Chapter 194

Chapter 194
Ellie POV
I stood outside Alaric’s study, smoothing the front of my blouse anxiously before I knocked. There was really no reason to feel nervous. I had hardly slept last night and my conversation with Cassian had been both comforting and further complicated my feelings.
Maybe that was the reason that I was nervous about the unexpected summons from Alaric that had come this morning.
“Come in,” his familiar voice called.
He was seated behind the old oak desk, papers spread in neat rows, glasses perched low on his nose. He looked up when I entered, his expression softening instantly.
“Ellie,” he said warmly, motioning me inside. “I was just about to send Cassian to
find you.”
I smiled faintly. “I thought I’d save him the trouble.”
He gestured toward the chair opposite him. “Sit. There’s something we need to talk about.”
I took the seat, folding my hands in my lap. “You wanted to talk to me about something?”
Alaric nodded slowly, leaning back in his chair. “It’s past time the pack knew the truth. You’re my daughter, that’s not a rumor I intend to let the gossip mills twist for their own amusement.”
My breath caught at the word daughter. Even now, it felt fragile, too precious to touch.
“You want to make it official?” I asked carefully. “What exactly would that mean?”
“The rumors are already widespread. People have taken note of how much time you spend here. And how much time you spend with Cassian. It’s better not to let people get the wrong idea. I want to make an announcement about your identity. Let the people know that my daughter has finally come home.”
Alaric sat forward and watched my expression closely.
I leaned back in the chair and nodded slowly. “It makes sense. There are enough rumors flying around without letting this one get out of hand.”
“Exactly,” he said. “I would let go get a blood test done before we make the official announcement. Not because I doubt it, but because I know what this world can be. A public acknowledgment from me will protect you and the boys, but it will also raise questions. The council will want proof bloodlines, documents, anything they can file away to make sense of something they don’t understand.”
I frowned. “So the blood test is for them?”
Alaric’s eyes softened. “Yes. Not for me. I don’t need a test to tell me you’re mine. I want you to know that.”
The words hit her harder than I expected. Warmth bloomed in my chest, followed by a rush of emotion I could barely name.
“I knew it the first moment I saw you,” Alaric continued, his voice low. “You had her eyes. And when you looked at me, it was like seeing a ghost I’d been waiting my whole life to meet again.”
I blinked rapidly, trying to keep my composure. “It feels so strange to have a family after all this time. I’m not sure that I really have a place here in Moonstone anymore.”
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Chapter 194
+25 Bonus
His smile was sad but steady. “There’s no time limit on love, Ellie. Not a father’s. And certainly not the goddess’s. No matter where you go in life, you will always be my daughter.”
I looked down, tracing the grain of the wood beneath my fingertips. “It’s just… strange. I spent most of my life wondering if I even had a family. Now I have one and it’s almost too much to take in. Being married to an alpha is one thing, but being the child of one… it will change the way people look at me.”
Alaric nodded. “I imagine it is. But you don’t have to figure it all out today. We’ll take it slow. Just like you’re doing with the boys. None of this changes who you are, Ellie.”
At the mention of the twins, I felt my expression soften. “They’re growing fast. I keep waiting for it to slow down, but it doesn’t.”
“No, it never does. You blink and suddenly they’re grown. They’re lucky to have you as their mother. I see so much of you in them. They have your eyes,” Alaric said, smiling.
“You do?” My voice went quiet. “I only see Nolan when I look at them.”
That name changed the air between us, not sharply, but enough to make Alaric’s gaze sharpen with quiet understanding.
“You’ve been thinking about him,” he said.
>
I hesitated, then nodded. “I try not to, but it’s like he’s still here somehow. With the
boys. In the dreams. In the memories that keep coming back.”
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