Chapter 217 217
Aurélie’s POV
“Aurélie…”
Damien’s voice reaches me, but I can’t focus on the words. Something else has snapped into place sharp and undeniable.
The pack link.
It surges to life, bright and urgent, pulling at me with instinctive force.
I need to go home.
A pack baby has been born.
Damien’s POV
It takes me a few hours to finally make peace with Aurélie. She’s stubborn as hell though, to be fair, so am I. To me, it was just a sword. A weapon. A symbol of authority.
To her… it meant something else entirely.
So I swallow my pride and issue orders to my men no blades around her. Ever. Not unless absolutely necessary.
The last thing I need is Aurélie losing her temper and swinging a sword at one of my warriors.
Not that she would.
But she’s many things predictable isn’t one of them.
I can see why she loves the Lake House. It’s breathtaking. Peaceful. The kind of place that forces you to slow down and breathe. Still, she’s eager to return home, and after a private mind-link conversation between her and Fabrice one she’s clearly too pissed off at me to discuss openly he agrees.
I’m fairly sure the sword incident still hasn’t fully left her system.
Thankfully, she calms down during the drive back. I keep my hand on her thigh, tracing slow, soothing circles. The bond hums quietly between us now. I can feel her—her emotions, her wolf more clearly than before.
And I love it.
We haven’t been back long. We’re talking in her office when the front door opens, followed by Delphine’s excited squeal. I watch Aurélie step into the hallway and then freeze.
She gasps, both hands flying to her mouth.
“Oh, Émilie…” she breathes. “I felt her birth. We came back as soon as we could.”
Aurélie moves closer, peering down at the baby cradled in Émilie’s arms.
So that explains it.
The sudden return. The urgency. The private mind-links between her and Fabrice.
Though I still suspect some lingering anger over the sword debacle.
“Thank you, Alpha,” Émilie says warmly. “Théo and Roland made it back just in time. We’ve named her Renée.”
“Oh,” Aurélie whispers, eyes shining. “She’s just adorable… Damien, come and look.”
She reaches back for me, fingers curling around my hand, pulling me closer. In that moment watching her like this I want it. This happiness. This life. I want more pups with her. More moments like this.
“Congratulations,” I say, glancing down at the baby dressed in soft pink. A mother who already has a son, clearly savoring the change this time around.
My phone vibrates in my pocket.
“Excuse me I need to take this,” I murmur, stepping away.
“Lucas?” I answer quietly. I’d ordered him to remain at Bloodnight and report anything from his or Maurice’s research immediately.
“Alpha,” Lucas says. “Alpha Maurice is on speaker with me.”
“Damien,” Maurice cuts in without preamble, “you won’t believe this. We’ve found the secret person the one your father’s been hiding.”
“Oh?” I reply, intrigue instantly piqued. “And?”
“We tracked down an apartment and hacked the CCTV,” Lucas continues. “The guard who escaped the cells with Geneviève do you remember him?”
The bastard who betrayed me. The reason I was shot and left for dead.
“Yes,” I say flatly. “I remember.”
“He’s on camera,” Lucas says, “running out of the building with a young woman. We’re tracing her now but Damien…”
“There’s more?” I chuckle. Probably not the right reaction, but when Lucas sinks his teeth into something, he goes all in.
“I’ve seen her face,” he continues carefully. “She’s the spitting image of you.”
“I wouldn’t put it that way,” I mutter. “She’s beautiful.” I hear Maurice scoff in the background.
“What does that mean?” I ask, my brow furrowing.
“Damien,” Lucas says quietly, “we think you have a sister.”