<h4>Chapter 26: Chapter 26: MY SALVATION</h4>


    <strong>MAEVE’S POV</strong>


    <strong>[MOMENTS EARLIER]</strong>


    Lydia was still unconscious when I left her chambers.


    She was breathing, but I wasn’t sticking around to watch her wake up. I cleaned up the cut hair, the spilled tonic, and the broken ss. Then I left just as quickly.


    By the time I returned to my quarters, Asha was just finishing lunch.


    "Thanks for looking after him," I told Nina. "You can take a break. I’ve got it from here."


    Relieved, she shrugged on her coat, patted Asha’s head, and left to tour the castle.


    My baby’s face stretched out in a blinding grin just as I pulled him into my arms.


    "Hey, honey. How were your lessons? Did you miss me?"


    "I missed Mummy," he crooned, hugging me tight—then pulling back with a scowl. "But I’m bored," he huffed. "I wanna go outside. When is Daddying?"


    I sighed. "I already told you, Asha. Daddy can’te. But once I finish what I have to do here, I’ll take you to him."


    How soon that would be, I didn’t know.


    We’d only been here a day, but I already missed Devon. I missed home. And I hated the fact that Ash Creek was putting me in such dangerous proximity to Ivan.


    Goddess, I med that for how far things had gone with him—how easily I’d let him hold me, kiss me... taste me. Fucking hell, Maeve. Real smooth.


    I’d thought I was past him. That he had no control over me anymore.


    Devon would be so disappointed if he knew. It had barely been a day and I was already swapping saliva with the man he hated most.


    The guilt ate me like a disease. But my wolf... she didn’t feel the same. She didn’t regret a damn thing.


    I had to be careful now. I needed to be the one rolling the dice, not him. No more slip-ups. No more letting his charm sink its ws into me.


    No more disappointing Devon. No more betraying what we had.


    Ivan was dead to me. And I’d keep it that way.


    "If Daddy’s noting, can we go outside?" Asha asked again, using that look that always pulled my heartstrings.


    "I don’t know, Asha... it might not be safe."


    "Please!" he begged, practically whining, and on the verge of a tantrum.


    But even then, I hesitated. If Ash Creek had taught me anything, it was that it wasn’t a ce for soft, harmless boys like Asha—not when people like Serena and Lydia still existed.


    But then, he had been cooped up all day, and this ce wasn’t home. He was used to ying legs deep in mud. He chased butterflies for hours on end and took regr runs with Devon in the woods.


    I could see how being constrained to a stuffy bedroom, taking lessons all morning, would take a toll on him.


    "Fine," I relented, sighing softly. How could I ever say no to him? "But not for long."


    "Yay!" he shouted, hugging me again. "Thanks, Mummy!"


    "You’re wee. Just don’t get mud on your shorts."


    "Okay!"


    * * *


    We stepped out into the sunlight.


    First, the fountain. Asha shrieked with joy every time the water spouted up. Dark Wind had no such sights, and it was heartwarming—truly—to see my boy this excited by something so simple.


    Then came the fields. We walked hand in hand, the wind tugging at our clothes.


    Earlier, I’d grabbed a nket and some fruit—grapes, strawberries, bottled water—for a makeshift pic.


    A small, satisfied smile pulled at my lips as I watched Asha chase butterflies with his empty jar while I set up our spot.


    By the time he plopped down beside me, breathless and beaming, I couldn’t stop the warmth that bloomed in my chest.


    There was no feeling in the world thatpared to the spark of joy I felt when my son was happy.


    It healed something deep inside me—something wounded and battered by this world, by this cruel pack.


    It reminded me why I kept fighting, why I kept rising no matter how many times I’d been brought to my knees.


    The Goddess might have believed I was born to save Asha’s life and carve out his ce in this world. But the truth was, Asha’s existence had saved me.


    He was my salvation.


    My gaze shifted to the still empty jar Asha held.


    "Where are the butterflies?" I asked.


    He shrugged. "I caught them... but I let them go."


    "Oh?" I tilted my head. "Why’s that?"


    He didn’t answer right away. Just stared out at the grass, thoughtful in that oddly grown-up way only children can be.


    "I dunno," he finally said. "I think... it stops being fun once you have them. They looked sad in there. I don’t think pretty things are made to be trapped."


    I blinked, taken aback by the depth of his words, even as he cluelessly continued ying with the grass. At that, Iughed.


    "I see," I said as I handed him a few grape pieces, and he ate them like nothing life-altering had just slipped from his mouth.


    Once those were finished, I handed him a few more. We basked in the serene quiet of each other’spany—until I handed him a strawberry.


    Asha made a face of disgust. "I don’t like strawberries."


    "It’s good for you, baby," I urged. "Come on. Just one."


    "No!" he refused. "No strawberries."


    "If you don’t eat it, I’ll make you," I warned, holding it up and sounding maniacal. "Why? Because I am Greta, the Big Bad Wolf."


    At the mention of the viin from his favorite book, Asha let out a shriek and bolted.


    Laughing, I chased after him through the grass.


    "I’ming for you, Prince Asha! And my evil little strawberry!"


    Wind in my hair,ughter bubbling from my chest—I couldn’t remember thest time I let myself y like this.


    We finally copsed beneath the white oak tree, gasping and giggling.


    "Greta wins," I said, offering him the strawberry again.


    "Fine," he pouted. "Just one bite."


    He took it like a champ. Eyes closed. Swallowed dramatically.


    "That wasn’t so bad, was it?"


    "No. Mommy was right. It wasn’t," he smiled.


    "I told you so." I ruffled his soft curls, brushing the leaves out of them, then took his hand as I stood. "Come on, let’s head back. Outdoor time is up for us."


    Asha groaned, but didn’tin.


    We turned to head back to the pack house, only to stop short. There, just a few feet away, stood a man: fucking naked.


    And not just naked—glorious.