Chapter 14

Cassian POV

From the shadows of the arched walkway, I watched them.

Aurelia sat beside Finnian on the cold stone bench, her posture tight with lingering fatigue, yet her hand rested lightly on my son’s small shoulder. For the first time since she crossed the border, the guarded, dangerous tension around her softened. Finnian was looking up at her with that quiet, earnest curiosity he usually reserved for family.

My chest tightened with a heavy, familiar ache.

It had been four years since the border skirmish took Seren from us. Four years of raising a son alone while carrying the crushing weight of a territory on my shoulders. I had made my peace with the solitude long ago; an Alpha’s life was built on duty, not comfort. Seren had been my true mate, a bond forged by fate, and her death left an empty chair at my table that I never intended to fill.

But looking at Finnian’s tiny frame sitting beside Aurelia under the moonlight, a cold truth pressed