She heard Ethan say something to Maya, his voice too low to make out the words. Heard Maya respond with concern about her sister. She heard Cooper asking "Dada, why 'Kota sad?"
Each word was a fresh wound, but Dakota didn't stop. Didn't slow. Just kept moving like a mechanical robot toward the doors.
She pushed through them into the cold November night, and the shock of frigid air hitting her face was almost enough to break through her carefully maintained control.
Almost.
Dakota made it down the front steps, across the snow-dusted driveway, past the line of expensive cars belonging to pack members. Her heels clicked against the pavement with each step, the sound echoing in the quiet night.
And then, finally alone, finally away from the watching eyes and concerned voices...
She let herself break.
Not visibly. Not in any way that someone could see. But internally, everything shattered.
Three years. Three years of Ethan being with her while he built a life with Maya. Three years of him dating her, sleeping with her, making her believe she meant something to him, while planning to marry her sister. While raising their son as if Dakota had never existed, as if their daughter's death had erased Dakota along with it.
Why had he been with her at all? If he'd moved on, if he'd chosen Maya, if he'd built this new life, why come back to Dakota? Why court her again when she had no memories? Why not just let her go, let her rebuild without him?
The questions circled endlessly, each one more painful than the last. But underneath all of them was a truth she couldn't escape:
She had nothing.
No memories until an hour ago. No daughter, she was dead, had been dead for three years, and Dakota was only now grieving her properly. No son, Cooper didn't know her, called another woman Mama, had built his entire short life without her. No, mate, Ethan was marrying her sister in a few months, had been with Maya for two years, and had clearly chosen his path forward.
Dakota had absolutely nothing except pain so vast it threatened to swallow her whole.
"Haha..."
The sound escaped her throat without permission. Laughter. She was laughing.
"Haha... hahaha..."
It bubbled up from somewhere deep and broken inside her, spilling out into the cold night air. Not real laughter. Not joy. Just the sound of someone whose mind couldn't process the magnitude of what had just happened and was short-circuiting, trying to find any response that made sense.
They probably thought she'd just needed air. Thought she was overwhelmed by crowds. Thought her fragile mind couldn't handle a party.
If only they knew.
If only they knew she'd just remembered giving birth to twins, losing one, abandoning the other, nearly dying, and then discovering her mate had been living a double life with her and her sister.
"Hahaha..."
Dakota started walking. Not back toward the lodge, she couldn't go back there, couldn't face them, couldn't pretend everything was fine when her entire existence had just been revealed as a lie.
She walked toward the road, her heels clicking against pavement, her breath coming in gasps that might have been laughter or might have been sobs. She wasn't sure anymore. Didn't care anymore.
The main road stretched before her, dark and empty at this late hour. A few cars passed, headlights sweeping across her before moving on. Dakota kept walking, her arms wrapped around herself against the cold, her mind spinning in endless circles.
This was her sister's engagement. Her sister's happy day. Her sister's future with the man Maya loved.
Dakota couldn't destroy that. Couldn't be the one to rip Maya's world apart.
Even if it meant her own world stayed shattered.
Even if it meant walking away from her mate, her son, everything she'd just remembered losing.
Even if it meant...
Headlights appeared behind her, growing brighter. Dakota didn't move, didn't look, just kept walking along the shoulder of the road like she had somewhere to go, some destination that made sense.
The car got closer. Closer.
A horn blared.
Dakota looked up just in time to see she'd drifted into the road, the vehicle bearing down on her with shocking speed. She froze, her body refusing to move, some small part of her mind thinking maybe this was better, maybe this was easier than.....
The car swerved violently, tires screeching. It missed her by inches, so close she felt the displaced air push against her.
The vehicle skidded to a stop several yards ahead, hazard lights flashing angry orange in the darkness.
A door opened. A man got out, his face twisted with anger and concern.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" he shouted, storming toward her. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Do you have any idea how close that is..."
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" he shouted, storming toward her with fury and concern warring on his face. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Do you have any idea how close that is...."
"What's even death?" Dakota's voice cut through his tirade, hollow and empty in a way that made him stop mid-step.
The man froze, clearly not expecting that response.