CHAPTER 38: THE WEIGHT OF THE PAST

“Mi alma, are you—” Luke’s words died in his throat as his gaze landed on my side. “Shit. Stay with me, Max. We’re getting you to the doc.”

In one swift motion, he scooped me up and sprinted to the truck. After securing me inside, he doubled back for my bags, tossing them into the bed before sliding behind the wheel.

“No, Luke—my bike,” I pleaded.

Only when I threatened to climb out and retrieve it myself did he relent. I gave him directions, and he jogged off to collect it. Once it was loaded, we sped toward home.

I dialed Alexis. She answered instantly. “Max, any updates?”

“No. I think they were onto me. When I returned to my recon tree, they blew it up.” She sucked in a sharp breath. “She might know you’re coming. It might be a trap.”

“Oh my God, are you okay? What should we do?” Her voice wavered slightly, a crack in her forced composure.

“Turn back. If they knew I was watching the mansion, they might know about you too. I won’t risk your safety. We can regroup and strike later. She doesn’t know we have Urk’s phone.” Then a chilling thought struck me. “Can facial recognition on a phone be fooled?” What if the man I’d killed and dragged out wasn’t Urk at all?

“No—phones don’t have minds to trick.” Relief washed over me.

“Then the call’s yours. Just be careful. They knew I was coming, so expect they know about you too.”

“We will. Thanks, Max. We’ll handle it from here—we don’t want you hurt either.” The line went dead.

“Let’s go home,” I told Luke.

Next, I called Zane. “Mi alma. Everything go okay?” Worry threaded his voice.

“The mansion’s clear. I was moments from lobbing a grenade through a hidden tunnel hatch to shake off an ambush, but Luke swooped in and ruined my fun.” I left out the exploding tree and the nail in my side.

“Urk?” Zane asked.

Oh goodie, one-word questions again, I thought dryly. “Dead.” Two could play that game.

Before he could probe further, I cut in. “Luke and I are heading back. Alexis is taking over the witch front. You’re clear to move ahead with your mission.”

A quiet exhale. “I’ll call when we’re done.”

“Be careful. They knew I was coming,” I blurted.

“What? Are you hurt?” Shit.

“Yeah—correction, Moulsa knows the witches were inbound. I warned Alexis. It was weird—the staff vanished, and most of the guns were in Urk’s office, guarding him.” The memory of the nail in my leg flared as I mentioned the office.

“Just finish your mission and bring all my people back in one piece—mates and warriors included.” A tall order, even for his brothers.

“Yes, ma’am,” Zane replied before hanging up.

“You lied,” Luke chided.

“Would telling them I’m impaled by a nail and a chunk of wood help? They’d only get distracted—which is worse for everyone.” I arched a brow. “Unless you think otherwise?”

“You’re right, Luna.” Then a caught on. “Wait—what nail?”

“Oh, right. My grenades are packed with nails. I got pinned in Urk’s office and had to toss a couple,. One nail caught me. Funny, considering how many were flying.” I launched into the full story—what else was there to do for two hours?

As silence settled, exhaustion pulled at me. Blood loss was a bitch.

“We heard what you told Tisha about your kids. I would’ve loved to meet them. What about when you were younger?” Luke prodded, keeping me awake.

“There’s not much to say, really. I’m an orphan—grew up in foster care before being adopted by a family who mostly wanted the government checks. Don’t get me wrong, they didn’t abuse me or anything, but I got by on hand-me-downs, and that made me an easy target for bullies. I took a lot of beatings until I turned 15. That’s when I got a job and saved up for boxing lessons at the local gym. Once I learned how to fight back, the bullying stopped. In fact, I started standing up for the kids the bullies went after next.”

“So that’s where you learned to fight. I’m sorry, Inwish you never had to, especially so young.” His voice held a quiet sadness.

By now, I was barely hanging on, eyelids heavy. He kept me talking the whole ride—anything to keep me from slipping under.

“Tell me about your husband—you don’t talk about him much,” Luke asked gently.

I swallowed hard, feeling the familiar sting behind my eyes. “Because it’s hard to. He was my world long before we had our kids. I always imagined us growing old together, watching our great-great-grandchildren play in the yard. I pictured us side by side on the porch in our rocking chairs, gray-haired and content, leaving this world together.” A tear slipped free, tracing a warm path down my cheek. “In a way, I feel like I’m betraying him now… because what we have is strong, and his memory should be stronger.”

Luke pulled the truck over and wrapped his arms around me as I finally let myself crumble. For minutes, he just held me while I trembled, my grief raw and jagged. Had I ever really mourned him?

“I think he’d want you to be happy,” Luke murmured, brushing a kiss to my hair. “I know I would.” His words soothed me, just a little.

I took a shaky breath. “Connor was… incredible. Spontaneous, romantic—he loved surprising me. If I worked late, I’d come home to candlelight, rose petals on the floor, a glass of red wine, and triple-chocolate cake drizzled in caramel waiting beside a bubble bath. He’d even have Game of Thrones cued up on a tablet so I could unwind.” The memory was so vivid I could almost smell the candles—he always mixed the scents just right.

A real smile tugged at my lips since I lost them for the first time. “And when he screwed up? Forget flowers—he’d come home with a spa gift card. Oh, and his jokes…” I laughed wetly. “God, the terrible pick-up lines.”

“Like what?” Luke asked softly as he pulled back onto the road.

I deepened my voice in imitation. “‘Damn, it’s hot in here.’ Then he’d look at me and say, ‘Oh wait—that’s just you.’” Luke chuckled, and the sound warmed me. “‘Are you a bank loan? ‘Cause you’ve got my interest.’ That one was the worst. The kids loved, ‘If you were a triangle, you’d be acute one.’”

Then, grinning, I added, “But the cheesiest was our first date. He said—” I dropped into Connor’s voice again—“‘On a scale of 1 to 10, you’re a 9, and I’m the 1 you need. Hi, I’m Connor.’”

Luke burst out laughing. “That’s awful. I love it.”

“When he first said ‘I love you,’ he hit me with, ‘Do you have a bandage? ‘Cause I scraped my knee falling for you.’” We both dissolved into laughter, but it faded into something bittersweet.

Tears pricked my eyes again. “He even worked them into his proposal. ‘I’m just a guy, standing in front of a girl, asking her to love him.’ And then—‘Are you a magician? Because when I look at you, everyone else disappears.’”

I swiped at my cheeks. “I swear he had a whole book of those lines. At first, I kind of hated them, but… they became our thing. Now, I’d give anything to hear one again.”

Luke squeezed my hand. “You loved him deeply.”

“I did,” I whispered. “And he was just as kind as our kids. Every month, he had them donate 10% of their allowance to charity. They’d volunteer at the homeless shelter every second Saturday—he taught them to give without hesitation.”

“He sounds like an amazing man,” Luke said quietly. Then, with a rueful sigh, “I hope I can be half the man he was for you. He set the bar… pretty damn high.”

Luke pulled up to the pack hospital as he spoke.

I turned his face toward mine once he put the truck in park. “You are. You took on this pack when it was broken and made it whole. I’m honored to have you—all four of you—as my mates. I’ll always cherish my past, but you… you’re my future.”

“I love you, mi alma,” Luke murmured, leaning in. But as our lips met, pain ripped through me. Blood seeped through my shirt, dizziness clawing at my vision.

I forced a smile. Worth it.

Luke’s eyes dropped to the crimson stain—then flashed with panic. “I thought the bleeding stopped! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Luke, relax. I’ve had worse—”

He didn’t let me finish, scooping me up and sprinting toward the hospital. I rolled my eyes.

Seriously, Cece. Never thought I’d see an Alpha lose it over a little blood.

“You forget,” she chided. “Mates—especially Alphas—aren’t ruled by logic when it comes to their mates. And that? That’s not ‘a little blood.’”

I get it, but seriously, you would think I was about to breathe my last breath, I say, which has Cece giggling.

Thankfully, Doc was waiting in front of the hospital, and he took me straight into surgery. The last thing I saw before falling asleep was the worry in my mate's eyes. Then darkness.