Chapter 138
DEREK
+25 BONUS
The sun hadn’t even fully cleared the tree line when I was up, boots on, keys in hand. I’d barely slept–not because I was restless, but because I was… eager.
Which was new.
I’d never been a morning person. I wasn’t the guy who whistled while putting on a shirt or drank black coffee with a grin. But today? Today I had plans.
Aiden had a physical therapy session at Moonstone, and he asked me–pointed at me with that serious little face of his–and said, “I want you to come, Dad.”
Dad.
Still floored me. Still hit with a kind of weight I didn’t know how to carry yet.
I was halfway to the door when a knock sounded behind me. A courier stood there with a pallet cart, a clipboard, and an industrial crate the size of a damn wolf.
“Delivery for Alpha Derek King.” he said, handing over the form.
I frowned at the label. But then I saw the imprint on the side of the crate and everything clicked.
The sonogram machine.
The one I’d demanded. The one I’d promised Cassandra we’d have on–site so she could check in on the baby any time she wanted.
For a second, I actually smiled. It was stupid how much this machine represented. A chance to do it right. To be present from the start. To make up for what I’d missed with Aiden.
I signed for the delivery, tipped the courier, and had the crate rolled into the guest house where Cassandra had been staying
But when I went to find her–she was gone.
I checked the kitchen first. Then the gardens. Even the library, where she sometimes holed up pretending to be
more studious than she was.
Nothing.
Caroline, seated at the breakfast table with a glass of orange juice and her usual easy smile, didn’t even look up when I asked.
“She’s not here,” she said, stabbing a strawberry like it had insulted her.
“Did she say where she was going?”
“She said she had an errand,” Caroline replied, flipping the page of a magazine. “Didn’t offer details.”
I bit back my annoyance. “She knew the machine was arriving today.
“Maybe she forgot. Or maybe she didn’t think it was a big deal.”
It was a big deal. At least, it had been to me.
Chapter 138
+25 BONUS
But apparently not to her.
sfood there for a moment, staring at the gleaming crate the hallway. I’d envisioned something different– Cassandra laughing, placing my hand on her stomach, the two of us watching the screen together, maybe starting to build something real.
But instead, I was alone. Again.
So I turned on my heel, grabbed my jacket, and left.
If I couldn’t see one child today, I’d go see the one who actually wanted me around.
The moment I stepped into the Moonstone compound, Aiden saw me through the glass wall of the indoor pool and immediately shouted, “Dad!”
He waved wildly with one arm while his other gripped a foarn paddleboard. The therapist behind him nearly dropped her clipboard trying to keep up.
I chuckled and raised a hand in return. The tightness in my chest loosened the second I saw him.
That kid… I’d barely known him a month, but I already knew I’d die for him. No hesitation.
Elena appeared a moment later, holding a towel and two thermoses–one, I assumed, was for her, and the other the sugar–bomb concoction Alden claimed gave him “wolf powers.”
She handed me one without a word and nodded toward the benches overlooking the shallow end. We sat side by side, watching our son paddle from one wall to the other with grim determination.
“He’s getting better,” I said quietly.
“He is,” she agreed. “He pushes himself harder every day.
I glanced sideways. “You proud of him?”
She gave me a look. “Of course I am.” Her tone softened as she added, “He’s tough. Like his dad.”
It felt like a truce offering. I took it.
We sat in silence for a bit longer, the humid air wrapping around us, punctuated only by Aiden’s delighted splashing and the therapist’s gentle instructions.
“You couldn’t keep me out of the pool when I was a kid,” I said. “Or the lake. Or the river. If there was water, I was going in.”
Elena smiled gently, her eyes still fixed on Aiden.
“I can kind of see it,” she said. “Future Alpha Fish.”
That got a chuckle out of me.
“You swim a lot when you were a kid?” I asked, trying to keep the moment light.
Elena exhaled through her nose. “I don’t know.”
I turned. “You don’t-?”
Chapter 138
+25 BONUS
Then it hit me. And I felt like an idiot.
Het memory.
Her eyes flicked to mine. Not angry. Just tired.
“I don’t remember a lot from back then,” she said. “Little Dashes. Some happy memories. A feeling here and there. But whole parts of my childhood? Gone.”
1 sat up straighter, guilt crawling in. “I didn’t mean–Elen I wasn’t trying to ”
“I know.” She gave me a half–smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “You forget sometimes.”
I did. And that shamed me more than it should’w.
I watched her watching Aiden. The quiet strength in her posture. The protectiveness in her eyes.
She’d done all this alone. She had family and pack support, but no co–parent. No one around to help make the tough decisions.
“You ever… seek treatment?” I asked gently.
Her expression shifted. “Yeah. I’ve been seeing a memory specialist for a few years now.”
“Has it helped?” I wanted to know.
She shrugged. “Not really. Some relaxation techniques. Regression sessions. But it all just loops back to fog. The doctor says it’s probably trauma–based, but…” she trailed off. “He’s a friend of Logan’s. I think he means well.”
“But?”
She didn’t answer, and she didn’t have to.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “When we got engaged… I started looking into specialists for you. Not just therapists. The best in the country. People with real experience in supernatural memory trauma. I was going to fly someone in. Make it a full protocol. But then…”
“I left,” she finished quietly.
I nodded.
There was a long pause. The air between us hung heavy, filled with what–ifs and almosts.
“He’s still around,” I said eventually. “The one I wanted to bring in. He’s not cheap. He doesn’t usually take private clients. But he owed me a favor.”
Elena looked at me, startled.
“Would you want to meet him?” I asked. “Just… see if it’s a better fit?”
She was quiet for a long time.
Then she gave a small, hesitant nod. “Yeah. Okay.”
My chest loosened again, in a different way this time.
“Good,” I said. “I’ll set it up.”
I didn’t expect her to thank me, and she didn’t. But the look she gave me was something better than gratitude.
Chapter 138
+25 BONUS
It was trust
Teative, but real.
I watched Aiden clumsily cannonball into the water and resurface laughing
And for the first time in days, I let myself believe that mayb–just maybe I hadn’t missed my shot entirely.
Chapter 19
+25 BONUS
Chapter 139
