Third Person's POV The airport was alive with movement, the mingled scents of unfamiliar packs drifting through the air. Aysel stood on her toes, scanning the crowd as wolves and humans alike passed by in steady streams. "Aysel!" A bright, fearless voice cut through the noise, followed immediately by a crushing embrace. Skylar swept in like a gust from the northern ranges, pulling Aysel into her arms. Pushing her sunglasses up with one finger, Skylar grinned. "Your girl is finally back. Come on-tonight's on me. We drink until even the moon spins." Then she remembered something and tilted her chin. "Oh, and the thing you wanted? I brought it back for you. Your Alpha already sent his people to take it." Aysel smiled and nodded. "Thanks for the trouble." Skylar lifted her chin proudly. "Of course. Who else but your sister?" Her gaze flicked around instinctively, sharp as a wolf's. "So? Your Alpha didn't assign anyone to watch you?" Aysel jingled the keys in her hand. "Tonight is girls' time." Skylar whistled low. "Now that's proper pack loyalty." Aysel drove Skylar back to the Cross estate first. To keep the Frostfang Pack's old Alpha from being stripped bare by his silver-tongued, so-called white-moonlight mate and her greedy son, Skylar had never moved out. Three days meant a small fight, five days a big one-but she stayed. Blood mattered in a wolf pack. As the only legitimate heir, Skylar held the advantage. Arguments were battles she always won. Seeing Aysel escort Skylar home, the Frostfang Luna-who had intended to give her stepdaughter a warning lesson-swiftly tugged her aggressive son aside and curved her attitude into something softer. "Skylar, you're back," she said with forced warmth. "We prepared all your favorite dishes. And Miss Vale, please stay as well."The Frostfang Alpha nodded eagerly. "Aysel, you and Skylar haven't seen each other in ages. Stay tonight-keep her company." Privately, he felt smug. He had failed to rein in his rebellious daughter, but at least he hadn't stopped her from befriending Aysel Vale. Now Frostfang had brushed against Shadowbane's shadow. Even the thought made his tail want to wag. The dream lasted only a heartbeat. Skylar cut it down mercilessly. "No thanks. I'm worried your mate might poison me. We're eating out." The Frostfang Alpha's smile froze. Aysel added calmly, "Skylar and I already met abroad. The one who hasn't seen his daughter for a long time should be you, Alpha Cross. Though I suppose someone else's son smells sweeter-no one covets their own daughter." The family of three stiffened, expressions turning vivid and ugly. The Alpha rubbed his nose awkwardly. It wasn't that he didn't care for his daughter-she and his mate simply clashed like rival wolves. One word of concern from him earned ten sharp retorts from Skylar. As for the Frostfang Luna, she cursed silently. She had known it-anyone who could run with Skylar Cross was no harmless sheep. Once again playing black-and-white demons in the Frostfang household, the two young she-wolves retreated to Skylar's room and slapped palms together. After Skylar stowed her luggage and showered, they roared off in a sports car, laughter cutting through the night air. But they had barely sat down at the restaurant when an unwelcome presence appeared. Ivy. She had waited a long time for Aysel-who rarely left home-to step out, and tonight, Magnus Sanchez was not by her side. Ivy looked at the younger she-wolf before her, seeing overlapping shadows: herself and Raya, Olivia of Darkmoon and Aysel-similar paths, yet utterly different ends. Through a few carefully pulled strings, Ivy had learned what truly happened on the yacht. She knew Olivia had been taken away by Magnus's people in the end.At last, she understood why Ulric Sanchez had returned defeated and shaken. They had been wrong from the start. Magnus had not acted because of old-generation grudges. He had acted because of Aysel Vale. Even when she came to beg, Ivy was impeccably dressed, her back straight, the pride of decades etched into her bones. She would never allow herself to appear weak. "So," Aysel said with a faint smile, "you want to trade everything you own for me to persuade Magnus to let Doctor Kian treat Olivia?" What a devoted mother. Even someone as stubborn and domineering as Ivy had moments of collapse. Aysel didn't hold back against someone who had delivered herself so neatly. "I'm not interested in your wealth," she said softly. "But there is one thing only you can do." Ivy's heart shuddered. A realization dragged her downward, cold and heavy. "What do you want?" Aysel met her gaze steadily. "Tomorrow morning. Eight o'clock. Come with me to one place." The next day was drowned in rain. At exactly eight, two cars stopped at the gates of Memorial Grounds, a resting place claimed by ancient ley lines and guarded by stone wolves. Magnus stepped out first, opening a black umbrella before turning to help Aysel down. She cradled white blossoms in her arms. Behind them stood Ivy, her face paler than the jade magnolias Aysel held. Silent, she followed the pair upward. The long flight of stone steps seemed endless. Every step demanded all her strength. Raya and her parents rested at the highest point of the grounds, where the land's spiritual current was strongest. Magnus and Aysel stepped forward first. Aysel placed the flowers before the headstones. As always, she spoke softly, telling them about Magnus's recent days-how he'd been busy, how he clung too tightly to her, how he disrupted her painting. She even asked them, half-smiling, to visit her dreams and tell Magnus to behave himself. Magnus stood quietly beside her, holding the umbrella, listening with a gentle smile. In the howling wind and pouring rain, the scene was warm-like a family reunion, casual and intimate, as though blood and bond had never been severed by death. Ivy's grip on her umbrella trembled. She knew Magnus had defied Ulric and moved Raya's grave out of the Sanchez ancestral grounds. But she had never asked where he took her. Alive or dead, Raya was still the woman Ivy least wanted to face. When Aysel finished speaking, she finally turned to Ivy, who stood rigid at the side. "The Darkmoon Pack loves you," Aysel said evenly. "And you love them. The same was true for Raya's family. Her parents adored her. They only wanted to take their daughter away from you-to let her live a peaceful life." She paused, her voice calm and sharp. "But even such a simple wish was destroyed by your cruelty." The deaths of Raya's parents had been labeled accidents. But no wolf truly believed there had been no Darkmoon claws involved. If Ulric refused to divorce Raya, then Darkmoon would shatter their bond entirely. If they could not separate, they would ensure there was no reconciliation. So many lives had paved the road for Ivy's love. Ivy's face drained of color. Rain soaked into her clothes, yet she felt colder still. "You likely have nothing worth saying here," Aysel continued. "So today, I don't need your repentance. I don't need your apology." She looked toward the graves. "All I want is this: in front of each member of the Raya family, you will kneel-and knock your head to the stone one hundred times for each of them." The rain fell harder, drumming against stone and bone alike.