I nearly choked on my drink.
“What?” I sputtered, wiping my mouth. “Jordan Hill is my dad. What happened to Liam?”
Liam had been the Alpha of our pack—strong, fair, practically a second father to me. If Brad had taken over, then…
My heart slammed against my ribs. My throat tightened.
“Is he—”
Another human-safe word. Another mask for the truth.
But I understood. Every syllable landed like a stone in my gut.
Brad was the Alpha.
I glanced at his hand—and there it was.
The Hasendolf family ring.
A heavy gold band engraved with a family crest and two sapphires on each side. Every Alpha in that bloodline wore one.
And breathtaking…
A dynasty known for producing Alphas that ruled with precision and fire.
It all made sense now.
His size. His stillness. His voice that made your spine straighten before your brain caught up.
And now he held the role I left behind.
“Lilian…” I said aloud, smiling a little. “She was my best friend. I miss her.”
“You have another best friend now,” Bethany said, grinning.
I forced a laugh, but my heart was still back in the woods, chasing old ghosts.
Then Brad turned to me with a look that made my skin tingle.
I froze.
“What?” Bethany asked. “What’s that?”
I turned toward Brad slowly. “I’ve never heard that phrase before.”
But… it made sense.
I had survived something no one else ever had.
“I didn’t know it had a name,” I admitted, leaning back in my chair. “But yeah. That’s me, I guess.”
“Survived what?” Bethany pushed. “What’s Miracle of the Moon?”
I looked at her—and then at Brad, who was watching me carefully.
“Remember what I told you? My fiancé died. I was attacked that day too. Badly. No one thought I’d make it.”
“It goes deeper than that,” Brad muttered, before catching himself.
My throat tightened. A tear slipped from my eye before I could stop it.
“Your parents miss you,” he added softly.
His gaze was steady. Not accusing. Not pitying. Just… real.
I wiped my cheek quickly and straightened in my chair.
My foot brushed against Brad’s under the table. Eletric shocks went all my body.
He jolted—like I’d burned him.
His nostrils flared. His pupils dilated.
That sharp, electric buzz that shot up from my toes and landed in my chest like lightning.
I wasn’t just reacting to him because it had been seven years since I’d seen a wolf.
“Let’s change the subject,” I said quickly, pushing my glass toward the center of the table. “Why are you in town?”
Brad picked up on my cue and shifted gears smoothly.
“I need an engineering firm to oversee an expansion project for my… company.”
He said the word carefully, avoiding the truth.
But I knew what he meant.
Engineering firm.
The one I work for.
“Alice?”
My blood turned cold.
I knew that voice.
I didn’t even have to look to confirm it.
Raphael.
“Wow, I didn’t know you’d be here tonight,” he said, his gaze skipping right over Bethany and landing on me.
His smile was too eager. Too sharp.
“Hey,” I said, polite but cool.
“I thought you weren’t going out lately. You said you needed space.”
My spine stiffened. The nerve.
Bethany looked between us. “Oh… Raphael, I didn’t think you’d actually show up.”
“Hi, Beth,” he said, then turned to Brad. “And you are…?”
Brad didn’t stand. He didn’t offer a handshake.
He just looked up, relaxed but radiating danger. “Brad.”
“And you’re… friends with Alice?”
“Something like that.”
Raphael’s jaw twitched. “We used to be… more than friends.”
Brad blinked once. “Used to be.”
He said it without emotion—but the message was clear: not anymore.
“So, Alice…” Raphael started, ignoring the tension. “I’ve been thinking about us. I know things got… intense. But maybe we could talk? Clear the air?”
“Raphael, I think we already had that conversation,” I said carefully.
“Maybe I said some things I didn’t mean. Maybe we were both emotional.”
Brad’s gaze sharpened.
“Maybe you should respect what she said the first time,” Brad said, calm but clipped.
“Excuse me?” Raphael barked a laugh. “And who exactly are you to tell me anything?”
Brad leaned forward, voice a low growl.
“Someone who knows what ‘no’ means.”
The table fell into thick silence.
Bethany coughed and jumped in quickly. “Okay! Wow, that escalated. Let’s all… take a breath, yeah?”
I shot her a look. She smiled like she had it all under control.
“Actually,” she said brightly, “why don’t we all have dinner tomorrow night? My place. We’ll cook, have wine, reset the energy.”
I gaped at her. “Beth—”
“I’ll text you both the address,” she said quickly, pulling out her phone.
Brad looked at me. “If you’re going, I’m going.”
“Great!” Bethany said. “It’s a date. Well—not a date-date. Just… you know. Dinner.”
Raphael smiled smugly. “I’ll bring dessert.”
I spent the entire day trying to get Brad out of my head.
Not just because he was a wolf. Not just because he was the fucking Alpha of my old pack.
But because…
He knew my parents.
And I missed them.
And him.
And all of it.
I’d spent years pretending I wasn’t homesick. That the grief hadn’t hollowed me out. But after last night? Everything was cracked wide open again.
And now I had dinner with him tonight.
And, Goddess help me—Raphael.
How did I even date him?
I arrived at Bethany’s and, thankfully, Raphael was already there. I volunteered to cook—half because I love it, and half so I wouldn’t have to make small talk with him.
I was chopping onions when I felt it.
That scent.
Pine. Leather. Power. Alpha.
Brad.
Dangerous and handsome.
Broad shoulders. Relaxed confidence. Wolf just under the surface.
My hands stayed busy with the cutting board—thank the Goddess. I couldn’t be trusted to touch him right now.
But Brad handed me the wine anyway, his fingers grazing mine.
“Brought something decent,” he said. “Didn’t seem like a beer kind of dinner.”
“You guessed right,” I said, not trusting myself to look at him.
Bethany, sensing something, darted off to play Xbox with Raphael.
That left just me and Brad in the kitchen. Alone. Again.
“You never thought about going back?” he asked, popping an olive into his mouth like he’d asked me the weather.
“No.” My voice was flat.
“You can’t run forever, Alice. You’ve got family there.”
My knife slowed. “Without him… it doesn’t make sense.”
Brad stopped for a second and nodded, quietly respectful. “I’ve heard rumors. Your mate died protecting you.”
“He did,” I whispered. “I should’ve died with him.”
Silence hung heavy between us.
Then Brad stepped closer, eyes soft but intense.
He reached up and gently ran his thumb under my cheek, wiping a tear I hadn’t realized had fallen.
“You were a miracle, Alice,” he said. “We should thank the Moon Goddess you lived—not ask why.”
That hit me.
The pot of pasta hissed as it boiled over.
I spun, yanked the lid off, and hissed at the steam.
“Shit…”
Brad moved beside me and picked up the knife. “Seriously,” he said as he began chopping tomatoes with practiced ease, “you should go back. At least see your parents. They are great people, and they miss you.”
“They do,” I admitted softly. “They’re… amazing.”
Then I shot him a look. “But I already told you—you don’t get to order me around. You may be Alpha there, but here? You’re a guest in my kitchen.”
“Duly noted,” he said with a grin.
I glanced at his hands. “Those need to be diced.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted with the knife, then laughed.
As he reached around me to grab the bowl, his lips brushed the shell of my ear.
“I already told you,” he murmured, leaning close. “I know what you need. You should start trusting that I’m right. I’m a great leader.”
He returned to the tomatoes, but not before casually pointing the knife toward my thighs.
“You keep bottling her up—your wolf—it’s going to backfire. You’re not human, Alice. You can’t fake it forever. She’s going to claw her way out, whether you’re ready or not.”
My breath hitched. My pulse thudded in my ears. She was close.
“You’re right,” I whispered.
His head snapped up.
“I am?”
“Don’t let it go to your head.”
“Too late.”
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow at six. We’ll go for a run.”
“Wait, I never agreed—”
“You just did.”
He dropped the knife on the cutting board, leaned in just enough that his breath brushed my cheek.
“And when you run… she won’t want to go back in.”
He stepped away before I could reply.
My hands were still trembling.
