Chapter 3 And a Hidden Daughter too

Elara’s POV

The two voices rang out together and I felt the blood drain from my face. My eyes moved from the children to the woman standing behind them.

Vanessa.

Years ago, Vanessa Hale had been hopelessly in love with Damon.

She followed him everywhere, never bothering to hide her feelings, even after he made it clear he was with me. No matter how many times Damon turned her down, she refused to give up.

I still remembered one evening when Vanessa had cornered Damon after a pack gathering and confessed her feelings in front of several pack members. Damon had stepped away from her, his expression turning cold as he firmly rejected her.

He'd taken my hand and making it perfectly clear to everyone watching that there was no room for another woman in his life.

Back then, I'd felt so loved and secure that I'd almost felt sorry for Vanessa.

After our bonding ceremony, Vanessa announced she was leaving to study medicine. Everyone said she needed a fresh start after losing the man she loved. Eventually, we stopped hearing about her.

Now she was standing in front of me with two children who called my husband Dad.

“Kids, come here.” Vanessa hurried forward and gently pulled them back to her side.

Then she looked at us with an apologetic smile.“I'm so sorry. We only just got back, and these two have been driving me crazy asking for their daddy. He's always so busy with work.”

She crouched beside them,“Sweethearts, that's not Daddy. You must have mistaken him for someone else.”

The little boy frowned.“But Mommy, that is Daddy.”

His sister nodded eagerly.“Daddy!”

Damon stood perfectly still.

Vanessa glanced at me, her smile turning awkward. “I'm sorry, Elara. They're still little. They don't understand.”

She turned back to the children.“That's Luna Elara. She's Alpha Damon's Luna. You shouldn't call him Daddy.”

The boy immediately moved closer to Vanessa, putting himself between me and his sister. The little girl clung to her mother's skirt.

They watched me warily, as though I were someone they needed to be careful around.

I looked at their faces. The boy was around four, just as I remembered from the hospital. That little girl looked about three.

I had thought Damon betrayed me once, but there was a little girl, too.

All those years, while I believed we were happily bonded, he had continued seeing Vanessa.

As Alpha, Damon frequently traveled to other packs for council meetings, ceremonies, and seasonal festivals. Sometimes he was gone for days. Occasionally, an entire week.

He always called to tell me how much he missed me, and I always waited for him to come home.

How many of those trips had he spent with Vanessa? How many nights had he kissed his children goodnight while I lay alone in our bed?

Damon finally broke his silence.“Vanessa, you need to teach your son not to go around calling other men his father.”

His tone was sharp and impatient, as though he were genuinely offended by the boy's mistake. But I caught the brief flicker of unease in his eyes before he turned away from her.

Then he slipped an arm around my waist, his expression softening as he looked down at me. “Sweetheart, let's go somewhere else. There's nothing more we need to see here.”

He turned to the sales associate.“Pack everything my Luna was looking at. Have it delivered to the estate.”

The woman nodded immediately. “Of course, Alpha.”

Damon placed his hand against my back, urging me toward the exit.

Before we could leave, Vanessa spoke,“Damon, you're still so good to Elara.”

Vanessa smiled at me and said, “I'm honestly jealous. Look at you two, still shopping together after all these years. My husband is so busy he barely has time for me or the kids.”

I watched Damon, his jaw tightened.

Vanessa continued as though she hadn't noticed. “Although he does bring me here whenever he gets a chance. This is actually one of my favorite boutiques.”

She gave a small laugh. “It's funny, isn't it? We used to be so close, and now you haven't even met my husband.”

She looked between us. “We should all have dinner sometime. I'd love to introduce you. We're still friends, after all.”

Friends. I wondered how she managed to say that word with a straight face.

I turned to Damon,“Don't you want to meet him?”

Damon looked at me sharply, “Meet who?”

“Vanessa's husband, of course.” I kept my voice light, “He sounds incredibly busy. Even busier than the Alpha of Blackwood Pack. Aren't you curious?”

For a moment, Damon simply stared at me. Then his expression hardened.

“I don't have anything to discuss with Vanessa, and I certainly have no interest in meeting her husband.”

He looked at Vanessa,“If you're finished, you should leave. I'd like to spend some time with my Luna without being interrupted.”

Vanessa's smile faltered, only briefly, then she laughed.

“Oh, come on, Damon. You don't own the boutique.”

She slipped her hand into her purse, “I'm here to shop too. If you can spoil your wife, surely my husband can spoil me.”

She pulled out a black card, I recognized it immediately. The Blackwood crest was embossed in gold on the front. It was Damon's personal card.

Damon noticed it too. He shifted slightly, trying to block my view, but it was too late.

Vanessa handed the card to a young sales associate, “I'm a VIP here too, you know. I spend just as much as Luna Elara does, if not more.”

Vanessa gestured toward the display,“I'll take everything in that top row.”

The associate's eyes widened.

“Of course! You're actually one of our biggest clients,” the young associate’s face lighting up as she recalled his previous visit. “I still remember when you bought the entire Desert Star collection! Most people couldn't afford even one piece in their lifetime, let alone the whole set. I was here when you picked it up!”

The older associate beside her suddenly went stiff. She cleared her throat loudly, while another shot the young woman a warning look, but the girl was too caught up in her excitement to notice.

My fingers went cold.

Desert Star. I knew that collection because Damon had given me a Desert Star necklace for our fourth bonding anniversary.

I still remembered how carefully he fastened it around my neck.He had kissed my shoulder and told me he'd searched everywhere for something worthy of his Luna.

I thought it was one of the most thoughtful gifts he'd ever given me.

Now I understood. He had bought Vanessa the entire collection and given me the necklace.

Damon's face had gone pale, but he quickly forced a smile, “What a coincidence, my Luna loves the Desert Star collection too. Though I suppose you weren't able to get the complete set. I bought the necklace for Elara last year.”

The young associate finally seemed to realize something was wrong, her smile faded.

I looked around the room. The older associates wouldn't meet my eyes, one lowered her head.,another pretended to rearrange the jewelry trays.

They knew.

They had seen Vanessa shopping here with Damon's card. They had sold her gifts worth more than most pack members earned in a lifetime.

And then they had smiled at me and told me how lucky I was to have such a devoted mate.

How many times had I walked into this boutique, completely unaware that everyone around me knew my husband's secret?

Vanessa stood quietly beside her children, watching me. The corner of her mouth lifted.

I remembered Helena's words from the night before.

You've had four years.

Four years of lies, even the associates at the jewelry store knew who Damon had been buying gifts for.

Now, standing in that boutique, I realized I had been the only one who didn't know the truth.