Chapter 150: Back

Leaning back against the cool leather seat of the armored SUV, I stared through the heavily tinted window as the streets of the Upper City blurred into streaks of neon light.

The moment we stepped outside the café, a tight, pulsing knot had bound itself inside my chest. The reality of everything unfolding still felt fractured and unnatural, as though I were trapped inside an endless, feverish dream. Five years now felt like a vast, yawning abyss stretching between us. What Magnus had built and accomplished during my absence defied all comprehension.

Turning my head, I looked at the male sitting beside me. Magnus. My personal monster from the past, my true mate—a male whose very name had once sent a tremor of primal terror through not just me, but anyone foolish enough to cross his path.

There was a time when his sheer presence consumed me with paralyzing dread. Tall, impossibly broad-shouldered, radiating a heavy, suffocating aura of dominance that made every instinct scream at you to curl into a ball and submit. His skin was white, his features sharp and angular, as if chiseled from cold stone by a ruthless sculptor.

But now... now everything was different. Entirely new emotions were consuming me from within.

Lowering my gaze, I felt something sharp and searing slice straight through my heart at the sight of our son sleeping in his father’s massive, veined arms.

Matthias let out soft, rhythmic breaths, his chubby cheek pressed snug against the dark fabric of Magnus’s shirt. The Alpha’s lethal, formidable hand—one capable of crushing bones without a second thought—now stroked the boy’s fair hair with astounding, almost weightless tenderness.

Magnus never looked away from him. Not for a single second. Deep within his silver eyes swirled a well of desperate tenderness laced with an aching, lingering grief that stole the breath from my lungs. He stared down at our son as if terrified that blinking might cause the boy to dissolve—vanish into thin air like another cruel hallucination born of his tormented mind.

As the heavy vehicle glided to a smooth halt, Matthias let out a tiny, discontented scowl in his sleep. Magnus instantly froze, holding his breath so as not to disturb the boy’s slumber.

"We’re here," his voice rasped across my frayed nerves, sending a sudden shiver through me. That deep baritone had always slipped beneath my skin like a live wire, leaving static in its wake.

Swallowing down the tightness in my throat, I glanced out the window and went completely rigid. Paralyzed. I recognized the place instantly—the moment my eyes caught the shimmering grand dome and the colossal Ferris wheel glowing against the night sky in a sea of radiant lights.

The amusement park.

"Why are we here?" I choked out, my voice trembling traitorously under the sudden avalanche of memory.

This was the very place he had brought me years ago, back when our bond felt more like a torment. Back when I was merely a fragile captive in the hands of a ruthless pack heir, terrified of his every unpredictable move, blind to what the future held.

It was right here, high atop that Ferris wheel, where he had kissed me with genuine tenderness for the first time—not as a possessive Alpha claiming a prize, but as a male terrified of breaking something precious. It was here that he had asked me to be his.

"Matthias woke up. He mentioned wanting to see the carousels," Magnus replied with an even, calm composure. But as his gaze shifted up to lock with mine, he added words that sent a searing chill racing down my spine. "And I wanted to bring you back. Back to where it all began. Where we began."

The door on my side clicked open, letting in a rush of cool evening air. His guards had already locked down the perimeter—silent, shadow-like figures in tailored suits stationed at every entry point, scanning the area with cold, practiced precision.

Stepping out onto the pavement, I shivered and wrapped my arms tightly around my shoulders. A light rain had just passed, leaving the damp asphalt gleaming with reflections of neon light. The park was completely deserted. Not a single soul in sight, save for his silent guards and us.

"There’s nobody here..." Matthias muttered, rubbing his sleepy eyes with tiny fists as he clambered out after me. He froze, his mouth agape as he took in the glowing brilliance surrounding us. "Why is it empty? Did we miss it? Is it closed?"

Our son’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. In that instant, Magnus rounded the SUV and stepped up beside him. Dropping to one knee onto the damp asphalt—without the slightest care for his expensive trousers—the Alpha looked directly into the boy’s storm-gray eyes, so strikingly identical to his own.

"It is closed to everyone else, Matthias. But not to you. Tonight, this entire park belongs only to you," Magnus said, his tone carrying such absolute, unshakeable certainty that it served as a stark reminder of the immense power he commanded.

He was the leader of a formidable, sovereign pack. He possessed the power to command whatever he wished, to indulge any impulse. Shutting down a massive entertainment complex at a moment’s notice was nothing to him—all simply to bring a smile to the son whose very existence he had discovered only days ago.

"Really?!" Matthias’s eyes ignited with a burst of pure, unfiltered wonder that made my heart ache. "An’ I can ride on everything? Even dat big carousel with the horses?"

"On everything you want. Until dawn if you wish," Magnus said softly. Rising effortlessly to his feet, he offered his hand, waiting until Kai’s tiny fingers vanished inside his massive palm.

Watching the two of them together, I felt tears prickling at the corners of my eyes. It cut deeper than I ever expected, shattering every long-held notion I had carried about him. With every passing hour, the reality of how profoundly he had changed pressed harder against my soul.