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She snorts. “Says the man who fell asleep during patrol duty last week.”

“One time.”

“Twice.”

We stand there for a long while, listening to the quiet clatter of Noah rummaging through the pantry. My hand rests over hers on her belly, feeling the warmth of the life growing inside her.

Everything we lost and everything we feared…it’s behind us now.

We have a future. A family. A home.

I press a kiss to Alina’s temple, then her cheek, then her lips.

“I love you,” I murmur.

She smiles into the kiss. “I know. I’ve always known. Deep down.”

Noah barrels back into the room, crumbs on his face and zero guilt in his eyes. “I want to shift. When can I do it?”

“Soon,” I promise, laughing. “You’re still young.”

“Ugh,” he groans, flopping onto the couch. “Why does puberty take forever?”

Alina and I exchange a look. She shrugs.

“You can give him that speech,” she says under her breath. “That’s your fatherly duty.”

I just smile.

I’ll give him every speech. I’ll be there for every scraped knee, every shift, every full moon and fight and triumph.

Because this is the life I chose. The life we’re choosing to rebuild together.

And it’s everything I ever could have hoped for.