Third person POV


    The drive to Moonstone was quiet.


    Lance had taken it more times than he could count, but never like this. The


    mountain road wound through mist and pine, sunlight flickering between the


    branches, and he couldn''t stop thinking about Nn''s voice on the phone that night- the raw honesty, the grief woven through every word.


    It had changed something in him.


    He''d always thought of Nn as untouchable, made of ice. But hearing the truth about their parents-how their father''s ambition and their mother''s pride had crushed the boy Nn had been-left Lance with a weight he didn''t know how to carry.


    He had wanted to hate his brother for so long. It was easier that way.


    But hate didn''t fit anymore. Not when the truth left him staring at the wreckage of a family that had never really known love.


    Lance had convinced himself that his parents had loved him, that they had been good and kind. But if there was truth in Nn''s words, then everything he thought he knew was a lie.


    He didn''t know how to reconcile that.


    By the time he reached the Moonstone packhouse, the clouds had broken, and sunlight spilled across the courtyard. The air smelled of moss and fresh rain. For a moment, he simply sat in his car, watching the way the light caught on the high windows.


    Then he got out.


    The guards at the entrance nodded respectfully. Moonstone was cautious about visitors, but his name carried weight now, especially since Silver Fang and Moonstone had entered a tentative alliance.


    Besides, they were used to him visiting. He had be close to Cassian and would oftene here to check in when he visited Ellie in the early days of her time here.


    In a way, things were simpler then. Nn was the boogieman they all feared, and keeping Ellie and the twins safe was all that mattered.


    It was childish, now that he thought about it. Nn had given signs right from the start that his emotions were heightened when it came to Ellie.


    Lance thought of Nn''s tears in the hospital when he''d been told that the babies were lost. His panic when it was discovered that Ellie was missing.


    At the time, he''d felt bad, but he''d justified it by pointing to Nn''s past cruelty and coldness. Now, looking back, he felt like a monster for putting his brother through that.


    Inside, the hallways were quiet. He found ric in his office, seated behind a broad desk of carved ash wood, reading through reports. The elder Alpha looked up when the door opened, and a faint smile tugged at his mouth.


    "Lance Silver Fang,” he said. “I can''t say I expected to see you here without Nn.”


    "Neither can I," Lance admitted, shutting the door behind him. "Do you have a few minutes?"


    "For you? Always."


    +25 Bonus


    ric gestured for him to sit, and Lance did, perching on the edge of the chair like someone who wasn''t sure if they meant to stay.


    "I wanted to ask you something," Lance said. "About my parents."


    ric''s brow furrowed slightly. "You''vee a long way to ask a very sensitive question. What do you want to know about them?"


    Lance hesitated. He wasn''t used to being uncertain. He''d spent most of his adult life wielding confidence like a weapon, but now it felt thin.


    "I spoke with Nn," he said finally. "He told me what really happened. About the ambush. About the way they- raised us." He swallowed hard. "I guess I just need to know if it''s true. If they were really the way he said."


    ric leaned back in his chair, the lines around his eyes deepening. For a long moment, he didn''t speak.


    "I was younger than your father," ric said slowly. "But I knew him well enough. Ambitious, proud, brilliant. And your mother-ra-was his match in every way. Together, they were formidable. The Silver Fang pack was small back then; they weren''t even on the radar of most of the other packs. Your borders were uncertain, movable. Your parents struggled to defend them, but they were ambitious and devout."


    Lance nodded. "That''s the version I remember. They strove for perfection."


    ric''s gaze softened. "Perfectiones at a cost, Lance. They believed that strength was the only thing that mattered. That discipline could forge greatness. And they demanded that same perfection from their son.


    He didn''t need to say which son.


    Lance looked down at his hands. "Nn."


    "Yes."


    "I was too young to see it,” Lance said quietly. “They never pushed me that way. I


    just thought he was distant. Cold. Isted. I thought he wanted it that way."