Chapter 2

The next morning, I started packing.

Finn didn't ask why.

He split his toys into two piles. The wooden bow and the plush toys from my father went into the suitcase. The mechanical wolf from Damon stayed in the cabinet.

"Don't you like it anymore?"

"I do."

"Then why aren't you taking it?"

Finn touched the wolf's ear.

"It talks like him."

I pressed the button. Damon's recorded voice played:

"Finnie, wait till Daddy's done..."

Finn pulled his hand back.

"I don't want to hear 'wait' anymore."

My throat closed up.

My phone buzzed.

A video from Serena. In front of the old house fireplace, Damon was fixing Nico's toy. Nico sat on his knee, wearing Damon's Alpha cloak pin around his neck. That was only used when the Alpha brought his successor to formal ceremonies.

Serena laughed off-camera.

[Nico says as long as Damon's here, bad dreams don't dare come.]

Then another message.

[Between siblings, there are always places no one else can fill.]

I saved the video to the complaint file for the pack council. Then blocked her.

After dark, Damon came back. Carrying a box of blueberry tarts.

Finn glanced at it. He didn't move.

Damon didn't like sweets. Finn used to order salted cheese pies for his birthdays just to match his father's taste. This late dessert felt more like Damon buying forgiveness for himself.

"Still mad?"

He pushed the box toward Finn.

Finn shook his head.

"I'm not mad."

Damon exhaled, visibly relieved.

He didn't know that not being mad and not caring were sometimes the same thing.

Then he spotted the suitcase in the living room.

"Where are you going?"

"To see my father up north."

"When are you coming back?"

I closed the wardrobe.

"Not sure yet."

Damon frowned, then let it go.

"A few days away might be good."

"About the Moon Rite—I was wrong."

He crouched in front of Finn.

"The day after tomorrow, I'll take you to the Moon Altar. Just the three of us. We'll do it over."

Finn's lashes trembled.

"Really?"

"Really."

"No one's going to call you away?"

Damon paused.

"Daddy promises."

Daddy.

Finn's eyes still lit up at that word.

My chest ached. A pup's hope was like weeds—trampled over and over, yet one drop of rain and it still pushed through.

"Okay."

I answered for Finn. Not because I trusted Damon. But because I wanted my son to see this last chance with his own eyes.

Finn ran off to pick his ceremony clothes.

Damon started to follow, then stopped. His eyes landed on the nightstand.

A white moonstone pendant hung there. My father had carved it the day Finn was born.

"Let me borrow this."

He reached for it.

I held it down.

"Who are you giving this to?"

"Nico. He's been having nightmares. Serena said this Northern moonstone can calm young pups."

"It's Finn's."

"Just for a few days."

"He won't sleep well without it either."

Damon lowered his voice.

"Elara. Don't make everything into a competition with a pup."

I stared at him.

"Which pup are we talking about? Finn or Nico?"

He looked away.

"Finn has us. He's stable."

That again. Because Finn knew how to endure, his things could be taken. Because I didn't break down, I was supposed to give ground.

Finn stood at the bedroom door. He'd heard everything.

Slowly, he took off the pendant and handed it to Damon.

"Take it."

As Damon reached out, Finn added:

"You don't have to give it back."

"Finnie..."

"You should go, Alpha. Nico's waiting."

Damon held the pendant, speechless for a long moment.

But after Serena sent her location, he still walked out the door.

I packed the last of our clothes into the suitcase.

Finn tossed the blueberry tarts into the trash and went to bed.

The Mate Bond ached beneath my ribs, pulse after pulse.

But I pressed the suitcase latch tighter.

Every time he ran to Serena, I pulled a little more of myself back from this house. When that last box closed, I'd take Finn and leave.

And when Damon called my name then, I wouldn't turn around. Not once.