LARA
The accusation had barely left my mouth before the dam inside me shattered. I broke down right there in the clearing, sobbing and trembling so hard I could barely stand.
Matteo caught me before I collapsed. He pulled me into his arms, holding me close, whispering soft, soothing words against my hair as one hand rubbed gentle circles on my back. I didn’t fight him. Instead, I leaned in, letting his warmth and familiar scent steady me even as fresh tears soaked his shirt.
In that moment, I admitted the truth to myself: I had stopped hating Matteo a long time ago. His banishment had actually led me to my real family — my father, my brothers, and the loving members of the Frost Fang Pack. Yet here I was, finding unexpected comfort in the same man who had once broken me.
The fractured
