All Chapters of Once Lost, Twice Found: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Ann’s POVI woke because the room felt too quiet. I had learned the babies’ sleeping sounds: Adrian’s soft grunts, Lucas’s sighs, and Isla’s tiny complaints whenever she shifted beneath her blanket. There was always some small noise to anchor me.When I opened my eyes, the room was dim and strangely peaceful. I lay still for a moment, trying to understand what had woken me. Then I heard a low voice, so soft I almost thought I had dreamed it.“Come on, little one. You are nearly finished,” Jack murmured.I turned my head and froze. Jack sat near the window with Isla cradled against his bare chest. A single lamp lit his tired face and messy hair. He held her bottle in one hand and supported her tiny body with the other, as if he had been doing it forever.My heart did something ridiculous, so I stayed quiet and watched. Isla’s fingers curled around one of his as he smiled down at her. “There you go,” he murmured. “You have been causing trouble all night, have you not?” I bit my cheek to

Reginald’s POVI learned about the invitations before breakfast. Reading the guest list myself was the greater mistake.I stood in my office with the announcement in one hand and the roster in the other, scanning the names twice. Blackwood had invited Alphas from nearly every neighboring territory, including some Jack respected and others he barely tolerated. Calder was there despite insulting Jack’s father at the northern summit, and so was the Red Creek Alpha, even though their packs had nearly gone to war three years ago.Silverstone was the only territory missing.My grip tightened around the paper. Logan sat by the window, drinking from a cup and watching me with the calm expression he wore when he already knew what I was about to say.

Ann’s POVFor the first time in months, I wondered if a person could grow used to fear. Not stop feeling it. I was not foolish enough to hope for that. But perhaps it could fade into the background instead of following me into every room and making every decision for me.That morning, I stood before the mirror in the dress Jack had helped me choose for the celebration. For nearly ten minutes, my biggest concern was whether the fabric sat properly around my waist. That alone felt like a miracle.The dress was a muted silver that looked almost gray until the light touched it. Fine embroidery curled along the sleeves, and the fitted bodice made me look less like a woman who had recently carried three babies and more like someone who might truly belong at Jack’s side. Even thinking it made my stomach flutter.My body no longer felt familiar. My stomach was softer, my hips wider, and pale marks crossed the skin I still avoided looking at for too long. The first time Jack saw them, I reache

Ann’s POVBy the time the sun disappeared behind the trees, I had convinced myself at least a dozen times that Reginald would walk through the ballroom doors. I tried to trust the guest list, the guards, the scent cloaks, and the masks. I tried to believe every precaution Jack had taken would be enough. But fear had never cared much for facts. It remembered the black box, the Ashcroft crest resting against velvet as though it had never left Silverstone, and the note tucked inside. You should have stayed gone.Beatrice fastened the back of my dress while I fought the urge to glance at the door again. I focused on the silver fabric, the embroidery winding along the sleeves, and the snug fit of the bodice. None of it helped. In my mind, Reginald was already standing in the doorway, the necklace around my throat and everything I had escaped closing in on me at once.“Too tight?” Beatrice asked, and the question pulled me back into the room.“No.” The lie slipped out before I could stop it

Logan’s POVBlackwood’s guards marched me through the gardens as if I were a drunk who had wandered into the wrong house. Their hands stayed close to their weapons. It should have annoyed me more than it did, but beneath the irritation sat a quiet satisfaction.Ann had taken the bait.I had not needed Jack to confirm it. The moment I mentioned the collar, his expression shifted. Ann had opened the box, seen the necklace, and read the note. Fear had done exactly what I wanted. She would look over her shoulder, question how far Silverstone’s reach extended, and stay hidden behind Blackwood’s walls.I adjusted my mask as we passed through the final doors. Celeste waited near the turnaround, her mask already gone and irritation plain on her face.