Chapter 111\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a little while, it almost felt like a family outing-normal and safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But that illusion shattered when the twins grew tired, their eyelids drooping as Cassian tucked them gently back into the boat. My arms felt painfully empty when he lifted them from me, and I lingered on the edge of the deck, unwilling to let them go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how much longer I can stand this,\u201d I admitted, my voice low, raw. \u201cBeing away from them. Pretending they don\u2019t exist in my life here. It\u2019s tearing me apart, Cassian.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked at me then, really looked, and his expression carried no armor, no calculation. Only compassion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re safe,\u201d he said firmly. \u201cThey\u2019re loved. And every sacrifice you\u2019ve made has given them that. I know it doesn\u2019t make the distance easier, but they are in the best hands I can give them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded, blinking fast against the tears threatening to fall. But why, Cassian? Why are you doing all this for me? You barely knew me before all of this started. Why would you go to so much trouble?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a long moment, he didn\u2019t answer. His gaze lingered on the twins, then shifted back to me, his voice quieter than I\u2019d ever heard it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
sister.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c)\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I\u2019m their uncle\u2026 and I mean that literally. Ellie, I think that you might be my\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words stole the air from my lungs. I blinked at him, certain I\u2019d misheard. \u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t flinch, didn\u2019t smile as if it were some cruel joke. My father, Alaric and I\u2026 we\u2019ve suspected for a while. There are pieces of your past, fragments that match with the family we lost. We\u2019re not certain yet, but\u2026 we think you could be her. The sister I thought was gone forever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shock rooted me in place, my heart thundering. \u201cThat\u2019s\u2026 impossible,\u201d I whispered, though even as I said it, doubt gnawed at me. So much of my past was shadowed in secrets, things I still didn\u2019t understand. Could it be true?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian only placed a steady hand on my shoulder. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t tell you if I didn\u2019t believe it mattered. But whether you are or not, Ellie-you matter to me. To us. That\u2019s reason enough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t speak. My mind whirled, torn between clinging to disbelief and giving in to the dangerous hope that maybe, just maybe, I belonged to more than the life I\u2019d been forced into.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The reports piled on my desk like kindling for a fire I couldn\u2019t control. Patrol after patrol, sighting after sighting. Rogues are gathering near the border. Isolated attacks on merchant lines. Growls in the night where no wolf should be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My gut twisted as I scanned the latest dispatch. This wasn\u2019t scattered trouble. This was organization. Strategy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
War brewing in the shadows.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The timing was suspicious. Was it because of Felicity somehow? Or had word of my fragile state spread that quickly? Both possibilities were humiliating and drove home just how badly I\u2019d managed to mess everything up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t allow anything else to go wrong. I wouldn\u2019t fail my pack. Not again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But with Felicity gone, I was struggling to hold myself together. I didn\u2019t know who I could trust; I couldn\u2019t lean on anyone. The full force of responsibility was on my shoulders alone, and it was crushing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The delicate balance I\u2019d barely been holding onto was shattering faster than I could patch it together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
I rubbed a hand over my face, forcing myself to breathe. I couldn\u2019t afford to falter now-not with enemies closing in from every side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not with Ellie still vulnerable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whatever was brewing, I would handle it. I had no other choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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