NEVA POV --- Corven had become a compound fixture without anyone formally deciding it should happen — the specific gradual accumulation of a person who kept showing up, kept being useful, kept demonstrating through consistent small actions that he understood what this family valued and was willing to earn his place in it rather than assume it. He knew where the cups were. He knew Bekah's schedule well enough to know when to offer help and when to stay out of her way. He knew when Mitch was building something that required silence and when Mitch was ready for company. He'd learned, across months of regular visits, the specific rhythm of this compound the way you learned a language by living inside it rather than studying it from outside. Reine watched him navigate all of this with an ex

