Chapter 3

Ashby Design had been Corwin's company. He'd started it long before I ever came into his life.

After his "death," it was buried under twelve million dollars of debt. Now, at last, I'd paid back every cent.

It had cost me my health and everything I'd ever wanted for myself. I hadn't taken a single day off in over ten years.

Omegas aren't built as tough as other wolves. Corwin and Delphine were both Betas; they could run all night and wake up fine. Me? The workload had worn my body down to almost nothing.

But I had a gift for design, and clients noticed. Year after year, the orders kept coming in.

When Tobin turned eighteen, he finally had his first shift and met his wolf.

I knew he wasn't my blood. I still let out a breath of relief when I saw him come through it safely.

Then he opened his mouth.

"Thank God I didn't get your genes. I'm not some weak Omega. I'm a Beta, just like my dad!"

He didn't even notice what he'd let slip.

I'd raised him for eighteen years. I'd thought that would at least earn me his love. I never imagined he'd look down on my Omega blood this much.

I offered to throw him a proper coming-of-age ceremony for his first shift. He shut me down.

"Don't bother. Aunt Delphine's taking me on a hunting trip in Alaska. You can't hunt anyway, so there's no point in you coming."

I nodded and didn't say a word. Then I went back to my study and kept working quietly on the paperwork to take the company public.

On the day of the IPO, the room was packed with business partners, including a few Alphas who led packs of their own.

"Calla is incredible," one of the shareholders said. "She lost her mate, raised her son alone, paid off his debts, and kept this company running. As a woman, I really look up to her."

"You don't meet many women like her anymore," an older wolf added. "I asked her out once, you know. She turned me down flat. Her heart still belongs to her late mate."

"She's changed how I see Omegas," someone else admitted. "I always figured Omega women were only good for keeping house."

I heard all of it from the stage as I announced that Ashby Design was officially listed. The applause was deafening.

All those years had finally paid off.

Bastian showed up with jasmine, the way he always did. Except this time, he'd brought an entire truckload.

"Congratulations," he said. "You actually did it."

"Thank you, Bastian." I smiled at him, and for once I meant it all the way. "Want to open a bottle of champagne with me?"

He'd just reached for the cork when the doors swung open.

Delphine walked in. Hanging on her arm was Corwin.

"Corwin...?"

I put on my best shocked face.

Whatever guilt or love I'd once felt for him was long gone. But the second I saw them together, I was back in that hotel suite, and it took everything I had to keep my face blank.

All around us, people started whispering.

"Isn't that Calla's mate? I thought he was dead!"

"I went to his funeral! We used to do business together. He died owing me a fortune."

"So what's he doing here?"

"And why is he with her sister?"

Delphine strolled up to me and pushed a paternity test into my hands.

"In case it isn't obvious, Corwin's alive. And Tobin isn't your son. He's mine and Corwin's," she said. "That IVF baby you thought was yours? The embryo came from my egg and Corwin's sperm. I'm Tobin's real mother."

She lifted her chin.

"So it's time you gave me back my son."