Caden’s POV
What Sumr said did not just shock everyone, it landed in a way that made it hard to ignore.
Nobody spoke for a mont, and I could tell they were all trying to make sense of it, but for , it felt different. I wasn’t fighting it in my head. I wasn’t trying to shut it down.
I believed her more than anything right now.
I looked at her carefully.
"How?" I asked. "How is your mother supposed to heal Cane?"
Sumr didn’t hesitate this ti, like she had already thought everything through before walking in here.
"It will happen through Riley," she said."We’ll go through Riley’s soul"
Gunnar’s head snapped toward her imdiately, his expression hard.
"What are you saying?" he asked.
"She’s her blood sister Daddy," Sumr continued, calm but firm. "That’s the only way to reach her. You can’t just go there directly. You need soone with the sa blood to open the way."
Leslie frowned, clearly not comfortable with any of this.
"You’re talking about crossing into a place no one should be crossing into," she said. "That is not sothing you just attempt and expect to co back from."
Sumr looked at her but didn’t back down.
"It’s the only way," she replied.
I stepped closer.
"And how exactly does that work?" I asked. "You’re saying Riley becos so kind of bridge?"
Sumr nodded.
"Yes. She’s the connection between both sides. Without her, you can’t reach my Mom."
Gunnar let out a sharp breath, already losing patience.
"No," he said. "We’re not doing this."
Sumr ignored him and kept going.
"To reach her fully, a Satyre has to be involved too," she said. "They’re the only ones who can summon soone from that realm and hold the connection long enough."
That word alone made the room tense again.
Gunnar stepped forward.
"Do you even understand what you’re saying?" he asked. "You’re bringing sothing like that here?"
"I already did Daddy," she said.
The silence that followed was heavy.
"You what?" Gunnar asked slowly, like he needed to be sure he heard her right.
"I already called a Satyre," she repeated. "She’s coming."
Gunnar’s anger ca out fully now.
"You had no right to do that," he snapped. "You don’t summon sothing like that without knowing the consequences."
"I do know," she said."Atleast from Mom"
"No, you don’t," he fired back imdiately. "They don’t just help. They always take sothing in return."
"I know that," she replied, her voice rising slightly now. "But Uncle Cane is dying and none of you have another option."
That hit, and nobody could deny it.
I looked at Cane. His condition was getting worse by the minute. His breathing was uneven, and the dark spread under his skin was more visible now.
I clenched my jaw.
"Let her finish," I said to Gunnar.
He didn’t like it, but he stayed quiet.
Sumr looked at for a second, then continued.
"There’s sothing else you all need to understand," she said.
Her eyes went to Gunnar.
"The problem isn’t just reaching her. The problem is what happens after."
Gunnar frowned deeper, I could already tell the irritation from his face "What do you an?"
She took a small breath.
"If we find her, you might not let her go," she said.
Gunnar’s expression hardened.
"That’s not your concern," he replied.
"It is," she said. "Because if you try to keep her here, everything will go wrong."
"That’s not going to happen," he said firmly.
"You don’t know that, Dad" she replied.
Gunnar stepped closer."I said it won’t happen."
"And I said you don’t know that," she repeated, not backing down at all.
The tension between them was thick, and for a second, I thought he might shut everything down by force.
Sumr kept going anyway.
"She can’t co back here fully," she said. "There’s a barrier between the living, the half-living and the fully dead. She can only cross temporarily unless sothing takes her place."
Leslie’s face changed.
"What do you an sothing takes her place?" she asked.
Sumr answered without hesitation. "Soone," she corrected.
The room went silent again.
I already knew where this was going, and I didn’t like it.
"The only person who can take her place is Riley," Sumr said.
Gunnar’s eyes darkened instantly.
"That’s not happening," he said.
"It can happen," she replied. "And if you want her back badly enough, you might choose it."
"I won’t," he said.
"You might," she said again. "Because you still love Mommy."
That hit harder than anything else.
Gunnar didn’t respond, but the look on his face said enough.
Sumr turned to then."You have to stop him," she said.
I was already frustrated now with a deep frown.
"That’s not sothing I can control Sumr," I replied.
"You have to try," she insisted. "Because if he lets her stay longer than expected, Riley dies."
"And if Riley dies..."
"Then all of you go down," she finished. "You, Uncle Cane, and him. Your lives are tied to your mates. You don’t survive without them right?"
I ran a hand through my hair, trying to keep up with everything she was saying.
"This is too much," Leslie said quietly.
"It’s the truth," Sumr replied.
She stepped closer to .
"Mom will want to stay," she said. "She still loves him. And he’s always wanted her back. So when they see each other again, you have to make sure he lets her go after she heals Uncle Cane."
I didn’t answer imdiately.
I looked at Gunnar.
He was silent, but his face was tight, like he was fighting sothing inside himself.
That alone made this worse.
"Do you understand ?" Sumr asked.
"Yes," I said finally. "I understand."
But just then—
The door pushed open hard.
All of us turned imdiately.
Sumr reacted first, faster than anyone.
"Leslie, move your face!" she shouted.
Leslie froze."What—"
"Move now!" Sumr yelled again, louder.
Sothing in her voice made Leslie step back instantly without arguing.
That was when I felt it, the heavy shift in the air and aura.
Chils and sharp in a way that didn’t feel normal.
I turned slowly toward the door.
At first, it looked like nothing, then it stepped in.
The Satyre.
It was fully covered in a thick, heavy regalia that dragged slightly as it moved. The fabric was layered and dark, covering every part of its body, including its face. The hood was deep enough that nothing inside could be seen clearly.
But it didn’t need to be seen.
Its presence alone was enough.
I felt it imdiately. Power that didn’t feel like anything we were used to. It wasn’t wolf energy. It wasn’t anything close to it.
Leslie let out a shaky breath.
"I can’t... I can’t see it properly," she said.
"You’re not supposed to," Sumr replied quickly. "Only Alphas can."
I could see it clearly.
Every step it took felt intentional, like it already knew why it was here.
Gunnar stepped in front of Sumr instantly.
"You called this here?" he demanded.
"Yes," she said.
"Do you understand what you’ve just done?" he asked."How the hell were you even able to summon a Satyre?"
"Wekl I have my ways, I’m my mother’s daughter," she replied again.
"You don’t summon sothing like this into our territory without consequences," he said.
"I know," she answered. "But I don’t care about consequences if it saves him."
Gunnar looked at Cane, then back at her.
He didn’t respond.
That silence gave her the space to move.
She stepped around him before he could stop her.
"Sumr," he said sharply.
But she ignored him.
She walked forward and stopped a few feet from the Satyre.
I felt the tension rise again.
Everything about this felt like it was going too far, but at the sa ti, there was no other option.
Gunnar looked at .
"What the hell is she doing?" he asked, clearly not believing any of this.
I didn’t answer.
Because I didn’t know.
Or maybe I did, and I just didn’t want to say it out loud.
Sumr stood straight, looking up at the Satyre without fear.
The figure didn’t move.
It just stood there, waiting for her.
Gunnar took a step forward again.
"This stops now," he said. "We’re not going to do this."
"If we don’t, he dies," Sumr replied, without turning around.
That shut him up again.
Cane’s weak breathing was the only sound for a mont.
Then Sumr spoke. Her voice was soft.
"Please begin."
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