로그인Liora POVThe words didn’t settle easily inside me.The man who knows why she left.Not mystery.Not threat.Truth.Darius stands beside me again, closer now—but still waiting for me to move first.Selene watches quietly.Even Cassian looks unusually still.Ethan’s expression has tightened slightly.And then—A presence arrives.Not loud.Just… undeniable.A man stands at the edge of the estate path.Older.Calm eyes.Like someone who has lived with silence for too long.His gaze finds me immediately.And something inside my chest reacts before my mind can.Not fear.Not confusion.Something deeper.Familiar.Like my body remembers him before I do.He takes a slow step forward.“I’m not here to disturb you,” he says gently.Only then does he look at me fully.“I’m here because your mother trusted me with the part of her story no one else was allowed to know.”My throat tightens slightly.“Who are you?”He exhales slowly.“My name is Gideon Arkwright.”He pause.“I was there when your
Liora POV“I’m not here to take anything from her.”His voice is calm.The air outside the estate feels heavier than it should.Not dangerous.Just… charged.Like something long buried is finally breathing again.The man standing near the entrance watches me without moving forward.And somehow, that stillness is more unsettling than aggression.Darius immediately steps in front of me.Not in hostility.In instinct.Protective. Quiet. Certain.The man speak again.“I’m here because her mother asked me to make sure she survived long enough to choose her own path.”That sentence lands differently.I step slightly around Darius—not rejecting him, just needing to see.“Who are you?” I ask.The man bows his head slightly.“My name is Gideon Arkwright.”A ripple moves through the people behind me.Even Selene stiffens.Elder Rowan’s expression tightens with recognition.Cassian goes silent in a way I haven’t seen before.Gideon continues gently.“I was a strategist within the Blackwood inner
Liora POV Ethan Vale’s words don’t leave my mind.“She wrote instructions about your future.”My future.Not my past.The idea feels invasive in a way I can’t fully explain.Darius stands slightly behind me, close enough that I can feel his presence without him touching me.That steadiness matters more than anything right now.Selene is quiet beside him, watching me carefully like she’s afraid I might disappear if she breathes wrong.Margaret and Ethan exchange a look.Then Ethan slowly reaches into his coat.He pulls out a sealed envelope.Old.Worn.Carefully preserved.My chest tightens immediately.Because I already know—This is not just a letter.It is a decision someone made for me before I ever existed in their world.Ethan speaks gently.“This was written by your mother in the last months of her life.”I don’t move.My fingers stay stiff at my side.Darius notices immediately.He steps closer, voice low.“You don’t have to open it right now.”But I already know I will.Becau
Liora POV The room doesn’t move.Margaret Vale’s last words still echo inside my chest.“The man who raised you after your father died.”I don’t even realize I’ve tightened my grip on the letter until Darius gently touches my wrist.Not pulling.Just grounding.“Liora,” he says quietly, “breathe.”I do.But it doesn’t feel like breathing.It feels like preparing for impact.Selene steps closer beside me.Her voice is soft, careful.“You didn’t know there was someone else?”I shake my head slowly.“No.”My voice comes out thinner than I expect.“I thought… I was alone after my father died.”The words taste bitter.Because they are true.I turned to look at Ravenna.Ravenna stays near the back of the room, arms folded, watching Margaret like she’s trying to decide whether this is another manipulation or something worse.Cassian doesn’t speak at all.But his eyes stay locked on me.Like he understands something I don’t yet.Margaret exhales gently.“He never told you because he promised
Liora POV The place feels unusually quiet after the security deliver the message.“They said they are your real mother’s family.”Those words sit inside Liora like a weight she cannot place down.For a moment, i did not move.I simply stares at the door.Because “real mother’s family” doesn’t feel like news.It feels like another life changing without my permission.Darius steps slightly in front of her—not to block her, but to steady her space.His voice is calm.“Do you want me to see them alone?”That question hits me differently.Because for once, someone is not deciding for her.He is asking.I hesitates.Then quietly:“No… I need to see them.”My voice shakes—but it is certain.Selene immediately reacts.“Are you sure?”I look at my sister.“I’ve lived my whole life being told pieces of myself don’t belong anywhere.”I heaved a sigh.“If I keep running from every missing piece… I’ll never be whole.”That silence lands heavily in the room.Ravenna says nothing—but her expressi
Liora POVThe room does not move for several seconds.Elder Rowan’s words still echo in my mind.Accept or refuse the Alpha inheritance.I don’t even know how to respond to something like that.A moment ago, I was trying to understand my father.Now I am being asked to inherit a world I never belonged to.I slowly look around the room.I observe Cassian is no longer speaking.I notice Selene looks confused and shaken.I watch Ravenna’s face is tighten, like she is trying to calculate what this means for her place in everything.And Darius…Darius is watching me softly.That is what unsettles me the most.Because in his eyes, I am not a title.I am not a threat.I am not a weapon.I am just… Liora.Elder Rowan speaks again, breaking the silence.“This is not a decision that must be made today.”His voice is calmer now.He lowered his vioce.“But it is a decision that cannot be avoided forever.”He pauses.Looks at me directly.“The Blackwood Pack cannot remain without direction.”Then
The hours after their reconciliation pass more easily than either Selene or Liora expected. They were expecting it to become dramatic and emotional. But it comes out way beyond their imagination and expectations.Once the hardest truths have been spoken;The conversation begins to flow naturally.
Liora wakes before sunrise, long before her alarm is supposed to go off. The moment she opens her eyes, she knows there is no point in trying to sleep again.Today is the day she is finally going to see Selene face-to-face.They have spoken through messages, shared updates, and slowly rebuilt comm
Darius has discovered the room accidentally. Darius has spent months avoiding the end of the hallway without consciously admitting it to himself. Every time he passed by, his attention drifted elsewhere. Tonight, distracted and exhausted, he opens it without thinking. The realization hits him t
Selene's physiotherapy session begins with a clear goal:The physiotherapist looks at Selene and says, “We are doing sixteen steps today.Selene looks at the therapist dully. “It is already an ambitious target compared to where I had been only a few weeks earlier.” She and her therapist got ready t







