Where The Ice Gives Way (Charlotte and Blake) novel Chapter 260

Chapter 260 Follow Your Heart

Jess

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The house is quiet now.

Not completely quiet, because nothing ever seems completely quiet anymore, but each sound no longer reverberates through my entire

being. The pipes tick inside the walls. The fire shifts softly in the lounge room. Someone moves upstairs, a floorboard creaking under

careful feet.

I hear all of it, but it no longer hurts.

It is as if my wolf is filtering the world for me, softening the sharp edges before they can cut too deep. I can feel her there, curled into a

warmth inside my chest, exhausted and content with the space she has now. With the freedom.

Mara places a fresh mug of coffee down in front of me, and I give her a thankful smile as she moves around the table, setting more mugs

in front of my parents and Charlie. Steam curls upward between us, carrying the rich, bitter smell straight into my lungs, and for once, it

does not make me feel human and left out.

It makes me feel here.

Mum watches me over the rim of her mug, her eyes red and swollen from crying. Dad sits beside her with both hands wrapped around his

coffee, but he has not taken a sip. He keeps looking at me like he is trying to memorise me all over again.

And I don’t know what to do with that.

Because I am still me.

I think.

I am still their daughter sitting at a kitchen table in borrowed clothes, with sore muscles, damp hair, and Charlie’s knee pressed against

mine beneath the table.

But I am also not only that anymore.

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Chapter 260 Follow Your Heart

Dad gives Mara a small nod that looks more thankful than anything he could say out loud.

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Charlie starts to move, probably thinking he should leave too, but my hand catches his sleeve under the table before he can leave.

“Stay,” I say quietly.

His eyes soften on mine. “Okay.”

That one word settles through me, warm and simple, and Shakti shifts inside my chest with a tired little sigh.

Mum looks between us and tries to smile, but her mouth trembles a little. “You look different.”

I glance down at myself, at the oversized jumper sleeves falling over my fingers, at the blanket still wrapped around my shoulders. “I feel different.”

“No,” she says softly. “I mean… you look more yourself.”

Dad looks at Mum, then back at me, and his face folds with so much emotion that I have to look down into my coffee for a second.

“You were incredible tonight,” he says.

I blink, looking back up at him.

“I mean it, Jessica.” His voice catches, but he keeps going. “I know you were in pain, and you were terrified, but you trusted the pack. More than that, you trusted yourself.”

Dad lets out a broken little breath. “When you stood there in the snow, when I saw her, I thought I would feel afraid. I thought all those old warnings would come back. But they didn’t.”

“What did you feel?” I ask, barely breathing.

His eyes shine.

“Proud,” he says. “I was, I am, so proud.”

The tears come before I can stop them, and Shakti lifts her head inside me, listening with bright, careful stillness.

Dad smiles at me then, small and ruined. “I can’t wait to watch you grow exactly as you were always meant to be.”

Something in me melts at that.

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Chapter 260 Follow Your Heart

A startled laugh bursts out of me.

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It sounds strange in the kitchen after all the crying, but then Mum laughs too, watery, and Dad’s shoulders ease for the first time all

morning.

“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “I don’t know what I’m doing next year. I don’t even know what I’m doing tomorrow.”

Mum’s smile softens, and she reaches across, taking my free hand. “Follow your heart,” she says. “Do whatever makes you happy. University will still be there if you want it. And if you don’t want it, that’s okay too.”

Dad nods. “We just want to be part of your life. Whatever path it takes now.”

“I want that too,” I say quickly, because that is one thing I know with complete certainty. “I will always be your little girl. You know that, right?”

Mum makes a tiny broken sound.

“But I need to learn this world,” I say, looking between them. “With Charlie, and Charlotte. With the pack. I need space to figure out who I am now without feeling guilty because it is different from what we planned.”

Dad’s eyes water a little now as he gives me a small but reassuring smile.

“You won’t hurt us by becoming yourself, sweetheart,” he says quietly.

I look at him for a long moment. “What about you?”

Dad’s brow furrows. “Me?”

“Your wolf.”

Dad looks down at his hands, and I swear I can feel the ache in him too. Not through a bond, but in the way he holds himself, as if he is bracing for a door he is not sure he wants to open.

“I don’t know,” he says. “I don’t know if he can wake after all this time.”

“Do you want him to?”

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