The door closed.
Aiden stood there.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
The room was quiet.
Too quiet.
No servants.
No guards.
No strangers watching him.
No Theron.
Not Ronan.
No pups.
Just him.
Aiden's hand remained against the door.
His fingers trembled.
Then his knees gave way.
He slid down the wooden door and hit the floor.
And I broke.
The first sob came out so suddenly it almost hurt.
Aiden covered his mouth.
It didn't help.
Another one escaped.
Then another.
Soon he couldn't stop.
His shoulders shook violently.
His breathing became uneven, broken apart by desperate gasps.
He tried to breathe.
Couldn't.
He was dragged in the air.
It got stuck in his throat.
"Kael..."
His voice broke.
"Oh gods..."
He curled into himself.
"Kael..."
He could see him.
The little boy's amber eyes.
The way his ears perked whenever Aiden entered the den.
The way he had looked at him after his fever finally broke.
Given.
Aiden squeezed his eyes shut.
"Node..."
He pressed both hands against his face.
"I want my baby..."
His breathing collapsed again.
"Ryn..."
His middle pup.
Always watching.
Always trying to understand everything.
Always pretending he wasn't tired until he suddenly fell asleep.
"Lior..."
His youngest.
His little wolf.
The one who had first called him mama.
Aiden let out a broken sound.
"I want my children..."
There was nobody to answer.
Nobody came running.
No tiny paws.
No tails.
No sleepy voices.
Nothing.
Aiden pressed his forehead against his knees.
"I want to go home."
The words barely existed.
"I want to go home..."
He didn't know where home was anymore.
The den?
The pack?
The future?
The life he had lived?
Theron.
His chest tightened.
He remembered the way Theron held him.
The way his mate's arms wrapped around him when he was frightened.
The way Theron's heartbeat sounded beneath his ear.
Aiden reached instinctively toward his chest.
Nothing.
No familiar heartbeat beneath his cheek.
No warm body beside him.
No quiet voice telling him everything would be alright.
"Theron..."
Aiden's voice cracked completely.
"I miss you."
He once laughed through his tears.
A horrible, broken sound.
"You idiot..."
He wiped his face with shaking fingers.
"You were right there."
The younger Theron.
The same face.
The same eyes.
But not his Theron.
Aiden shook his head.
"He looked at me like..."
He couldn't finish.
Like he was nothing.
Like he was beautiful, perhaps.
Interesting.
Unusual.
But not loved.
Not his.
Aiden's breathing hitched.
I know you're there.
He whispered it to the empty room.
"I know that's you."
His fingers curled into the fabric of his robe.
"But you don't know me."
Another wave of tears came.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do."
For the first time since waking...
Aiden allowed himself to admit it.
He was scared.
Terrified.
He didn't know how he had gotten here.
He didn't know how to return.
He didn't know whether his children were safe.
He didn't know whether Theron was still searching for him.
He didn't know if his pack was still standing.
And worst of all...
he didn't know if he would ever see them again.
Aiden curled tighter against the door.
"I want my family..."
His voice became a whisper.
"I want my mate."
His wolf whimpered inside him.
Aiden finally stopped fighting the tears.
He cried until his throat hurt.
Until his chest ached.
Until exhaustion slowly dragged him toward sleep.
And even then...
his last thought wasn't about the Moon Temple.
It wasn't about the offering.
It wasn't even about the strange younger Theron.
It was three little voices.
Given.
Wolf.
Mom.
Aiden closed his eyes.
"...Please be safe."
And alone in a room belonging to a god who didn't yet love him...
Aiden cried himself to sleep.