Page 142 of Red River

Suddenly feeling guilty, I whispered, "If nothing else, I have wonderful kids thanks to him."

"That’s true. That’s a good thing."

"He loved me, Fa. He never raised his voice or his hand against me. But that doesn’t change the fact… he wasn’t my ideal partner. He made room for someone who didn’t have to pretend to be the alpha I wanted. Archer just is that. Only now, finally—I'm in the place I wanted to be from the start."

Father smiled, this time without a hint of sadness. "And that, River, is why… I can truly be at peace about you. It should have been him from the beginning, if only not for the age gap…!"

I shook my head, feeling a strange shiver down my spine.

"No, the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced things happened exactly as they were meant to. If I had met Archer first, I would have stayed a spoiled prince and wouldn’t have truly appreciated what he’s giving me now. I would have treated what he does as a given, not a gift! I needed to grow too, Fa."

His gray eyes were on my face, attentive.

"Fate was wise to set us apart with the age gap. I needed that time to be ready to appreciate Archer."

"I only wish you didn’t have to fight so hard to stay afloat."

"Archer said something to me soon after I moved in with him. Alphas mature through pain and overcoming difficulties. I think… not only alphas. It’s a universal experience."

My father took a deep breath. A trace of sadness was back in his eyes. "That’s… true. But it’s hard, as a parent, to think about all your struggles."

"Don’t be sad. I’m a slow learner. I required more time to understand things. I kinda needed my life to be exactly like this for one more reason… to understand that you can’t force people to change. I wanted you and Dad to change. I wanted Thomas to change. And even Igor. And all that desire brought me was stress and disappointment. I needed to learn to respect other people’s ways, even if they were different from mine. And I think I finally did. Took me a long time, but I get it now. That’s why I came back."

Father gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "You know… I learned something too. You running away opened my eyes. I always thought that as a parent, all I had to do was give endless love. But love is like sugar…"

"Too much of it isn’t good! Archer says that all the time."

We both laughed.

"Exactly. After you left, your dad and I changed a lot about how we raised your brothers. You might be surprised, but we actually introduced some discipline, more household responsibilities, and we even started keeping our eyes on their grades! Kay, Soren, and Damien once told us that our boys are the most self-sufficient alphas they’ve ever met! They don’t just sit around waiting for someone to serve them food or do their laundry. So yeah, we learned something from all this too… maybe the most important lesson of all? We became better parents thanks to you, River."

I squeezed his hand in return.

"I want you to know that I love you both. I came home with my heart cleansed of all the negative feelings from the past. Life cured me of it, and truly opened my eyes. And I want you to know—I never stopped thinking about you, about making thingsright. I wanted to come home a thousand times—a thousand moments when I cursed my life, the daily fight to keep going. I just wanted you both to show up at my door, pack my bags, and take me home. But I guess, in the end, it was me who had to make that decision."

My father squeezed his eyes shut, and I saw the tears glistening beneath his lashes.

"River… and for a thousand moments, your dad and I wished we could turn back time. To be the kind of parents you needed."

I reached for him, and he leaned in carefully, making sure not to squish little Phoenix between us as we hugged tightly.

"I need to tell you something. One day, back in December, I was sitting on the porch with Snow. He was playing his harmonica, and then suddenly, he lifted his head, like he was listening to something. And then he said, ‘River is free now.’"

I stared at him, stunned. "In mid-December… Thomas died."

Father nodded. "Yes, that was the exact day. We panicked at first. We thought ‘free’ meant something terrible had happened to you. But Snow calmed us down. He said, ‘Everything will change now. Just wait a few months… and everything will resolve.’ And he was right."

"How did he know?"

"No idea… He never talks about it."

"I remember many things from when we were kids, almost… magical, about Snow. He seemed to know stuff. Almost in a clairvoyant way."

"Yes. If it weren’t for Snow, Winter wouldn’t be here with us today… You already know he was stranded on the deserted island, but Snow helped save the day. Snow really is special."

"Fa, tell me the truth. Is he the reason so many people in our family somehow found their True Mates?"

Father nodded seriously. "Storm told us about a conversation he had with Snow. He doesn’t like to talk about it, avoids the topic. But yes, from what we understand, his gift works in a quieter, slower way… quite different from Storm’s, but it’s really powerful."

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