The Moon Temple was unusually noisy that morning.
A group of young wolves from the surrounding settlement had arrived with their parents to attend a small ceremony in the temple gardens. Some were old enough to walk without assistance, while others were still small enough to be carried.
Aiden had been enjoying a quiet moment beneath the eastern garden's trees when the noise reached him.
He looked up.
Several children were running across the courtyard while their parents spoke with the temple's residents. A few servants were setting out refreshments, and Li Mei was helping organize the gathering.
Aiden watched the children for a moment.
Then he noticed one of them struggling with his clothes.
The little wolf couldn't have been older than three. His tunic had twisted around his waist, and the belt meant to hold it in place had somehow become tangled between his fingers.
He pulled at it.
The belt tightened.
His lower lip began to tremble.
Aiden sighed softly.
"Oh, come here."
The child looked up.
Aiden crouched in front of him and held out his hands.
"Let me see."
The little wolf hesitated before approaching.
Aiden carefully untangled the belt, straightened the tunic, and tied it properly.
"There. Better?"
The child looked down at himself.
Then he nodded enthusiastically.
"Thank you!"
"You're welcome."
Aiden brushed a stray leaf from the child's shoulder.
"And try not to strangle yourself with your own clothes next time."
The child giggled.
Aiden smiled.
It was a small thing.
Barely worth noticing.
Yet the moment the child ran away, another problem appeared.
Two little wolves were arguing beside a stone bench.
"Mine!"
"No! You had it yesterday!"
"Mine!"
A wooden wolf lay between them.
One child grabbed it.
The other immediately grabbed his arm.
Aiden closed his eyes briefly.
Of course.
He walked over.
"What's going on?"
Both children turned toward him.
"He stole my toy!"
"I didn't!"
"I had it first!"
"You left it on the ground!"
Aiden crouched between them.
"All right. One at a time."
They immediately began speaking over each other.
Aiden stared at them.
"One. At. A. Time."
Both fell silent.
For a moment, he was transported somewhere else.
Three little faces.
Three pairs of glowing amber eyes.
Three children who had once believed that shouting louder would somehow make their arguments easier to solve.
Aiden swallowed.
He missed them so much.
He forced himself to focus on the children in front of him.
"Who was playing with the toy first?"
The first child raised his hand.
"Me!"
"And did you leave it on the ground?"
The child hesitated.
"...Yes."
Aiden nodded.
"Then he probably thought you were finished playing."
"But it's mine!"
"Then you should have kept it with you."
The child looked offended.
Aiden continued before the argument could start again.
"But that doesn't mean you can take things from each other without asking. Understand?"
Both children nodded reluctantly.
Aiden picked up the wooden wolf.
"How about you play together for a little while? Then you can take turns."
The children exchanged glances.
The first reached for the toy.
The second grabbed its tail.
Aiden raised an eyebrow.
They immediately let go.
"Together," he reminded them.
This time, they listened.
Aiden watched them walk away, already arguing about who got to hold the wooden wolf first.
He shook his head.
"Little troublemakers."
The words escaped before he could stop them.
For one painful second, he imagined Kael, Ryn, and Lior running through the garden.
Kael would probably have been the one taking the toy.
Ryn would have joined the argument.
Lior would have cried because neither of his brothers was paying attention to him.
Aiden's chest tightened.
He looked away.
Not now.
He couldn't fall apart here.
Not in front of strangers who had no idea why a simple wooden toy could hurt so much.
A sudden cry interrupted his thoughts.
Aiden turned immediately.
A small girl had fallen near the garden path. She sat on the ground, staring at the scrape on her knee as though the entire world had ended.
Her parents were still speaking with the temple attendants on the other side of the courtyard.
Aiden hurried over.
"Hey, hey. Let me see."
The girl looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.
"It hurts!"
"I know."
Aiden crouched and examined her knee.
It was only a small scrape, but the shock had frightened her.
He gently brushed the dirt away with a clean cloth a nearby servant handed him.
"Can you move your leg?"
She nodded.
"Can you stand?"
Another nod.
"Good. Then let's try."
He held out his hands.
The girl reached for him, and he helped her to her feet.
She immediately wrapped both arms around his neck.
Aiden froze.
Then he carefully returned the embrace.
"You're all right," he murmured, rubbing her back. "You're all right."
The girl sniffled against his shoulder.
Aiden closed his eyes.
For one impossible moment, he could almost imagine that he was holding Lior.
He could almost feel the familiar weight of his youngest pup resting against him.
He could almost hear a small voice calling him mama.
His arms tightened slightly.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
The girl pulled back.
"What?"
Aiden blinked.
He hadn't realized he'd spoken aloud.
"Nothing, little one."
He wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks.
"Go find your parents, all right?"
She nodded.
Then she looked at him.
"Can I stay with you?"
Aiden's heart gave a painful twist.
He smiled gently.
"Of course."
And that was how Aiden ended up surrounded by children.
One wanted to show him a wooden wolf.
Another wanted help opening a small container of fruit.
A third had decided that Aiden's lap was the perfect place to sit.
Aiden somehow managed all of them.
He opened the fruit container, divided the pieces so everyone received some, and reminded the children to eat before running around again.
One little boy refused to eat anything green.
Aiden stared at him.
The boy stared back.
"Don't like it."
"Have you tried it?"
"No."
"Then how do you know you don't like it?"
The boy considered this.
"...Because it's green."
Aiden pressed his lips together.
He knew that argument.
He knew it far too well.
"All right. One bite."
The boy shook his head.
"One tiny bite."
"No!"
Aiden leaned closer.
"If you eat one bite, I'll tell you a secret."
The boy's ears immediately perked up.
"What secret?"
"You have to eat the bite first."
The child suspiciously accepted the piece of food.
He chewed.
Swallowed.
Then looked at Aiden expectantly.
Aiden leaned toward him.
"The secret is that you survived eating something green."
The boy stared.
Aiden stared back.
Then the child burst into giggles.
Li Mei, who had been watching from nearby, covered their mouth.
Aiden gave them a warning look.
"Don't."
"I haven't said anything."
"You're thinking something."
"I am."
"Stop it."
Li Mei laughed.
Aiden shook his head, but his mouth curved into a smile.
He hadn't even realized how long he'd been sitting there.
The children had gradually grown quieter.
One had wandered back to his parents.
Two were playing with their wooden wolf.
The little girl who had fallen was sitting nearby, proudly showing her mother the bandage a servant had placed over her knee.
And the boy who had refused to eat his vegetables was now leaning against Aiden's side.
His head grew heavier by the minute.
Aiden glanced down.
"Getting sleepy?"
"No."
The answer came with a yawn.
Aiden smiled.
"Of course not."
The boy rubbed his eyes.
Then, without asking permission, he curled against Aiden and rested his head on his thigh.
Aiden went still.
The child sighed contentedly.
Within minutes, he was asleep.
Aiden stared down at him.
His fingers moved almost automatically, brushing the child's hair away from his forehead.
Then he began gently stroking the little wolf's back.
A familiar rhythm.
A familiar motion.
One he'd repeated countless times with his own pups.
His expression softened.
For a while, he forgot where he was.
He forgot the temple.
The unfamiliar walls.
The strange version of Theron who watched him as though he were a mystery waiting to be solved.
He forgot that he had no idea how to return to his own time.
For a few precious minutes, he was simply sitting with a child who trusted him enough to fall asleep in his arms.
And he loved him for it.
Not as his own child.
Not as a replacement.
But because the little wolf was small, warm, and safe.
Because children deserved to feel safe.
Because someone should always be there to catch them when they fell.
Aiden lowered his head and pressed a gentle kiss to the child's hair.
"Sleep well, little one."
Across the courtyard, Theron had stopped walking.
He had arrived with Ronan several minutes earlier.
Neither had interrupted.
Theron watched Aiden sitting beneath the tree, surrounded by children.
The same Aiden who argued with him over every rule.
The same Aiden who had threatened to fight him.
The same Aiden who looked at him with a grief so deep that Theron sometimes wondered whether it would swallow him whole.
Here, that grief hadn't disappeared.
But it had changed.
Aiden was gentle.
Patient.
Attentive.
He noticed every little movement.
Every upset expression.
Every child who needed help.
He seemed to know exactly what to do without thinking.
Theron had never seen anything like it.
He glanced at Li Mei.
"Has he done this before?"
Li Mei followed his gaze.
Aiden was carefully adjusting the sleeping boy's position so that his neck wouldn't bend uncomfortably.
Li Mei's expression softened.
"I don't know."
Theron looked back at Aiden.
The boy stirred.
Aiden immediately lowered his voice and resumed stroking his back until he settled again.
It was instinctive.
Effortless.
As though Aiden had done this thousands of times.
Perhaps he had.
Theron remembered the way Aiden had spoken about his family.
The way his face had changed when he mentioned home.
The way he had asked whether he could have a garden.
The way he always made sure other people had enough to eat.
And now this.
Aiden was not merely familiar with caring for others.
He seemed to have built his entire life around it.
Theron watched as another child approached Aiden, holding a broken wooden toy.
Aiden accepted it without complaint.
He examined the loose piece, reassured the child that it could be fixed, and promised to help later.
The child ran away happily.
Aiden looked down at the sleeping boy again.
His smile faded.
For a moment, something unbearably lonely crossed his face.
Then he bent his head and whispered something Theron couldn't hear.
Theron's chest tightened.
He wanted to know what Aiden had said.
He wanted to know why Aiden sometimes looked at children as though he were remembering something precious.
He wanted to know why someone who could be so gentle seemed to carry so much pain.
Most of all, he wanted to know who Aiden had been before he arrived at the temple.
Because whatever his life had been—
it had taught him how to love.
And Theron was beginning to suspect that Aiden had left a very large part of that life behind.
The sleeping boy shifted again.
Aiden immediately adjusted his arms around him.
Theron watched the movement.
He still didn't understand.
But for the first time, he didn't think of Aiden as an offering who happened to be unusual.
He thought of him as someone who had loved.
Someone who had lost.
Someone who, despite everything, still chose to care.
And somehow, that made Theron want to understand him even more.