Page 195 of The Heart of Winter

"I scared the hell out of myself. But it’s good to see you too, you grumpy old man."

That made him frown, and a mischievous glint sparked in his eyes, one that promised revenge later.

Then came the flood of questions from everyone else. Even Uncle Victor and Uncle Sebastien joined in, and Victor made me promise that his magazine, The East Times, would get first rights to the interview.

I took the opportunity to thank him for all the camping trips we’d been on together, because they had definitely given me a lot of knowledge that turned out to be useful.

My cousins asked how we’d survived and were amazed when I mentioned the hot springs on the island. They couldn’t believe our luck.

But then, as I was answering, I caught sight of my father stepping away from the crowd, walking toward Winter’s family, and I strained to hear him over all the noise.

A bit shocked, I watched as he briefly shook Winter’s hand… almost coldly. And then did something completely uncharacteristic, he bowed slightly to Winter’s dad.

"Thank you for not giving up," my father said. "I’m sorry I lost faith. I owe you."

"The only thing that matters is that they’re safe now," the blond omega replied, his face streaked with tears.

Then he turned to the side and pressed a firm kiss to Winter’s cheek.

After another minute of chaotic questions, back pats, congratulations, and joyful exclamations over my miraculous survival, one more person made his way through the crowd. It was Winter’s dad again.

Unexpectedly, he pulled me into a firm hug and whispered in my ear, "Thank you for saving Winter’s life. I know what you did in the cave, I saw it. You’re a true hero, Sariel."

A wave of emotion and surprise hit me so hard I didn’t have time to react before he disappeared back into the crowd, melting away among the people as if he’d never been there.

How could his dad know? I had no idea. It was all just shock and confusion, swirling and swallowing me, leaving me feeling completely unmoored.

I tried to catch sight of Winter again, but only glimpsed him turning and walking away, led off by his family.

I had so hoped to meet his gaze, but… he didn’t look at me, engaged in conversation with Skye.

And I was pulled along with my family.

I didn’t understand.

What had changed? Now, back on solid ground, was Winter done with me?

But… we were True Mates!

Too broken and disoriented to do anything, I felt my parents' hands take me by the arms and guide me toward the parking lot…

Every stephurt.

PART THREE: THE HOME

WINTER

The flight was strange. The fact that they separated me from Sariel from the start was surprising, especially because it was the psychologists who made that call. After everything we’d survived together, you'd think professionals would know how damaging it could be to force such a sudden and decisive change.

Still, the moment we boarded the plane, we were seated apart.

The psychologist wasted no time. He launched straight into a barrage of questions and statements about how disaster survivors typically behave, what their defense mechanisms are, how trauma can twist perceptions, how it distorts relationships between people who experienced it together. After about an hour, I started seeing the pattern.

He was trying to convince me hard, that Sariel and I should go our separate ways and begin individual therapy for PTSD. The way he kept pushing me to ‘give Sariel space’ started to raise red flags. Something felt off.

Was someone behind this? Why had the drone arrived only after three weeks? Who orchestrated the rescue? Was it privately funded? If so, by whom?

Through a bit of careful maneuvering, subtle questions disguised as idle chatter, I managed to pull one crucial detail from him. He let it slip, almost like he hadn’t meant to, that the costs of the rescue mission had been covered by Jacob Lowen and Blue Lowen. The look on his face said it all, he definitely wasn’t supposed to share that.

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