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She freezes and stares at me.

“What?” she whispers, hoarsely.

“Cleo, right? Your daughter? The next future Seer?”

Her eyes widen even further as realization dawns on her face. "No..." she whispers, taking a step back. "But how? How did you find out?" the words tumble out of her mouth in a rush.

“I have my ways,” I reply evenly, my gaze steady and unflinching.

Yelena blinks rapidly, trying to hold back the tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.

I reach for her, but she shies away from my touch.

“Yelena, please,” I ask. “Just tell me. Is she mine?”

My own heart is threatening to pound out of my chest as I wait for her answer. I think I know the answer, but I need to hear her say it. To confirm it.

Cleo is mine.

“No,” she chokes out, tears glistening in her eyes. “No.”

She stumbles backward, crashing into the end table and knocking a vase to the ground in her haste to get away from me.

“I’m leaving,” she whispers, before shifting and bounding through the door. “Don’t follow me, Austin. Just…let me go.”

I watch, frozen in place, as she leaves me once again. My heart is pounding, and my wolf is keening in my chest.

I lost her once. I willnotlose her again. I can’t.

With shaking hands, I grab my phone and shoot off a text to Vincent. Preparations will need to be made because I’m going to the city and I’m not coming back without her. Not this time.

Chapter Nineteen

Yelena

I lock my car with a click of my keys and hurry toward the building. For the first time since I started at Ruby Clinic, I’m late.

Cleo had another vivid dream last night and neither one of us got much sleep. At least it wasn’t a nightmare this time. The worry I have that she will have an episode or a vision during the day or when I’m not with her remains ever present.

She told me she dreamed of an old woman who smelled like lavender and who lived in a little cottage in the woods. Unlike the other dreams, this one felt strange but comforting. She said the old woman smiled at her and told her to be brave and that she would see her at home. There was a big black wolf that looked at her, and then they played together. He showed her the woods, and they ran in a large meadow with wildflowers. When she was tired, she laid down and the big black wolf laid down next to her, keeping her safe. When she woke up, she was in her bed.

I reassured her the best I knew how, but, as I held her close, I knew the truth.

She dreamed of Callie and the Pack…and Austin. There was no one else she could have been describing. The big black wolf who protects her. My heart feels like it’s being squeezed into pieces.

If Callie is appearing in her dreams, that means her prophecy must be correct. Cleo is the new Seer, and my heart simply aches at that fact.

How will I tell her? She doesn’t even know about her wolf yet. Or the pack. It’s too much!

And then there’s Austin…

My mind is muddled as I hurry across the parking lot. It’s been seven days since I left pack lands and came home to the city.

Seven days since we completed Callie’s Farewell Rites, Austin ascended to Alpha, broke off his engagement, and declared his love for me.And admitted he knew about Cleo.

I shiver. It all seems so surreal. The last week has been full of planning, research, and worry. I’ve spent every free hour pouring through Callie’s old letters for clues about what I should do next. When I’m not thinking about Callie or Cleo, I’m thinking about Austin.

Seeing him again….it was a lot. I knew it would be difficult, but I never could have expected the way things went down.Or the way he kissed me.