Chapter 151: We need to talk

We moved along the wide stone avenues, the sound of our footsteps echoing through the stillness of the deserted park. Radiance poured from every light fixture, soft melodies drifted through the air, and the ride operators—stiff and pale under the heavy realization of whose presence graced their grounds—activated the machinery at a mere nod from Magnus’s security squad.

Matthias was practically glowing. He pulled Magnus from one set of bumper cars to the next, coaxing him into tight, miniature cabins, and to my complete astonishment, Magnus obliged without a word of protest. The dominant pack leader sat squished inside a bright pink drift car, turning the tiny steering wheel to the sound of his son’s infectious, bell-like laughter.

I stood near the railing, gripping the cool metal bars so tightly my knuckles turned white, unable to tear my eyes away. My heart sang and wept in the very same breath. For the first time, doubt began to gnaw at me—was it truly right to keep our child hidden from him for all those years?

Yet the memories of what drove me to run returned just as swiftly, setting off a storm in my head. There was no undoing the past, but even that truth offered no solace to the turmoil raging inside me.

Later, when Matthias’s energetic sprint between the shooting galleries and coasters slowed, Magnus bought him a huge, iridescent pink cloud of cotton candy. The boy clutched it with both hands, taking ravenous bites that left sweet, sticky sugar smeared across his cheeks.

"Let’s go to the wheel," Magnus said, stepping up beside me so closely that I felt the radiating heat of his body. His scent engulfed me instantly—sharp, commanding, laced with dark amber and an achingly familiar undertone that struck straight at my senses, leaving a sweet, terrifying ache deep within my core.

"He’s afraid of heights," I murmured softly, glancing over at Matthias, who was happily devouring his treat on a nearby bench, flanked by two towering guards.

"I know. He’ll stay here. He is entirely safe with my men," Magnus replied, his voice dropping an octave. "And you and I are going up. We need to talk, Jane."

A nervous shudder rippled down my spine at his tone. His words felt less like a simple request and more like an instinctual call, reaching past my defenses to pull at my very soul.

Leaving Matthias in the watchful care of the security team

, we walked over to the towering Ferris wheel. The cars were open-air, exactly as they had been all those years ago. Stepping inside, I took a seat on the bench, and Magnus settled right next to me before I could move—not opposite, but flush against my side, his heavy thigh pressed firm against mine. The mechanism gave a gentle shudder, and we began our slow ascent, leaving the ground and the gleaming park lights far below.

The wind grew sharp as we gained altitude. I shivered, feeling the chill bite through my light jacket. Noticing my tremor, Magnus reached out without a word, wrapping a thick arm around my waist to pull me flush against him. His hands locked over my stomach like a steel vise, leaving no room for escape. The searing heat of his broad chest warmed my back, and his slow, steady breath against my neck sent goosebumps racing across my skin.

"I missed you, baby... A hundred times I went back to every single place we had been together. The café, this wheel, the country house... The apartment where everything still sits exactly as you left it..." His voice sounded right at my ear, deep, cracked, as though every word was torn from him with physical pain.

"Every damn day without you was empty. I tore the entire city apart when I left the hospital. I was ready to burn it to the ground just to find the bastards who took your body. And you... you were alive. All this time. You were breathing, raising my son. And hiding from me in that gutter."

I closed my eyes, the sheer anguish in his tone slicing through me like white-hot iron. It felt like nails driven straight into my heart. He wasn’t yelling. He wasn’t raging. But that suppressed, hollow agony in his words wounded me deeper than any weapon ever could.

"I was terrified, Magnus," I whispered, my throat tightening as tears welled up behind my eyelids. "Do you remember who you were back then? Do you remember what you did to me? I was nothing to you. I thought you would kill me if you ever found out I was alive. I thought you and Karina... that you were together. And if not that, I was certain you would rip my child away, throw me out onto the street, or punish me using him, just like you once threatened. And despite everything that happened between us, I was so afraid of that pain... because my heart was still aching for you."

"Never. I will never cause you pain again." He buried his face in the hair at the nape of my neck, taking a ragged, desperate breath of my scent. His grip on my waist tightened almost to the point of pain, but the intense pressure brought a strange comfort—a reminder that he was real.

"I changed, Jane. I burned out the bastard who hurt you. Do you hear me? I opened those centers, I helped those non-mated pairs—I did all of it to drown out the guilt I felt toward you. To prove, even to your ghost, that I was worthy of being your Alpha. Worthy of you."

His words seeped into my consciousness, saturating my very soul. I turned my head, my eyes meeting his darkened, burning gaze. The arrogant cruelty that used to reside there was gone, replaced entirely by desperation and an all-consuming, boundless devotion.

"I missed you so much... It was unbearable without you all those years," I whispered against his parted lips. Arching toward him, I pressed my mouth to his, catching the sudden tremor that rippled through his massive frame.

He responded instantly. Greedily. Fiercely. Like a dying man who had finally reached water. His lips claimed mine, his tongue invading with a dominant warmth that shattered the last remnants of my reserve. As I gasped into the kiss, he let out a low growl and shifted me to face him completely, pulling me flush against his lap.

The undeniable hardness of his shaft pressed against my thighs, a searing promise of what awaited us the moment we were rid of our clothes. A soft groan escaped my throat, my trembling fingers clutching at the lapels of his shirt as liquid fire flooded my veins. It was madness—wild, overwhelming, yet entirely vital.

"Do you remember our conversation in this exact cabin five years ago?" he rasped, pulling back just enough to draw a ragged breath, his lips still brushing mine. "Do you remember what I asked you?"

His gaze was searching, scorching, peering past my eyes and straight into my soul. My fingers remained tangled in the dark hair at his nape, and for a moment, I couldn’t utter a word. I simply nodded.

"I’m not a reckless boy anymore, willing to settle for a mere title," he breathed, his silver eyes flashing with absolute conviction. "I want everything. All of you."

"So... Jane Pharean, will you be my wife?"