He Signed My Freedom Now He Wants Me Back Chapter 43
When the bell over the pottery studio door rang, I was helping Chloe fix one of her rabbit’s ears.
“Mom!”
Iris rushed in, followed by Noah and Lucian.
The children were thinner than they had looked in the recordings, wearing the coats I had picked out for them last year. The sleeves were now too tight at their wrists.
My body went rigid before my mind could catch up.
Ember recognized their bloodline, but she didn’t push me toward them. Instead, she sent flashes of the staircase, the wolfsbane, and the clapping in the hospital room through my senses, reminding me that I now had the right to keep my distance.
“How did you find this place?” I asked.
Lucian didn’t answer. Later, the territorial patrol confirmed that he had used Moonleaf’s public business permit to narrow down the district, then sent someone to follow me to the studio. The envelope of photographs hadn’t been an impulsive act. It had been the result of weeks of surveillance.
The moment I learned that, the last sliver of doubt—that perhaps he was only worried for the children—vanished.
Worry would have gone through the Registry to ask after my safety. Control was what lurked on street corners, taking pictures every time I stepped outside, only to hold them up and demand to know who stood beside me.
Chloe hid behind me. Elias rose quietly and placed himself between her and the pressure of an unfamiliar Alpha.