HELENA POV
The dining hall felt too big and too full all at once.
Long tables stretched across the room, packed with members of Hopeland pack, my pack, some faces I remembered, others I was still learning, voices I didn’t yet know how to separate. The smell of food hung heavy in the air: roasted meat, bread, herbs, wine. Comforting. Familiar. Overwhelming.
And somehow… perfect.
I sat at the central table with my family on one side and Silas’s on the other, my knees brushing his under the wood. His presence anchored me, solid and warm, his hand resting on my lower back, like touching me was as necessary as breathing.
It all felt surreal.
Silas had asked me to wear a dress with a deep V-neck. Not demanded. Asked. Quietly, almost carefully. When I’d realized why—when I’d caught my refle
