Chapter 78

**AUSTIN**

The moment I crossed the border into my pack’s territory, the ache in my chest deepened. She wasn’t here.
I hated this feeling. It clawed at me, an emptiness that no amount of duty or responsibility could fill. Aria was mine, my mate, and being apart from her felt like tearing a piece of myself away.

I exhaled sharply as I parked in front of the pack house. Wolves nodded in greeting as I passed, but I barely acknowledged them. My mind was elsewhere. 
With her.

The pack house felt colder than usual as I climbed the stairs to my office. I pushed the door open and stepped inside, rolling my shoulders to shake off the tension. My desk was just as I had left it—papers stacked neatly, a few reports awaiting my attention. I sank into my chair with a sigh, rubbing my hands over my face.

A knock on the door. “Come in.”

Garrett entered, his expression calm as always. My gamma was reliable, steady—a rock when everything else felt like shifting ground.

“Welcome back, Alpha,” he said, closing the door behind him.

I nodded. “Give me the rundown.”

Garrett stepped forward, clasping his hands behind his back. “Everything has been under control in your absence. No border disputes, no internal conflicts. Patrols report no unusual activity.”

“Good.” At least that was one thing I didn’t have to worry about.

A pause. Garrett hesitated before speaking again. “I assume you want an update on David.”

My jaw clenched. David.

My best friend. My beta. The man who had stood by my side through everything—until he lost the person he loved. Until the weight of betrayal and grief had
broken him.

Until Riley’s choices had cost us all too much.

I exhaled slowly. “How is he?”

Garrett hesitated. That told me everything I needed to know.

“He’s… worse,” he admitted. “He barely leaves his room. Doesn’t train. Doesn’t eat unless forced. He talks to Riley like she’s still here.”

My stomach twisted. I know what that looks like.

I swallowed hard, my grip tightening on the desk. “And his father?”

“He came by again this morning. He’s begging to take David with him. Says he can get him the help he needs on the West Coast.”

I closed my eyes, memories slamming into me like a punch to the gut.

I’d been here before.

I was just a boy when I watched my father slip away. After my mother died, he unraveled piece by piece. At first, it was grief. Then the whispers started—conversations with someone who wasn’t there, eyes staring at things no one else could see. The strong, unshakable Alpha I had once idolized became a shadow of himself.

I lost him long before he died.

And now… now I was watching the same thing happen to David.

I opened my eyes, my decision made.

I nodded once. “Let his father take him.”

Garrett studied me carefully. “You’re sure?”

I wasn’t. But I had to be.

“I won’t let him die in front of me,” I said quietly. “Not like my father did.”

Silence stretched between us. Garrett, ever perceptive, only nodded. “Understood.”

I exhaled, leaning back in my chair. “Until Adam and Aria move here permanently, I want you as my interim beta.”

Garrett straightened but didn’t look surprised. “And after that?”

“Adam will be my beta. You’ll stay my gamma.”

Another beat of silence. Then, Garrett gave me a firm nod. “I understand.”

For the first time since I left Aria behind, something in me settled. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t painless. But it was the right choice.

Even if it hurt like hell.

***

I sat at my desk, the dim glow of my laptop screen casting shadows across the room. The day had drained me, but sleep wasn’t an option. Too much on my mind.

When my phone buzzed, I didn’t even check the caller ID. I already knew who it was.

I swiped the screen, and there she was—Aria.

Her face filled my screen, warm and familiar. She was sitting cross-legged on a couch, hair loose around her shoulders, her expression soft. I exhaled, some of the tension in my chest easing just from seeing her.

“Hey,” she said, tilting her head. “You look tired.”

I huffed a quiet laugh. “Nice to see you too.”

She smirked. “Cassius and Leila brought some documents today. Alessandro Scava’s parchments, a family tree—stuff that goes back generations.”

That caught my attention. “Anything useful?”

She nodded. “Adam’s obsessed. Rosalie too. We’re all trying to piece together the prophecy, but it’s a lot.”

“Sounds like it.”

Her gaze softened. “How was your day?”

I hesitated. She must have noticed because she sighed. “You talked to David’s father.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “Yeah.”

“And?”

“I told him he could take David.” The words felt heavy. Final.

Aria studied me, her expression unreadable. “You did the right thing, Austin.”

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my desk. “Did I?”

“Yes.”

I scoffed. “We don’t know if David was innocent in all this. Riley lied to him, manipulated him, but what if he let himself be blind to it? What if he knew
something and didn’t say a damn word?”

Aria sighed. “We’ll never know for sure. But that’s not the point, is it?”

I clenched my jaw. “His father voted against me when I took back my title. If he had his way, I wouldn’t be Alpha right now.”

Aria didn’t even blink. “And yet, you still chose to help David.”

I said nothing.

She leaned closer to the camera, her voice softer. “That’s what makes you a real Alpha, Austin.”

I let out a slow breath, rubbing my temples. “The others might not see it that way.”

“They will.”

I wasn’t convinced. Perception was everything in a pack. If I looked weak, my enemies would take advantage of it.

Aria’s voice broke through my thoughts. “You would have regretted not taking the risk.”

I looked at her, meeting her steady gaze.

She was right.

Again.

“I miss you,” she admitted, a small smile playing at her lips. “When are you coming back?”

I exhaled. “I don’t know yet.”

Her smile faded slightly. “Your pack needs you.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“You’re worried if you leave now, it’ll be seen as weakness.”

She didn’t phrase it as a question, because she already knew the answer.

I swallowed hard. “I can’t afford to give them a reason to doubt me.”

She nodded slowly, but there was understanding in her eyes. “Then stay as long as you need to. Just don’t forget that you have a home waiting for you here.”

I held her gaze for a moment, then nodded. “I won’t.”

“Good.”

Silence stretched between us, comfortable despite the distance.

“I love you,” she murmured.

Some of the weight on my shoulders lifted. “I love you too.”
And for the first time all day, I felt like I could breathe again.