Summer’s POV


    The cool st of air conditioning hit my face as we stepped off the ne at Crescent Valley Regional Airport, a stark contrast to the warm Portuguese climate we’d left behind. I instinctively tightened my grip on Aria’s small hand, feeling her excitement vibrate through our connected palms.


    “Mama, are we really in America now?” Aria’s bright eyes, so eerily like her father’s, gazed up at me with


    wonder.


    I forced a smile, swallowing down the anxiety that had been building since we boarded the flight <b>in </b>Lisbon. “Yes, sweetie. This is where Mama grew up.”


    Five years. It had been five long years since I’d set foot on North American soil. Five years since the day I plunged over that cliff, since Aurora sacrificed herself to save me and the tiny life growing inside me. Five years of building a new identity as far from Alexander ckwood as possible.


    And now here I was, less than thirty miles from ckwood territory.


    “Why are you squeezing my hand <i>so </i>tight?” Aria asked, trying <i>to </i>wiggle her fingers free.


    I immediately loosened my grip. “Sorry, baby. Mama’s just tired from the long flight.”


    That wasn’t entirely untrue. Twenty hours of travel with a hyperactive four–year–old was exhausting, especially when every mile brought me closer to the life–and the mate–I’d left behind.


    “Is Aunt Elena waiting for us?” Aria asked as we made our way toward baggage im. “You said she’s super nice!”


    “Yes, she should be here <i>to </i>pick us up,” I replied, scanning the crowded terminal for my friend. “She’s very excited to meet you.”


    Elena had been my saving grace in Portugal.


    After Nora found me washed up on that remote beach, barely alive and in prematurebor, it was Elena who had helped deliver Aria.


    As the pack healer for Nora’s small coastal pack, she’d be my mentor, my confidante, and eventually, my closest friend.


    And now she was getting married to an American wolf she’d met while studying advanced healing techniques in California.


    The wedding was months away, but she had begged me toe back with her to help with the nning- dress fittings, venue scouting, and calming her inevitable pre–mating panic.


    To Elena, I was simply Sarah Winters(That’s the name the heroine will useter.)–a human woman


    who’d washed ashore pregnant and alone, taken in by Nora’s pack out ofpassion.


    She had no idea who I really was, or that the man I’d fled from was one of the most powerful Alphas in North America.


    No one in Portugal knew my true identity–not even Nora had known before she passed awayst year.


    “Mama, look! Our bags!” Aria pointed excitedly as our suitcases appeared on the carousel.


    I grabbed them quickly, then led Aria toward the exit. As we emerged into the arrival area, I spotted Elena immediately–her curly brown hair bouncing as she waved enthusiastically from across the terminal.


    “Sarah!” she called out, rushing toward us. “You made it!”


    “Elena!” I smiled genuinely as she enveloped me in a warm hug. The familiar scent of herbs and sea salt clung to her clothes–reminders of her healing practice back in Portugal.


    “And this must be the famous Aria,” Elena crouched down to Aria’s level. “I’ve heard so much about you!” <fnd39b> ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???????s, ????s? ??s?? Find_Novel(.</fnd39b>


    Aria, suddenly shy, pressed herself against my leg but offered a small wave.


    “She’s tired from the journey,” I exined, resting my hand on Aria’s head. “Aren’t you, sweetie?”


    Elena straightened up, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Well, I’ve got the car right outside. You two can rest at the hotel while I finish up some wedding errands.”


    We had just reached Elena’s rental car when she started loading our bags into the trunk.


    “The Cedar Ridge Grand is beautiful,” she said with a smile. “David wanted something closer to his pack’s territory, but I insisted on neutral ground. I know how ufortable you are around wolves.”


    Another lie I’d been living with. Elena believed I was entirely human, with an inexplicable fear of wolf- kind after a “traumatic encounter” before washing up in Portugal. It exined my reluctance to interact with the wolves in Nora’s pack and my insistence on living on the outskirts of their territory.


    “I appreciate that,” I said softly as I helped Aria into the backseat.


    As we pulled away from the airport, I felt a weight settling in my chest. The familiarndscapes, the scents carried on the breeze–everything brought back memories I’d spent years trying to suppress.


    <i>“</i><i>So</i>,” Elena said as she navigated onto the highway, “I hope you don’t mind, but the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night will have quite a few wolves in attendance. David’s family, you know. But I’ve made sure they all understand you’re ufortable around their kind.”


    I nodded, staring out the window. “It’s fine. I can handle a few hours.”