44

That scent! At first I thought I was imagining it, but then the wind shifted, and I knew.

The wolf pup must have noticed that it got my attention because it let out a small squeal and raced off. But I wasn’t letting the little pipsqueak get away. Ignoring Erik’s startled yell, I leaped out the window and chased it down. As soon as I grabbed it by the scruff of its neck, one close sniff convinced me.

The child scent was intermingled with my mate’s. I had so many questions. What was going on? How?

“Finn Avery!”

The familiar voice had my wolf sitting up and alert. There was no possible way. I was frozen place, unable to move, when somebody snatched the pup from my hand.

Leanna.

She’s alive. She has been alive all these years.

The events from the garden are still playing in my head on repeat. How is this possible? She met Erik. She had a child with Erik.

Why didn’t she come find me? Why did she—

I bury my head in my hands, staring down at the floor of the hotel room.

My mate has been alive all these years, and she has a child.

I can’t process it.

I want to feel betrayed, but the look in her eyes when she glared at me was filled with fear and anger. Never before has she looked at me like that. My mate was always submissive. Sure, she had teeth, but she was very careful about showing them. This woman, this Leanna, she’s a stranger.

But she’s still my Leanna, isn’t she?

She’s alive. She’s well. If Erik had a mate, I would have known about it. If he had a child, I would have known about it. What if she’s lying? What if they’re both lying? I need to know.

Getting to my feet, I pace the length of the VIP suite, my wolf anxious to go out and hunt her down. She thinks I tried to kill her. Once she knows that’s not true, won’t she understand? Won’t things be alright between us?

I just have to convince her, right?

But what about that child?

There’s a knock on the door, and Harriet enters. “Your Majesty, word has come from—” She pauses when she sees the look on my face. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

I stare at her, trying to find the words to tell her. “Leanna.”

Harriet sighs, and her voice becomes gentle. “Oh, Cedric—”

I shake my head. “Harriet, she’s alive. She has a child.”

My attendant takes a step back, shock all over her face. “Are you sure? How can that be? Where is she?” She looks around the room as if expecting Leanna to pop out from behind the curtain.

“She’s with Erik. She—She’s had a child with him.”

Harriet pales. “No. She wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t—”

“Wouldn’t she?” I ask bitterly. “You should’ve seen the way she looked at me, Harriet. She despises me. I tried to talk to Erik, tried to get the truth out of him, but he told me to leave. I should’ve gone after her. She has been in the human world all these years. She’s been alive.”

Saying it out loud makes it all the more real for me.

“If she had a child with King Wild,” Harriet says shakily, “you would have felt the fated mate bond disappear. Can you still sense it?”

I search deep inside and feel the faint flicker of warmth that I’ve always associated with the fated mate bond. “It’s there.”

Even when she died—when I believed she had died—it never truly vanished. That’s the curse of the fated bond that ties two wolves together. The bond exists even beyond death. If I had given Leanna my mating mark and she had truly passed on, my wolf would have withered away. It strikes me that if I had given her the mark, I would have known.

I would have known that she was still alive. I could have looked for her. I could have found her and brought her back and fixed everything. But it’s too late. Years have passed. Because I wanted to humiliate her on the day of our mating ceremony, I never gave her the mark, and as a result, I lost her.

“If I can feel the bond,” I muse, pondering Harriet’s words, “then she didn’t have Erik’s child?”

“That is usually the case.”

“Usually?” I echo.

Harriet looks uncertain. “Leanna’s body had been ravaged by the poisons she’d been fed over the years. It could also be that her physiology was affected. You should demand a blood test.”

“But if it’s not Erik’s child, then whose—” I feel myself go cold. “She and I never slept together on the night of the full moon. If you’re thinking—”

“I’m thinking we should not jump to any conclusions till you know for sure,” Harriet says firmly, but I can see how rattled she is. “I’ll ask Rothan to look into her. King Wild is probably going to try to prevent any meeting between the two of you, so let’s see if we can find a way to contact her outside of his control.”

I give her a dazed look. “And if she refuses to see me?”

Harriet presses her lips together into a thin line. “She won’t refuse to see me. You’re going to have to be patient, Your Majesty. The situation is very delicate. We need all the facts before we proceed. Also, we’ll have to make sure we keep this entire thing under wraps. If word gets back to the elders, Bella, or Vivian, we may no longer be able to control the situation.”

I agree with her.

She takes a few steps toward me. “Cedric, it’s going to be alright. We’ll get her back.”

She cups my face in her hands, and I close my eyes. “She thinks I betrayed her.”

“But you didn’t!” Harriet says fiercely. “You didn’t, and once she knows the truth, she’ll come back to you.”

I recall the way Leanna glared daggers at me, the confidence in her eyes, the way she carried herself. “She’s not the same Leanna we knew,” I murmur, my heart sinking. “Even if she believes me, she may not choose to come back.”

And come back as what? My mistress? A whore?

Erik’s words return to sting me. If I bring Leanna to the Northern Wolf Kingdom again, what will her position be? If I reinstate her as the queen, then Vivian will have to be removed, and that will cause a disruption among the elders. It will also eliminate the leverage we have against the Eastern Wolf Kingdom.

But even as I think that, my jaw hardens. Then so be it. Whatever the repercussions, I will not live without Leanna now. I want my mate back.

Even if it means raising a child that’s not mine.

 

  

There’s no record of Erik having a child.

It takes two days to confirm that bit of information, and it sends me spiraling. I walk through the streets of this human city, feeling overwhelmed by everything that is happening.

The last eight years have taken a toll on me. They’ve also shown me a side of myself that has me feeling nauseated. Eight years is a long time to examine my interactions with Leanna. I was so cruel to her in the beginning. She never complained. She never said a word. But it wasn’t because she didn’t feel the hurt and humiliation. It was because she had no other choice.

I know how different the human world is from life on the other side of the Veil. If Leanna has lived here for all these years, she has had no restrictions on her. I am a man deep-rooted in tradition. Will she ever want to leave this life and come back with me ? I can’t see that happening. And even if I did convince her, what could I offer her? How would she ever believe me?

I’ve always been a confident man. Being a powerful king inspires confidence. I have always been able to get people to do what I want. But now, when it comes to this woman, I have no control over her. I can’t forget the look in her eyes, the sickening fear, the hatred.