Chapter 82

I barely saw Nathan after we left the hospital.

We moved back into the pack house that same night, but the warmth was gone. The hallways felt cold and empty. It felt like the land itself was waiting for a ghost to return.

Nathan spent every waking second searching for his father’s body. He was constantly sending out scouts or listening to reports from the guards.

Every morning, long before the sun came up, he disappeared into meetings with Marcus, Beta Blake, and the council.

Every night, he returned a mess.

Sometimes he was covered in blood from the training grounds. Sometimes he smelled like whiskey, woodsmoke, and pure stress.

But no matter how late it was—he always came to me.

Even if it was only for a few minutes.

He would press a kiss to my forehead and hold me a little too tight, his grip bordering on desperate.

“Still here, little wolf,” he’d whisper into my hair.

Then he was gone agai