“Is he really our dad, Mommy?”
The words struck like a blade. I’d been through warzones. Fought rogues twice my size. Endured betrayal, heartbreak, bloodshed. But nothing—nothing—had prepared me for that.
It sliced clean through every layer of armor I had left.
They didn’t know me. My sons—my own flesh and blood—looked at me like I was a stranger. And I was.
I’d missed it all. The first steps, the first scraped knees. First laughs. First words. Birthdays, nightmares, questions about the moon. Five years of memories that should have been ours, and instead… I had nothing but silence between us.
Danny and Max hesitated, then slowly obeyed Felicia’s order. No questions. No second glance.
They turned their backs on me and walked inside.
Leaving me in a courtyard that felt colder than any battlefield.
I didn’t move.
Felicia remained, standing across from me like a ghost of everything I’d lost. She didn’t speak. She didn’t need to. Her eyes—once soft, once mine—were unreadable now. Guarded. Distant. A locked door I no longer had the key to.
I breathed out slowly, trying to steady the earthquake inside my chest.
I had to say something. Anything.
“When are you going to tell them?” I asked, my voice stripped bare—no anger, no rage. Just hurt. Quiet. Dangerous.
Her lips parted slightly, but the words didn’t come right away. She blinked. Hesitated.
“I don’t know,” she said eventually, so softly it barely reached me.
That was the breaking point.
My jaw clenched. I stepped closer, my eyes locked onto hers. “Come back home, Felicia.”
She stiffened like I’d struck her.
“The boys deserve to grow up with their father.”
She laughed then. Bitter. Hollow. Like there was no joy left in her anymore, only ghosts.
“Cut this bullshit, Damien.”
My brow furrowed, confusion flickering—but then she stepped in.
Closer.
Her eyes were wildfire now.
“They survived just fine without you.”
The words were brutal. But I didn’t flinch. I couldn’t.
My fists curled at my sides.
“That doesn’t mean they should’ve had to.”
Her breathing hitched. Her expression cracked, just for a moment. Something in her eyes screamed—rage, sorrow, exhaustion—before the mask snapped back into place.
“And whose fault is that?” she whispered.
I opened my mouth—ready to argue, to explain, to beg if I had to—but then…
My phone rang.
I cursed, pulling it from my pocket, ready to silence it—but the name on the screen made my blood freeze.
Xavier.
My second-in-command. He wouldn’t be calling unless something was wrong. Very wrong.
I answered. “Yeah?”
His voice was urgent. “We have a situation.”
My expression darkened instantly. My breath slowed, shifted. The softness vanished. The Alpha came roaring back.
Felicia’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell is going on, Damien?”
I turned to her, my voice low and sharp. “I have to go.”
Her brow furrowed, her mouth opening to protest. “Damien—”
But I was already moving.
Every muscle in my body shifted into purpose, each step heavier than the last.
I didn’t look back.
I couldn’t.
Not when I finally understood what it meant to have something to lose—and how fast it could all be taken away again.
Behind me, I felt her watching.
But I didn’t stop.
Because the man I used to be might’ve failed her.
But the man I am now was about to make damn sure he didn’t fail them again.