The car ride back to Silverclaw was silent. No music. No chatter from Joe. Just the low hum of the tires on pavement and the occasional crackle of the radio scanning for a signal we never let it settle on.
I stared out the window, watching the trees blur into shadowed green. Every turn of the tires felt heavier than the last.
I’d done it. Really done it. Pushed Elena away–maybe for good this time.
And for what?
A stupid map. A moment of doubt. A question I should have never asked.
I leaned back against the headrest, shutting my eyes. The treaty had been signed.
Moonstone and Silverclaw were allied now, at least in name. Which meant I’d still have to deal with her pack.
But instead of Elena, I’d be dealing with Mason. Or worse, their father.
Neither of them could stand me. And I didn’t blame them.
I exhaled sharply and opened my eyes again. Aiden’s face flashed through my mind -his grin as he challenged me to a game of HORSE, his casual, easy confidence. The way he’d called me out, asked if I had a card.
I’d liked the kid. More than I should’ve. And now I’d never see him again, either.
That thought hit harder than I expected.
By the time the gates of Silverclaw appeared through the windshield, my jaw ached from clenching it too tightly.
“Almost home, Alpha,” Joe said from the front seat, breaking the silence..
Chapter 78
“Yeah.” My voice was hoarse. “Thanks.”
+25 Bonus
As Silverclaw’s main gates came into view, I stared through the windshield, dread heavy in my chest. The estate’s lights were warm, inviting. Mockingly so.
I was empty. Bone–deep tired and strung tight with regret.
I’d never felt less welcome in my own home.
***
Inside, the stillness felt oppressive. Like the house knew something was broken.
I poured myself a drink before my coat hit the hook. Took it in one long swallow. Then another. The second didn’t burn quite as much.
The fire in the study had burned low, embers crackling softly in the hearth. I sat down in my usual chair, the scotch bottle within reach, and stared into the dying flames. The silence pressed in around me like a weight.
For a second, I considered smashing the glass against the hearthstone. Then thought better
of it.
I drank instead.
CASSANDRA
The door creaked open and Derek stepped inside, the look on his face colder than the wind
off the mountain. He didn’t slam it shut. Didn’t shout. Didn’t hurl anything across the
room.
That would’ve been easier–would’ve meant there was still heat in him, still fire.
Instead, he moved like stone. Heavy. Deliberate. Like every breath cost him.
I stayed back at first, lingering in the hallway just out of sight. Watched him pour a drink with a hand that didn’t shake, which somehow made it worse.
2/4
Chapter 78
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He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t heartbroken. He was emptied. Hollowed out and left standing.
0
The first drink vanished in a few long gulps. The second followed soon after.
When I came back later, quiet as a whisper, I found him in the same spot. He hadn’t moved.
The whiskey had. The fire crackled softly in the hearth, casting golden shadows over the lines of his face. Lines that hadn’t been there a year ago. Maybe not even a month ago.
The summit was over. The reporters had stopped calling. The treaty had been signed, framed, and paraded through every major media outlet in the region. The war, at least on paper, was done.
But something had happened. Something he hadn’t shared.
I could see it in the way he didn’t blink.
My father’s voice echoed in my mind. Secure him. And soon.
J
I stepped into the room. Slow, measured. Letting the soft pad of my heels on the rug
announce me.
“Derek?” My voice barely broke the silence.
He didn’t move.
I rounded the couch and saw him up close. And it hit me like a blow to the chest. The man
who had once been so resolute, so sharp and impossible to shake–looked like a ghost of
himself.
The muscles in his jaw were clenched tight, but not from anger. From restraint. His eyes, usually clear and stormy with purpose, were unfocused. Vacant.
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