a wolf execution and bought my life like it was on clearance at the grocery store.
Talon smirks. “Well, then. Best talk it over with your co-alpha.”
“Co-alpha?” I echo.
“Yes,” Thorne says mildly. “Because it’s clear you’re not the only one leading whatever… this is.”
Warmth settles in my chest. “No. I’m not.”
They clap my shoulders, laugh, and wander off to refill drinks.
I’m left standing there with my beating heart in my hands.
