Chapter 1

Seven years ago, Alpha Matthew's fiancée Elvira ran off with another alpha. I was just his assistant back then, harboring a secret crush but never imagining we could be together.

That night I picked him up from the bar. He was drunk and had been drugged. One night later I was pregnant, and Matthew became convinced I was the one who drugged him, that I'd schemed my way into becoming his luna. He hated me, but still gave me the title of secret mate. No mating ceremony, just a contract. My son and I lived in the guest wing of his estate for seven years.

Last night he drunkenly spun Liam around in circles. My son thought he was finally being accepted. But I heard the name Matthew was murmuring—Elvira. She was coming back, with her son.

I held my transfer request to the Eastern Region. This time, we're done waiting.

...

The phone rang while I was organizing Matthew's schedule for next week.

"Ms. Morrison, your son Liam has been injured during training. Please come to the hospital immediately."

I dropped everything and ran.

The hospital room was small. Liam lay on the bed with bandages wrapped around his head.

"Liam!" I grabbed his hand.

His eyes opened slowly. "Mom..."

"I'm here, baby."

"Where's Alpha?" Liam's voice got smaller. "He hugged me yesterday. Why didn't he come?"

My chest went tight.

"He probably hasn't been notified yet," I said. "I'll call him."

Yesterday. Matthew stumbling home drunk, grabbing Liam and spinning him in circles while laughing. But he wasn't laughing at our son. He was celebrating because Elvira had called to say she was coming back. Coming back with her son.

The hug had nothing to do with Liam.

But how could I tell our seven-year-old son that? How could I tell him his father's joy had nothing to do with him?

How could I tell him his father still doesn't love him?

My eyes started burning. I blinked hard and pulled Liam into my arms, careful not to hurt his head.

"He's probably just busy, baby," I whispered. "You know how important Alpha is. He has so many responsibilities."

Liam's breathing gradually slowed down. The medication was pulling him under.

"Okay," he mumbled. "You'll call him though, right?"

"Yes. I promise."

His eyes closed. Within minutes, he was asleep.

I sat there holding his hand, staring at the bandages wrapped around his small head, and felt something break inside me. ...

At nine PM, I stepped into the hallway and pulled out my phone.

Matthew's name stared back at me from the screen.

I pressed call.

No answer.

I tried again. And again.

By the fifth call, my hand was shaking. By the tenth, I knew he wasn't going to answer.

I stayed at the hospital all night.

At 3 AM, I looked at Liam sleeping in the hospital bed, and made my decision.

We can't do this anymore.

I won't let him grow up begging for scraps of affection from a man who will never love him.

I won't watch my son's heart break over and over again.

The next morning, I left Liam with a nurse and went to the Wolf Council office.

A young beta woman looked up when I walked in. "Ms. Morrison? How can I help you?"

"I need to file a transfer request," I said. "To the Eastern Region."

Her eyebrows went up. "Transfer? But aren't you Alpha Blackwood's relative?"

Relative. That's what everyone thought I was.

"Does he know about this?" she asked.

"His ex-fiancée is coming back," I said. "I don't need to inform him."

The woman's face changed. "His ex-fiancée? Elvira?"

Everyone in the pack knew about Elvira. The beautiful omega who'd run away a month before her mating ceremony with Matthew. The one he'd never stopped loving.

"Yes."

I took the form she handed me and left before she could ask more questions.

That afternoon, I picked Liam up from the hospital and brought him home.

The West Wing of the Blackwood estate was quiet as always. Guest quarters, Matthew called it. We'd lived here for seven years and it still felt like a hotel, cold and temporary.

I helped Liam settle onto his bed.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"My head hurts a little. But I'm okay."

I sat down beside him and took a deep breath.

"Liam, how would you feel about moving to the Eastern Region with me?"

His eyes lit up for a second, then went dark. "Do we have to?"

"Well—"

"Alpha Matthew is finally starting to accept me," he said quickly. "He hugged me yesterday. And look, he gave me this."

He pointed to his desk across the room.

"He even gave me a present. See that red car? He said I could keep it."

My stomach dropped.

"When did he give you that?"

"Yesterday, after training." Liam's face looked so hopeful it hurt. "He said I could keep it."

I walked to the desk and picked up the car. My hands stayed steady even though my heart was breaking.

Matthew doesn't give Liam gifts. He's never given Liam anything.

I stared at the car and thought of the receipt I’d seen in the office that afternoon, the red model car was just a freebie, and the real gift was a blue model truck.

Matthew had bought a toy for Elvira's son and thrown the freebie at ours.

My eyes burned.

I remembered Liam at four years old, Matthew had been in a good mood that day for some reason. He'd taken Liam along to the training grounds, let him watch the warriors practice.

Liam had been so happy.

But in the end, Liam walked home alone.

When he finally stumbled through the door, he was covered in blood and dirt, crying so hard he couldn't breathe.

I'd held him and asked what happened.

"I called him Daddy," Liam had sobbed. "I forgot. I'm sorry, Mommy. I'm sorry."

After that, Liam never made that mistake again. In public, he only says "Alpha."

"Mom?" Liam's voice pulled me back. "Are you okay?"

"Liam," I turned around and knelt in front of him. "If I wanted to leave... if I needed to leave... would you come with me?"

His whole body went still.

"Why?" His voice cracked. "I haven't been publicly recognized yet. I don't want people to think I'm a kid without a father."

A kid without a father.

That's what he'd been carrying all this time.

"Baby..." I looked at him. "Alpha's true love is coming back. If we stay, he'll only hate us more."

Liam's eyes filled with tears. They spilled down his cheeks.

I started crying too.

"But... but he hugged me," he whispered. "He gave me the car. I thought..."

He couldn't finish.

We held each other in that cold guest room that had never felt like home.

"Mom," Liam said after a long time. His voice was barely a whisper. "Can we give him three more chances?"

I looked at him. His eyes were red and swollen but full of desperate hope.

"If he really can't love me after three chances," he said, "then I'll leave with you. I promise. Just three."

My heart broke in two.

"Okay," I said.

Matthew. Three chances for you.

If you fail, you'll lose us forever.