Chapter 5: Veils of Deception

(Sienna’s POV)

The ultrasound photo trembled in my fingers like a live grenade.

DNA MATCH CONFIRMED — BLACKWOOD HEIR.

Vanessa’s smile never wavered as she descended the last stair, black silk whispering around her ankles. “Surprise,” she repeated, voice soft as velvet and sharp as claws. “Welcome home, Sienna. The real games start now.”

My wolf lunged so hard I tasted blood on my tongue. 'Not possible. Not his.'

Kade’s hand at my back burned hotter, fingers digging in like he could hold the world together by sheer force. “That’s a lie,” he growled, the words vibrating through his chest into mine. “Marcus Hale’s pup. Not mine. Never mine.”

Vanessa tilted her head, eyes glittering. “DNA doesn’t lie, darling. Or have you forgotten the night you comforted poor Brielle after Harlan’s diagnosis? She was so distraught... so very grateful.” Her gaze flicked to me. “Men are weak when it comes to pretty tears, Sienna. You of all people should know that.”

The bond between Kade and me twisted like a knife. I felt his rage, his guilt, his desperate need to pull me closer and never let go. My mark throbbed under my collar, screaming for his teeth, for the claim he had never been allowed to make official.

I stepped forward before I could stop myself. “You’re really going to stand here and weaponize a pregnancy while we bury the man who actually gave a damn about this family?”

Vanessa laughed, light and tinkling. “Bury him? Oh no, sweetheart. Harlan’s not done ruining lives yet. The video will starts in twenty minutes. I suggest you freshen up. You look... exhausted.”

She swept past us toward the formal study, heels clicking like countdowns.

Kade spun me into the alcove again the second she disappeared, his body caging me against the wall exactly the way he had in every dream. One hand slid up to cup the side of my neck, thumb pressing under my jaw like he needed to feel my pulse to believe I was real. The other braced beside my head, forearm flexing.

“Look at me,” he rasped. His storm-gray eyes were wild, pupils blown wide with the same tortured hunger flooding my veins. “I never touched her. Not like that. I let the council think I did because it bought us time... bought Milo time. I had my people swap the samples months ago. Made it look like the heir was coming from Brielle so they’d stop looking for you. For us.”

My breath hitched. “You risked everything...”

“For you.” His forehead dropped to mine, breaths mingling hot and ragged. “I would burn the entire pack to the ground if it kept you safe. The bond has been killing me, Sienna. Every night I close my eyes and I still taste you. Still feel you clenching around me like you did the night I marked you.”

His thumb stroked the edge of my throat, slow and possessive, exactly the way the edited cover had shown. My knees went liquid. The bond roared, flooding me with flashes... his body pinning me in the rain, the way he had growled my name while he came inside me, the promise of forever we never got to keep.

I grabbed his shirt, twisting the fabric. “Then why does that photo say Blackwood heir?”

“Because Vanessa found the real test results.” His voice cracked. “She’s been working with Marcus. They doctored everything to force my hand tonight. If I don’t publicly reject the mate claim with you... they’ll expose Milo on the spot. Use him as leverage to keep me chained to Brielle.”

I wanted to scream. I wanted to kiss him until the world ended.

Instead I whispered, “We can’t run. Not anymore.”

His lips brushed the corner of my mouth... not quite a kiss, but close enough to make my wolf whine and my body arch into him. “Then we fight dirty. Together. Like we should have seven years ago.”

The grandfather clock in the hall chimed eight.

Lawyers waited in the study, faces grim under the chandelier light. Brielle sat beside Vanessa, hand resting on her belly like a crown. Marcus Hale lurked in the corner, tall and silver-haired, eyes cold as he watched Kade’s hand stay possessively at my lower back.

The massive screen flickered to life.

Harlan Blackwood appeared, pale but fierce, staring straight into the camera.

“If you’re watching this, I’m gone,” he said, voice steady. “And it’s time the truth came out. Sienna Blake is my biological daughter. DNA confirms it. Vanessa lied to protect her own position. I want my true heir recognized... and I want Kade to claim his fated mate publicly tonight. No more hiding. The pack needs strength. The pack needs the bond.”

Gasps rippled through the room.

Harlan leaned closer to the camera. “But there’s more. I know about the boy.”

My heart stopped.

A second image appeared on screen... a recent photo of Milo laughing in the park, gray eyes bright, clutching his stuffed wolf.

“Milo Blackwood,” Harlan continued, “my grandson. The true heir to the entire empire. If anyone contests this will... every asset, every share, every pack allegiance transfers to him immediately. And to his mother. My daughter.”

The room exploded.

Brielle shot to her feet, face twisting into something ugly. “That’s impossible...”

Vanessa’s smile finally cracked.

Kade’s hand tightened on my neck, pulling me closer, his body vibrating with protective fury.

But Harlan wasn’t finished.

“One last thing,” he said, voice dropping to a growl. “If anything happens to my grandson before the next full moon... the person responsible forfeits their wolf. Permanently.”

The screen went black.

Silence crashed over the study like a tomb.

Then my phone rang in my pocket... shrill and insistent.

I pulled it out with numb fingers.

Unknown number.

I answered, pressing it to my ear.

A small, terrified voice came through, barely above a whisper.

“Mommy... there are men outside the house. They said they’re taking me to Daddy.”

Milo.

The line crackled.

Then a second voice cut in... cold, familiar, and dripping with triumph.

Vanessa’s voice... but she was standing ten feet away from me.

“Time’s up, darling,” she purred through the phone. “Come alone if you want your son back in one piece. The games have only just begun.”