Page 185 of Beautifully Scarred Omega

If you’re reading this, then I didn’t make it. And I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you the way I promised myself I would the day you were born.

I need you to know that if I’m gone, it’s not because I chose to go. I would never choose to leave you. Never.

You are the bravest, kindest person I have ever known. You are twelve years old and you are already stronger than I will ever be. Whatever happens, remember that. Remember who you are.

I love you. I have loved you every single day of your life, and I will love you for every day after it, wherever I am.

Live, my darling. Be brave. Keep that good heart of yours, even when the world gives you reasons not to.

All my love, always,

Maman

I put the letter down.

My vision blurs. I press the heels of my hands against my eyes, hard, like I can push the tears back inside. They come anyway, tracking down my cheeks and dripping off my jaw, and I press my lips together and breathe through my nose and try not to make a sound because I am in a room full of people I respect and I can’t—I can’t⁠—

Declan’s hand finds my shoulder. He doesn’t squeeze or pull me in, just rests it there and lets me shake.

“She was brave,” Declan says quietly.

“I know,” I manage. “I know she was.”

I wipe my face with the back of my hand and breathe and look at Griffin.

“You’ll take care of him,” I say. “Permanently.”

“Like always,” Griffin says.

Nobody speaks. I fold my mother’s letter carefully and slip it into my pocket, close to my heart.

“I need to get back,” I say.

Griffin studies me. “Sophie⁠—”

“I still have a mole to catch, Griffin.” I look at him, and my voice is steady, and my eyes are still wet, and I have never meant anything more. “I’m not walking away from this. Not now.”

Griffin holds my gaze for a long moment. Then the corner of his mouth lifts.

“Go,” he says.

I walk out of Sentinel and into the daylight and get in my car and sit there for a moment with my mother’s letter in my pocket and the taste of Max still on my lips and think about what it means to protect the people you love.

Then I start the engine and drive home.

CHAPTER 46

Sophie

My apartment is exactly as I left it.

That’s the thing about a place you’ve made deliberately empty—it stays that way perfectly, with no evidence that time has passed. The surfaces are clean, the cushions straight. Nothing out of place because there is nothing to place. I stand in the doorway and look at the space I’ve called home for three years and feel something I didn’t expect.

It feels like a cage.

It’s not really a home. Just four walls, a locked door, and no one in it except me, which is exactly how I’ve always wanted it. I have never once understood until this moment that I’ve been building a cage and calling it safety.

I put my bag down and walk to the window. The city is gray and indifferent outside, and I stand there and think about the pack house—the kitchen that smells like butter and coffee, the living room with the enormous couch and photos and overflowing bookshelves. Max kissing the top of my head like he’d been doing it for years. Finn at the stove, humming, turning to smile at me like I was the best thing he’d seen all morning. Ethan taking my hand and lacing his fingers through mine and just holding it, saying nothing.