Mated To The Crippled Alpha-Chapter 391: Let’s End Here

I had finally come home.

The drive back to Snowville felt shorter than I remembered, even though so much had changed inside me since I left. Barely a month in Jaford, and yet it felt like I’d lived several lifetimes in that time. Lewis drove while I sat in the passenger seat with the window down, letting the spring air rush over my face. Snowville had shaken off its long winter and stepped into something softer. The streets were lined with cherry blossom trees in full bloom, their pink petals drifting down like quiet confetti, settling on the windshield and sidewalks without a care in the world. It was the kind of beauty that made grief feel almost bearable.

Lewis slowed the car without me asking. He always knew.

We pulled up to the Morrigan residence, where the family had arrived a day before us. I found Whitney in the yard, sitting on the old swing, staring at nothing. She didn’t hear me approach. The house had been renovated fresh paint, new fixtures but the bones of it were still the same. Still the place where we had all grown up.

I walked up behind her and asked, "Do you remember this place?"

She nodded slowly. "I don’t remember much from before I was three, but I remember this yard. You used to push me on this swing. Our brothers would fly kites out here. Jake was always getting into trouble always climbing that cherry tree just to shake petals down on me." She let out a small laugh that broke halfway through. "One time, the branch snapped under him and he fell. Wore a cast for three months."

Whitney smiled, but her eyes were wet. "These memories are what kept me going all these years. I wanted to hold onto them, but the longer I was away, the more they faded. I couldn’t even remember your faces anymore. The only things that stayed clear were this yard, this swing, and that tree. They came to me in dreams so many times." She looked around slowly. "Now that I’m back, those twenty years feel like something I imagined."

I stepped behind her and gave the swing a gentle push. "Let me do it again."

She whispered, "Okay."

The sky was wide and clear. The spring breeze moved through her hair, and her white skirt fluttered the way it used to when she was small and the world hadn’t touched her yet. But that little girl was gone now. We both knew it.

I had come back to say goodbye to Grandma. The Morrigans, still wary of Dominic catching wind of anything, hadn’t held a proper funeral. They had moved her quietly to the family tomb instead. When word got out that I was coming, they put together a big dinner. It was also the first time I had returned as Elena truly as myself since everything changed.

I went up to my old room alone.

It looked exactly as I’d left it, as if the room had been holding its breath since the last time I stood there loving Julian without question. Our photo was still on the desk me, young and easy with my smile, leaning into him like nothing could go wrong. It had only been six months since all of that fell apart, and yet I had nearly forgotten him. If it weren’t for the small pieces of him still scattered around this room, I might not have fully understood how deeply I once cared.

Whitney had found my old photo album and was flipping through it quietly, learning the version of me that existed before she came back into my life.

Vivian appeared in the doorway. She looked more put-together than she had on the island, but something in her posture told me she would never fully go back to who she used to be. She looked at me carefully before speaking. "Elena, your dad and I talked. We’ve decided to sell the house."

That surprised me. "Are you sure you want to let it go?"

"We still have some savings, and the Anders Group brings in decent returns. Selling will give us enough of a cushion to protect ourselves if the Blackwells ever come after us again. Greg never wanted a life in business we’re not going to push him into one. He can choose his own path." She paused and folded her hands together. "Your dad and I bought a piece of land out in the countryside. We want to go simple. Retire. The doctor says he can get a prosthetic for his leg, so the limp should be gone eventually. As for Camilla..." She paused again. "Her situation is complicated. Whether she wants to come with us or go after her own dreams, we’ll back her either way. Knowing you’re here in Snowville that’s enough for us."

I understood the decision. Dominic still didn’t know Malcom was alive, and staying visible carried risks. But the house I wasn’t ready for that.

"This house was Grandma’s life’s work," I said quietly.

Vivian’s voice softened. "But it’s full of too much. Every time I walk through these rooms, I see all of you as children. So full of noise and life." Her eyes filled. "We’re still here, but we’re carrying so much now. We can’t stay. It’s better to leave the past where it is."

Whitney stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. "Mom."

I glanced at the clock. "It’s getting late. We should go lay Grandma to rest."

Vivian reached out and touched my arm gently. "I made your favorites today, Elena. All of them. I just I wanted to do that one last time. Stay for dinner. One last meal together."

"We’ve already fallen apart," I said. "There’s no family left to reunite."

Whitney caught my sleeve, her voice barely above a whisper. "It’s just one meal, Elena. Mom and Dad are leaving soon. They won’t ask anything of you after this."

I didn’t want to make it harder for her. "Fine," I said. "Stop. I’ll eat."

At the table, the empty chairs were impossible to ignore. Whitney kept glancing at them, her expression caught somewhere between loneliness and something quieter something almost like comfort. Vivian set a plate and said, her eyes glassy, "We’re all finally here for a family dinner." It wasn’t entirely true, and we all knew it. Malcom sat beside us, quieter than usual, the kind of quiet that had weight behind it.

Vivian began serving. She placed fish on Ethan’s empty plate and shrimp on Jake’s, as naturally as if they were sitting right there. She hadn’t forgotten what they loved. When she got to me, she set barbecue ribs on my plate. Her hands were trembling. Her eyes were swollen from crying. But I didn’t push the food away.

"It’s been so long since you’ve had my ribs," she said softly.

I looked at the plate. "Thank you."

The relief on her face was quiet but real. She moved on to Lewis, adding a piece to his plate. "Lewis, eat up. I’m counting on you to look after her."

"Of course," he said, his tone steady and polite.

She turned to Whitney and added vegetables to her plate, clucking softly. "You’re too thin, sweetheart. Greens aren’t enough. You need to eat some meat too."

Whitney smiled faintly. "Okay, Mom."

By the time we finished, it was dark outside. We drove out to the Morrigans’ burial site, where Grandma’s grave had already been prepared. I knelt down in the dirt and began filling it in myself. My hands moved slowly.

"I’m sorry, Grandma," I said under my breath. "This is as far as I can take you."

She had always wanted to see me mated properly, finally, in the way the pack honored those bonds. She never got that wish. I stayed kneeling a moment longer, letting that sit, then stood and brushed the earth from my hands.

On the way back, Vivian reached out and took my hand. I looked down at where her fingers wrapped around mine and waited. After a moment, she let go on her own.

"I just wanted to ask," she started carefully. "Since the residence and Grandma’s house are both being sold your things are still there. What do you want us to do with them?"

"I don’t want any of it," I said. "Do whatever makes sense."

"Elena..."

I met her eyes, and I kept my voice even. "This is where it ends between me and the Morrigans."