Chapter 12 12
Aurélie POV
“Can we have a story, Mummy… please?” Delphine’s small hands press together in a mock prayer, her wide eyes shining with the kind of innocence I can never resist.
“One story,” I concede, giving her a mock stern look. “Then bed.”
“You pick, Mummy,” she chirps as I tuck her in, smoothing the blanket up to her chin before kissing her warm forehead. Dominique slips off his own bed and pads over, joining us without hesitation.
At the Darkvale Alpha home, I’d always kept them in the same room. I didn’t want to disrupt their routine here at the lakehouse either. Eventually, I knew they would ask for separate rooms, but for now they still drew comfort from sharing a space. And if I was being honest, it eased my own nights too knowing they were together made it easier for me to check on them when the nightmares came.
“How about… Cinderella?” I offer, biting back a laugh when Dominique immediately rolls his eyes.
“Really? A love story?” he groans, sounding far too much like a teenager for a four-year-old.
“Yes, really. Shut up, Dominique. You’re so annoying,” Delphine snaps, elbowing him in the ribs.
“There once lived a girl named Cinderella…” I begin, watching them snuggle under the duvet, the soft glow of the lamp casting halos around their faces. “She lived in a beautiful castle with her father”
“Where is our father?”
The question hits me so suddenly I lose my breath. The room tilts for a moment. I always knew they would wonder someday, but not yet. Not at four years old.
I swallow down the tightness gathering in my throat.
“Sorry, Mum. I didn’t mean to make you sad.” Dominique crawls into my lap, looping his small arms around my waist. His eyes so sharp, so aware search my face.
“You didn’t,” I assure him softly, brushing my fingers through his hair. “You can always ask me anything. Always.”
“Did he hurt you? Was he mean?” Dominique asks, voice barely above a whisper.
“I want Fabrice to be our daddy,” Delphine blurts out with childish certainty, as though the world could rearrange itself simply because she wished it.
A quiet laugh slips through me despite the ache squeezing my chest. I lean forward and cup her cheek.
“Fabrice is your uncle, sweetheart. Not your daddy.”
Their father. A shadow I refuse to let touch them.
“He lives far away,” I say gently. “And he works a lot. When you’re oldermuch older you’ll meet him.”
“Yes!” Dominique pumps his fist triumphantly. “I want to grow up really fast so I can meet him sooner!”
Delphine squeals, spinning on the bed before bouncing up and down. Dominique joins her, the two of them erupting into joyful chaos.
And I sit there watching them laughing, dreaming, innocent while the truth curls like ice in my blood. I would do anything, anything, to keep him away from them. It was kinder for them to imagine a busy, distant father than to know what kind of monster he really was.
They were mine.
Mine alone.
When they finally tire themselves out and fall asleep, I leave a night light glowing softly in the corner and close the door behind me.
In the sitting room, I expect to find everything dark and still but Fabrice is at the table, laptop open, already logged into the pack emails. My neck aches from sitting hunched on the bed too long, so I lift a hand to rub the stiffness out.
“Anything interesting?” I ask, placing my other hand on the back of his chair.
“Yes… an invitation,” he says carefully, as though the words themselves are dangerous.
“From whom?”
“The Bloodnight Pack.” His eyes lift to mine, filled with an anguish that makes my stomach tighten. He steps aside so I can sit and read it myself.
I click the message open. The subject line alone sends a cold ripple down my spine.
“The one who should come, is finally coming.”
The words blur for a moment as my pulse begins to thunder.