Chapter 31
Dominic’s POV
I shouldn’t have come.
The thought hit me like a gut punch as I pressed my back against the cold wall outside my mother’s sitting room. Her voice floated through the partially open door, soft and warm, a tone I had not heard in years.
And then there was Samantha’s voice.
It was not the sharp, defensive tone she used whenever we crossed paths recently. This voice was softer, more vulnerable. It caught me off guard, the way it threaded through me, stirring memories I had no right to hold on to.
I clenched my fists, forcing myself to stay rooted to the spot even though every instinct screamed at me to burst through the door. My wolf was restless, clawing at the edges of my mind, demanding to see her, to speak to her. But I couldn’t. Not yet.
“I’ve managed,” she said, her voice was quiet but firm. “The Moonstone Pack has been good to me. It’s peaceful there.”
Peaceful.
The word stung. Was she happy without me? Had she found a life so free of the chaos I brought into hers that she had never even considered coming back?
My mother’s voice broke through my thoughts. “Peace is important. But it’s not everything,” she said.
I could almost see the way she looked at Samantha when she said it, her eyes full of that mix of love and scrutiny she reserved for the people she cared about. She always had a soft spot for Samantha, when she disappeared, my mother had been hard on me, subtly blaming me for her disappearance.
I leaned closer, keeping my movements silent. I should not be doing this. Eavesdropping on my mother and Samantha wasn’t just low — it was pathetic. But I needed to know what she thought, what she felt, without the walls she always put up around me.