Chapter 402 402
Maurice’s POV
Thankfully, once Didier received word through the pack link that the attack had ended, Dominique and Delphine were reunited with us. Seeing them safe again lifted a weight from all of us.
Damien didn’t need words to express his gratitude to Didier. It was written plainly across his face in the way he pulled the young Alpha into a fierce embrace the moment he had set both children down. Some actions go far beyond what words can ever repay.
Even I struggle to comprehend how I could begin to repay Gilles. I don’t want to know how he managed to close the portal, or how twice he appeared at precisely the right moment, materializing from nothing as if he had always known.
We returned to the Royal Pack with Bee placed immediately under Fabrice’s medical care. She had regained consciousness in the car on the way there. Hearing her whisper my name was the sweetest sound I had ever known. I have never felt such overwhelming relief.
Fabrice monitored her closely, checking her vitals every hour. I wanted nothing more than to take her home, but Damien refused to allow it until Fabrice gave his full approval.
Maxime had already returned to Ash Valley. His first order was to lower the high-risk status at the borders. It was time finally for life to begin returning to normal.
It was late, and I knew we would be spending the night at the Royal Pack. Bee wasn’t ready to leave the children yet.
We gathered in the living area, scattered across the sofas. Dominique and Delphine were fast asleep beneath their duvets, curled close together.
Frédéric had only settled when Delphine held him. She cradled him beside me now, and I kept a careful watch in case her grip loosened in sleep. She wouldn’t hold him all night I could already sense Aurélie’s restlessness, itching to take him back. Frédéric had clearly missed his sister; the bond between them was strong, unmistakable.
With the children asleep, the conversation turned inevitably to the cave.
To the shadow.
How it had taken control of Gaston, just as it had tried to claim Damien. The only difference was Bee. She had stopped it before it could fully consume her brother.
Gaston hadn’t been so fortunate.
Looking back now, it all made sense.
The changes in him since I was a child. His betrayal of my father. Even the order for my father’s death if he hadn’t carried it out himself.
I will never excuse what he did. I will never forgive him. But I believe now that he had no control over his actions. I had seen Damien’s eyes when the shadow held him. And I was grateful more than words that my mate and my friend had been spared the same fate as their father.
“How did you manage to take it from me?” Damien asks quietly, his voice carefully controlled as he holds Aurélie close. The princess movie Delphine had requested still played on the screen.
None of us had the energy to change it. Even reaching for the remote felt like too much.
“My wolf sensed it had to be our bloodline,” Bee answers softly, fighting sleep. “A curse passed from father to child. But because my wolf hasn’t shifted yet, our bond isn’t complete. She’s still separate from me.”
I can feel her exhaustion through the mate bond the bone-deep weariness, her determination to stay awake just a little longer.
“I can’t explain it,” she continues. “She just knew she could take it from you.”
I don’t allow myself to hope. I don’t want to push her. But if I can still feel our bond, then some part of her wolf must still remain.
“What would she have done to make that happen?” Aurélie asks, leaning forward to take Frédéric gently from Delphine’s arms.
“I would’ve become human again,” Bee replies calmly. “My wolf would have been sacrificed.”
I catch Damien shifting uncomfortably beside me. He doesn’t like that answer. Guilt already weighs heavily on him let alone the thought of Bee losing her wolf for his sake.
Silence settles thickly around us.
“But you would have lived without your wolf,” Damien says, sitting forward so he faces Bee fully.
“Or lived without a brother,” she counters, meeting his gaze with a small shrug.
I keep my eyes on the screen, pretending to watch the movie. This is part of their healing. I bite down on my tongue, refusing to interfere.
“Thank you,” Damien says finally. “To both of you. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”
He leans back, his hand brushing gently over Frédéric’s temple as the boy sleeps in Aurélie’s arms. He seems more at peace now with his son. I can’t help but wonder if Frédéric had sensed the shadow too.
“There’s nothing to repay,” I say softly. “We’re family.”
I draw Bee closer, smiling faintly as I let her rest her head against my chest once more.