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Chapter 32: Without Knocking
publish date:
2026-09-08 04:46:58
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Once Lost, Twice Found Chapter 99: The Notice
Logan’s POVI learned about the council hearing from Celeste, not Reginald. That alone told me how badly things had deteriorated between us.I was in my office, pretending to read a border report, when Celeste walked in, shut the door, and dropped a folded notice on my desk. “You should see this before someone decides you don’t deserve to know.”The Neutral Council seal tightened something in my stomach. I opened the notice and read it twice. The preliminary hearing would take place in four days on neutral territory. Reginald Ashcroft, Jack Blackwood, and Ann Carter were named. Ann was required to testify about her departure from Silverstone before the council decided whether Reginald’s paternal claim could move forward. Doctor Elias Mercer had also been summoned.“They want Mercer,” I said.“Yes.”“They’ll want me too.”Celeste took the chair across from me. “You aren’t named. Not yet.”Reginald had moved quickly. The moment he discovered he had two Alpha sons, he reached for the onl
Once Lost, Twice Found Chapter 98: The Summons
Ann’s POVI knew the council’s summons carried bad news before Jack broke the seal. It was not the Neutral Council stamp or the look on Tristan’s face when he entered the sitting room. It was the way Jack stopped smiling the moment he saw which envelope it was.I sat on the carpet with Adrian tucked against my legs, Lucas asleep in his padded basket, and Isla resting against my chest. We had already seen Reginald’s claim. I had already told Jack I would file my own. For almost an hour that morning, I had managed to believe we knew what came next.Then Jack read the letter once, frowned, and read it again.“What is it?” I asked.He did not answer, and my stomach tightened. “Jack.”
Once Lost, Twice Found Chapter 97: Let Her Speak
Reginald’s POVBy the time I returned to Silverstone, the blood on my clothes had dried. Some of it belonged to Jack, some to me. Mud from the creek stained my boots, and I could still feel Logan’s grip on my arm from when he had dragged me back from the edge of a war he had helped create.I should have gone to the infirmary. I should have spoken to the council before making any formal move. Instead, I shut myself in my office and wrote the claim with my own hand. I wanted no secretary softening my words, no Beta watching over my shoulder, and no adviser warning me what might anger Blackwood. I wanted Jack to know exactly who had sent it.More than that, I wanted Ann to understand that leaving when she asked did not mean I would walk away from my children.Three children. Two sons and a daughter.I sat behind my desk long after the messenger left with the sealed declaration, repeating their names until they no longer sounded like strangers. Adrian. Lucas. Isla. They were mine by blood
Once Lost, Twice Found Chapter 96: After the Creek
Jack’s POVShe didn’t say anything on the way back.I carried her most of it. After her legs gave out at the tree line, she hadn’t protested when I lifted her, and I hadn’t asked. Her face was pressed against my shoulder and her breathing was uneven in the way that meant she was holding herself together by sheer effort.I could still hear Reginald’s voice in the trees.Tristan walked ahead of us, clearing the path back to the residence without being asked. The Blackwood wolves fell in around us quietly. Nobody spoke. The forest felt heavier than it had on the way out.Ann stirred when we reached the back entrance. “I can walk.”“I know.”I didn’t put her down.She didn’t argue.The nursery was quiet when we reached it. Three small shapes filled the cribs, and the night nurse looked up with wide eyes before I shook my head slightly. She understood and slipped out.Ann slid from my arms the moment we crossed the threshold. She went to Isla first, touching her daughter’s cheek with the b
Once Lost, Twice Found Chapter 95: The Creek
Ann’s POVFor one terrible second, I was back in Silverstone.The creek still separated us. Jack stood beside me, and Blackwood warriors surrounded the forest. Reginald was outside our territory, not inside a bedroom or council chamber where no one would dare challenge him. None of that mattered to my body. It remembered him before my mind could accept that everything was different now.His voice, my name in his mouth, and the weight of his stare dragged old fear to the surface. His wolf pressed against the air as if dominance alone should still make me lower my head.My fingers trembled around Jack’s hand, and Reginald noticed. Of course he did. His gaze dropped to our joined hands before returning to my face.“You’re alive.”Of all the things I had imagined him saying, that had never been one of them. “Yes.”He studied me as if he needed proof. “You disappeared.”A bitter laugh escaped me. “I escaped.”His expression hardened. Behind him, Logan shifted uneasily, but Reginald ignored
Once Lost, Twice Found Chapter 94: She Walked Out
Jack’s POVThe shift tore through me before thought could catch up with instinct.My bones cracked, my hands struck the earth, and my wolf surged forward with a roar that sent birds scattering. Across the creek, Reginald shifted into a large, dark gray wolf and landed hard on the muddy bank.Behind him, Logan shouted something I could not understand over the snarling, but Tristan’s command cut clearly through the forest.“Hold the line!”Every Blackwood wolf stayed on our side of the creek, teeth bared as they waited. Reginald lunged across the water, and I met him before his paws touched our soil.We crashed together in the creek. Water exploded around us as his teeth snapped beside my throat. I twisted and drove my shoulder into his chest, sending both of us rolling through the shallow current.Reginald recovered faster than I expected and came at me again. His wolf believed he was fighting for his children. Mine answered with a snarl, just as certain they were ours.Reginald’s teet
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