Aaro’s pov"Aeryn?" Mom asked, gently tapping my shoulder."He just left. He didn’t even say goodbye." I said softly."He’ll be back. I fucking know it." Mom replied, and she extended her hand, trying to get me to stand up."I don’t think he will."Mom smiled at me and gently touched my cheek, saying, "I’ve sent a lot of people home; it’s just our family now. Let’s get something to eat."I didn’t want to eat, but I didn’t want to be rude either. They held this party for Storm and for me. They had been so welcoming, and he just left. I should be mad, but I only felt sadness. I was sure this was it. I really thought it was over.Mom took my hand and walked with me to the table. Everyone was already seated, and they smiled at me. I didn’t want them to feel bad for me, and I could see they were trying hard to pretend not to pity me. I would have fucking bawled my eyes out if they had.Mom pulled a chair out for me next to her, and we sat down together."Is love supposed to be this fucking

Aeryn’s pov Storm said my name. I didn’t hear shit after he said my name. It was the first fucking time he called me Aeryn and I didn’t know what to think. Did that mean he accepted me? Did it change anything? I mean, we were still stuck in this mess. I tried to keep my voice from breaking, although I knew he must sense what I was feeling through the bond. This conversation needed to end, so I could fucking think. Or cry. I wasn’t fucking sure at this point. He mind-linked me, instead of waiting for me to reach out. He fucking cared. Ugh, I fucked up. Why did I even mind-link him every night? It was only going to make things harder. What were we going to do? Never be together and just talk every night. I wanted more. I wanted a life with Storm. I cried myself to sleep, wishing he was here and feeling fucking guilty about it. I couldn’t ask Storm to abandon Eve there and just come back. I couldn’t ask him to give his pack up for me. He was the fucking Alpha. I woke up after barel

Storm’s pov"I need to get Declan, Jace, and Bella out of here," I told Aeryn."They’re more than welcome to come here, if that’s what you mean," she said surprised."I can’t raise them on my own while running a pack, and I need them to have a loving family for fucking once. They’re not bad kids, but if they stay here, they will grow up to think like the rest."Aeryn was quiet for a while. "Like you?"I sighed, "I am starting to see things differently. I was too fucking stubborn to appreciate what I witnessed at the Iron River pack. I have always dreamt about leading a pack like that. Where respect and love were more important than obedience. Where people actually have a choice and a strong leader they want to follow.""Maybe you can be that leader for the Winter Bone pack." Aeryn said, but I wasn’t so fucking sure.Could I really change the minds of all these people here? Maybe before the war, but so many people had lost a family member, and all they wanted was to have someone to blam

Storm’s povSeeing my mother in this state was making me feel so fucking helpless. All I could do was watch her while the doctor tried to help her. There were so many things I wished I had done differently so that she wouldn’t be in this fucking mess, but I also knew that somehow things had to go as they did. Or Aeryn wouldn’t have ended up at home, and I wouldn’t be here right now.I just wish my mother didn’t have to get hurt in the process.The only thing that could make me feel better was having Aeryn in my arms. So as soon as the doctor told me Mam would be sleeping for a while, I walked back. It was early morning, and there was no one on the streets, but even if there had been people, I would have felt safer here than at home.Dad raised me with paranoia, making sure I understood that my pack could hurt me if I let down my guard. He made sure that no one ever got too close to me, that I would be scared to let anyone in, knowing they could betray me.It took me a while to see that

Aaro’s pov"Are you ready to see Eve?" Storm asked his brother and sister.Things haven’t been easy between them, but I was really proud of the way Storm has handled things. When I took Bella and Declan to visit Grandpa Cy for the first time, Storm joined us after seeing his mother.He didn’t try to sugarcoat things or dance around the very obvious elephant in the room. And I was really fucking proud of him."I am really sorry." Storm had told his siblings. "I shouldn’t have done that in front of you. I had my reasons, but they don’t really matter. You should have never watched me hurt Ruby."They both stared at him, not sure how to respond."Whatever you’re feeling is okay. You can be mad at me; you can hate me, but I am still your brother, and I love you. I brought you here so you could have a better life, but I understand if you don’t want to see me right now.""You love us?" Declan asked, he sounded so suprised.I looked at Storm and his younger siblings, and it dawned on me. Witho