Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

THERON

A sharp crack of thunder pulls my gaze to the window. As with every new moon night, it’s pitch black, and tonight rain is hammering down. There isn’t a single sign of life on the pack grounds. The storm raging outside is a fitting end to my reign as the alpha of Blackwood. A reign for which I sacrificed everything, even my mate.

Seren’s tear-stained face flashes through my head. Every horrible word I spouted is stuck in my mind. The memory of my cocky attitude refuses to wash away. If I had the strength, I would’ve taught my pack to cherish and protect their mates. But now…it’s too late. For everything.

I’ve given my last six months to the pack and none of the elders have even bothered to pick or train a new alpha. They refuse to even talk about a replacement.

But that won’t be my responsibility after tonight.

Listening to the storm, I crash out on my chair, my head resting on the table .

I don’t know what time it is, but a racket outside wakes me up. Every muscle in my body aches. The voices carry right to my room.

“What do we do?”

“Do we really not know who left it here?”

Whoever it is, is not even bothering to keep it down.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I’m just getting my bearings together when I hear urgent footsteps. There’s a loud rap against the door and before I can say “come in,” the night guard is in front of me, his chest heaving.

“You’ve got to see this, alpha.”

The cold wind flooding in through the door wakes me up instantly. My muscles relax.

In the background, I hear a faint, “Looks like a boy.”

I snap out of my daze.

Something inside me tells me I need to check. I need to see what’s happening.

A strange energy surges through me. The fog in my head slowly clears. My feet move on their own, carrying me toward the entrance with a growing urgency.

As I stumble outside, I can tell the rain has eased, but the sky is still a nasty mess of gray and black. And right in front of the packhouse gates is a large stroller.

My heart skips a beat. My pace picks up as I get closer to it, and when I reach the stroller, I drop to my knees.

My vision, my hearing, and my sense of smell get stronger with each passing second. My insides coil into knots. My heart drops to my stomach as I suck in a deep breath.

I don’t need to look inside to know what this is.

The scent is unmistakable—lilacs wrapped in lavender, sweet, familiar, strong.

With trembling hands, I reach out and peel back the blanket. A pair of big amber eyes stare back at me–confused, scared. A shock of dark, almost black hair stands out against his skin. His body trembles.

My son.

I want to cry. Scream. Tell the world. Break something. Celebrate.

A cry rips from my throat, shaking the earth around me. Then it happens. A change. A shift. A fucking roar. Blood rushes through my veins, a powerful force starting at my toes and surging to my head. My body stretches, my senses explode, and I throw my head back and howl. My canines elongate, my claws unsheathe, and my eyes shift to their wolfish hue.

The resurgence inside me is intense. For the first time in my life, I feel one with my wolf, Titan. My human and wolf are deeply enmeshed in one body.

And the reason why is right here in front of me.

The kid is safe. He’s mine.

I scoop him up in my arms, cradling him tight against my chest, whispering, “Don’t cry,” repeatedly. The need to soothe him is paramount.

The boy quiets, his tiny arms wrapping around my neck as he hides his face in the crook of it. His trust is like a balm to my soul .

As loud cheers and howls ring out, I realize a large number of pack members has gathered around us.

The murmurs aren’t so subtle. Everyone knows what’s happening. I know they’ve waited for this moment for the last six months.

My wolf has returned, and with him, my connection to the pack. The mind-link buzzes to life, a flurry of voices asking if this is Titan.

“Yes,” I confirm, cradling my son closer. Everyone erupts into a mad cheer.

Holding him tight in my arms, I’m still just breathing in his happy scent when I hear a faint question in the middle of the cacophony.

“How did he get here?”

My eyes widen. Fuck! Seren is here. She has to be.

The shock of my son’s arrival and my wolf’s return momentarily made me forget everything else, but knowing she could be around has me snapping back into action.

I scan the area, but there’s no sign of her.

I pull the boy back, wanting to look at his face and wondering if he can talk, but he sees my face and murmurs “Mama,” before letting out an ear-piercing wail.

Fuck!

“Everyone,” I scream, activating the pack link so whoever’s not here can listen in. “My fated mate, Seren, is here somewhere. Search every corner of town. Every hotel room, every street, every transportation center. Check the surveillance footage at all key points. ”

My mind starts racing. What would I do if I were in her place? Where would I go?

Knowing her, she wouldn’t stick around for even a minute.

But she couldn’t have gone far. This time I’ll find her and make her stay.

“Get the car out,” I command the gamma on duty. He blinks at me. “We’re going to the airport. Right now.”

Within minutes, we’re in the car, tearing down the highway toward the airport. She wouldn’t leave without her son.

We couldn’t have covered more than a mile when my son, resting on my lap, suddenly pulls away. His face is green. Panic shines in his eyes.

“Stop the car,” I say, and I’ve barely opened the door when he hops out and starts retching right by the side of the road.

I swiftly follow him and rub his back as gently as possible, but he starts crying again once his stomach empties. I grab a water bottle from the trunk, wanting to wash his face and help him rinse his mouth, but he snatches the bottle from me, proceeding to do it himself.

I feel something inside me break when he rejects my touch.

Instead of getting back in the car, he sits on the pavement, and within moments he is dry heaving. That’s when I notice little red boils all over his face and neck.

Panic floods my insides. What’s happening to him?

Bundling him into my arms, I rush back to the car, keeping him close despite his fidgeting.

“Turn the car around. Take us to the pack hospital. Quickly!”

The sound of my son’s shallow breaths is punctuated by the occasional sob. My heart aches. Every hiccup, every tremor is like a stab to my heart.

I try to run my hand through his hair, wanting to soothe him, but he flinches away from my touch. His boils look rough and painful.

“Alpha,” one of the security guard’s voice crackles over the link and I sit up straight. “We’ve got eyes on the footage. Ms. Smith isn’t here.”

“How is that possible?” I ask.

“Whoever brought him here didn’t travel by air. An interstate car rental company was used,” he explains. “The boy was dropped outside the packhouse right at dawn and the car immediately left town. Also, I could be wrong, but from the hazy footage we got, I think someone else brought him over. I don’t think Seren entered the town.”

“Keep checking. See if anything turns up,” I say before closing the mind-link. I don’t want to be disturbed right now.

Exhaling a deep breath, I run my fingers through my hair. How do I even help him? I don’t even know his name.

“Leon Smith.”

It’s the faintest murmur, but my eyes widen. How did he know what I was thinking?

“Leon,” I repeat softly, trying to hold back tears. His name fills me with deep joy. Despite the distance between us, Seren chose a name that echoes my own. Theron, a hunter. Leon, a lion. The realization hits me with unexpected force. Could there still be a part of her that doesn’t hate me ?

The moment we arrive at the pack hospital, I have the hospital chief personally check him. I need him fixed right away.

The old man draws a blood sample and puts him on glucose and anti-nausea medicines through an IV. He walks away with a promise to return shortly with the test results. All the other staff flutter in and out of the ward: checking his weight, performing skin tests, monitoring his heart rate.

Half an hour later, the doctor returns for a full-body examination. He tries to be friendly, but Leon pushes his hands away whenever he attempts to remove his shirt. I try to help, but Leon does the same to me. Three more people get same result.

Luke’s mate finally manages to break his resistance with a tactfully offered piece of candy.

Throughout the examination, Luke squirms in bed, staring at me, probably watching my reaction. When his shirt comes off, my eyes get prickly. I was also born an extremely hairy kid.

“He’s dehydrated and running a fever,” the doctor says, his voice low. “The boils are a reaction to something, probably a change in environment or stress from being separated from his mother.”

“Is he going to be okay?”

“He needs a good night’s sleep,” the doctor advises, his voice reassuring. “He has strong alpha genes, but you need to make him feel safe.”

I keep my eyes on Leon as I answer. “Of course. He’s my son. I will always keep him safe.”

This time when I carry him, he doesn’t fidget or fight. We go straight back to the estate.

His eyes are already droopy as I help him settle into bed.

Taking a deep breath, I shake my body, close my eyes, and call Titan, requesting him to take over.

Leon’s eyes are closed when I pull him into my warm fur. He instantly leans in, letting out a little purr.

Slowly, we both drift off to sleep.

It’s late in the afternoon when I wake up. The soft, warm body beside me has moved away, his little snores filling the room. The blanket I threw over us lies in a heap on the floor.

My son.

The thought of it, the reality of it, courses through me like a tidal wave. I watch him sleep, cherishing the small rise and fall of his chest. A wave of overwhelming happiness surges through me, fierce and unrelenting.

I shift back to my human form, press a gentle kiss to his forehead, and cover him with the blanket. The air is cooler now, so I pull on my sweatpants as I glance around the room.

It’s a mess—my mess. I can’t let him live in this chaos. Before I bring Seren back, I need to fix everything. She’d be horrified with what I’ve done to her room.

Despite the closed door, I hear the approaching footsteps, and I step outside before they reach the room. I can’t have anyone disturbing my son.

It’s the same security guard from earlier, Adam. He looks at me sheepishly. I realize my alpha aura is oozing out, so I try reining it in as I offer him a small smile. “Yes, Adam?”

“Uh, alpha,” he stammers, extending a hand. He’s holding a slightly crumpled envelope. “This was in the stroller. You weren’t here...”

The scent of lilacs wafts up, faint but unmistakable. I snatch it from his hand, bringing it to my nose and inhaling deeply. My insides light up and I feel alive again.

“Thanks, Adam,” I say, sincerity in my voice. “Thank you for keeping it safe.”

I race back inside the room and plonk myself down on the window seat. It feels appropriate to read her letter in her favorite spot. I suck in another deep breath and pull the letter out of the envelope.

Theron,

Growing up at Blackwood, I was always an outsider. I was labeled a “rug rat” by your friends, and you probably thought I was even worse. I once thought you were my best friend, and maybe more, until I realized that part of the reason you kept your distance was my DNA.

I have healed, and I have moved on. But being an outsider is the worst feeling, especially for a child. It affects their self-esteem deeply—I know this because I lived through it.

When I first discovered I was pregnant, I hoped and prayed that my child would be human. But fate, as always, loves to play cruel jokes on me.

I love my son more than life itself. Yet, he was born a werewolf, and I can’t bear the thought of him facing the same rejection I did. As heartbreaking as it is for me, I need to do what’s best for him. So I’m sending him to you, hoping you will offer him the protection he deserves.

You don’t owe him your rank, your money, or even your name—just your protection. I’ve already set up a bank account for him so you don’t need to worry about him eating into your family’s wealth. My son doesn’t need Blackwood handouts like I did.

I also sent a similar letter to Pema, Luke’s mate. If you cannot care for him, please hand him over to her. I trust she will provide him with the love and care he needs.

Congratulations on your mating ceremony. It’s clear to me now that you and Vanessa are perfect for each other.

Seren

For a moment I feel like everything I cherish has been stripped away from me again. Each word in the letter cuts deep. I read it three times. Every time it hits harder.

She never said she was my mate.

She talks of me like a third party.

She doesn’t even outright call Leon our son.

She thinks I wouldn’t take care of my son.

Every realization is like a blow to my ribs. I slump back into the window seat, my spine pressed against the thin pillar as I keep staring at the letter, the words glaring accusatorily up at me.

How do I fix this?How can I make her see that I’m not who I used to be ?

I stay staring into space, almost catatonic, until I notice another piece of paper in the envelope.

It has detailed lists of Leon’s likes, dislikes, his daily schedule, his progress charts, and his vaccinations.

I realize what I need to do. The first step is being a good father.

I carefully put the letter away, get back in bed beside my son, and hold him close.

My phone beeps, startling me. Since getting my wolf back and communicating through the mind-link, I haven’t thought of it even once. I grab it to check, and the text makes me sit up sharply.

You have something precious now. Protect it well, alpha. Your wolf might leave you again if something happened to it.