“I took some of your hair for testing,” he explained, his voice still distant. “Your DNA is a perfect match with theirs.”

“You have my honey-brown hair and your mother’s beautiful amber eyes,” Maximus added, his gaze softening as he looked at me. “Even without these physical traits, from the moment we saw you, both my wolf and I knew deep down that you were the pup taken from us over twenty years ago. The blood connection—you can’t mistake it.”

“Then you must also know I’m wolfless,” I laughed bitterly, remembering my low status in the Sterling family. “How could an offspring without a wolf possibly be allowed in the Kincaid family?”

Seraphina sighed. “I conceived you before I got my wolf at fourteen. Doctors believed that, in such cases, the child would be more vulnerable than normal werewolf pups, but not completely without a wolf… We didn’t anticipate this situation…”

I didn’t wait for them to finish. Tears streamed down my face as I turned away. Twenty years of grievances and pain rushed to the surface. I had tried so hard to gain the Sterling family’s approval, to prove my worth even without a wolf. Now I learned all those efforts were in vain because I never belonged there. And now, my biological parents…

“We’re not here to avoid responsibility,” Maximus interrupted, walking toward me but maintaining a respectful distance. “We want a chance to get to know our daughter. We lost over twenty years with you, and if you’re willing, we want to make up for that.”

Seraphina added, “We want you to know that we actually don’t care whether you have a wolf or not, and no matter what choices you make, you’ll always be our daughter. We’re overjoyed to have found you, and ashamed and heartbroken about what Kane did.”

My heart was touched. In that moment, I felt a sense of belonging I’d never experienced before, as if something inside me had finally found its source.

“It’s okay, my love,” Seraphina said, using the endearment I used for Leo, which made me cry harder. “Let it all out,” she said, holding me.

I hadn’t even noticed her standing up or moving to my side. In her embrace, I felt right. I felt home—exactly what I’d always wanted from the two people who raised me.

Even when I soaked her outfit with tears, she didn’t let go. Soon, I felt another pair of arms around us. Maximus had joined in. I continued crying until it felt like I had no tears left, and then I stopped.

“Better?” she asked.

I gave her a smile as we slowly separated. “Yes.”

Maximus raised his hand to stroke my hair, about to speak when he was interrupted by growling and arguing at the door. The scent of sandalwood after rain drifted in. My heart tightened.

“I’ll handle it,” Iris said, standing up, but I already knew who had arrived.

A moment later, Roman strode into the living room, with Sebastian and Aurora right behind him. Sebastian’s eyes immediately locked onto me, then turned to the Kincaid couple. I could feel the air suddenly charged with tension, and felt exhausted, never imagining that one day my room would be filled with the presence of four powerful Alphas… wait, four? I looked toward the door, but no one else came in. Weren’t they always inseparable? Why wasn’t Damien here?

“I’m sorry, Thea… I tried to stop them, but he forced his way in,” Iris apologized, glaring at Roman.

“What are you all doing here? What’s going on?” Honestly, I didn’t think I could handle them right now.

“Mother wants to talk to you, to all of us. She says she wants to tell you everything, but you weren’t answering her calls,” Aurora spoke up.

I sighed in resignation. The last thing I wanted was to hear what she had to say, but I also knew I had to face it all.