Nathan’s POV

Collins’s knuckles tapped against my door. I asked him to come in. The scent of city smog and subway grease clung to him, but underneath, his heartbeat stuttered with tension. My wolf pricked its ears, alert. Something was wrong.

"Alpha Nathan, I received a call this afternoon," he said, stepping inside.

I had only just returned from my travel, settled into my seat and slid a new USB into my laptop.

"What call?" My voice came out low and rough, still tinted with the growl I hadn’t shaken off from the flight.

Collins cleared his throat. He pressed a button on his phone. A recording crackled to life.

"Hello... Are you looking for my employer?"

"Hello, have you dialed the wrong number?" Collins asked.

"I saw a notice by the trash can, and the woman on it looks exactly like my employer. Did I dial wrong? The number is correct."

"May I ask what your employer’s last name is?"Collins inquired.

"I don’t know, I only know my boss is named Darvin."

My heart thumped once, hard. My head snapped up, eyes flashing gold for a heartbeat. I felt my pupils narrow, the wolf lunging against my ribs.

My claws scraped lightly beneath my skin, urging to break through. I forced a breath.

Darvin.

The recording continued...

"You haven’t dialed wrong. May I ask where you work? What is your job?" Collins asked.

"I... Is the million-dollar reward real?" The woman queried.

"Absolutely! Can you tell me your workplace?"Collins asked.

"I’m her nanny, but I can’t disclose the location yet."

"If you’re worried, we can meet in person, You choose the location. I’ll bring two hundred thousand as a deposit."

"...Alright. I’ll contact you."

The recording ended.

Collins put away his phone slowly, his shoulders stiff, his scent sharp with caution as he asked. We had put photos of Clarence on the walls of the streets in different places, offering a million dollars to anyone who had information of her whereabouts.

"Alpha Nathan, do you think this will work?"

My fingers tapped against the polished wood, each rhythm echoing my wolf’s impatience. "I’ll go with you when the time comes."

"Yes, Alpha."

Dusk crept in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, heavy clouds pressing low against the horizon. The approaching night carried a strange weight, one that settled deep into my chest. My wolf paced restlessly, tail low, ears pinned back.

"Is she gone?"

Collins blinked, then realized who I meant.

"Ms. Aria should be on a train to Duckspire by now."

Train.

The word scraped against me like silver. I lowered my gaze, my reflection in the glass fractured. Why had she gone by train?

The office fell into an unnatural silence, thick enough that even my enhanced hearing caught nothing but the distant hum of the city.

Then I stood.

The decision snapped into place so suddenly that even Collins looked startled as I reached for the suit jacket draped over my chair. My wolf surged forward, satisfied and resolute.

"Alpha, you’re not going to—"

"Follow Aria to Duckspire?" I finished for him.

"Yes, I am. Get me the fastest flight available."

"But you said you wanted to personally meet with the caller—"

I turned. One look was enough to silence him.

Collins swallowed. "Yes, Alpha."

He rushed out, nearly breaking into a run the moment he crossed the threshold. I followed in long strides, eating up the distance.

Outside the building, I slid into the back seat of the car and rolled the window down. Cold air rushed in, sharp against my skin.

"Confirm her information and stake out the location," I said coolly to Collins who stood outside my car door. "And keep monitoring the paternity test results for Patrick and Sophia."

That was another assignment I had given Collins earlier. I needed to confirm for a fact that Patrick was Sophia’s biological father.

Collins bent slightly, nodding. "Understood."

The window rolled up. The car pulled away, exhaust curling behind us like smoke from a dying fire.

I leaned back, closing my eyes briefly.

I was already at the airport when Collins received the report from the paternity test. He forwarded the result to me.

The test report filled the screen.

99.9% genetic match.

My jaw tightened. Relief came first, then fury, then a sharp, aching regret. This would protect Aria, give her leverage, give her proof. Proof I should have handed her long ago.

Without hesitation, I forwarded it to Aria.

The plane taxied forward. Night swallowed the runway.

After a long pause, my phone vibrated. It was a message from Aria.

Aria: ???

My chest tightened.

Aria: When did you do this?

Nathan: Not long ago.

She went silent.

I stared at the screen, my wolf whining softly in the back of my mind, uneasy with the distance between us. I picked the phone up. Put it down. Picked it up again.

Finally, I typed.

When you get back to Asterfell, I’ll have Collins deliver the original report to you.

A moment later, she replied:

Thank you.

Just two words. She was being very polite and guided.

I would win her love back, I would make her my luna again, no matter what it takes.