I shoved the two warriors aside with all my strength.

“Get out of my way!” Desperation gave me a power I never knew I had.

I scooped Gale up and ran for the main gate like a madwoman.

He felt lighter in my arms, his breathing growing fainter.

A horrifying trail of crimson marked my path on the ground.

“Hang on, baby. Mommy’s taking you to a doctor.”

I reached the parking lot, fumbling to open the car door.

I jammed the key in the ignition and twisted.

Nothing.

“No, no, no…” I twisted the key again and again.

The engine just made a choked, clicking sound before falling silent.

Someone had tampered with my car.

An image of Sophia’s triumphant face flashed in my mind.

“That bitch!” I cursed, picking Gale up and running back.

I needed to borrow a car.

I needed to beg someone for help.

But as I reached the garden entrance, I saw a sight that shattered my heart.

Adrian was kneeling before Sophia, gently wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

“It’s okay, don’t be scared,” his voice was softer than I had ever heard it. “That crazy woman won’t bother you again.”

“Adrian, I’m begging you!” I dropped to my knees in front of him.

Gale was unconscious in my arms, his face as white as a sheet. “Save him! He’s your blood! He’s called you Dad for eight years!”

Tears blurred my vision, but I could clearly see that Adrian didn’t even glance down at Gale.

“That’s enough, Elena. Your act is pathetic.”

I was holding my dying son, sobbing my heart out on the ground.

He called it an act?

“He’s dying!” My voice shattered. “He’s only eight!”

“A child of my bloodline doesn’t die so easily,” Adrian said, standing up and dusting off his pants. “I know you’re jealous of me and Sophia, but you don’t have to resort to such vicious lies.”

“Ma’am, I’ll take you.” A young voice spoke up.

Adrian’s Beta, Tyler, was suddenly beside me.

Without asking for permission, he gently took Gale from my arms.

“Quick! Get in the car!”

The car sped through the night.

I held my son tightly, feeling his life slipping away.

His body was getting colder, his breathing shallower.

“Faster, please, go faster!”

“I’m already at top speed,” Tyler’s voice was tense. “Hang on, we’re almost there.”

But of all the terrible luck, we got into a car crash right in front of the emergency room.

“Luna, I’ll handle the accident! You get Gale to a doctor! I promised the Alpha I’d take care of—”

“Doctor! Help!” Gale was a dead weight in my arms.

I didn’t hear the rest of what Tyler said.

I just grabbed my bloody son and ran inside.

The heavy doors swung shut.

The red light above the door lit up.

I collapsed onto a cold chair, my hands covered in my son’s blood.

It was still warm, as if he had just been talking in my arms moments ago.

Suddenly, Adrian’s voice echoed in my head through the mind link.

I took a deep breath and answered.

“Elena, where are you?” His tone was rushed, as if he wanted to calm me down quickly. “I know you’re angry. I didn’t expect my mother to do that. But trust me, this is just a temporary measure!”

“A temporary measure?” my voice was a hoarse whisper.

“For the good of the pack, I need to mate with Sophia. But I swear to you, my heart is only with you. Once I’ve secured my position as Alpha…”

The good of the pack?

My son was fighting for his life, and he was talking about the pack?

“Your son is dying!”

“Enough! Stop threatening me with that. He has werewolf blood, his healing is strong enough. There’s no way he’s in any real danger!”

I heard a door open on his end.

Adrian, in his arrogance, hadn’t even bothered to close the mind link.

“Darling, did that crazy woman give you any more trouble?” Sophia’s sweet voice dripped with venom.

“No, my love,” Adrian’s voice was gentle.

“You’re so clever, fooling her with that fake mark for so long,” Sophia giggled. “If I hadn’t needed time to clean up my own mess in Europe, you wouldn’t have been stuck playing house with her for so long.”

Playing house.

There it was again.

“Elena was just a substitute I found while you were away,” Adrian’s breathing grew heavy, as if he was lost in Sophia’s kisses. “Now that I’ve gotten what I needed from her, it’s time to get rid of her.”

“What about the little wolf pup? Won’t you feel guilty if he actually dies?” Sophia’s voice was closer now.

“Guilty about what?” Adrian scoffed. “He’s just a mutt. He’s not a threat. This is all just a game Elena is playing.”

Tears streamed down my face as I cut the link.

I couldn’t listen anymore.

Eight years.

My entire eight-year union was an elaborate, carefully planned lie.

Everything I had given up for him meant nothing.

I was just a substitute, a plaything.

And my son, the boy who asked me every day, “When is Daddy coming home?” was nothing but a “mutt” to him.

The emergency room doors opened.

A doctor took off his mask and walked toward me, his eyes full of apology.

“I’m so sorry. We did everything we could. The child lost too much blood, and… he didn’t have a werewolf’s regenerative abilities…”

A primal howl of pure agony tore from my throat.

The next second, I threw myself onto Gale’s cold, still body.

For eight long years, my Gale had lived like a rogue, never accepted by his father’s pack.

I just wanted to hear him call me ‘Mommy’ one more time.

But now, he just lay there.

His sweet face was colorless, so quiet, as if he had never been in this world at all.

Fueled by overwhelming grief and rage, the ancient seal that had suppressed my power for eight years shattered into dust.

A primal and pure Alpha power erupted from me, so immense that every werewolf in the hospital felt it and dropped to their knees in terror.

I held Gale and cried all night.

When the sun rose, I shakily called my father to handle Gale’s arrangements.

Then, I went home, clutching Gale’s last belongings.

The broken medal I’d fished from the trash, and his favorite stuffed toy.

The moment I pushed open the door, the cloying, tangled scents of Adrian and Sophia hit me like a physical blow.

They dared…

On the night my son died, in our home, they were celebrating their victory.