Natalie's POV
I watched Julian lift Isabelle high into the air, his deep laugh rumbling across the courtyard as our daughter squealed with delight. The plastic third-place ribbon fluttered from her small hand, a trinket that meant everything to her.
"Did you see me, Daddy? Did you see how fast I ran?" Isabelle's face glowed with pride.
Julian set her down gently, kneeling to her level. "You were magnificent, princess. The fastest wolf in the pack, I'm sure."
I smiled, savoring the perfect family picture before me. This was how it should have always been—Julian, Isabelle, and me. No unwanted mate. No sickly child competing for attention.
"We should celebrate," I suggested, sliding my hand along Julian's muscular arm. "Something special for our little champion."
Julian turned those amber eyes on me, the same eyes that had once looked at me with such devotion before Aurelia trapped him with her pregnancy. "What did you have in mind?"
