In the back of the dimly lit auditorium, Lyrian and Kaelen sat together, their hands clenched tightly in their laps as they listened to Dorian's voice fill the room. His words were calm, composed, full of the measured authority expected of a student council president—but to them, every word struck with a deeper meaning, a weight neither had anticipated.
They had known from the moment they saw him earlier that day. The resemblance, the pull, the aching familiarity—it had all confirmed what their hearts already knew. And now, hearing him speak, watching him command the room with the confidence of someone raised in the world of Alphas... it made their hearts both swell with pride and tighten with sorrow.
Kaelen's jaw was set, his golden-brown eyes locked on Dorian as he spoke. He had always prepared himself for this day—for the moment they might see their son again, fully grown and shaped by the world they had given him up to. But nothing had prepared him for the ache that twisted in his chest now, the realization that this boy—this young man—was so close, and yet still so far from them.
"He's so strong," Lyrian whispered, his voice barely audible over the applause that filled the auditorium. His pale blue eyes shimmered with unshed tears, his heart aching with a love that had never faded. "He's grown into someone remarkable."
Kaelen nodded, though his throat tightened, unable to speak past the emotion threatening to choke him. Dorian looked every bit the Alpha they had hoped he would become—strong, composed, commanding. But there was something more, something in the way he carried himself that reminded Kaelen of the boy they had once held, the boy they had whispered goodbye to all those years ago.
"He doesn't know," Lyrian continued, his voice breaking just slightly. "He doesn't know who we are."
Kaelen's grip on Lyrian's hand tightened, his amber eyes dark with the pain of what they had sacrificed to protect Dorian. "Not yet," He said quietly, his voice thick with emotion. "But one day... he will."
As the applause faded and Dorian stepped back from the podium, their eyes followed him—both full of pride and the crushing weight of the past. The boy they had given up to the Vaelis family was now a man, standing in front of them, strong and independent, but still so far from the truth they carried in their hearts.
And as the room began to empty, they remained in their seats, rooted to the spot by the gravity of what had just happened.