Elliot's chest tightened as Hayley's words settled in. The pieces aligned in his mind with a weight that pressed against his instincts—Anastasia had been cast out of her home, forced to survive beyond her pack's protection. That explained the distance, the years she had spent away from familiar territory, carrying her burdens alone.
Yet another thought followed, quieter but more certain. The child she carried had not been a mistake in his eyes, but something that had anchored her, something small and warm enough to pull her back from the edge of that memory. Jared… a presence that softened the edges of her pain, a living bond that gave her purpose where there had been none.
From now on, that responsibility would not fall on her alone.
