Aria’s POV

Patrick sensed it immediately and followed her line of sight.

Five cold faces stared back at him.

I walked slightly behind the others, my hand supporting the elderly woman’s arm, my posture calm, my wolf silent but coiled tight beneath my ribs.

Margaret’s lips trembled. Even her fingers shook uncontrollably. I couldn’t help but wonder why.

Patrick’s scent was laced with fear. I could smell it.

It rolled off him in invisible waves the moment his eyes locked onto the people behind me.

My wolf’s ears pricked. So that was it. He certainly knew them. No wonder his heartbeat had gone wild.

He shifted restlessly, his shoulders tightening, but as we advanced step by step, he had no choice but to stay rooted in place like cornered prey.

He looked down at Margaret.

From my angle, I saw it too, the trembling of her lashes, the quiver of her lips.

We stopped just a few steps away.

Margaret’s gaze locked onto the elderly couple.

Her nose reddened, her eyes became glassy.

“Aunt Vivian...” Her voice trembled. “Uncle Jeremiah...”

My world tilted.

Shock slammed into me so hard my wolf staggered. I stared at Margaret, then Vivian, then Jeremiah, then the middle aged woman, whose expression was calm and knowing.

Aunt? Uncle?

If that were true...

My breath hitched.

Didn’t that mean...?

I turned sharply to Rowland.

He had followed us in after all. Patrick had only barred Amelia and Chloe, not him. When Rowland caught my expression, he smiled faintly, his eyes glinting.

“Surprised?” he asked.

Surprised wasn’t even close to what I was feeling at the moment.

My chest tightened, confusion and disbelief crashing together. I watched Margaret again, her eyes filled with tears, her body trembling as if facing something sacred and terrifying all at once.

They were really her family?

But my grandmother, their sister, had died several months ago. I knew that. So why would the Osborne family, an entire powerful bloodline, suddenly appear in Asterfell? I didn’t even recognize them. We had been separated when I was only a child. My grandmother was the only family I grew up with.

I dared another look at them.

From the very first moment, they’d felt familiar. Like standing near an old pack fire I’d never sat beside but somehow remembered.

Yet I was certain that I had never met them.

Was this... blood connection? That ancient pull wolves spoke of?

My fingers twisted together, my nails digging into my palms. The ease I’d felt talking with them earlier vanished, replaced by stiffness and unease. My wolf paced restlessly, unsettled by the truth pressing in from all sides.

I knew of the Osborne family.

Everyone did.

The Osborne family based in Veridale, an apex dynasty. The kind where even the least remarkable member stood far beyond ordinary wolves. But Margaret had cut ties with them years ago. She’d erased them from her life so completely that to me, they’d been nothing more than distant legends.

And now they stood here.

Doubts piled up, crushing and heavy. My brow creased deeply as I struggled to accept this invisible bond tightening around my ribs.

Rowland noticed.

He reached up and brushed a loose strand of hair from my face, his fingers warm and familiar.

“It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you who they were,” he said quietly. “They insisted on letting you discover it yourself. You don’t need to be nervous, Aria. No matter what, they’re your family.”

I looked up at him. “What about her,” I gestured towards the middle aged woman standing a few centimeters away.

“She is your aunt, her name is kathy”. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

I let out a sigh. The usual mischief in his eyes was gone. In its place was focus.

This wasn’t the reckless rascal I teased and dismissed. This was a man who could make my racing heart slow.

My chest fluttered, and I quickly looked away, unsure of what I was avoiding, him or the way my wolf leaned toward him instinctively.

I pressed my lips together, forcing my thoughts back into order.

Rowland lowered his gaze slightly, his eyes lingering on me with a kind of restrained fascination. He leaned a fraction closer, close enough that I could feel his warmth, yet his posture remained casual, as if nothing at all was happening.

Despite the stiffness creeping into my limbs, I was still supporting great-aunt Vivian’s left hand. Her grip was warm, familiar in a way that made my chest ache. Her right hand was looped tightly around great-uncle Jeremiah’s arm. I felt the tension through them both.

Uncle Jeremiah looked down and noticed how Vivian’s fingers had tightened, wrinkling the fabric of his sleeve. His gaze drifted to Margaret, and for a moment, his eyes went distant.

Patrick’s heart thundered loudly, it was deafening. He shot a dark glare in my direction, then immediately turned it on Tommy.

It seemed as though he was angry that I was not the only one that had been let in.

Tommy shrank under the look, his shoulders hunching as fear seeped out of him in sharp waves.

“Aunt Vivian. Uncle Jeremiah.”

Patrick forced a smile onto his face and stepped forward, every movement careful and calculated. Margaret followed quickly, almost eagerly, like a pup rushing toward elders it hadn’t seen in years.

Aunt Vivian’s eyes shimmered with tears until Margaret stood within arm’s reach.

“Aunt Vivian... is it really you?” Margaret whispered, her voice trembling.

Uncle Jeremiah straightened, pulling himself out of his emotions. His expression hardened into one that commanded respect.

“You left the Osborne family,” he said evenly. “Now that Aria is grown, we came to Asterfell to see her. We heard she was coming here, so we accompanied her. Nothing more.”

Aunt Vivian shot him a reproachful look at the words “left the Osborne family”.

Those words lodged in Margaret’s throat. I saw it. Her mouth opened, then closed. No sound came out.

The tension thickened, my wolf growling low in my chest.

Patrick immediately stepped forward, forcing warmth into his voice. “Aunt Vivian, Uncle Jeremiah, Margaret has missed you all these years. Since we finally have a chance to meet, let’s not dwell on the past. You came with Aria, why don’t we go inside? Standing here is tiring.”

His smile was gentle. Perfect.

Uncle Jeremiah didn’t even look at him.

Instead, he turned to me.

“Dear,” he said, his eyes sharp yet kind. “What do you think? Would you like to go inside?”