Chapter 24
LAYLA'S POV
"What's plan B?" I asked though based on the way everyone suddenly looked uncomfortable I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
"We ask for ransom." Theseus turned away from the bed to face the rest of us. "The extraction clearly isn't working and keeping the boy here is becoming more of a liability than an asset so we contact Zeke, demand whatever we want in exchange for his son's safe return, collect our payment and disappear before anyone can track us down."
"That's not what we agreed to," Brock protested while moving to block Theseus's path like that would somehow change the Alpha's mind. "We went through all this trouble to get the kid because of his magic not to run some basic ransom scheme that could have been done by any common criminal."
"Plans change when the situation changes and right now our situation is that we have a dying child who's more trouble than he's worth." Theseus's voice dropped into that Alpha command tone that made most wolves automatically want to submit. "Unless you have a better suggestion I suggest you get on board with the new plan."
"Actually I do have a suggestion." Brock crossed his arms over his chest in a show of defiance. "We keep the boy underground in stasis until he's grown enough that his body can handle the extraction without the complications Fatima described."
"And how long would that take exactly?" I demanded because the idea of hiding out in this concrete bunker for years waiting for a child to grow up sounded like the worst plan I'd ever heard.
"Could be three years or could be five years depending on his development rate." Brock shrugged like he hadn't just suggested something completely insane. "We put him in a medically induced coma, keep his body alive with IVs and feeding tubes, check on him periodically until he's old enough to survive the procedure."
"You're out of your mind if you think that's a viable option," Theseus said flatly. "Zeke's intelligence squad will have tracked us down long before then because despite your careful planning you still got caught on security footage and left enough of a trail that they're already closing in."
"He's right," Fatima added while checking Golden's vitals again. "They found Brock's connection to the Range Rover within days and they've already traced calls to numbers in this territory so it's only a matter of time before they narrow down the location."
"Then what do you suggest?" Brock demanded while looking between Theseus and Fatima like one of them might have a magical solution that would make all our problems disappear.
"I say we drop the boy off somewhere he'll be found quickly and we scatter before they can pin this on any of us specifically." Fatima's voice stayed calm. "Leave him at a hospital or a pack house with an anonymous tip and let Zeke deal with the medical complications while we disappear into the background."
"That would look extremely suspicious now that the Alpha has new leads pointing directly at Brock and this territory," Theseus argued while pacing the length of the lab. "If we suddenly return the child unharmed, it raises questions about why we took him in the first place and what we were trying to accomplish and those questions lead to investigations we can't afford."
I listened to them argue back and forth while staring down at Golden's unconscious face and something inside me snapped like a rubber band stretched too far. We'd come this far and risked this much and I wasn't about to give up now just because things got complicated.
"We extract the magic anyway," I said loudly enough that everyone stopped talking and turned to look at me. "Whether or not it kills him we do the extraction and we get what we came for because that was the entire point of this operation."
"Are you insane?" Fatima stared at me like I'd just suggested we burn down the building with all of us inside. "That child will die if we continue the extraction in his current condition."
"Then he dies." I met her shocked expression without flinching because I'd already made my peace with this decision. "We didn't go through all this planning and risk exposure just to walk away empty handed because of some medical complications and if the child doesn't survive then that's unfortunate but not our primary concern."
"I can't be part of that," Fatima said immediately while backing away from the bed. "I agreed to help with the kidnapping because you promised minimal harm and a quick return but I'm not going to stand here and watch you kill a child."
"You already crossed that line when you betrayed your best friend and helped us take her son so don't act like you have moral boundaries now." My voice came out colder than I intended but I was tired of her pretending she was somehow better than the rest of us. "If you didn't want to be involved in the ugly parts then you shouldn't have gotten involved at all."
"Layla's right," Theseus said, though I could tell from his expression he wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea either. "We've already committed to this course of action and backing out now only guarantees we end up in Zeke's dungeons being interrogated about our involvement so we might as well see it through to the end."
"Even if it means murdering a three year old child?" Fatima's voice shook with either anger or fear or some combination of both. "You're talking about letting an innocent boy die because you want access to magic that might not even work the way you think it will."
"The magic will work because we've already extracted enough to run preliminary tests and the results showed exactly what we hoped they would show." Theseus moved to one of the lab tables and picked up a vial filled with something that glowed faint blue in the fluorescent lighting. "This is pure Alpha magic combined with ancient bloodline power and once we figure out how to harness it properly we'll have access to abilities that no other pack possesses."
"At the cost of a child's life," Fatima repeated like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"At the cost of one child's life in exchange for power that could protect thousands of pack members," Theseus corrected while setting the vial back down. "I understand it's not a pleasant choice but sometimes leadership requires making difficult decisions for the greater good."
"That's not leadership, that's murder dressed up in justifications." Fatima looked at each of us in turn like she was trying to find someone who agreed with her but we all stayed silent. "Fine, do what you want but I'm not helping with the extraction and when this all comes crashing down I'll make sure everyone knows I tried to stop it."
"You'll keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you," Brock said quietly but with enough menace that Fatima actually flinched. "You're already in this deep enough that you'll go down with the rest of us if anyone finds out what we did so unless you want to spend the rest of your life in a cell I suggest you remember that we're all in this together."
Before Fatima could respond the door burst open so hard it slammed against the concrete wall.
Chapter 25
LAYLA'S POV
Callum, one of Theseus's personal guards, ran into the lab with his face flushed red from exertion like he'd sprinted the entire way here.
"Alpha," he gasped out while trying to catch his breath. "We have a problem at the surface."
"What kind of problem?" Theseus demanded while already moving toward the door like his instincts told him this was going to be bad news.
"Zeke is here." Callum straightened up despite still breathing hard. "He's at the main entrance to the territory demanding to see you."
The words hit the room like a bomb going off. Everyone froze in place while the full implications sank in because if Zeke was here that meant he'd already figured out Theseus's involvement and he wasn't coming for a friendly diplomatic chat.
"How did he find us this fast?" Brock pulled out his gun and checked the clip like that would somehow help if Zeke's entire warrior force decided to storm the building.
"Does it matter how he found us?" I snapped while my mind raced through options and escape routes. "What matters is he's here and we need to figure out what we're going to do about it."
"I'll go talk to him and buy us some time." Theseus headed for the door while already shifting into his Alpha mode where he became all authority and controlled power. "The rest of you stay down here and keep the boy quiet because if Zeke finds out we have his son in this building there's no talking our way out of what comes next."
"What are you going to tell him?" Fatima asked while wrapping her arms around herself.
"I'll figure it out when I get up there." Theseus paused in the doorway and looked back at all of us with an expression that promised consequences if we messed this up. "No one makes a sound and no one does anything stupid until I get back with a better sense of what we're dealing with."
He left with Callum following close behind and the heavy door sealed shut with a metallic clang that echoed through the underground space. The silence that followed felt suffocating like the concrete walls were pressing in from all sides.
I moved to Golden's bedside and stared down at his pale face while my thoughts spun in circles. Zeke was upstairs right now probably demanding answers and making threats and he had no idea his son lay unconscious just one floor below his feet. Part of me wanted to march up there and tell him everything just to see his face when he realized how close he'd come to finding Golden without actually succeeding.
But that would ruin everything we'd worked for and I hadn't come this far to give up now just because things got risky.
"We need to move him," Brock said suddenly while looking around the lab like he expected Zeke to come crashing through the ceiling at any moment. "If Theseus can't convince Zeke to leave peacefully and they start searching the building this is the first place they'll look."
"Where exactly do you suggest we move him?" I asked while gesturing to all the medical equipment keeping Golden alive. "We can't exactly carry an unconscious child through the territory without someone noticing."
"There's another exit through the maintenance tunnels." Brock moved to the far wall and pressed something that made a hidden panel slide open to reveal a dark passageway. "It leads to an abandoned warehouse about two miles from here and we can hide there until this blows over."
"That child cannot be moved in his current condition," Fatima protested while positioning herself between us and Golden's bed like she could physically stop us. "His vitals are already unstable and transporting him could trigger the premature emergence we've been trying to prevent."
"Then I guess we better move fast and hope for the best because staying here is guaranteed to end badly for all of us." Brock started disconnecting the medical equipment with rough efficiency that suggested he didn't actually care whether Golden survived the move or not. "Help me get him ready to transport."
I hesitated for just a moment while looking down at the small boy who'd caused all this chaos without even meaning to. He looked so fragile lying there with tubes in his arms and monitors tracking every heartbeat, his life hung by the thinnest thread imaginable.
Then I thought about how Zeke had abandoned me when he chose Cecelia over our bond. I thought about watching them play happy family if he gets Golden back while I pretended everything was fine. I thought about the power contained in this child's blood that could change everything if we could just hold on long enough to take it.
I started helping Brock disconnect the equipment.
Fatima made a sound of disgust before turning away like she couldn't watch what we were doing. "You're going to kill him."
"Maybe," I agreed while carefully removing the IV from Golden's tiny arm. "But at least we'll go down fighting instead of just handing him back and hoping Zeke shows us mercy."
"There's something seriously wrong with both of you," Fatima said but she didn't try to stop us as we worked to make Golden mobile enough to move through the tunnels.
Brock lifted the unconscious child with surprising gentleness considering how rough he'd been with the equipment. Golden's head lolled against Brock's shoulder and his breathing got even more shallow like his body knew something bad was happening even if his mind stayed trapped in whatever dreams unconscious children had.
"Let's go before Theseus comes back and stops us." Brock headed for the hidden tunnel entrance while I grabbed the portable medical bag Fatima had prepared earlier with emergency supplies.
"This is a mistake," Fatima called after us but she didn't follow as we disappeared into the dark passageway with Golden's life literally in our hands.
The tunnel smelled like mold and old concrete while we moved through the darkness with only Brock's phone flashlight to guide us. I could hear water dripping somewhere in the distance and feel the weight of the earth pressing down from above like the whole structure might collapse at any moment.
Golden made a small sound against Brock's shoulder, something between a whimper and a cry that made my chest tighten with emotions. His little hand clutched at Brock's shirt like even unconscious he was searching for something to hold onto.
"How much further?" I asked while trying not to think about what was happening above ground between Zeke and Theseus.
"Another mile or so." Brock adjusted his grip on Golden while ducking under a low hanging pipe. "Just keep moving and try not to make too much noise because these tunnels carry sound further than you'd think."
We walked in silence after that while I counted my steps and tried to calculate how long we had before everything fell apart completely. Zeke wasn't stupid and if Theseus couldn't provide satisfactory answers to whatever questions were being asked then it wouldn't take long for the investigation to expand into searching the entire territory.
And when they found this lab with all its equipment set up for extracting magic from a child, there would be no talking our way out of the consequences.
Golden whimpered again and his body jerked in Brock's arms like something inside him was fighting to wake up. His eyes moved rapidly beneath closed lids and his breathing turned ragged.
"Something's wrong," Brock said while stopping in the middle of the tunnel. "He's seizing or something."
I moved closer with my phone light and saw that Golden's skin had gone from pale to almost gray. His little chest heaved like he couldn't get enough air and his fingers had started to curl inward.
"It's the premature emergence," I realized with growing dread. "Moving him triggered exactly what Fatima warned us about."
"What do we do?" Brock looked at me with actual fear in his eyes for the first time since I'd known him.
I stared down at the dying child in his arms and felt the weight of every choice that had led us to this moment pressing down like those tons of earth above our heads. We could turn back and try to get him medical help but that might mean facing Zeke. We could keep going and hope he stabilized once we reached the warehouse but that seemed increasingly unlikely based on how fast he was declining.
Or we could finish what we started and extract the last of his magic right here in this tunnel before his body gave out completely.
Before I could decide which option seemed least terrible, Golden's eyes snapped open and they glowed with an unnatural blue light that shouldn't have been possible for a child his age.
His wolf was emerging.
Chapter 26
Zeke's POV
Theseus shifted his weight from one foot to the other while I asked him about suspicious vehicles seen near his territory borders.
The movement was so slight that most people wouldn't have noticed but I'd known this man for ten years and I'd never seen him fidget like that before.
His eyes kept darting to the left whenever I mentioned the black Range Rover. His body language screamed deception to anyone trained to read body language.
"I already told you I haven't seen any unusual vehicles in the area," Theseus said while crossing his arms over his chest in a defensive posture that contradicted his casual tone. "My guards would have reported anything suspicious and they've seen nothing out of the ordinary."
"Nothing at all?" I pressed while watching his face for micro expressions that might reveal the truth. "Because we have phone records showing calls from the suspect's number to someone in your pack and that seems like more than a coincidence given the timing."
"Phone records can be faked and numbers can be spoofed by anyone with basic technical knowledge." Theseus's jaw clenched tight enough that I could see the muscle jump beneath his skin. "Just because someone called a number registered in my territory doesn't mean anyone here is actually involved in your family drama."
The casual dismissal of Golden's kidnapping as family drama made my wolf snarl inside my chest but I forced myself to stay calm because losing my temper now would only make Theseus shut down completely. Cecelia stood beside me with her hands twisted together so tight that her knuckles had gone white while she stared at Theseus with desperation written across every feature.
"Please," she said and her voice broke on the word in a way that made something crack inside my chest. "My son is missing and every hour that passes means he could be hurt or scared or worse and if you know anything at all that could help us find him I'm begging you to tell us because I can't lose him."
Theseus's expression stayed cold despite the raw emotion in Cecelia's plea. It showed that he was not willing to help us. "I sympathize with your situation but I can't provide information I don't have and searching my territory without cause would be a violation of pack sovereignty that I won't tolerate."
"We're not asking to search your territory," I said through gritted teeth while fighting the urge to grab him by the throat and shake answers out of him. "We're asking if you've seen or heard anything that might point us in the right direction because a child's life hangs in the balance."
"And I'm telling you I haven't seen or heard anything relevant to your investigation." Theseus moved toward the door of his office in a clear dismissal. "If that changes I'll contact you immediately but right now I have pack business to attend to, so unless you have an actual warrant or evidence of wrongdoing I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
The bond between Cecelia and me flared hot with shared frustration because we both knew Theseus was lying but we had no proof and no legal grounds to push harder. I wanted to tear his territory apart room by room until I found Golden but starting a war between packs wouldn't help my son if he was actually here.
"Thank you for your time," I said flatly while placing my hand on the small of Cecelia's back to guide her toward the exit. "We'll be in touch if we have further questions."
Theseus nodded without meeting my eyes which was another tell that something was very wrong. He'd always been the type to maintain direct eye contact during conversations as a show of Alpha dominance. We left his office and walked through the main pack house with my warriors falling into formation around us while Theseus watched from his doorway with an expression I couldn't quite read.
The moment we were outside and away from potential listening devices I pulled out my phone and called Marcus. "I want surveillance on Theseus and his entire inner circle starting immediately," I said without preamble. "He's hiding something and I want to know what it is."
"Copy that," Marcus replied while I heard him already typing commands in the background. "Should we also get eyes on his territory borders in case they try to move anything or anyone out?"
"Do it but keep it covert because if they realize we're watching they might panic and do something stupid." I ended the call and looked down at Cecelia who'd gone very quiet beside me. Her face had a blank expression.
"He knows something," she said so softly I almost didn't hear her over the sound of car doors opening as my warriors prepared to leave. "You could see it too right? The way he wouldn't look at us directly and how he kept deflecting every question?"
"I saw it." I helped her into the back seat of our vehicle before sliding in beside her while my driver started the engine. "Theseus has always been careful about pack politics but this was different because he was actively trying to hide something rather than just being cautious."
"Then why are we leaving?" Cecelia turned to face me with tears building in her eyes though she refused to let them fall. "If he knows where Golden is or who took him why aren't we making him tell us?"
"Because we have no proof and no authority to force him to cooperate without starting a war that could get a lot of people killed including possibly Golden if they panic." I reached over and took her hand while the bond between us pulsed with her anguish. "But I'm not giving up because Marcus is setting up surveillance right now and if Theseus or anyone in his pack makes a move we'll know about it."
The drive back toward my territory felt endless while Cecelia stared out the window without really seeing anything. I could feel her emotions through the bond, the crushing weight of hope that kept getting built up then shattered every time a lead went nowhere. My driver took a route that passed through a commercial district where a children's park sat between two shopping centers.
"Stop here," I told him suddenly while spotting the park because Cecelia looked like she needed a moment to breathe before we went back to the command center and more dead ends.
Chapter 27
ZEKES POV
The park was busy with families enjoying the afternoon weather while children ran and played on equipment. We got out of the car and I dismissed my warriors to a discreet distance because Cecelia needed space more than she needed guards hovering over her shoulder.
She walked toward the fence surrounding the playground area and gripped the metal links with both hands while watching the children play. A little boy with dark curly hair went down the slide laughing while his mother waited at the bottom to catch him. Another child, maybe four years old, pushed a toy truck through the sandbox while making engine noises. A girl with pigtails pumped her legs on the swings trying to go higher and higher.
Cecelia made a sound that might have been a sob or might have been something caught in her throat while tears finally spilled down her cheeks. I moved up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her back against my chest while she shook with the force of trying not to break down completely.
"We will find him," I said into her hair while holding her as tight as I dared. "I swear to you Cecelia we will bring Golden home."
"When?" She turned in my arms so fast I barely had time to adjust before she was staring up at me with red eyes and tears streaming down her face. "When Zeke? When will we find him because every day that passes makes it less likely he's okay, and more likely that whoever took him has already hurt him or worse. I can't take this not knowing if my baby is scared, in pain or calling for me and I'm not there."
"Don't talk like that." I cupped her face in both hands while using my thumbs to wipe away her tears even though more kept falling. "Don't let your mind go to those dark places because we have to believe he's alive and we have to keep fighting until we find him."
"What if we're too late?" Her voice came out as barely a whisper. "What if by the time we figure out where he is it's already over and they bring me his body instead of bringing me my son?"
"Stop." The word came out harsher than I meant but I needed her to hear me through the panic. "You can't think like that because that kind of negativity will destroy you from the inside. Golden needs you strong enough to hold him when we get him back."
She collapsed against my chest with her fingers clutching my shirt while sobs racked her whole body. I held her through it while my own throat went tight. Seeing her in this much pain activated every protective instinct I had. The bond between us burned hot with shared grief and fear.
People walking past the park gave us curious looks but I ignored them while running one hand through Cecelia's hair and murmuring comforting words. Her tears soaked through my shirt and her whole body trembled like she might shake apart if I let go.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled against my chest after several long minutes. "I'm sorry for falling apart like this when I need to be strong."
"You are strong." I pulled back just enough to tilt her chin up so she had to look at me. "You're the strongest person I know and letting yourself feel what you're feeling doesn't make you weak."
Our faces were close enough that I could count her eyelashes and see the gold flecks in her eyes that I'd forgotten about during our years apart. Her breath hitched while something shifted in the air between us, the bond pulling us closer. I stared st her soft rose lips and I craved the feeling on it in mine. I started to lean in without meaning to while her eyes went dark.
Then she gasped and shoved away from me so hard I almost stumbled. "Golden," she breathed while her whole body went rigid. "That's Golden."
She pointed toward the playground where a small boy with dark curly hair climbed the ladder to the slide. From this distance and with his back to us, he could have been Golden's twin based on the build and the way his hair curled at the nape of his neck.
"Cecelia wait." I reached for her but she was already running toward the fence while calling Golden's name over and over
The boy turned at the sound of his name being shouted which made Cecelia run faster while scrambling to find the gate into the playground area. I chased after her while calling her name but she couldn't hear me over the sound of her own desperate calls for her son.
"Golden baby it's mommy," she shouted while finally getting the gate open and running across the playground. "Golden wait for mommy."
The boy's face crumpled in confusion then fear while this strange woman ran at him yelling. He jumped off the play equipment and started running in the opposite direction while looking back over his shoulder with tears already forming.
"Cecelia stop," I yelled while catching up to her and grabbing her arm. "That's not Golden."
But she pulled free and kept chasing the terrified child who was now crying openly while running toward a woman who'd been sitting on a bench nearby. The boy crashed into his mother's legs and she scooped him up immediately while glaring at Cecelia with alarm.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" the mother demanded while the boy sobbed into her shoulder. "Why are you chasing my son?"
Cecelia skidded to a stop a few feet away with her chest heaving and her face streaked with tears. "I thought he was Golden," she said brokenly while reaching one hand toward the crying child. "I'm sorry, I thought he was my son because from behind he looked just like him. I haven't seen my baby in days and I just wanted it to be him so badly."
The mother's expression shifted from anger to pity mixed with discomfort while she rubbed her son's back. "You need to get help lady," she said while backing away. "You can't just chase random children in parks because you think they might be yours."
"I know. I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare him." Cecelia wrapped her arms around herself while more tears fell. "My son was kidnapped and I just thought for a second that maybe he'd somehow gotten away and I'm so sorry I scared your boy."
The woman's expression softened slightly but she kept backing toward the parking lot while her son clung to her neck. "I hope you find your son but you need to be more careful because chasing kids in public makes you look crazy."
Chapter 28
ZEKES POV
She left quickly while other parents gathered their children and gave us suspicious looks. I moved to Cecelia's side and wrapped my arm around her shoulders, guiding her back toward our vehicle while she shook like a leaf.
"I really thought it was him," she whispered while letting me lead her away from the playground. "For just a second when I saw that curly hair I was so sure it was Golden and I thought maybe somehow he'd escaped and found his way here and everything would be okay."
"I know." I helped her into the back seat and slid in beside her while pulling her against my chest again. "I know you did but you can't let yourself get so caught up in hope that you lose touch with reality because that's how people get hurt."
"I don't know how to do this." Her voice came out muffled against my shirt. "I don't know how to keep going day after day not knowing if my child is alive or dead or hurt or scared and I feel like I'm losing my mind."
"You're not losing your mind," I said firmly while running my hand up and down her back. "You're a mother missing her son and everything you're feeling is completely normal given the circumstances."
"Normal doesn't make it easier." She pulled back and wiped at her face with shaking hands. "Every child I see makes me think of Golden and wonder what he's doing right now or if he's crying for me or if he thinks I abandoned him."
The raw pain in her voice made my chest ache while the bond between us pulsed with her anguish. I took her face in my hands again and made her look at me because I needed her to hear what I was about to say.
"Golden knows you would never abandon him," I said while holding her gaze. "He knows his mother loves him more than anything and that you're doing everything possible to find him because children can feel that kind of love even when they're separated from their parents."
"How do you know that?" she asked while searching my face for answers I wasn't sure I had.
"Because I felt it from my own mother before she died," I admitted quietly. "Even when she was gone I could still feel how much she loved me and how she would have moved mountains to protect me if she'd had the chance and Golden feels that from you right now wherever he is."
Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks but she nodded while leaning into my touch. We sat there in the back of the vehicle for a long time while my driver pretended not to notice and my warriors maintained their perimeter outside. The sun started setting through the windows, painting everything in shades of gold and orange.
"We should go back," Cecelia finally said though she didn't move away from me. "Marcus probably has updates and we need to follow up on the surveillance you ordered."
"In a minute." I wiped the last of her tears away with my thumbs while the bond hummed between us. "Just give yourself another minute to breathe."
She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths while I held her face and tried not to think about how right this felt. Having her in my arms again after three years of emptiness reminded me of everything I'd thrown away when I chose duty over my heart.
When she opened her eyes again something had shifted in her expression, a determination replacing the desperation that had driven her to chase a stranger's child through a playground. "Okay," she said while straightening her shoulders. "I'm ready to go back and keep searching."
I nodded and released her face though I kept one arm around her shoulders while signaling my driver to head back to my territory. The drive took almost an hour but it felt longer while we sat in silence and I watched the landscape pass by outside the windows.
My phone buzzed with a message from Marcus saying they'd set up surveillance cameras around Theseus's territory and had teams monitoring all communication channels. Another message came through from Finn with an update on the Range Rover registrations, they'd narrowed the list down to twelve possible vehicles and were conducting interviews with each owner.
"Any news?" Cecelia asked while reading over my shoulder.
"Surveillance is up and running on Theseus," I told her while pulling up the message details. "And they're making progress on identifying which specific Range Rover was used in the kidnapping."
"That's good right?" She looked at me with hope starting to creep back into her expression. "That means we're getting closer."
"It means we're not standing still." I squeezed her shoulder gently while the vehicle turned onto the main road leading to my pack house. "Every piece of information gets us one step closer to finding Golden."
The vehicle pulled through the gates just as the sun finished setting. The temperature had dropped a lot, and I felt Cecelia shiver against me even though it was warm inside the car.
"Cold?" I asked, pulling her closer.
"A little," she said. Her breath made a small cloud in the cooling air when my driver opened the door.
We stepped out into the crisp evening, and I took off my jacket without thinking and put it around her shoulders. She looked up at me with surprise, and for the first time since this whole nightmare started, I really saw her as not just the grieving mother or my ex-mate, but the woman I'd fallen in love with three years ago.
"What?" she asked quietly, noticing me staring.
"I forgot," I said softly, reaching up to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. "I forgot how beautiful you are."
She caught her breath, and the bond between us suddenly felt stronger than it had in years. Three years of being apart and feeling regret all came together in this one moment standing in the cold night air.
"Zeke," she whispered, and something about the way she said my name made me lose control.
I held her face in both hands and leaned down slowly, giving her time to pull away if she wanted to. But she didn't. Instead, she stood on her toes and kissed me first.
The kiss was soft at first, careful, like we were remembering something special we thought we'd lost forever. Then it got deeper, and three years of missing each other poured into it while the bond hummed between us.
When we finally stopped, both of us breathing hard, she rested her forehead against mine.
"We'll find him," I promised. "Together."
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