Chapter 2

He hadn't found him. My heart dropped back into my chest. Good. Good. He hadn't figured out that other piece yet. Ethan only had evidence that I'd drugged him. But that alone was disaster.

Old Silas was ancient, rigid, raised on Pack Law. I never let anything scandalous reach him. Drugging the son of one of his oldest Alpha friends — that one would earn me a kneeling session before the Elder council and the full weight of Pack discipline.

That bastard Ethan had actually tattled.

Speak of the devil. Caleb's call had barely ended when Silas's line lit up. No way I was answering. Wolves behind me, wolves in front. I ran.

I dropped the call on my Elder. Mom called right after. Again. Telling me to come home. One escape had turned into four whole years away. I thought, in a numb sort of way, that it was probably time.

Small footsteps pattered down the hallway. A little cannonball rolled into view. He latched onto my leg. His milky toddler voice rang up at me.

"Daddy, can I watch one episode of Miloki and King Grrr?"

Theo tipped his round face up at me. Black-grape eyes, shining. His soft just-woke-up curls stuck out at every angle.

I went still for a second. He looked like him. He looked exactly like him. He was a carbon copy of Ethan Blackwood. Someone had hit Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V, Ctrl-T.

When I didn't answer, Theo stretched up on his toes. His short arms shot straight out. Four little dimples sat on the backs of his chubby hands.

"Daddy, up."

My chest softened. At least his personality hadn't come from Ethan. Theo was a tiny, puffy, gentle cub. I bent down and swept him into my arms.

Back then — when I first found out I was carrying him — I had tried a hundred times to make myself end the pregnancy. I never could, when it came down to it. Maybe it was hormones. Maybe it was the Omega under my skin. In the end, Theo was born, healthy and whole. He grew a little slower than the other pups, smaller in frame. But he was solid in the arms. Real.

I pressed my cheek against his soft baby cheek.

"Do you want to go back with Daddy and meet Grandsire and Grandmere?"

"Okay."

Days later, the plane touched down on the Ashford Territory's main airstrip. I slipped back into the homeland quietly. I didn't tell a single wolf.

The second I crossed the threshold of Ashford Manor, chaos broke loose. Mom and Dad froze with their mouths open at the little pup suddenly standing in their entryway.

Luckily. Theo tipped his head up and chirped "Grandmere, Grandsire" in that sugar-sweet voice. Both of them surrendered instantly.

Lady Eleanor kept trying to pull Theo out of my arms. "Magnus, look at him, he looks like us."

Lord Magnus Ashford was just as smitten. He was even worse, actually. "Ha ha, he's warm, he's so warm. He feels exactly like Milo did when he was small."

They kept going. "Good." "He's a perfect little grandcub."

I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding.

My phone chimed with notifications. The old group chat that had been dead for years suddenly came back to life.

Damon: [Big news. Young Master Ashford is home, and he brought a cub. @Milo]

A photo dropped right after. Crowded airstrip terminal. A tall man with a cub pressed against his shoulder. The cub had his face buried in his neck, showing only half a round cheek.

My jaw tightened. I hadn't expected anyone to catch me on camera. The picture flushed half the pack out of hiding.

Bryce: [No way. Real? @Milo]

Chase: [Impossible. I never got a bonding invitation, a mating invitation, or a first-moon gathering invitation. @Milo]

Derek: [You swore no bonding, no pups. You skipped the whole road and went straight to parenthood? @Milo]

Damon: [Don't play dead, @Milo]

I gave in and typed back. Me: [Not bonded. Biological cub.]

Damon: [Oh?]

Bryce: [Ohhh?]

Chase: [Ohhhhh?]

Ethan Blackwood: [Hmph.]

…

Shit. I'd forgotten that bastard was in the chat too. I left the group without a word and muted him on every channel I could think of.

A private message from Caleb slid in right after.

Caleb: [You came back and you didn't even tell me? Where's my godcub?]

Caleb: [Also — stay away from Ethan. He hasn't found the "dream mate" he's been hunting for years, and his temper's gone from bad to rabid. He hasn't forgotten about the drug. Don't poke him.]

Caleb: [By the way, why does my sweet godcub look exactly like that prick?]

I remembered the first time Caleb had laid eyes on Theo. He had jumped straight up in the air. "Ethan Blackwood's cub? Where the hell did you steal this from?"

Me: …

Absolutely not. Absolutely.

Theo could never, ever, cross paths with Ethan Blackwood.

Some time passed. Theo settled into life in the territory. Mom and Dad spoiled him rotten, day after day. There was a quiet, shared agreement between all of us. None of them ever asked me who Theo's other father was. I thought maybe I'd finally made it past the worst of it.

Until the new term started. I enrolled Theo in Moonlight Pup Academy. I dressed him in his little socks, little denim jeans, and a sunflower-yellow cap. On the way we stopped and bought him a cup of yogurt. He drank the whole thing in two sips.

The teacher took Theo by his tiny hand and led him through the gate of the Academy. Theo kept turning back. Waving at me until I couldn't see his little head anymore. I smiled and smiled. I turned around to leave.

And walked straight into a solid wall of a man.

My pupils shrank.

Ethan Blackwood.