Chapter 1

"I admit that I acted impulsively back then," Felix Barrington, my ex-mate, said in a low voice, looking regretful.

I pretended not to hear him as I looked at the blank fields on the pup registration application.

Felix leaned forward, bracing himself with his hands on the edge of the table. The faint milky scent that clung to him intensified.

"Truth be told, I ordered my wolves to search for you after you left, but they couldn't track you down. I assumed the worst and thought something happened to you. Now I know you've just been avoiding me."

I quietly typed in the information and returned the application to him a few minutes later, saying, "You need to sign here."

Felix stiffened briefly. His eyes roamed over my face, searching for any signs of emotion.

Unfortunately for him, I treated him exactly the same as I did the other wolves who came here to handle their matters.

Felix sighed before he penned his signature on the dotted line.

I stamped the seal on the paper before returning the application to him once more, saying, "It's done."

Felix seemed a little dazed as he stared at the application. He looked like he had more to say, but when he noticed that my colleagues were sneaking curious glances at him, he pursed his lips and left.

The colleague seated right next to me, Vera Jackson, immediately leaned over and asked, "Wasn't that the Alpha of the Blackrock pack, Felix Barrington? Do you know him, Wendy?"

Another colleague interjected before I could get a word in, saying, "That's definitely him. He dropped by today to register his pup's birth."

"I heard that he absolutely adores his mate. Apparently, he had to go through a lot of trials and tribulations before he could be with her."

"As expected, if someone truly loves you, they'll be willing to care for you and your pup. But if they don't love you…"

"Then your pup won't mean a thing to them."

My colleagues' eyes shone with envy as they chatted among themselves.

"But why does Felix have a deregistered pup in his files?" Vera asked as she pointed at my computer screen.

I followed the line of her finger and realized that she had pulled up the page that I had intentionally hidden earlier.

There was a photo of a pup on the screen. He looked to be about three years old. His eyes were closed, his long lashes casting shadows down his cheeks. His serene expression made it look like he was just sleeping.

"Pup: Ryan Barrington.

Father: Felix Barrington.

Mother: Wendy Snow.

Note: Deregistered a year ago."

My colleagues immediately fell silent. They looked at me carefully and asked, "It's just a coincidence that this she-wolf has the same name as you, huh?"

My heart throbbed painfully as a wave of memories I had suppressed crashed over me.

Noticing that I was behaving oddly, Vera tried to turn off the computer screen.

I stopped her and gently brushed my fingers over the pup's face on the screen. I had forgotten that that painful incident had only happened a year ago.

"It's not a coincidence," I said as I closed my eyes and locked away the pain in my heart. "Felix was my mate, and Ryan was our pup."

I rose to my feet and walked out as everyone stared at me with bewildered expressions.

I spotted Felix leaning against his Maybach the moment I came out of the building. He was holding a cigarette between his fingers.

"Let me send you home, Wendy."