"But you didn''t know me back then, and I didn''t recognize you either. If you had saved me, I would have remembered," I say softly, cupping Ryker''s face in my hands. He returns my touch with a sad, bittersweet smile.


    "I don''t think so," he replies gently. "At that time, you were too young to have found your mate. You were overwhelmed, lost in grief and confusion over your parents. Who knows what your mind was actually able to register in that state?"


    I take a deep breath, trying to absorb his words. "I took your son from my own, and had him and Josh double back to confront Moon River while I managed the cleanup with the other warriors," Ryan exins. "Your father kept Alpha James''s name in his wallet and saved it as an emergency contact on his phone. I knew James from past Summits and recognized that you had a connection to our way of life. I sensed you were special, but I never fully understood how until Rayna found Jeremiah and your name came up again."


    Ryker looks at his father, curiosity flickering in his eyes. “So, is that why your travel schedule changed?"


    Ryan nods slowly. "Partly, yes. I was also afraid of having this conversation. I worried you might me us for your parents'' deaths, or worse, take it out on Ryker. He''s waited so long for a chance at happiness—I didn''t want to jeopardize the fragile progress you''ve made by burdening you with this knowledge." He offers me a small, familiar smile-one I recognize as Ryker''s own. I smile back, grateful for the moment of connection.


    "It''s not any more your fault than it is mine," I say, shrugging as a few tears escape. Therapy has drilled this into me: it wasn''t my fault. It was just a cruel chain of events. That doesn''t make it hurt any less, though.


    Ryan sighs deeply. "No, but what weighs on me the most is that without that terrible situation, I''m not sure Ryker would have ever found you."


    His words hit me like a punch to the chest. I stop breathing for a moment, staring at Ryker, whose face has gone pale.


    "What do you mean?" I whisper, heart pounding.


    "I mean that if those events hadn''t happened, you might never have crossed paths with Ryker the way you did," Ryan exins. "It''s possible you could have met him at Rayna''s Luna ceremony, but with all the chaos caused by ude and some other rogue alphas, I don''t know if your meeting would have unfolded the same way."


    Ryker pulls me closer, his arms wrapping around me tightly. We both need thefort, the warmth.


    "You might have been in college by the time Rayna''s Luna ceremony or any other gathering that could have brought Ryker to your pack-happened," Ryan continues. "Everything had to fall into ce exactly as it did for your mate bond to form.”


    My heart sinks deeply, and a cold knot tightens in my stomach. The thought that I had to lose my parents in order to find Ryker makes me feel sick. The idea that I can have one but not both fills me with a bitter resentment toward the goddess. I''ve never thought ill of her before-just never understood the harsh ways the wolf world operates. This is just another painful example.


    Slowly, I rise from Ryker''sp. He must sense I need space because he doesn''t try to stop me. “I just need a little time to process all this, please,” I say quietly.


    Without another word, I leave the office and head straight to our bedroom. There''s really nowhere I can go without Ryker following, but I''m hoping he''ll give me the space I need to let everything settle.


    I decide a long, hot bath is exactly what I need. Sliding into the steaming water, the scent of the fragrant bubbles helps soothe my restless mind as I rey everything Ryan said. I still can''t believe Ryker was the one who pulled me from the wreckage. I remember being told the car had to be pried open to get to me, but no one ever said who did it. I assumed they used the jaws of life. I woke up in the hospital with Aunt Beth by my side, and no one mentioned anything else.


    Now, so many questions swirl inside me. Ryan said he knew Uncle James. Did Ryan tell them to keep it quiet? Why didn''t anyone tell me a pack of traveling shifters had saved me? It''s not like I didn''t know about them before.


    Just as I''m about to get lost in these thoughts, a soft knock sounds on the bathroom door.