Chapter 49

Alex

The gates of Mooncrest rose before us like a memory I’d spent months trying to bury. For a heartbeat, I couldn’t breathe. The towering stone walls. The ancient oaks encircling the grounds. The castle standing proud beneath the summer sun. Home. And it was cruelest of all.

Despite the wounds this place inflicted, despite every tear I shed here, a part of me still recognized it. My wolf stirred beneath my skin. Calista missed this place. She missed him.

I looked down at the small bundle sleeping against my chest. Samuel. Our son. The future Alpha of Mooncrest. The Primordial heir. The reason I’d walk back into the place where my heart was broken.

Weston shut off the engine and fell silent. I knew that silence well: not fear for himself, but fear for me.

“You can still change your mind,” he said quietly.

I met his gaze. This wasn’t the man who’d forgotten me or looked at me like an enemy. This was the man who shattered himself when his me