Aria’s POV
The mont I stepped through the front door, I felt it.
That heaviness in the air. The kind that settles into a room and refuses to leave.
Kael was already ho. He was sitting on the couch with both girls, one on each side of him—Lina pressed against his arm, Lilith curled up quiet and still. The TV was on but nobody was watching it. Three sets of eyes turned toward when I walked in.
"Mommy!" Lina jumped up imdiately. Launched herself across the room.
I caught her. Held her tight. Pressed my nose into her hair and breathed.
She slled like shampoo and crayons and everything familiar.
"Did you eat?" I asked into her curls.
"Kael made pasta." She pulled back. Made a face. "It was okay. Not as good as yours."
"It was fine," Lilith said from the couch. Her voice flat. Careful. Like she was walking on glass and didn’t want to make noise.
"It was edible." Kael’s voice was dry. "High praise from both of them, clearly."
I almost smiled. Almost.
Lina wiggled down from my arms. Grabbed Lilith by the hand. "Co on. You said you’d teach that card ga."
Lilith looked at Kael. Then at .
Sothing passed between us. An unspoken *it’s okay, go.*
She nodded. Let Lina pull her toward the bedroom.
The door clicked shut.
And then it was just the two of us.
---
The silence stretched out between and Kael like sothing with weight. Like sothing you could reach out and touch.
He was still sitting on the couch. Elbows on his knees. Head tilted slightly, watching .
I set my bag down by the door. Didn’t move any further.
"How is she?" I asked. "Your mom."
Kael exhaled slowly. Shook his head.
One small movent. But it said everything.
My chest tightened.
I looked at the floor. At the carpet fibers and the small scuff mark near the coffee table and all the nothing that was easier to stare at than his face.
I thought about Serena this morning. That frozen smile. That shrug—*so what if I am?*
I thought about Kael’s mother last night, the way she’d scread. The way the words had co out of her like sothing tearing.
*Your cursed, demon family—*
*They destroyed my son—*
She wasn’t wrong.
The thought sat heavy in my stomach. Thick and dark and impossible to swallow down.
"Hey."
Kael’s voice. Closer than I expected.
I looked up.
He was standing right in front of . I hadn’t even heard him move. His black-gold eyes were focused on my face, reading every microexpression the way he always did. Like I was a text in a language only he knew how to speak.
"What’s that face?" he asked.
"What face?"
"That one." He reached out. His fingers brushed my jaw. Just barely. "The one that looks like you’re about to apologize for sothing."
I opened my mouth.
"Don’t," he said quietly. Before I could get a single word out.
"Kael—"
"Don’t." His hand curved around my jaw. Gentle. Firm. "I know what you’re thinking. I can see it happening in real ti."
My throat got tight. "Your mom—"
"Is in pain." He said it simply. Without flinching. "And scared. And exhausted. And she said things she shouldn’t have said."
"But she wasn’t wrong." The words ca out rough. Barely held together. "My family did this. Like—"
My voice broke on the last word.
I pressed my lips together. Breathed.
Kael pulled in.
I just stood there and let him hold and tried to rember that I was not responsible for every terrible thing a person who shared my blood had done.
Tried. Mostly failed.
"We’ll find a way through this," Kael said into my hair. His voice was low. Certain. The way he said things when he’d already decided they were true. "Once Lucian’s better—once he’s actually himself again—she’ll see. She’ll understand."
"And if she doesn’t?"
He pulled back slightly. Looked at .
"Then we’ll deal with that too." His thumb brushed across my cheekbone. "But we’re not dealing with hypotheticals right now. Right now we focus on what’s in front of us."
I let out a long, slow breath.
Leaned back against him.
"You’re annoyingly calm about this," I said.
"I’m not calm." He pressed his lips to the top of my head. "I’m just better at hiding it than you."
I made a sound that was almost a laugh.
Almost.
He held for another minute. Neither of us speaking. The apartnt was quiet except for the muffled sounds of Lina explaining card ga rules at rapid-fire speed in the other room and Lilith’s occasional one-word responses.
Then sothing nudged at the back of my mind.
Sothing I’d been pushing away since this morning.
Sophie.
---
I pulled back. Reached into my pocket for my phone.
"What is it?" Kael asked.
"Sophie." I was already scrolling. "I haven’t heard from her since yesterday. Or Cassius. I just realized—they took the girls ho after dinner. And then with everything that happened at the mansion—"
"You think sothing’s wrong?"
"I don’t know." I pulled up Sophie’s contact. "She’s a human, Kael. A human in a wolf territory she doesn’t know. And she’s been radio silent since—"
I hit call.
It rang.
And rang.
And rang.
I counted seven rings before the line finally clicked open.
"...hello?" Sophie’s voice ca through. Slightly breathless. Like she’d been running. Or like she’d been doing sothing else entirely and had to stop to answer.
I exhaled in relief. "Sophie. Oh my god. Where have you been?"
"Hey! Hi!" Too bright. Too cheerful. That particular Sophie voice she used when she was trying very hard to seem casual. "I’ve been around! Out! You know. Exploring."
"Exploring." I repeated it back flat.
"Yes! This place is actually really nice. Like, nicer than I expected? There are these little market stalls and the architecture is—"
"Sophie."
"—genuinely stunning, I don’t know why you never ntioned the architecture—"
"Sophie." My voice ca out sharp. "Where are you?"
A pause.
"...out."
"I heard you the first ti. That’s not an answer."
"It’s a location."
"It’s a word that ans nothing." My fingers tightened around the phone. "You’re a human in wolf territory. Do you understand how dangerous that is? If sothing happened to you—"
"Nothing is going to happen to !" She said it quickly. Too quickly. "I’m being careful. I promise. I have—company."
I froze.
"You’re a human in wolf territory," I said again. More quietly this ti. "Please be careful. For . If sothing happened to you—"
"Nothing is going to happen." Her voice got warm. "Cassius isn’t going to let anything happen to . And honestly? He’s been—he’s really—" She broke off. Laughed a little. Soft and private. "Anyway. You don’t need to worry."
I closed my eyes. Pressed my fingers against my forehead.
"Fine," I said. "Fine. But you are calling tomorrow morning. Actually calling. Not emojis."
"Deal."
"And be careful."
"Always."
"Sophie—"
"I love you too!" she said quickly. "Bye now!"
The line went dead.
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