Chapter 3

Gideon showed up at my room that night.

He stopped in the doorway with one hand on the frame, like he'd already made up his mind not to stay.

"She has a name now," he said. "Adeline. Delphine picked it. You're the one who had her, so I figured you should know."

"Adeline's a pretty name."

Something flickered across his face, but he kept going.

"Our son's three. His training starts soon, and Delphine's choosing his first instructors. He's old enough to remember faces now."

He paused.

"So stay away from the training grounds from now on. I don't want him getting confused."

I looked up at him. "Okay."

Gideon didn't leave.

My answer had been too quiet. He was used to tears. Accusations. Desperate promises that I'd keep my distance if he'd just let me see my son one time.

I gave him none of that.

"You're mad," he said finally.

"No."

His brows pulled together.

He would've known what to do with anger. He could've called me selfish. He could've reminded me he was the Alpha and the pack came first.

But I was calm, and for once, he didn't have an argument ready.

"Tamsin, thousands of wolves depend on this pack," he said. "The elders are looking for a crack in everything I do. They can't be allowed to question the heir. Not his blood, not how he's raised, not who the pack sees as his mother. Delphine is Luna. Those kids have to be hers in every way that counts."

"I know."

"This isn't about punishing you. It's my job as Alpha."

"You chose Delphine before the Moon Goddess ever chose me," I said. "You made her a promise."

Gideon stared at me.

"You blame yourself for what happened to her," I went on. "Then the Goddess handed you a second mate, and you couldn't reject the bond without weakening your wolf. So you gave Delphine my kids to prove she still comes first. It's the same reason you keep your distance from me."

He didn't say anything.

"I'm not angry anymore, Gideon. I finally get it."

The silence dragged on.

His eyes moved over my face, and I knew he was thinking about the girl I used to be.

That girl used to wait by the training field after his morning drills with wild blackberries cupped in both hands. She used to tuck pressed wildflowers between the pages of his patrol reports, because she thought he might like finding them.

One winter night, he got back late from a border meeting and found me asleep outside his office. I'd wrapped a mug of hot cider in my scarf to keep it warm for him. When I woke up, I shoved it into his hands so fast it burned my fingers.

Back then, I smiled every single time I saw him.

I couldn't remember the last time I had.

Gideon opened his mouth like he wanted to say something. For one stupid second, I thought he might tell me we could rethink all of it. That I could see the kids. That something about this was wrong.

Then his jaw locked.

The Alpha won.

So did his guilt over Delphine. So did the elders, the bloodline, and every other excuse he'd used to bury me.

He turned and walked off.

His boots hit the stone hard and fast, like he was trying to outrun a thought he didn't want to have.