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"Please listen to me, Serenity."

Serenity’s shoulders stiffen, her fingers curling against my chest. The firelight catches the tension in her shoulders as she sits up straighter, retreating from my warmth while lingering right beside me on the cushion.

"I'm listening," she says, each word carefully measured.

“I owe you an apology. More than one, actually." The steel that usually underlines Estella’s speech is gone, replaced by something uncharacteristically quiet. There is something raw underneath—a vulnerability I've never heard from the formidable head of the Crowe family. “I spent so many years keeping secrets from you and pushing you away to maintain distance when what you needed was honesty. I told myself it was to keep you safe. The reality is my own terror of losing you the way I lost your mother clouded my judgment.”

Her pulse kicks visibly at her throat. Her eyes fix on the phone as if she could see through it to her aunt on the other end.

"I failed you. My failure to you is a total shattering of every vow of protection and love I ever made. Those final pages from Lachlan's journal were torn out by my own hands. Dreading the thought of you, or your mother before you, reading them and choosing to sacrifice yourselves, I destroyed the evidence. You deserved better than half-truths and emotional walls. You deserved a family that trusted you with the truth, avoiding treating you like a volatile weapon."

The only sounds left are the crackling fire and the distant whisper of wind through the trees outside. Serenity's hands clench and unclench in her lap.

"I accept your apology," she finally says, unwavering but careful. "But Essie, it's going to take time. A lot of time. You can't simply apologize away years of feeling like an outsider in my own family."

"I know." Estella's inflection grows softer. "Your perspective is completely valid. Whatever you decide regarding forgiveness—whether it takes years or never happens at all—is entirely up to you. My sole purpose tonight is making sure you hear the truth: you are loved, Serenity. Fear might have kept me from showing it properly, but the truth remains. The estate is here whenever you're ready—open and waiting for you. Just... whenever you're ready."

Serenity closes her eyes and leans back against the couch cushions. "Thank you for calling."

"Take care of yourself. Both of you."

The line goes dead. Serenity drops her head back with a long sigh and stares at the cabin's wooden ceiling.

"Family drama," she mutters. "Exactly what I needed during my recovery period."

"You did good. That couldn't have been easy."

She moves her head back to catch my eye, and suddenly we're close enough that the air between us crackles. "You think I should forgive her?"

"I think you should do whatever feels right for you. No one else gets to decide that timeline."

Serenity nods slowly, then nuzzles back against my side. "What about you? Ready to get back to the world of supernatural security and professional violence?"

I consider the question while watching flames dance in the fireplace. For years, violence and isolation defined my existence. I built my reputation on being untouchable, unreachable, the wolf who worked alone without trusting anyone.

"Honestly? No." The admission surprises even me. "I spent years building my entire identity around being untouchable and unreachable. I remained the wolf who worked alone because trusting anyone meant risking everything."

Serenity shifts against me, her fingers tracing idle patterns on my chest through the fabric of my shirt. She absorbs every word with that rapt intensity she brings to everything important.

"And what did it get me? It brought me a reputation. Enemies and allies alike feared me. Respect came too, perhaps, but the kind that involved keeping people at arm's length. Absolute control and unmatched skill were mine. They represented everything I thought I wanted."

"But nothing that actually mattered," she says quietly.

"Until you."

Her fingers stop against my chest, right over my heart. I can feel her attention sharpen, that unwavering poise she gets when something important is about to land.

"Loving you is the best thing I've ever done, better than anything I thought I deserved." The confession feels raw, striking a vulnerable chord that would have terrified me before meeting her. Now it simply feels true.

"Somehow, you’ve made me crave a life I thought had slipped through my fingers years ago. I crave a future beyond the next job, desiring someone to come home to. You see past all the violence and isolation to whatever remains underneath."

She sits up slightly and turns her entire body toward me. Her eyes catch the firelight, searching my expression with that penetrating gaze that always sees too much.

"I want to stay with you forever, Serenity, building something tangibly real beyond merely surviving from one crisis to the next." I reach up to cup her face, resting my thumb against the high curve of her cheek. "But what about you? What do you want? My promise is to accept whatever you say, ensuring you remain entirely free to make your own decisions."

Her eyes widen slightly, surprise flickering across her features. "You really mean that."

"I've seen what happens when people try to control you. It never ends well for anyone involved."