Alaric pov :
I had walked into the freezing Blackridge courtyard with a very simple, perfectly calculated plan. I was going to give her exactly two minutes to shed her tears, sever the physical tether between her and her past, and then put her in my carriage. The Holt brat was going to be left behind to either die of the cold or grow up to become Blackridge’s problem.
Then, Cassius shoved the bundle into her arms.
I watched from the shadow of the royal carriage as she took the child. The physical transformation in her was instantaneous. Her entire body curled inward, wrapping around the fragile infant as if she were terrified that the freezing wind itself might break him. She pulled the wool blanket tighter, her head bowed.
The look on her face when she gazed down at the pup was en
