ch. 4

The wind howled like a wounded thing.

The rain was cold and relentless.

And still—he stood there.

Ace Nightborne, Alpha of the Nightborne pack, had faced assassins and courtroom betrayals. But tonight, he stood beneath the gates of the Wolfe estate, drenched, motionless, and watching.

Like a ghost.

A trespasser.

Inside, warm light spilled across the living room. The curtains weren't fully drawn, and in the soft golden glow, he could see her.

Dia.

Hair damp from a shower, swept back in an elegant knot. A silk robe wrapped around her frame, hugging her curves in a way that made his wolf growl low in his chest.

But it wasn't the robe or the softness of her movements that held him hostage.

It was the child in her arms.

Small. Drowsy. Head resting on her shoulder.

She kissed his temple. Whispered something.

And then—

She froze.

Her eyes flicked to the window.

Right where he stood.

---

She didn't flinch.

Didn't gasp. Didn't draw the curtains.

She met his gaze—directly.

His breath caught.

She stared at him through the glass like he was the insect. Like he was the intruder in a life she had already replaced him in.

She lowered her son gently to the couch, covered him with a blanket.

And then she walked to the door.

Not with panic.

With purpose.

---

The door opened.

The rain battered harder.

And there she stood—barefoot, arms crossed over her chest, robe cinched, chin high.

"Stalking now, Alpha?" she said icily.

Ace didn't move. "You lied to me."

She scoffed. "Oh, we're playing that game?"

"You had my child and said nothing."

"You rejected his mother," she shot back. "You let them kill my family. You buried me before the Moon Goddess could finish her sentence. And now you're mad I didn't gift-wrap your heir and drop him at your doorstep?"

"You don't get to make that call."

"I made it the moment your Luna tried to kill us both."

Her words sliced deeper than claws.

"I kept him alive," Dia said coldly. "I carried him through blood, fire, and exile. I fed him with shaking hands. I held him through fevers and nightmares you never earned the right to see."

Ace stepped forward, voice shaking. "You should've told me."

"Why?" she snapped. "So you could claim him for your pack's image? Parade him in front of the same wolves who spit on me?"

His jaw clenched. "He's mine."

"And I am his."

She took another step forward, her voice turning soft and lethal.

"You may have given him your blood, Ace Nightborne. But I gave him everything else. And you don't get to touch that now. You don't get to walk back in after three years of silence and ruin what I bled for."

Ace looked at her—really looked—and for the first time in years…

He didn't see the omega he rejected.

He saw the woman who survived him.

The mother.

The fire.

The storm.

---

Dia's voice lowered.

"I'm not scared of you anymore. I'm not chasing your approval. I'm not begging to be seen."

She tilted her head.

"You came here to reclaim what you lost, Alpha?"

She stepped back into her house.

"Too late."

The door shut in his face.

And the wolf inside Ace Nightborne howled louder than the storm.

Ace Nightborne didn't pace.

He was a man of command—of control.

But tonight, he couldn't sit still.

The scent of rain still clung to his skin, but it wasn't the cold that got under his armor.

It was her.

Dia Valkryn.

The name echoed in his head like a drumbeat he couldn't silence.

He stood by the window of his study, hands clenched behind his back, eyes on nothing—replaying every word she said.

Every truth she spat like daggers.

"You gave him your blood. I gave him everything else."

"You don't get to touch that now."

"Too late."

Too late.

The words were devouring him.

And still—he couldn't believe it.

Couldn't accept that she had hidden his son. That she had walked away and never looked back.

But she had.

And she had won.

Unless...

"Call the counsel," Ace barked the moment his Beta entered. "We'll file for a paternity order. Once confirmed, I'm asserting full custodial rights."

Callan raised a brow. "She's not going to hand him over."

"She doesn't have a choice."

"She's a Valkryn, Ace," he warned. "That family owns the top three legal firms in this city. Her father rewrote the laws that protect omega rights. You think she hasn't prepared for this since the moment she bled for that boy?"

Ace's jaw clenched. "She can't just—"

"She can," Callan cut in sharply. "And she already did."

Ace's temper cracked. "He's mine, Callan. My blood."

"And you're three years too late to act like a father."

Silence burned between them.

But Ace wouldn't retreat.

He never had.

Not when it mattered.

"Run the test," he muttered. "Make it formal."

Callan exhaled, hesitating. "There's one more thing you should know."

Ace turned, wary. "What?"

"She's moved Silas's guardianship under Valkryn Holdings." He handed Ace a document. "Which means… legally, Silas isn't listed as her son. He's her heir."

Ace stilled. "She gave him her empire?"

"No." Callan paused. "She made him her replacement."

Ace stared down at the paper.

Silas Valkryn.

No hyphen. No trace of Nightborne.

His chest cracked open.

His bloodline lived… in another man's name.

Across the city, Dia sat at her desk, a glass of wine in hand. The city lights glittered beyond her glass walls, but her eyes were focused on a single folder.

She opened it.

Inside was a document—freshly signed.

Custodial Shield: Activated.

Legal Guardian: Diana Valkryn.

Heir: Silas Valkryn.

Paternal Access: Denied.

She didn't flinch.

Didn't cry.

She just reached for the photo tucked behind the page—a small boy asleep on her chest. The photo had ash on the edges. Burnt, like everything else that survived with her.

"You'll never take him," she whispered into the silence. "Not even if the Goddess herself commanded it."

Her eyes drifted out toward the stars.

"And if you try, Ace…" her voice turned sharp, cold, lethal,

"…I will become the monster you taught me to be."