The Beta nodded.


    “Bring her home,” I ordered. “Tell her I need her back at the vi. Now."


    "She might not want toe willingly," he warned.


    "She alwayses when called."


    My voice tightened when I said it. That was the Ellie I knew-or thought I knew. Now, I wasn''t so sure.


    The Beta left instantly, but it wasn''t ten minutester when my phone buzzed.


    A photo.


    Ellie.


    Standing in the middle of the marketce.


    Her expression was vivid, fire in her eyes, hands moving with the kind of fury I hadn''t seen in years. She looked


    livid.


    My eyes narrowed.


    There was another in the frame. A man she seemed to be aguing with, that frame unmistakable—


    ...It''s Cassian?!


    ***


    Meanwhile in their temporary amodation...


    In the quiet sitting room of the Moonstone Pack''s temporary vi, the fire had long since burned down to embers, but ric sat unmoving in his chair. His fingers were steepled beneath his chin, eyes fixed on a single candle that flickered on the windowsill. Behind him, his son paced restlessly.


    "She looks just like her," ric murmured, more to himself than to anyone else.


    Cassian stopped mid-step, turning. “You''re still thinking about the Alpha''s wife?” ric didn''t respond right away. His mind was back in time, two decades past, to when his mate had cried herself to sleep every night for a year. When they''d buried an empty cradle. When a child had gone missing and the Moon Goddess had offered no sign.


    Missing a child, it broke everyone''s heart.


    He had dreamed for her to return, so many times.


    "She has your mother''s nose," ric finally said, voice low. "And her eyes, moonlit, soft but not weak. Gods, Cassian. What are the chances?"


    Cassian folded his arms, his mouth a hard line. "The Alpha''s wife is a rogue. That''s what the files say. No background. No lineage. Just a name.”