Chapter 216
“Gently,” I nodded, guiding her small finger to one of the pearl clusters. “Feel how smooth they are?”
She nodded, her eyes wide with wonder. “It feels like raindrops, but not wet.”
I smiled at her description. “That’s exactly right.”
For the next hour, I worked steadily, carefully reattaching each displaced bead and stitching the torn lace back together with nearly invisible thread.
The damage was right at the heart of the bodice, where the bride’s décolletage would be most prominent–a difficult location that required absolute precision.
“This is where all eyes will be during the ceremony,” I explained to Aria, who had remained surprisingly attentive. “When a wolf marks his mate, this is where he’ll look first.”
“Because that’s where the mating bite goes?” she asked innocently.
I paused, momentarily startled by her knowledge. “Yes… how did you know that?”
She shrugged. “The girls at school talk about it all the time. They say when you find your true mate, something inside you just knows where to bite.”
I swallowed hard, my hand rising to my neck–where his mark should’ve been, but never was.
Sometimes, I still dreamed of it.
Of what it might’ve felt like.
And I still wondered…what if I had let him?
“It’s… more complicated than that,” I finally said. “But yes, that’s the general idea.”
After another hour of meticulous work, my fingers began to cramp, and I decided to take a short break. Aria had grown bored watching me and had retreated to her own corner of the room with her drawing supplies.
“What are you working on?” I asked, stretching my stiff shoulders.
“It’s a surprise,” she replied without looking up, her small brow furrowed in concentration as she hunched protectively over her paper.
I smiled, leaving her to her work while I made myself a cup of tea. By the time I returned, the wedding dress repair was nearly complete. Just a few more beads to secure and the gown would be perfect again–no one would ever know it had been damaged.
As I finished the final stitches, I heard Aria’s triumphant “Done!” from across the room. She bounded over to me, clutching her drawing to her chest.
“Can I see your artwork?” I asked, carefully setting aside Elena’s dress.
Aria hesitated, suddenly shy. “It’s for you,” she said, holding out her drawing with an anxious expression.
Chapter 216
The moment I saw what she’d created, my breath caught in my throat.
+25 BONUS
There, rendered in the vibrant colors of her crayons, was a picture of three people holding hands–a tall figure with dark hair whose face was left curiously blank.
And a woman with familiar features, and between them, a small girl who was unmistakably meant to be Aria.
Above their heads, she’d written in her careful, still–developing handwriting: “My Family.”
“That’s you,” she pointed to the woman figure, “and that’s me.” Her finger moved to the child figure between
the adults.
Then, more tentatively, she indicated the man with the blank face. “And that’s my dad. I don’t know what he looks like, but I know he must be strong and brave.”
My hand trembled as I took the drawing. “Aria…” I began, not knowing how to respond.
We had never discussed her father in detail–though I’d never lied when she’d asked about him, I’d always been vague, saying only that he was a strong, kind wolf who would have loved her very much.
“Do you think we’ll ever meet him?” she asked, her eyes huge and hopeful. “Sometimes I dream about him, but I can never see his face.”
My heart clenched painfully.
Maybe she deserved to know the truth–even if her father had forgotten me, forgotten everything we once were, and belonged to someone else now.
“Honey,” I said gently, pulling her into my lap, “it’s complicated. Your father and I… we have history, but—”
“But you still love him,” she said with the absolute certainty only a child could possess. “I can tell. Your expression changes when you talk about him.”
I opened my mouth to offer some gentle correction, some way to temper her expectations, when another knock interrupted us.
This time, when I checked the peephole, I was surprised to see Ethan, Alexander’s Beta, standing in the hallway with an unreadable expression.
My brows furrowed. What was he doing here?
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