Nolan POV
The park sat just beyond the eastern edge of the city, bordered by old trees and wide stretches of grass that had been left deliberately untamed. It was one of the few places in Silver Fang that felt untouched by politics—no council halls, no carved stone symbols, no reminders of legacy pressing down from every angle.
Just space.
I hadn’t realized how badly I needed that until we arrived.
Ellie walked ahead of me, one of the boys balanced on each hip as they wriggled in an attempt to get free, their attention already caught by the open field.
I stopped short without meaning to.
This was the place.
The memory rose unbidden—sharp and vivid. Two small boys giggling in the grass, guarded too closely by Cassian as he watched me with open unease. Ellie standing between me and t
