Freya’s POV


    s


    I studied Ss carefully, taking in the fading redness along his cheek, the split at the corner of his lips, and, almost instinctively, I checked his teeth. Kade’s punch had not been gentle. The Iron Fang Recon Unit operative wasn’t someone who held back, and Ss had taken that full force.


    “From now on,” I said, my voice soft but firm, “no matter who tries to hit you, don’t just stand there and take it. Dodge at least.”


    Ss gave a small nod, a grin tugging at the corner of his bruised mouth. “Alright. But if it’s you who hits me…” He hesitated, then added, “I won’t dodge. I’ll let you hit me all you want.”


    Iughed lightly, shaking my head. “And why would I hit you?”


    He looked down, his darkshes trembling as he tried to figure out how to say what he meant. “Maybe… because I’ve done something wrong?”


    I arched an eyebrow. “Like what?”


    His words faltered. How could he tell me this “like what” without sounding foolish? Without revealing all the things he carried in the shadows of his past?


    Then, without warning, he leaned forward, his arms wrapping around my waist. I was standing while he was sitting, so his face naturally pressed against my abdomen. His voice was low, urgent, and tinged with vulnerability.


    “If… if I ever do something wrong again, and you’re angry with me, you can hit me, scold me… do whatever you need. But please… please don’t ever leave me. Can you promise that?”


    The desperation in his whisper tugged at my chest. His wolf, I knew, mirrored the intensity of his plea- every instinct, every sinew radiating a need for connection.


    “If you know something is wrong, then don’t do it,” I said gently.


    “But… what if it’s already done? Or… maybe I didn’t even realize it was wrong at the time?” His hands tightened around me slightly. “Before I met you, Freya, I wasn’t a good man. I didn’t care about anything -didn’t care if people lived or died… but…” He paused, his voice softer now. “I will be a better man, from now on. So… no matter what I did before, will you forgive me?”


    I studied him, seeing the anxiety, the uncertainty, the rare sh of urgency in his gaze. It was like my answer was the axis on which his world turned.


    And yet, why was he so concerned with whether I could forgive him for the past?


    I pressed my lips together, considering. “As long as what you did didn’t betray the Pack, didn’t go against justice, didn’t harm innocents then yes. Even if you truly made mistakes, I can forgive you.”


    I could see it then-the relief washing over him, subtle but palpable. Ss exhaled sharply and pulled me closer. “Thank you Freya Thank you for forgiving me.”


    In the days that followed, I moved the belongings from our old estate to my apartment in the Capital.


    1:16 pm P PPS.


    s


    When I left the apartment for thest time, I cast a nce back at the empty space, hoping that the next time I returned, it would be with Eric.


    Later. I took Kade and Ss around some of Ashbourne’s renownedndmarks. Ss insisted oning along, and I couldn’t argue with him. Kade, naturally, couldn’t resist teasing.


    “Really, Ss Whitmor, Alpha of the Irond Coalition, just strolling around the city like a tourist? No urgentpany matters?” Kade’s voice was sharp with mockery.


    Ss shot back, cool and calm, “Better than letting thew firm’s messes sit unsolved, as you were suggesting, Kade.”


    “You still have the nerve to talk about the firm?” Kade growled, eyes narrowing. “Those disasters weren’t my fault-they were yours!”


    “If you can’t manage even minor issues, maybe it’s better to close the firm early.” Ss replied evenly.


    I sat at the wheel, the two of them in the backseat, arguing like two wolves tussling over territory. Ss and Kade had initially wanted to drive, but both insisted I ride shotgun. Preferring quiet, I simply drove, cing them behind me.


    We arrived at Ashbourne’s ancient city walls. The massive stones rose like silent sentinels, scars of centuries etched into their surface. I led them out of the car, toward a sprawling old oak beside the walls.


    “There’s a wishing tree here,” I said. “Peoplee and pray under it. They say it’s… effective.”


    Both Ss and Kade’s expressions shifted subtly, a faint weight settling over them, as if they each contemted their own unspoken desires.


    “Come on,” I said, moving toward the tree.


    Ss and Kade exchanged a nce, then followed.


    I stood beneath the sprawling branches, fingertips inteced, eyes closed. My wolf stirred with the age-old rhythm of ritual and hope, beating in time with my human heart. If wishes could truly be realized. I prayed to find Eric soon.


    Kade tilted his head toward the tree, a ghost of a smirk on his lips, though his eyes betrayed fleeting doubt. He shook his head, amused at his own thoughts-he had never believed in such things.


    Ss, on the other hand, mirrored my gesture, fingers entwined, eyes tightly shut. For the briefest moment, I glimpsed a different side of him: a man not defined by power or fear, but by hope and longing.


    I opened my eyes and turned, catching Ss’s gaze meeting mine.


    “You’re making a wish too?” I asked. After all, someone like him-Alpha of the Irond Coalition- should have everything he could ever want. Why would he need a wish?


    Ss’s eyes softened, the steel tempered with warmth. “I wish… that we grow old together.”


    I blinked, taken aback, and Kade frowned, voice sharp with disbelief. “You two have only been together for a short time.. and you’re already talking about growing old together?”


    I felt a gentle warmth in my chest, watching him-the man who had weathered darkness and violence,


    1:17 pm


    s


    now showing me this rare, fragile vulnerability. My wolf stirred, not with doubt, but with the steady rhythm of trust, of belonging.