Mag-log inChapter 95BIANCA"Go see your patient," I said, waving him away before the emotion in his expression could transfer to me.He disappeared around the corner, and I stood in the corridor for a moment, thinking about a child running through a park chasing ghosts.I hoped they found peace. I hoped they found someone to help them navigate the impossible grief of losing a parent young. Children needed someone steady. Someone who showed up, who stayed, who made them feel like the world wasn't going to keep collapsing.I was doing that for Louis now.And maybe, back in her previous pack, Mia was doing that for Theo.I pushed the thought firmly away before it could take root and headed back toward my office to prepare for afternoon rounds.---The afternoon passed quickly—a curse-related skin condition that had been misdiagnosed for months, a teenage girl with magical exhaustion from overextending her abilities, a standard trauma case that required more surgical coordination than curse-break
Chapter 94BIANCAI turned back toward the car park and walked."Are you okay?" Louis asked, his hand patting my shoulder in a very deliberate comforting gesture he'd clearly learned from watching Rivera comfort me."I'm okay, sweetheart," I said. "I'm fine."And I was. I was fine.I was just going to keep telling myself that until it was true.I'd made a choice when I'd come to BloodMoon City. I'd left that life behind—Matthew's pack, that marriage, everything that had tried to destroy me. And yes, I'd left Theo behind too, which was a grief I carried every single day.But I couldn't go back. Going back meant walking into a situation where Matthew thought I was dead, where my supposed death was the only thing protecting me from pack law, where returning would unravel everything Rivera had built to keep me safe.And Theo had his father. Matthew was far from perfect, but he loved his son. Theo would be okay.He had to be okay.I pushed the thought down firmly, the way I'd been practici
Chapter 93BIANCAThe morning sun was warm on my face as I watched Louis make his way across the monkey bars at Greenbrook Garden Park, his small tongue poking out in fierce concentration."Louis, be careful," I called from my spot below him, my hands hovering near his waist in case he slipped. "You're going too fast.""I'm not going too fast," he insisted, his voice strained with effort as he swung from one bar to the next. "I'm going exactly the right amount of fast. This is professional monkey bar speed.""There is no such thing as professional monkey bar speed.""There absolutely is. I invented it."I pressed my lips together to hide my smile, keeping my eyes on his hands gripping the metal rungs. He'd gotten significantly stronger over the past two months, his arms more capable than when I'd first arrived. But the bars were slippery from the early morning dew, and the drop was higher than I was comfortable with."Two more bars," he announced, "and then I'll have conquered the who
Chapter 92MATTHEWJames winced. "That's rough. But it's also really common. Kids that age have magical thinking—they believe their thoughts and wishes can directly cause things to happen. It takes time and therapy to help them understand that's not how the world works.""Dr. Fisher's been working on it with him. I thought we were making progress until yesterday.""Yesterday was a setback, not a regression," James corrected. "Grief isn't linear. Theo's going to have good days and bad days, days where he seems fine and days where he falls apart. That's normal."I nodded, trying to absorb this information."Can I ask you something?" James said carefully. "And feel free to tell me it's none of my business. But are you getting support for yourself? Therapy, grief counseling, anything?""I'm seeing a therapist in Silver Moon territory," I admitted. "Dr. Grace Martinez. She's been—" I paused, searching for words. "She's been helping me process my role in what happened.""Good. Because Theo'
Chapter 91MATTHEWIt looked exactly like Bianca. Same height, same build, same way of moving—The woman disappeared around a corner before I could see her face clearly.My hands were shaking. My chest felt tight.That couldn't have been her. Bianca was dead. I'd seen her death certificate, watched them cremate her body, scattered her ashes myself.This was what Theo had experienced at the park. Seeing someone who looked similar and convincing yourself it was the person you'd lost. Grief playing tricks, making you see what you desperately wanted to see.I sat back down heavily, pressing my palms against my eyes.Get it together, Matthew. You're seeing things that aren't there."Daddy?" Theo's voice was small. "Are you okay?""I'm fine, buddy. Just tired."But my heart was still racing, and I couldn't shake the image of that woman's profile. The way she'd moved had been so familiar, so achingly like Bianca that for a moment I'd been absolutely certain—"Theo Morrison?"I looked up to f
Chapter 90MATTHEWI sat across from Dr. Fisher in her office while Theo played quietly in the waiting room with her assistant, and tried to explain what had happened at the park without making it sound as catastrophic as it felt."He was convinced he saw Bianca," I said, my voice tight. "Heard a woman laugh and call to her son, and he just—he ran after her. Pushed through crowds of people, completely focused on this woman who he thought was his mother."Dr. Fisher made a note on her tablet, her expression carefully neutral. "And when he reached her?""It wasn't Bianca. Just a woman with similar hair color and height. Theo was—" I stopped, remembering my son's face when the stranger turned around. The hope dying in his eyes. "He was devastated. Completely broke down. Started crying and saying he'd really seen her, that it was really her voice.""How did you respond?""I tried to explain that his brain was playing tricks on him. That he wanted to see Bianca so badly that he'd convinced







