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But I never stop running.

Not when I hear Julian telling his guards not to shoot me and certainly not when I hear the heavy footsteps behind us gaining on me.

I’ll survive.

My baby and I are getting out of here.

“Lila!” Julian’s roar scares the birds from the trees.

“How far do you think you can go?” he shouts again, making sure to add a cruel chuckle to his words so I can hear him loud and clear.

“Get them!” Julian’s command pierces the air like a bullet. “Find her! Don’t let them get far!”

His voice no longer pretends to charm, it’s desperation now. And fury.

Goddess, please…please help me.

The Goddess doesn’t hear me.

No.

She betrays me, because I collide with a huge wall of muscle that without a doubt belongs to Julian or his guards.

My knees buckle, my vision blurs, and for a single terrifying second, I think it’s over. That Lina and I are back into Julian’s arms.

But that’s before the man in front of me speaks.

“Wild one.”

My breathing slows.

His voice is low and broken, like gravel soaked in honey.

His palm cups my cheek gently as if I’m something precious, like someone he didn’t expect to run into.

And then I smell it—him. Pine and warmth, cedar and safety.

My wolf howls with recognition.

My knees give out entirely, and I sob into his chest as his other arm wraps around Lina and I, holding both of us like he won’t ever let us break again.

“I’m here, wild one. You are safe, I’ve got you both.”

He’s here. My Mate is here. And the world finally feels like it’s right again.

Chapter Twenty-Five

ALARIC HELLS

“Alaric.” The woman in front of me exhales my name like it’s a damn lifeline.

She stumbles forward, Lina still clinging to her neck, her tiny arms wrapped tight around her mother’s shoulders. And fuck if I don’t catch them both—Lila and Lina—like my whole world depends on it, because it does. I cradle them against me like they belong there. Because they do. They always have.

She’s here. I’ve got her. I’ve got them both. And I’m never letting them go.

I hold them so tightly I’m afraid I might crush them, but I can’t let go. Not yet.

Not after everything.