Chapter 279 279
Aurélie POV
We were gathered around the kitchen table, just the four of us now. Émilie had already taken Roland home, trusting that with me back, I could help Théo with baby Renée. The house felt quieter softer.
This felt like the right moment.
I knew it was early, but I wanted them included from the very beginning. I wanted us to feel like the close, intentional family we were slowly becoming.
“Mum and I have some news,” Damien announces, unable to hide the excitement in his voice.
“Oh?” Delphine hums around her third cupcake. Honestly where does she put it all?
“Yes,” I say, smiling as my fingers slip into my pocket. “We had a new photo taken this morning.” I place the scan picture on the table between them. “We’re going to have a baby.”
I smile at both of them, nerves fluttering in my chest as I wait for their reactions.
“A baby?” Delphine shrieks, spraying crumbs everywhere several of them hitting me directly in the eye.
“Delphine,” I scold gently, blinking and wiping at my face.
“Sorry, Mummy!” she blurts. “Is it a boy or a girl?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Where will we live?” Dominique asks calmly, lifting the scan and studying it with serious focus. “Here or at the Bloodnight pack?”
“We’ll buy land between both territories,” Damien explains smoothly. “It’ll be our main family base.”
A compromise. A conscious effort to stay connected to both packs without pulling ourselves too far from either.
“But what about Roland?” Delphine blurts out. “I can’t not see him.”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes me.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” I reassure her. “He can come and visit.”
Though, truthfully, I’m not entirely convinced it will ever feel like enough.
“Sounds good,” Dominique says, placing the scan back on the table with certainty. “The baby’s a boy, by the way.”
Damien arches a brow. “And how exactly are you so sure?”
Dominique hesitates, clearly searching for the right explanation.
“He has a strong football kick in the photo.”
“Girls can play football too, Dominique,” Delphine huffs, snatching the scan from his hands.
Miss Lambert’s timely arrival saves us from the inevitable argument about football. She ushers them aside for phonics practice, giving me the space to finally rest.
What I truly want, though, is a bath.
As I walk past my office, I notice the door slightly ajar. Maurice and Lucas are inside.
I push the door open, immediately feeling Damien’s disapproval ripple through the bond you said you were going to rest.
“What’s all this?” I ask, stopping short.
My office is chaos. Maps cover every surface. CCTV images, public transport schedules, a police radio crackling in the background. My once pristine, meticulously organised space is unrecognisable.
“Aurélie…” They both look up at me, exhausted but unmistakably relieved to see me home.
“What’s going on?”
“Yes, well,” Lucas says sheepishly, scratching his head as he surveys the mess, “your office isn’t looking quite so… tidy.”
“We didn’t know where to start,” he continues. “She has no bank account. No digital ID. Nothing. We’re having to do this the old-fashioned way.”
Maurice hasn’t looked away from the maps once.
I move closer and place a hand on his arm. The desperation rolling off him is palpable. He wants to find her now. But I know she needs space. Time to think. Time to grow into herself.
Hopefully, with time, they’ll both learn patience.
“How do you find someone who doesn’t exist?” he mutters, finally turning to me.
“With patience,” I say gently. “She needs time.”
Then, softly but firmly, “Maurice, you need to go home.”
“No.”
“You need some normality,” I insist. “Otherwise this will consume you. We’ll help. We’ll keep looking. But you need to trust the Moon Goddess.”
I meet his gaze. “You also need to keep your pack safe. That’s your duty as Alpha. Luna or not you are their Alpha first.”
“You could always formally join our alliances,” Damien adds with a smirk, trying to inject humour into the heavy air. “Keeps things secure.”
“Not a chance,” Maurice snaps.
“You say that now,” Damien replies easily. “But you are technically my brother-in-law. You’ll come around.”
Maurice exhales slowly. “Maybe. I just want to find her before Gaston does. He’s still a threat.”
“I can handle my father,” Damien says coldly. “You go back. I’ll interrogate the rogues. They won’t be able to fight my aura.”
His eyes harden. “I won’t give them the chance.”