IA'S

ad with th

aw tight and my eyes forward. I signed the final con

to reconsider, but I silenced her with a single, p

erward, I felt an

al. It was emotional too. E

se. a strange kind of calm. This was my choi

ide me, looking a

ngth isn't about doing everything alone. That pup. you

t the window, watching the m

I won't bring a child into a home where their existence is used as leverage." I felt my throat

Your wolf will mourn for a

ly. "But mourning isn'

half, I stayed in the

around me protectively. I allowed myself to fee

carefully. I rested. I ate. I healed slowly, inside and out. But e

o the Stonewall Villa to fo

scent markers. I could still feel Damien's alpha aura aroun

e villa,

hour. I was exhausted but I was a

ked toward me with an apologetic l

y. He said." She hesitated. It was either she w

" I said

the two of you should

mply. stopped. My wolf wen

in next

n't shattered. As if he owned my womb. As if I were a

"He told me to giv

e was delivered

the coffee table. "Tell him this is the

walke

the sound of appr

in the air - a

ment, I could feel every m

Tiffany, and Ashley. It w

iling with a warm, maternal glow that used to belong to me. Damien stood beside them. He had his hand

ed. Something i

ice finally giving way aft

and Ashley laughed. She didn't even not

like a per

oment the last

and trul

one b

e shelter I sometimes worked at wh

ace quickly

ns came back excellent. If you want, we can fast-trac

" My voice

about the training I h

dren's health-screening program. It's demanding, but. I thought you

hat felt like ages, som

"I want it. Ple

der it

stood there for a long

sensed a road that belonged to us-not Damien, not Tiffany,

y car without

ot at Tiffany. N

d. Some bonds die before you

earn to survive by shedding every p

ove