The next morning didn’t meet me with any rush to start the day, just like the one before.

Again, I lay curled up on my old bed, the same one I’d slept in as a teenager, staring at the bright square of light spilling through the window and across the garden.

It was softer than the light on the island, not so arctic and clear. Mellow, green and gold, piercing through the trees.

It was already past ten, and I was silently refusing to get up. I didn’t want to talk to my parents or my brothers. The initial excitement of being home had faded completely, the endorphin rush had worn off, and now my head was filled with nothing but… Minty.

Physically, I was conserving energy. Mentally, I was burning through all of it, trying to push his image out of my mind. But it was hard.

For some reason, I thought about Logan too, my high school crush. Funny, I still remembered how he dyed his hair blue. There was something about it that charmed me, even back then. I guess I’d always been into that rebellious look, maybe because I was always so… stiff myself.

But of course, I also remembered how he turned me down, calling me an ‘albino beta’. Then I walked away from the school parking lot, furious and gutted, my self-worth shattered.

Looking back now… that rejection felt so empty. Like something scribbled in a childhood diary, stripped of meaning— meaning it never should have had. And yet, the anger and resentment I’d carried back then… had broken something inside me.

Closed me off. Shut down my heart. Made me hate making the first move.

Made me afraid to show that I had wants, needs, desires.

It crippled me. And it was still here, holding me back now.

My eyes wandered toward the phone, the display dark and silent.

One call, and I could hear his voice.

Sariel.

If I wasn’t such a fucking… ME .

I pressed a hand to my chest, feeling the steady rhythm beneath my palm, searching for the strength to do it. To be bold enough…

Then, suddenly, I heard another sound.

A knock on my door.

Not wanting to get caught lying in bed, I quickly got up and opened it.

My dad was standing there.

His face held that same endless joy, that same look of disbelief he’d worn since I came home, like he still couldn’t believe I was really here. His smile stretched wide, and his turquoise eyes were shining.

"Winter, sweetheart… I didn’t want to wake you earlier, but Finn is here. He wants to talk to you."

"Uh… what? Finn?" I blinked.

"Yeah. I figured I’d check with you first. I know this is a lot, and if you’re not up for it, he said he totally understands."

A little flustered, I sighed. "I’ll talk to him, Dad. It’s fine."

Then I forced a smile. I didn’t feel even a flicker of enthusiasm at the prospect of seeing Finn. I’d rather meet someone with mint-green freckles.

"Just let me freshen up first."

I washed my face, brushed my teeth, got dressed, taking my time with everything.

My head felt blank. I wasn’t feeling anything at all.

Then I headed downstairs to the living room, where Finn was waiting.

No one else was there. My parents had discreetly given us space.

Finn looked… Wow.

Completely different from how I remembered him.

He looked… bigger? Broad shoulders. And… what the hell? His neck glands were swollen.

What was going on? His scent… wait, why was I so acutely aware of his scent? It was unfamiliar. New. Different.

My nose inhaled before I even realized it.

Then it hit me.

Finn and I… we were Half Mates! I just suddenly knew it. It felt obvious, like, I guess, every alpha and omega just knew. The knowledge wasn’t a thought, it was suddenly part of how I sensed people, as if it had always been there.

And that intensity… wow. My instincts, long dormant in my beta body, had suddenly snapped awake, quivering and stretching inside me.

"Finn?"

"Winter!"

He looked just as stunned as I was, blinking, inhaling.

But he recovered quickly and pulled me into a hug.

God, his grip was strong. His muscles tensed under his jacket, solid and powerful. How was this even possible? It had only been a month and a half since I last saw him, but the change was incredible.

And that scent… now, with my face pressed against him, it hit me full force.

I’d never noticed anything particular about his natural scent before, nothing beyond his usual cologne, but now Finn smelled like… an alpha.

Since I came back—even in the chopper, the plane, the airport—I’d had the sense that everyone reeked, like my sense of smell had gone haywire. I convinced myself it was probably just sensory overload.

My heightened senses, so used to nature, were freaking out. That was a good enough explanation, right?

Even though asking, "Why do you smell so weird?" felt totally awkward, I couldn’t help it. The curiosity was killing me.

"What happened to your glands?" I mumbled, trying to make it sound a little less blunt.

Finn burst out laughing. "Wow, only you could survive a plane crash, come back from the dead, and have your first question be about my glands!"

I grimaced. "Well, I already know everything about the crash. But I don’t know anything about your glands," I muttered sarcastically, breaking away from his hug and dropping onto the couch.

He wasn’t the one I wanted holding me.

"Isn’t it obvious, Winter? I met my True Mate."

I flinched, turning my face away toward the patio. It felt like he’d smacked me over the head, or splashed me with icy water, and I needed a second to collect myself.

"Liam?"

"Yes."

What was I supposed to say, except to force out:

"Oh. Wow. Well… congratulations. That’s pretty rare for betas, isn’t it?"

My words sounded so vague. So neutral. So… safe. I was clearly putting a wall up between his situation and mine. Potentially similar… but still, it was all I could manage.

Finn studied me, eyes narrowed. He’d always been a good psychologist, too good, really. He saw more than I ever wanted him to.

"Yeah… a miracle. He turned out to be my fated. I’m undergoing a hormonal transformation into an alpha. Or to be precise, a beta presenting as an alpha, with full alpha traits."

That was… surreal, so I cleared my throat, trying to buy myself a moment.

"So that means… Liam’s becoming an omega?"

"Yeah. That’s how it works."

That almost begged the question—was it just Liam, or was someone else turning into an omega too… or maybe into some other kind of hybrid altogether?

Finn’s nostrils twitched again, taking in my scent. That’s when I realized, I’d forgotten to spray myself with my scent-masking deodorant.

Fuck.

"And you?" he asked tentatively. "What’s going on with you?"

"What do you mean by that?" I mumbled, defensively.

"First, before we get into that, I just want to say, I’m really glad you’re alive." He’d gone formal now. "What you went through was horrific. I know your family suffered. And I know now, you suffered too."

"Thanks," I whispered, feeling awkward, desperate to end that topic right there.

"But beyond that… Winter, are you pregnant?"

It didn’t register at first.

Then my eyes bulged. What, what, what?

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I practically yelled.

"You smell like you’re pregnant. I know that scent. Liam’s… expecting too."

I blinked, hard. Swallowed.

Okay. That’s a lot. Double news. Wait, no, it was dumb. Stop. Hold the thought, Winter.

"Well, congratulations!" I tossed it out so lightly, it almost came off as rude. "I know you always wanted that. But with all due respect, I don’t think you’ve quite adjusted to your new alpha nose yet," I concluded dryly. "Because clearly, you’re having some serious olfactory hallucinations."

Finn frowned, eyes scanning my face. He hesitated. Like I said, Finn was a damn good psychologist. He knew what to say to calm down a twitchy, traumatized plane crash survivor.

"Yeah… maybe. The scents are still overwhelming. Honestly, it sucks, everyone smells so much stronger now. Most people stink."

I exhaled, relieved.

"You’re just in the adjustment stage, right? Everyone can make a mistake. But I admit, ever since I got back, my sense of smell’s been all over the place too. Must be from living in nature too long, everyone smells so intense to me now. I can even guess the level of mateship."

Finn stared at me, mouth slightly open, like he was talking to someone clearly delusional.

"Hmm…" he said cautiously. "I’ve never heard of nature enhancing someone’s sense of smell to that degree."

"Well, apparently, it did in my case," I muttered evasively.

And there it was again, that quiet, analytical pause as he studied me.

Poor Finn. He had to handle me like I was cracked porcelain. I knew he thought I was in denial. About a lot of things. (And I was.) But I just… didn’t want to go there.

Eventually, he gave up. He cleared his throat.

"So… tell me what happened."

"You probably read about it in the papers. No point in repeating it."

"Yeah, but it’s a miracle, you know. No one survives a fall from that height."

"From what I understand, I owe my life to Snow and Summer. You know… the omega who lives with my parents now. He has telekinesis, and Snow helped him focus his power on us just in time to stop the fall. That’s all I’ve got."

"Wow, sounds like magic. Your brother’s incredible. Are he and this… Summer a thing?"

I shrugged. "Nah, I don’t think so. Summer has serious trauma. But I don’t know. Snow’s not one to gossip."

"I always thought Snow was kinda creepy," Finn muttered with an awkward laugh.

"He is kind of creepy. But he’s a damn good brother," I added quietly. "He saved my life."

In those first hours after coming back, I had tried to thank them again, but Summer ran off to his room for the second time, and Snow didn’t say a word.

Finn nodded, then hesitated for a moment before suddenly asking, "And what about Sariel?"

I flinched slightly at the sound of his name. Slightly being an understatement.

"Have you talked to him since you got back?"

My jaw clenched so hard it ached. It had been three days since we set foot on the mainland, and I hadn’t exchanged a single text with Minty.

With difficulty, I admitted, "We haven’t been in contact yet."

Finn was scanning me again with that sharp, penetrating gaze.

"You have feelings for him?"

A surge of irritation welled up inside me. Finn and his directness. Maybe I liked it? In him and not only in him… But now it felt too… personal.

"This is way more complicated than anything that can be answered in one line," I dodged the question.

But he was watching me way too intently for me to just slip out of answering.

"Winter, what happened between you two on that island?"

I muttered a curse under my breath. I really didn’t want to talk about it, even though I knew it could be good for me, potentially forcing me to confront it, or at least start making sense of it in my own head. These past two days, I’d been doing mental gymnastics to avoid the issue, to downplay it… But I simply wasn’t ready.

"I don’t know what you want me to say," I growled, staring at my hands.

"Did you sleep with him?"

"Oh my God, Finn, seriously? That’s your opening question?"

"Well, you started by asking about my glands, so I feel like I have a free pass to do just that."

"I don’t want to talk about what happened on the island," I snapped, even though I knew painfully well that shutting down wasn’t going to help me. It would only push me deeper into denial.

Finn shifted closer, and I instinctively shrank back, not wanting him to touch me.

But Finn wasn’t planning on that. He had his True Mate, after all. He just leaned in, peering into my face.

"What happened on that island, Winter?"

"A lot! Too much! Way too much, Finn, and I don’t—I can’t make sense of it all yet!" I groaned.

"Do you have feelings for him?" he repeated.

"Even if I do, it doesn’t matter. We’re back in the real world, where everything is complicated again. It’s not just the island and us anymore."

Finn didn’t say anything, but his presence alone created… space inside me. Space to… think about it without so much panic.

And then, before I could stop myself, it slipped out.

"Who the hell am I, that someone like him would choose me? He has options—so many options…"

"Do you love him?"

I rolled my eyes. I hated being cornered like this.

"That’s a strong word. I just don’t know how our lives are supposed to fit together now. You know me, I don’t rush things. I don’t make grand confessions. Maybe that makes me lose out on a lot in life. Maybe I don’t know how to reach for what I want, but this time… this time, I just don’t know if he would even want that."

"You don’t know how he feels?"

"The psychologist said it’s just codependency. Sariel probably understood that we got close because we had no choice. It would’ve happened with anyone. If I’d ended up stranded with Jacob, the situation might have looked the same."

"You really think there’s nothing unique about you and Sariel? That your bond is just some random connection forged by extreme circumstances?"

A sharp pain spread through my chest. I thought of all those moments, when we lay side by side, when Sariel wrapped his arm around me… those quiet, warm hours.

"I want to believe he feels something too. But how much of that is real? And would it last?"

"Maybe you should ask him."

A warning bell went off in my head. I felt a massive wall of resistance rise inside me.

"I couldn’t put him in that position. It would be a pressure. That’s not okay. He’s young. He has his whole life ahead of him. He still has so much to experience before he decides who he wants to be with."

Finn let out a bitter laugh. Then, suddenly, he stood up and went toward the patio door.

Staring at the lake, he said, "You know, I’m in a similar situation. Liam never had sex before. I could torture myself with the thought that maybe he’d want to go out and sow his wild oats before settling down. But I refuse to believe that people can only be happy if they fuck a hundred guys before settling down."

"But it’s just that… if he were more experienced, he could make a more informed choice about what he truly wants."

Finn snorted. "Do you really think that having more choices makes it easier to decide? You become picky. ‘I’ll take this personality trait from alpha #1, that feature from omega #2, and the dick size from alpha #58’—and then piece together this perfect, imaginary person. But if you don’t find someone who ticks every single box, you’re never satisfied. And happiness is never about chasing perfection. It’s about learning how to appreciate the good things you already have." He tapped his temple. "Happiness, more than anything else, is a deliberate choice."

"I do understand that, Finn," I sighed, feeling exhausted. "Sure, too many experiences can mess with your head, and nothing feels special anymore. But the issue is… Sariel might not see it that way, Finn. For a fresh-out-of-college kid, it’s just ‘boomer talk’. The world is a hunting ground, full of dicks and holes he could make use of."

Finn straightened up, his eyes flickering with amusement. "But from what you told me before, he didn’t do it while he was in college, so maybe it’s just not in his character. Stop torturing yourself over nothing. If he wanted to mess around, he would’ve done it by now."

A headache started pounding at my temples.

"There’s something else… Sariel is from a rich family. He’ll always be in the spotlight, surrounded by attention. There will be omegas interested in a rich heir. They’ll question his choice, say things like, ‘Really? That’s the best you could do? Just an older albino beta?’"

Finn shut his eyes tightly.

"Winter, that’s excuse after excuse. And you’re overthinking. Don’t talk about yourself like you’re some third-rate option. You’re fucking gorgeous and sexy as hell. You know I’ve always wanted you, and I did a lot of stupid shit because I knew I couldn’t have you for real. Don’t put yourself down like that. You’re smart, talented, and a good person."

I shot up from my seat, emotions buzzing through me. It was just too much.

"Finn, I appreciate what you’re trying to do here, but I’m just not ready to talk to Sariel."

Finn was silent for a moment, his gaze drifting to the lake, visible down the gentle slope of my parents' garden.

"When are you going back to work?"

"I think in two days."

"Seriously? That soon?"

"What else am I supposed to do?" I scoffed. "Sit in my childhood bedroom, staring at old band posters, reminiscing about how my classmates used to make fun of me, calling me ‘Snowman’? And just drown in depression and hopelessness?"

"That depression might find you either way, Winter. What you went through was a major life event, a real shock to your body and mind. Downplaying it, pretending nothing happened… that’s not going to do you any favors."

"Work will help me focus. Help me get back to normal."

Finn glanced toward the exit, like he’d decided the visit was over. From the look on his face, he thought I was a lost cause, but he was doing his best not to show it. He placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Don’t let this slip away, Winter. This could be something really valuable, and you might let it pass you by. And I don’t believe in that codependency bullshit. I know you had feelings for him before the island. This didn’t just start out of nothing."

Then he gave a small shrug and said,

"But just so you know, I’m really glad you’re alive, Winter. When I heard about the crash, it hit me like a truck. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t have Liam. It wasn’t easy. I kept thinking how unfair it was… that someone as valuable as you was lying at the bottom of the ocean, never getting the chance to—"

He hesitated for a second before finishing,

"—fall in love."

I took a step back, his words hitting me right in the heart, a knife sinking deep. I pressed a hand to my chest, as if that could ease the ache.

Finn gave me a sad smile, raised his hand in farewell, and turned to leave.

Breathing shallowly, I stood there in the middle of the room, watching him go, feeling even more lost than when he’d arrived. He truly messed with my head.

What the hell should I do?

A moment later, my dad walked into the room.

His gentle face turned toward me as he approached, looking me straight in the eyes. I felt his comforting presence wrap around me.

But the moment his gaze landed on my face, he knew I was all over the place. He wound his arm around my waist and led me to the patio, where we could sit on the rattan sofa.

All my problems seemed less heavy with him near me, as if he was taking some of the weight off. His turquoise eyes were on me the whole time—watching, understanding.

Maybe this was a good moment to say it, since no one else was around.

Something I never, ever dared to say.

To anyone.

"I love you," I whispered. It was officially the first time in my life I’d ever said those words to anyone. But I didn’t want it to stop there…

Maybe… I could tell it to someone else one day?

"I know. I feel it. I always feel you, Winnie."

I snorted in amusement. "Am I such an open book?"

"Not at all. Not to people around you, they all think you’re closed off. But not to me. I can see… your heart."

Those words made quite an impression on me, my hand once more wandering toward my chest. The painful memory flashed in front of me, the day I crawled across the frozen beach, and the muffled sound of my heart was the only thing telling me I was still alive.

My dad noticed my painful grimace and leaned in a bit, saying quietly,

"I could feel you there, you know? I knew you were alive. I felt your suffering, Winnie… I knew you were hungry and freezing. I dreamed about it every single night—how cold you were, wading in those awful waves, searching and almost never finding those clams…"

My eyes filled with unwanted tears. My voice trembled.

"So you knew?" I couldn’t believe it. "You knew how hard it was for me? How I struggled to gather those damn clams? How cold that water was? I was shaking so badly, but I couldn’t stop… because if I did, we’d die…"

"I knew, son," he whispered, his voice breaking. "You weren’t alone. I knew how much it cost you. I know how much you endured. I only wish I could’ve been there with you in person. I wish I could’ve helped more."

His words made something click inside me.

"Sariel did."

Silence. My dad’s hands gently rubbed my arm, but I kept going.

"He… saved me. He came for me and dragged me off that beach when I was barely alive. Then he went on a journey to the other side of the island to find us food. He nearly died trying to collect eggs. And when the volcano erupted, he… he pulled me out of that collapsing cave. He tried so hard to lift the rock crushing me that he started bleeding from his nose… he gave it all in."

"That’s… beautiful, son. I’m forever in his debt, for he saved my treasure." Dad’s voice was warm. "It’s a wonderful thing, to be cared for like that. Sariel… he means a lot to you, doesn’t he?"

Dad tilted his head slightly, looking into my eyes.

A single tear rolled down my cheek, but I fought the need to wipe it away, refusing to be embarrassed by it. Because who, if not him, would understand?

"He does," I admitted. "The question is… do I mean that much to him?"

"Maybe that’s a question you need to ask him. Perhaps right now, he’s asking himself the exact same thing, especially since there’s this… silence between you two."

He was right. What if Sariel was struggling with the same doubts?

What if he thought I didn’t want anything to do with him anymore?

I remembered how he’d tried to smile at me. A few times. How he’d looked at me on the plane, waiting for a sign. And how I’d responded with a blank, indifferent face.

Then he called after me. But I ignored him again.

"The psychologist thinks it’s just codependency. That what we had on the island wasn’t real. Just desperation." I swallowed hard. "But to me… it felt so damn real."

"Maybe for him too? I know the psychologist told you all of this, but does that change the fact that you actually felt those emotions? During wars, people lived through nightmares, and the relationships that formed in those times often proved stronger than the ones built during easier days, when life didn’t test them as much. So maybe you don’t have to analyze it, break it apart psychologically, and strip those emotions of their authenticity, their value, and, most of all, their lasting meaning."

His eyes locked onto mine, as if he were trying to look straight into my soul.

"If they wish, psychologists can see pathology in everything. That’s their job, to find problems and offer you solutions. Everything can have an unhealthy side. There are plenty of psychologists who think True Mate bonds are unhealthy. Should I care?"

I sighed and lowered my head. "Dad… I’m older than him. I don’t know if it’s right for me to chase after him, trying to convince him of anything."

"Chase after him? Is this about pride, Winter? Or about love? About doing what’s right? Don’t look at it like a matter of honor. And did you ever consider that maybe you don’t need to convince him of anything? That maybe he’s already sure of what he wants?"

"He called my name, you know? Just before we were separated in the airplane. And I ignored him."

Dad’s gentle eyes were on me, no judgment. Just support.

"I’m going to lie down, Dad. I feel awful," I whispered.

He placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I can feel it, Winnie. Just how deeply sad you are. How much you miss him, suffer… it eats at you."

He said it in a particular way, putting emphasis on the word suffer , like he was trying to highlight it, draw my attention to it, but I wasn’t in the mood to guess what he meant.

Sighing deeply, I slowly turned away, left him there, and went to my room to lie down on the bed.

The dreaded emptiness was back, and it wrapped itself around me. Heavy, overwhelming. The kind I didn’t want to exist in anymore. And when I closed my eyes, I saw them: those laughing, mint-green eyes.

I found myself smiling at the image, involuntarily.

That was the only thing getting me through another night alone.

***

Two days later, I went back to work. The moment I walked through the door, I was met with applause, handshakes from my employees and fellow executives. They even threw a small welcome-back party in my honor. Jacob wasn’t present, he was still away on business, negotiating with government officials, securing the contract for the Strong Start app.

Everyone called it a miracle, said it was unbelievable that I had been rescued after such a catastrophic crash. They said it was like something out of a movie and bombarded me with questions about what it was like, how I survived. I answered carefully, keeping it diplomatic and small-talk-friendly.

But Sariel wasn’t there.

Did he need more time to recover? To ease back into work, into the gray normalcy of everyday life?

What happened next was a bit awkward. Since I was reclaiming my previous position, Manager Lorens had to step down. Thankfully, he didn’t seem upset about it. I got the impression that running the department had been too much for him. He didn’t have the right personality for it, he got caught up in minor details easily, and he hated making reports and evaluations.

The other problem was, Lorens was basically forced to share duties with Manager Durden, and they weren’t the smoothest team, having rather opposite personalities.

But he’d done a decent job leading the Beta Activation Program’s app development, so I didn’t have much catching up to do there.

A little while later, my Japanese business contacts reached out to me, offering their condolences for everything that had happened and expressing their hopes that our collaboration would continue.

I quickly reassured them that everything was fine. Even if it wasn’t.

Because I missed Sariel.

But I played my part. Smiled. Acted normal. Just like always.

***

The next day passed quickly.

And that ache inside me only grew, like an unrelenting tide.

Then came the third day. Even more ordinary. Even more routine. As if I hadn’t been missing for close to a month.

The corporate machine roared back to life, and I got swept up in it. Reports, meetings, discussions with department heads, planning conferences. The usual grind.

I was afraid to ask people from HR about Sariel, was he going to be back at work soon?

And I was glad Jacob wasn’t there during those transitional days, because I was too afraid his son’s name would be brought up, that he’d see it in my eyes, the desperate need to see Sariel. And he wouldn’t approve.

No way in hell. Sure, he gave me my job back. But would he have been so generous if he knew the full extent of what had really happened on that island?

Or… did he already know?

I worked like a machine. Half of my mind focused on my responsibilities as a director. The other half curled up inside me, small, miserable, and still trapped on that goddamn island.

As if the island had taken a part of me. As if it had changed me forever.

Turned me into someone who longed for the scent of mint. Who wanted to look into minty, smiling eyes…

No. No, I couldn’t think about this again. And yet, I couldn’t stop.

It was sick and sweet and painful and bitter and everything at once.

Was it possible that after all these years of avoiding it… I had finally fallen in love?

Like a lunatic, I kept trying to tell myself the psychologists were right. That it was just codependency.

But my heart—

My heart said no.

My heart protested.

My heart demanded.

My heart ached.

That traitor pounded in my chest. A traitor to the life I had carefully built.

Sometimes I felt anger.

And sometimes I felt gratitude.

Because maybe, just maybe, it was only because of this traitor that I was still a living, breathing human being. And not just in the literal sense.

***

Then came the fourth day.

And it was even worse. Gradually, I was sinking.

My entire body started to ache. Every cell in me throbbed with pain, growing worse than anything I had ever felt before.

A crushing, suffocating pain.

Sariel… where are you, baby?

I went home, collapsed into bed. Didn’t shower. Didn’t eat. Half of me was missing. It’s not like I gave up instantly. I tried to fight it. I really did. With logic and reason. I argued with myself, explained that I was being irrational, pitiful, like a love-struck puppy…

So silly. So embarrassing.

But it was stronger than me.

Every day… I kept going. Still stuck in machine mode, in corporate autopilot. On the fourth day, I dragged myself to work, forced a smile, did everything I was supposed to do.

The only thing that kept me going was the thought that tomorrow was Friday.

At least then I had the weekend to try to pull myself together.

But who was I kidding? That wasn’t possible. Not without seeing Sariel.