Chapter 36: The Dinner They Never Had

Dinner was quieter than Lily had imagined.

She sat between Elena and Atlas at the long wooden table, swinging her legs beneath the chair.

Atlas had barely touched his food.

He was too busy watching Lily explain every detail of her day.

“And then Mama showed me how to plant the little flowers.”

Atlas smiled.

“You like flowers?”

“Yes. Mama says they need patience.”

Elena glanced at him.

“She learns quickly.”

Atlas nodded.

“She gets that from you.”

Elena didn't respond.

Lily looked between them.

“Daddy, what did you do today?”

Atlas paused.

No one had asked him that question in years without wanting something from him.

“I worked.”

Lily frowned.

“That's boring.”

Atlas laughed softly.

“It can be.”

“Do you like being Alpha?”

He looked at Elena before answering.

“I used to think I did.”

Lily tilted her head.

“And now?”

Atlas looked down at his hands.

“Now I think being a good father matters more.”

Elena's fingers tightened around her fork.

She didn't know whether to believe him.

But she noticed something else.

Atlas wasn't trying to impress Lily.

He wasn't making grand promises.

He wasn't demanding a place in her life.

He was simply listening.

...

After dinner, Lily disappeared into the garden to chase fireflies.

Atlas remained at the table.

Elena began collecting the plates.

“I'll help.”

“You don't have to.”

“I know.”

He stood anyway.

For several minutes, they worked in silence.

It felt strangely familiar.

Once, they had shared moments like this every evening.

Before everything broke.

Atlas finally spoke.

“Elena.”

She continued stacking plates.

“What?”

“I know saying sorry doesn't fix anything.”

Her hands stopped.

“No, it doesn't.”

“I know earning your trust could take years.”

She looked at him.

“It could.”

Atlas nodded.

“Then I'll take years.”

Elena studied his face.

There was no desperation in his expression this time.

Only determination.

“You don't get to rebuild what you destroyed just because you regret destroying it.”

“I know.”

“And Lily isn't a second chance for us.”

“I know that too.”

His answer came immediately.

“She's her own person.”

Elena slowly looked away.

That was the first answer he had ever given her that didn't make her want to argue.

...

Outside, Lily suddenly shouted.

“Mama! Daddy! Look!”

They hurried into the garden.

Lily was standing beside a small flower bed, holding something in her hand.

“I found this!”

Atlas crouched beside her.

It was a tiny silver pendant.

His expression changed the moment he saw it.

“Where did you get that?”

Lily pointed toward the old garden shed.

“It was under the leaves.”

Atlas took the pendant carefully.

A Vale crest was engraved on its surface.

Elena immediately recognized it.

“That belonged to your mother.”

Atlas froze.

“My mother?”

Elena nodded.

“She gave it to me years ago.”

Atlas stared at the pendant.

“Why was it here?”

Elena looked toward the shed.

“I don't know.”

Atlas turned it over.

There was a tiny inscription on the back.

His eyes widened.

“This wasn't my mother's.”

“Then whose was it?”

Atlas didn't answer.

He looked toward the distant tree line.

For the first time that evening, the calm expression disappeared from his face.

“This belonged to Rowan.”

Elena's heart skipped.

Lily looked confused.

“Who is Rowan?”

Atlas closed his fingers around the pendant.

“Someone from my past.”

Elena stared at him.

She remembered Rowan Quinn.

The late Beta whose widow had once destroyed their relationship.

The man whose death had become Atlas's excuse for every betrayal.

“Why would Rowan's pendant be here?” Elena asked.

Atlas looked at the shed again.

“I don't know.”

Then his expression hardened.

“But I'm going to find out.”

A cold wind moved through the garden.

The fireflies disappeared into the darkness one by one.

Lily reached for Elena's hand.

Atlas stood beside them, still holding the pendant.

For the first time since he had found Elena again, something from the past had followed him to Pine Ridge.

And this time, it wasn't going to stay buried.