Lorien POV

Avaline had left after our talk, refusing the invitation to join us for dinner. She said she wanted to spend the night with her boys, and the way her shoulders slumped as she walked away left a weight in my chest I couldn’t shake. It was irrational, maybe, but guilt still crawled under my skin.

The truth was, I hadn’t even known I carried Fae blood until today. And even now, I wasn’t sure I believed it. Everything felt unreal, too fast for my mind to keep up. I hadn’t had a ...