Chapter 32: Back to Reality
I stood at the edge of the yacht, watching the island shrink in the distance. It had been a wonderful holiday, but now, we were heading back to the pack lands.
Back to whispers. Expectations. Complications.
I sighed and wrapped my arms around myself, the wind tugging at my hair. I didn’t even hear Lucas until he was beside me.
Softly, he said, “We’ve already started looking.”
I turned to him, confused for a second.
“Into your parents,” he added, his eyes fixed on the waves. “Levi pulled some strings, and I reached out to a few old contacts. If there’s anything left out there—records, stories, people who knew them—we’ll find it.”
My heart squeezed. “Lucas...” I reached for his hand, gripping it gently. “You don’t have to do that.” His jaw clenched a little, but he didn’t speak.
“I mean it,” I said again, more firmly. “You guys have already done so much. This isn’t your burden to carry.”
He finally looked at me, his green eyes serious and unwavering. “It is our burden, Hazel. Because you matter. What hurts you, hurts us too. You don’t have to walk through this alone.”
I looked away for a moment, staring at the sea, trying to blink away the sting building in my eyes. His words touched something deep inside of me. I had long accepted being forgotten, even by my own blood.
“It means a lot,” I said quietly. “Just knowing you care enough to try... that’s enough. I’m not in a rush. I’ve made peace with not knowing for so long, it doesn’t scare me anymore.”