Chapter 467

Talia’s POV

The first thing I noticed was that I liked it here.

It felt strange. Every room looked like I had chosen it myself. The colors, the heavy curtains, the low furniture, and the reading chair in the sunny corner were all things I would pick. Even the hallways felt right. I waited for something to feel wrong, but everything fit.

“Who decorated?” I asked, glancing around the room.

“You chose the main rooms, the colors, where everything goes. You spent your first year here rearranging everything,” Nolan explained. “You said it was no longer a lonely bachelor’s pad.”

“Was it?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, you were right,” Nolan agreed, giving me a small smile.

He led me out the back and into the rose garden. This was where I had hidden when I first woke up.

“This too?” I asked, looking at the garden.

“Yes,” Nolan confirmed, staying back and letting me walk ahead. “You once told me your father’s garden at Silverfang was the only place you could really think. You wanted to make something like that here.”

I walked between the rows of roses until I found the deep purple ones. Those were his favorites, the kind he used to grow. I stood in the middle of the garden I had planted for him, knelt down, and picked a rose.

Holding it, I whispered, “I miss you, Father. I wish I could remember more. I feel so lost without you.”

For a moment, it was just me and the flowers. I let myself cry.

‘Enough now,’ my wolf said gently. ‘He wouldn’t want you lost in sadness. You have two pups and a mate who need you right now. We’ll have time to grieve later. For now, let’s be strong.’

She was right. I wiped my face and walked back up the path.

Nolan showed me the rest of the house, then led me upstairs to a room with two beds, a window seat, and a mess everywhere.

“This is theirs,” Nolan announced, gesturing to the room.

It was a good room. One side was crowded with weapons, training gear, and a map pinned up crooked. The other side had a shelf of books and nine stuffed animals lined up in a careful row. Someone had painted a tree up the wall between the beds, so it felt like it belonged to both of them.

“Did you do this?” I asked, pointing at the painted tree.

“There wasn’t anyone else to do it,” Nolan admitted, his voice soft.

“You did an amazing job,” I said, looking at the tree. “You’re a great dad, Nolan. The twins are happy because of you. I’m really grateful for everything you’ve done for them.”

“I didn’t do it alone. Clara, Annie, and Della helped me,” Nolan added, glancing away for a moment.

“I’m sorry, Nolan. That must have been so hard. I’m sorry I wasn’t here I missed everything.”

“You’re here now. All the waiting was worth it. I’d do it all again if it meant having you back. There’s nothing to apologize for,” Nolan reassured, reaching for my hand.

He brought me to the library, then across the hall to the Alpha’s office.

Some books Looked familiar, but

most didn’t ring any bells. A little spot in the corner had a faded cushion and a lamp that looked like it had been turned on a thousand. times. I caught myself thinking maybe I used to sit there, losing myself in stories when I wanted to disappear for a while.

When we stepped into the Alpha’s office, two desks faced each other. The one covered in stacks of papers was clearly Nolan’s, while mine only had a cup and a pen. It was as if Nolan hadn’t moved anything since I fell into a coma.

“We worked here together,” he reminisced. “Both of us. You did the pack and the territories; I did everything that needed shouting at.”

I stopped at the door, feeling like a guest in my own life. Nolan waited, letting me look around. I visualized us here, working late sometimes arguing, sometimes laughing. Jason never allowed me to handle pack affairs in his office or when he was

around. Nolan was so different from

him.

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“I can help again,” I said. “I can be Luna and Queen, do my part. You’ve done this all alone, and I want to help.”

“No,” Nolan insisted.

“Nolan.”

“Not yet,” Nolan replied. He put a hand flat on the nearest pile of paper. “A few more days isn’t going to kill me.”

The pile was huge. More stacks sat behind it and on the floor. Looking at the mess, I finally understood what it meant for five years of work meant for two people to fall on just one.

“You’ve been drowning.”

“It’s been managed,” he muttered, straightening the top sheet, which didn’t need it. “Can I say something you won’t like?”

“Go on,” I replied, bracing myself.

“A lot of good things happened in

those five years you don’t remember. But honestly, some of it was really hard. Some parts were awful Nolan admitted, looking

away. “I watched you deal with

things that almost broke you if you

don’t remember all of it, maybe

that’s not such a bad thing.”

“That’s not yours to decide,” I snapped.

“I know,” Nolan murmured.

“I don’t feel whole like this,” I said, my voice shaking. “There’s a gap where my life should be. Even if some memories hurt, I want them. They’re mine.”

“I understand that,” Nolan replied softly.

“And I want to remember you, Nolan. I want to know everything about you. How we met, what we felt, all the little things. I want to remember loving you, not just be told about it,” I confessed.

Nolan gently reached out, his hand finding my cheek. I leaned into his touch, wishing I could remember more, wishing I could give him the memories he deserved.

A knock at the door broke the soft moment, and a man I didn’t know poked his head

into the room.