Chapter 50

Words : 1541 Updated : May 20th, 2025

Alec. I stumble back in shock when the little girl runs inside screaming for Sadie. Screaming for her mama. Her body collides with that of Sadie, and she lifts her up by her armpits. I don't see her face because her back is turned to us, but I can't deny the pull towards her. My heart begins to race, blood rushing through my veins at the speed of light. I can feel sweat pooling under my arms as I continue watching her. Through the fog, her scent hits me hard. My lungs constrict, and it becomes so hard to breathe. So hard to draw air into my lungs. Ice fills me, completely freezing me on the spot. It can't be, I keep repeating the words in my head. I blink, trying to erase the image. Maybe I am seeing things. Maybe I am hallucinating. Deep down, though, I know that I’m not. The feeling I had three years ago and earlier settles deep inside, etching itself in my bones, my heart, and my soul. It's like it was tattooing itself into the very essence of who I am. "Alec, are you okay?" Jason asks, but I can't pull my eyes from the little girl. No, I am definitely not okay. I am far from it. That's what I want to say, but my lips aren't moving. My mouth can't form a single word. I am rooted by shock. My mind isn't even working; how then could I answer him? "Everyone out," Sadie's voice fills the room. "Martha, please take Aspen for a little while." A woman steps forward to take the little girl from Sadie's arms. So that was her name—Aspen. It suited her. "But Mama, we always eat together," Aspen complains, trying to hold on to her mother. "I know, my love, but I have pack work to discuss." Sadie runs a finger down her chubby, rosy cheek before giving her a kiss. "I promise once I'm done, I'll read you a storybook." "About the strong princess and the dragon?" she asks, hope filling her voice. Sadie nods. "Yes, baby. I'll read you that one and any other you want." "Promise?" "I pinky swear." Her words hit me like a freight train. I feel the weight of everything crashing down. I couldn't say a single word. I understand what I felt three years ago and just a few hours ago. The last time I saw Sadie, she told me she was pregnant. I didn’t believe her. Months later, I felt that shift. That unexplainable shift. The pain and that shift—that was the bond settling in. We didn’t know it. We couldn’t explain it, but that’s what it was. "He's fucking right," I whispered while pacing in agitation. It’s always said that when a pup is born, the father feels the pain of a new bond forming. He feels pain as the bond settles in, attaching itself to his soul. A bond between a father and his pup is different. With the mother, it forms immediately after conception is complete. With the father, it’s formed when the baby is born. It all makes sense now. Why at times I would feel a kind of longing that had nothing to do with Lola. Why I felt the need to search the whole world for something or someone until I found them. It drove me crazy not knowing why or what I was longing for. "You kept his child hidden," Micah growled. "There is no denying that that girl is Alec's child. They fucking look alike!" Sadie turned those deadly eyes to him. "Don't fucking get into something you had no idea about... and don't you for a fucking second accuse me." She takes a deep breath in an effort to control her anger. "Why don't you ask him, Micah? Ask him what he fucking did when I told him I was pregnant." My eyes continue studying Sadie. Gone was the girl I knew. Her face used to be round, but not anymore. Exercise and lots of training will do that. My eyes focus on the scar on her face—the one I gave her. "What is she talking about?" Micah turned to me in confusion. "You knew she was pregnant, yet you didn't say anything? You still wanted her dead?" "It wasn't like that," Jason jumped in. "It was exactly like that!" Sadie snapped, fire burning in her eyes. "Since he doesn't want to admit what he did, I'll tell you." Her friends were behind her, offering her support, just like mine were. She began. "I came to his office a few weeks after escaping. I didn't want to. I didn't want to tell him about the baby. A baby that I didn't even remember how she was conceived. My friend convinced me it was the right thing to do. I didn't want anything from him, just to let him know that he was going to be a father. You know what he did after I told him, Micah? He plunged his hand into my chest. He wanted to rip out my fucking heart." "What?" Micah stammered. "Yes, your precious alpha is a fucking monster. He insulted and degraded me by calling me names. If I remember correctly, his exact words were, 'You are a slut, and I would never let my child have a hoe as a mother.' That's what you said, right, Alec? Right before you tried to end my life and that of my unborn child." My hands tremble as I run them through my hair. I try to banish the memory—a memory that refuses to be silenced. A memory that wants to prove what a bastard I am. "If you don't believe me, you can ask Jason. He was there too," Sadie added, and Micah's eyes turned to said man. "Why would you refuse to believe her?" Micah asked. "Why would he?" Jason answered with a question of his own. "Sadie was obsessed with Alec. She'd wanted him for a long time. Piper told us that. She was on the cusp of losing everything; of course, she would have done everything to stop that, including lying that she was pregnant." The glare that Micah sent his way was frightening. "Sadie has never been a liar, and there was a fucking possibility since you two slept together. You had unprotected sex; you told us that yourself when you couldn't find any used condoms in the room when you were checking it for evidence." I could feel agitation rising inside me. I had a daughter—a daughter that I almost killed with my bare hands. She didn't even know that I existed. That she had a father. "Even if you didn't believe her, or feel the pup, the least you could have done was take her to a doctor for a pregnancy test," Micah added. "What did you expect? He was bitter over his precious mate, so he almost killed her for her sake. I can forgive anything, but I will never forgive you for trying to kill Aspen. For trying to end her life before it even began," Sadie said. Her words settled inside me like lead, dragging me down with their weight. Fuck! How could I have fucked up this bad? Why wasn't I able to sense her in Sadie's womb? It should have been fucking possible. The crashing weight of my actions was suffocating me, robbing me of the very air I needed to live. "As if that wasn't enough, he fucking labeled me a traitor. Do you know how fucking hard it was to stay alive just to make sure that my baby girl had a chance to live? Do you know how many of my friends and I had to kill so that word didn't get back to you that I was alive? Do you know all I had to do to stay alive? I stayed alive for her. I built this fucking pack for her. To protect her from you." Words have never hurt me like they did right now. She thought that I was a danger to my own daughter. Fuck! Anger was radiating from her, and her eyes kept changing color. "She is his daughter, Sadie. He would never hurt her," Micah tried to calm her, but it was useless. I took note of the ease in communication between the two, even though my world was exploding around me. "That's where you are wrong, Micah. He already tried it once; what's to stop him from doing it again? And let's be clear, she's not his daughter; she's mine. He is nothing more than a sperm donor." She turned and glared at me. "I hold grudges, so you're very fucking lucky, Alec. If it wasn't for the favor I owed Micah for helping me escape, you would have been dead for ever daring to kill my daughter." Her words about Micah rang in my ears. What the fuck?

Chapter 50

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