I knew the speaker too. Dorian Thornmere, Alaric's closest confidant. The last time, it had been their conversation I'd overheard by accident, the one that cracked the world open and handed me the secret that changed everything.
And now, somehow, I had stumbled into another.
"I don't know how to race. If I don't rig something, this identity will collapse sooner or later."
Dorian's fury was barely leashed. I could almost feel the heat of his anger through the wall between us.
"Even if you can fool them now, you can't fool them forever. Alaric, I know you love Chloe, but she is your brother's mate. You have your own life. Do you even know what Hazel has been going through for your sake? I just saw her. She's being worn to nothing. She's a good woman. Five years of mating, and you feel nothing at all? A wolf should cherish the one standing beside him. You need to let this go."
Silence filled the gap between them.
A long time passed before he spoke again, voice low and stubborn as iron driven into stone.
"Give me three more years. Just three. Let me finish this dream. After that, I'll go back to Hazel."
I couldn't help it. I laughed.
Alaric, you don't need to come back.
I'll leave on my own.