Birthday Wishes

Olivia's POV:

"I want Rachel to be my mommy."

Today is my son Oliver's 5th birthday, and I couldn't help but feel my heart shatter when he made his wish. Standing before his birthday cake, his small voice rang out clear and determined: "I want Rachel to be my mommy."

The words hit me like a physical blow. Rachel - my mate Derek's secretary. The woman who's been spending more and more time with my son lately.

As the Head Healer of Blood Moon Pack, my schedule is always packed. Our pack depends on my healing abilities, and the income I bring in keeps our family afloat. Derek's werewolf medicine company hasn't been doing well lately, and most of our expenses rely on my salary.

I've had to make compromises. Sometimes, I ask Rachel to help with picking up and dropping off Oliver at school. I knew Oliver was fond of her, but this... this was something else entirely.

"Sweetheart," I started, my voice barely above a whisper, "you know that's not how it-"I was about to explain to him that he could only have one mother when the door swung open.

Derek walked in with Rachel right behind him, carrying a beautifully decorated buttercream cake. My stomach clenched at the sight.

"Happy birthday, my precious boy!" Rachel's voice dripped with sweetness, her perfect smile lighting up her face. She was wearing a new dress, I noticed - exactly the shade of blue that Oliver had recently declared his favorite color.

Oliver's face lit up like a full moon. "Rachel!" Oliver's squeal of delight felt like claws raking across my heart. He launched himself at her, nearly knocking the cake from her hands. "You came! And you brought me a special cake!"

"Of course I did, angel." Rachel balanced the cake in one hand while running the other through Oliver's hair. "I remembered how you said you wanted a buttercream cake just like the one in the bakery window."

"You're the best, Rachel! Better than-" Oliver caught himself, but I heard the unspoken words anyway. Better than Mom.

My stomach twisted. Oliver is allergic to buttercream - severely allergic. That's why I took a rare day off work to bake him a special fruit cake without any cream. The last time he accidentally ate cream, we ended up in the emergency room with him struggling to breathe.

I cleared my throat. "Oliver, honey, we need to talk about the cake."

"But Mom!" His lower lip trembled. "Rachel got it specially for me!"

Rachel set the cake down, her expression a masterpiece of innocent concern. "Oh? Is something wrong with it?"

"Oliver is allergic to buttercream," I explained, trying to keep the edge from my voice. "That's why I took the day off to make him a fruit cake instead."

"Oh my goodness!" Rachel pressed a perfectly manicured hand to her chest. "I had no idea! Derek never mentioned..." She shot my mate a look that made him shift uncomfortably.

"It's fine," I said, even though it wasn't. "Oliver, remember what happened last time? The hospital visit?"

"I don't care!" Oliver stomped his foot, tears welling in his eyes. "I want Rachel's cake! You're just jealous because she's nicer than you! She lets me have fun things!"

"Fun things won't matter much if you can't breathe, Oliver." The words came out sharper than I intended.

"You're mean! You're always mean!" Oliver's face reddened. "You never let me do anything! You're always too busy healing stupid pack members to play with me, but then when Rachel wants to do something fun, you say no!"

Each word felt like a physical blow. Ava growled inside me, protective instincts warring with maternal pain.

"I only want-" I started.

"I HATE YOU!" Oliver screamed, his small body shaking. "I WISH YOU WEREN'T MY MOM! I WISH RACHEL WAS MY MOM! SHE'D LET ME EAT WHAT I WANT!"

The words felt like ice in my veins. My five-year-old son hates me? All because I'm trying to keep him safe?

Rachel knelt beside Oliver, wrapping him in a gentle embrace. "Shhh, sweetheart. Don't say things like that. Your mommy loves you very much." Her voice was soothing, but her eyes met mine over Oliver's head with something that looked almost like triumph.

"I think," Rachel said softly, standing up with Oliver still clinging to her, "maybe I should go. I didn't mean to cause such upset on your special day, precious boy." She stroked his hair again, and he pressed his face into her neck, still crying.

"No, don't go!" Oliver begged, his voice muffled against her designer dress. "Please stay!"

"I'm so sorry," Rachel said, her voice thick with fake emotion. "I feel terrible about this whole situation. I only wanted to make your birthday special." She carefully detached herself from Oliver, smoothing her dress. "Maybe another time, when things are... calmer."

She left, taking my son's heart with her, while Derek stood frozen between us, his expression torn.

Oliver collapsed onto the couch, sobbing. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

Each 'hate' felt like a knife in my heart. I stood there frozen, watching my son cry over another woman leaving his birthday party. I'd faced countless emergencies as Head Healer, but nothing had prepared me for this kind of pain.

Derek stepped closer, placing a warm hand on my shoulder. "Olivia, he's only five. He doesn't understand what he's saying."

"He seemed to understand perfectly well," I whispered, my voice rough.

"No, he doesn't." Derek turned me to face him. "He's a child who wants cake and doesn't understand why his mom won't let him have it. That's all this is."

I looked into my mate's emerald eyes, so much like my own. "Is it? Because it feels like much more than that."

"Trust me," Derek squeezed my shoulder gently. "Tomorrow he'll wake up and barely remember this. Children are like that."

Slowly, Oliver's sobs quieted into hiccups, then into the deep breathing of exhaustion-induced sleep. Derek carefully lifted him and carried him to his room, leaving me alone with the aftermath of our ruined celebration.

I began cleaning up mechanically - collecting torn wrapping paper, storing away the untouched fruit cake I'd spent hours making, wiping down surfaces that had never seen the joy they were meant to hold today.

That's when my phone pinged with a notification. Rachel had posted on social media - a photo taken earlier today. She was with Derek and Oliver at the pack's favorite ice cream shop, all three of them smiling brightly at the camera.

Oliver was wearing the new wolf-themed comic t-shirt I'd gotten him just before his birthday, which he hadn't been wearing when he'd gotten home just now.

The caption read: "Happiness is in this moment.❤"

I stared at the photo until my vision blurred, at my son's bright smile - the one he no longer seemed to have for me. The one he saved for Rachel now.

Some wounds, it seemed, were beyond even a Head Healer's power to mend.