For a brief moment. Silence lingered in the air. The Alpha's question, feeling heavy and personal. She had no obligation to answer, but something about Alpha Vlad's calm gaze—so unlike the ferocity she had seen when they first met—made her continue.
"I made a promise," she continues, her head low. "To protect my mate. To stand by him….no matter what"
Vlad said nothing, but his eyes narrowed slightly, as though trying to read in between the lines.
"I thought I was doing the right thing," Casey went on. "But I was wrong. I was betrayed by him and my pack."
Her voice grew brittle at the edges. The memories threaten to rise. But she swallowed them down.
"I don't want to talk about it," she added quickly, lowering her gaze even more. "My daughter is waiting. It's getting late"
Vlad gave a curt nod. "Go home"
Casey turned and left. Her heart pounding. She didn't look back.
Later in his office. Vlad stared at the map spread across his desk. The scent of Casey's sadness still lingered in the air, as faint as lavender in the wind. He was still deep in thought when Luca entered the room, holding a few rolled—up scrolls and a leather-bound logbook.
"There's been another sighting near the southeast border, third one this week," Luca reported, "could this be a test—might be building up to a full rogue breach."
Vlad remained seated. Unmoving.
Luca watches him for a moment. Then asked without any restraint, "Are you even listening?"
Vlad slowly looked up, as if returning back to his body.
Luca sighed and leaned against the edge of the desk. "I know that look. Alpha. I've seen it before. You're getting distracted."
Vlad's gaze hardened.
Luca didn't flinch. "Casey isn't one of us. You don't know what she's hiding. Getting too involved with her could spell trouble.
"She's wolfless." Vlad replied coldly. "She can't do anything"
"Maybe, or maybe the ones who have lost everything should be the ones you fear the most."
The tension thickened between them. But Vlad pushed his chair backwards and stood.
"I'll see the border myself"
Luca followed without another word.
The cottage was quiet when Casey returned. The soft breeze rustled the trees outside, and the moon cast silver light across the floorboard.
She opened the door gently, expecting Lily to be asleep, but the little girl was still sitting up in bed, barely able to keep her eyes open.
"Mama," she mumbled drowsily. Her voice thick with sleep, "you're home…."
Casey smiled and crouched before her, brushing tangled hair from her forehead.
"I'm home, sweetheart. You waited for me again?"
Lily nodded, blinking slowly.
"I just…. I just wanted to see"
Casey felt warm in her chest. "I'll always come home to you. Always"
Lily's eyes fluttered shut for a moment, then opened again. "Mama…?"
"Yes. Baby"
"I like it here," Lily whispered. "The Alpha is really nice. I wish…. I wish I had a father like him."
The words struck Casey deep. She froze. Her hand still resting on her daughter's cheek.
Lily didn't notice. Her breathing became steady, slipping into the rhythm of sleep.
Casey swallowed past the tightness in her throat and slowly pulled the blanket all the way to her chin. She kissed her forehead and sat beside the bed a while longer, watching the rise and fall of her daughter's chest.
The word nested in her heart.
I wish I had a father like him.
When she finally rose and went to bed herself, the silence of the room felt comfortable and lonely. She curled up beneath the covers, staring at the ceiling. Her mind echoed with voices of the past…..and one from the present.
"You're still standing."
She hadn't cried in weeks, but that night, as the moon watched over her cottage, she let a single tear fall.
Just one.