Chapter 5

Vivienne

“Your son . . .” He mumbled under his breath, his voice is deep and husky while looking at my son who’s holding my hand and it makes my heart beat too fast. He’s seemed studying his face.

“Yes,” I gasped, chuckling. “It seems like we’re both happy with a child now. We’re not young and naive anymore.”

“Where is his father?” He answered differently:.

I swallowed hard, the lie already forming on my tongue. I couldn’t tell him. Not here, not now. “His father isn’t here,” I said quietly, averting my gaze, hoping to end this line of questioning before it spiraled out of control.

Darius’s anger flared, his jaw tightening as he stepped even closer, towering over me. “Not here?” he repeated, his voice rising with incredulity. “That’s all you have to say? You leave for years, come back with a child, and that’s your answer?”

My heart pounded in my chest. I could see the fire in his eyes, the raw emotion he was trying to hold back. “I had my reasons for leaving, Darius,” I said, keeping my voice calm despite the storm building inside me. “I didn’t owe anyone an explanation.”

He scoffed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “If that’s what you’re saying,” his eyes landed to my son again.

“Alistair…” he mumbled under his breath.

My son looks up at me and asked, “Who is he, mommy?” He asked with an innocent voice, it breaks my heart. “Is he my daddy?” His question fucked me over. I could have told Darius I ended up in a one night stand and this is the result.

“No,” I said quickly, my voice sharp as I knelt down to Alistair’s level, grabbing his shoulders gently. “Alistair, no. Don’t say that.” My voice was firmer than I intended, and I could see the confusion in his eyes as he stared up at me.

“But, Mommy—” Alistair began, but I cut him off, my heart racing as I struggled to control my emotions.

“I said no,” I whispered fiercely, my fingers tightening on his shoulders. “Go play with the other children, sweetheart.”

Alistair hesitated for a moment, clearly confused by my reaction, but he eventually nodded and ran off toward the other kids. I stood slowly, turning back to Darius, my chest tightening with anxiety. His eyes were locked on me.

“Is he my son?” Darius’s voice was dangerously low, every word laced with an edge of hurt and accusation. “Tell me the truth, Vivienne. Is he mine?” His eyes flickered with anger.

I hesitated, feeling the weight of my lie crushing down on me. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I couldn’t tell him the truth, not like this. Not when everything was so fragile, not when it would shatter whatever peace I had left.

“No,” I lied again, my voice barely audible. “He’s not yours, Darius.”

Darius’s face contorted in anger, his fists clenching at his sides. “You expect me to believe that?” he spat, his voice full of venom. “Look at him, Vivienne! He looks just like—” He stopped himself, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he struggled to keep control. “You’re lying to me. I can see it in your eyes.”

“And he’s around five years old? The year that you left. What was the reason that you left?” He questioned. “You left after we broke the arrangement,” he draw closer to me, I could feel his breath and it feels illegal to be this close with him after everything we never really had.

“You don’t know me, Alpha Darius.”

“I know you.”

“I could have sleep with another man during the time we sleep together . . .” I lied, his eyes softened like he felt betrayed. But I don’t want to mistaken his anger into sadness.

He never loved me the way I loved him. I wish I could tell him that. His lips open to answer but a soft voice interrupted, breaking the tension like a crack in the silence. “Darius?”

I froze, my heart lurching in my chest as I recognized the voice. I turned, and there she was—Princess Celestria, the woman Darius had been bound to, standing a few feet away, her long blonde hair cascading over her shoulders like a waterfall of sunlight. At her side was a little girl, holding her hand, a spitting image of Darius.

The sight of them together hit me like a punch to the gut. Celestria looked every bit the regal Luna she was meant to be, her soft, delicate features full of concern as she looked at Darius, clearly sensing the tension between us. The little girl tugged at her hand, her bright eyes wide and curious.

For a moment, the world seemed to stop. I couldn’t breathe. The sight of them—the family that should have been complete—cut deeper than I had prepared for. I thought I had moved on. I thought I had accepted that Darius was never mine, that he had his Luna, his life, his future. But standing here now, seeing the family I had no part of, the old wounds ripped open, and the pain was as fresh as ever.

“Who’s this?” Celestria asked, her voice polite but laced with a subtle curiosity as she glanced between me and Darius. She didn’t know me. She didn’t know what Darius and I had been. And seeing her here, with their daughter… it was a painful reminder that I didn’t belong in his world.

And of course she forgot our first encounter.

I’m too less significant.

Darius’s eyes flicked to me, then back to Celestria, his jaw tight. “Just an old… friend,” he said, his voice strained, as though the words cost him something.

Friend. The word stung more than it should have, and I had to look away, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill over. I forced a smile, hollow and brittle, and nodded to Celestria.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I murmured, my voice barely audible.

Celestria smiled politely, oblivious to the turmoil swirling beneath the surface. “Likewise.”

But as I stood there, watching them, the pain in my chest became too much to bear. I needed to leave before everything crumbled around me.