Chapter 113 113
Aurélie POV
The invitation was for an overnight stay at the Saint Wolf pack, which wasn’t unusual. Most Alphas lived far apart, and extended travel came with an unspoken courtesy a warm welcome and a proper bed offered in gratitude for the journey.
Maurice, of course, found endless amusement in it. He teased that I traveled like a Hollywood star, trailed by an entourage wherever I went. And he wasn’t entirely wrong. We occupied several rooms, and I worried more than once that we were imposing on Alpha Quentin’s hospitality. But he seemed to understand my security concerns completely and was more than willing to accommodate us.
We traveled in our own pack vehicles. Fabrice rode with me and the children, while Damien followed behind with Lucas, Florence, and Maurice. Security vehicles surrounded us, staggered and alert.
Was this how our lives would be now?
Damien always in the car ahead or behind. Always present yet separated from his children by glass, metal, and circumstance.
My thoughts drift back to the night before.
(Flashback)
After being alone with Damien again last night, I’d shifted and gone for a run something I didn’t do nearly often enough. It had felt good. Liberating. I let my wolf take full control, allowed myself to disappear for a while.
Being a mother. Being an Alpha.
Neither ever truly ended. I was always on alert, always braced for the next threat.
And knowing Geneviève was still out there, plotting, waiting it left no room for rest.
I gave my wolf hours. Complete freedom to roam the pack lands, to trace the borders, to breathe beneath the open sky. Just before shifting back, she found herself near the bramble bush at the edge of the field behind the alpha house the same one Damien had burst from weeks ago.
Instead of moving on in search of prey, she lay down beneath the moonlight, belly pressed to the earth, whimpering softly at the tangled branches.
“What’s wrong?” I stepped forward internally as she opened herself to me, signaling she was ready to return.
“His wolf keeps calling to me…”
I didn’t need to ask which wolf she meant.
“He does?”
“I don’t know what to do,” she murmured, conflicted. “You’re still so angry.”
Guilt twisted in my chest. I hadn’t let her out enough. I’d been locking us both away.
“I am angry,” I admitted. “But not entirely at him. I’m angry that he didn’t see the signs. That he still chose her. Because he did he chose to listen to her. To believe her over me. I know she manipulated him, but it still hurts. I was never given the chance to explain. To tell him we were pregnant with his pups.”
“You need to tell him,” she whined, lifting her gaze to the moon.
“Maybe. But once he finds Geneviève, he’ll leave. He has an alliance to run. So do I. It’s better if we go our separate ways.”
“You’re dumb sometimes,” she growled.
“Excuse me?”
“He’s the father of our children. We’re tied to him for life. He won’t give them up. He’ll always want to know where they are, what they’re doing even if it’s from his own pack. He will always be part of our lives.”
“In their lives,” I corrected. “And I’ll support that.”
“Aurélie?” Fabrice’s voice brushed against my mind.
It was time to return. Time for bed.
My wolf made her way back to the alpha house, finding Fabrice waiting quietly by the back door. The moment he saw me, he stepped inside without a word, granting me privacy as he always did. My dressing gown hung on the hook just inside, exactly where he’d left it.
I shifted back into skin, naked and warm from the run.
I stepped toward the door and froze.
Someone was watching me.
I turned as the scent reached me first leather and smoke, familiar and dangerous.
At the edge of the garden, I spotted the orange glow of a cigarette as Damien lifted it to his lips. His gaze locked onto mine, burning with something dark and hungry before slowly trailing down my bare body.
His wolf surged forward in his eyes, predatory and unrestrained an intensity I’d been seeing more of lately.
And just like that, the night tightened around us.