LOGINDavian.The heavy exhaustion of the night was finally catching up to my muscles as I stepped away from the medical wing. I had left Louis to stand guard outside Bella’s door, I headed down the quiet, dimly lit corridor toward my own quarters, needing nothing more than a few hours of shut-eye before the sun fully rose.My mind was still spinning with everything that had unfolded. The sight of Gamma Donald holding his daughter’s hand, the look of utter relief on Melissa’s face, and the lingering shadow of the triplets lurking in the background had kept my nerves on edge for hours.I turned the corner into the east wing, my boots slapping quietly against the stone floor, when two figures standing near the alcove brought me to a dead stop.It was Ann.A quiet knot in my chest loosened for a fraction of a second at the sight of her, but as my eyes adjusted to the dim light, my gaze shifted to the male standing uncomfortably close to her.Frederick.The moment I recognized his face, an exp
Louis.The paperwork scattered across my dark mahogany desk might as well have been written in a dead language.I leaned back in my heavy leather chair, rubbing the bridge of my nose as the silence of my study pressed in on me. The hour was late, the rest of the pack draped in heavy shadows, but sleep was the last thing on my mind. Every time I closed my eyes, my thoughts drifted right back down the stone corridors to the medical wing.To Melissa.I knew she was exhausted. I had seen the bone-deep weariness etched into her face, the quiet tension held tight in her shoulders as she tended to Bella and sat beside Gamma Donald. But I also knew her mind was spinning too fast for peace. After everything she had endured—the years of abuse, the grief, the sudden shock of Bella’s return—there was no way she was getting a sound sleep tonight. Every small creak in the floorboards would probably make her jump. Every shadow would feel like a threat.I let out a low, frustrated breath, tapping my
Melissa.After Bella called out the word—’father’ and a few hugging and talking, she suddenly fell unconscious again.I had panicked, but having the medical term behind me, I immediately breathed a sigh of relief.Soon the medical wing was quiet, bathed in the soft, amber light of a single flickering candle on the bedside table.I stood near the far corner of the room, holding a damp basin of water and a basket of clean cloths, my back resting against the cold stone wall. For the first time in five years, the suffocating knot in my chest had loosened just enough for me to breathe.In the bed before me lay Bella, her dark hair spread across the pillows, her face pale and lined with exhaustion. And sitting right beside her, his large, calloused hand holding hers as if she were made of fragile glass, was Gamma Donald.He hadn't moved an inch since he rushed into the room. He sat on the small wooden stool, his weathered body hunched over the edge of the mattress, his eyes completely locke
Cain.The heavy silence in the corridor felt like a physical weight pressing down on our chests.Inside the medical wing, the quiet, muffled sound of Bella’s father sobbing as he held his daughter tore through the air. Standing just outside the double doors, the three of us—Cain, Cypril, and Caleb—could only watch through the glass panel, completely frozen.Without a word, Cypril turned on his heel, his head bowed low, his broad shoulders slumping as he began to walk away. Caleb and I followed right behind him, our boots dragging against the cold stone floor in a hollow, mechanical rhythm. None of us uttered a single whisper as we moved down the long corridor, steering completely clear of the main hall and heading straight toward my private quarters.The moment we stepped inside my room, Cypril closed the heavy wooden door behind us, cutting off the rest of the world.The room was dim, lit only by the fading embers in the hearth. I walked over to the desk, leaning both hands heavily a
Ann.I froze in my tracks, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.Seeing his frail, lined face bathed in the dim amber glow of the oil lamp made a lump catch instantly in my throat. He looked so tired, so worn down by the quiet, cruel weight of his grief. Seeing him stand there, looking at me with such genuine warmth and affection, made me choke on the breath trapped in my lungs.If I told him right now and Frederick turned out to be wrong—if it was just some battered, nameless stranger at the gate—the disappointment would break whatever tiny piece of his soul was holding him together. It would kill him. I knew it would.“Ann?” the old man asked again, his bushy gray eyebrows pulling together in quiet concern as he took a small step into the corridor. He raised the oil lamp slightly, the faint light illuminating my breathless chest and trembling hands. “Child, you look like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s happened? Are you alright? Did... did something happen to Melissa?
Ann.My ears began to ring the very second the name left Frederick’s mouth.Bella.Everything else he was blabbering about—his tears, his endless excuses, his sudden guilt over Amelia’s lies—instantly faded into complete background noise. I didn't care about his weeping. I didn't care about his broken pride. My mind completely locked onto that single name, freezing me right where I stood.“Wait,” I interrupted sharply, grabbing Frederick by his arms and shoving him back just enough so I could look straight into his swollen, tear-stained face. “Frederick, stop crying for a second and listen to me! Did you just say Bella?”Frederick blinked through his tears, looking thoroughly confused by my sudden shift in energy. “W-what? Yes, I—”“Are you sure?” I demanded, my voice rising, my fingers digging into the fabric of his sleeves. “Are you absolutely sure it was Bella? You aren't lying to me, are you?”“No! I swear!” Frederick stammered, shaking his head frantically. “She collapsed right a







