#Chapter 1: Lost & Found

Hannah’s POV

“You’re not my mommy. I don't know you.”

My son stared up at me like I was a stranger trying to grab him off the street.

“MOMMY!” Instead of running into my arms, Bash clings to the stranger woman beside him. "MOMMY! I don't like it here. I wanna go home!”

I finally heard my son Bash's sweet voice after so many years of relentless searching and waiting, but his words immediately tore my heart apart.

Three years ago, Bash, the only child of my husband Alpha Sebastian and I, went missing after an exhaustingly long battle against the rogues.

Then I experienced three years of no sleep, no rest, no life outside of searching for him. I'd begged every contact, crossed into every territory, followed every dead lead until I had nothing left.

Live or dead, I just wanted to bring him home.

The search had been inching towards a hopeless end until a contact of mine called me this morning.

Bash was found living with a lone omega wolf in a pack far from ours, and they were already on their way here.

Now all I wanted to do was hold my son, press my nose into his hair and inhale his baby wolf scent, take him home and cuddle him for the next year of my life.

But-

"MOMMY! I wanna go home!” Bash pleaded to the woman standing next to him again.

The woman smiled nervously.  “Sorry, it was a long trip from our pack. I’m Molly. ”

“Oh, its okay, I’m,” I swallow as I finally looked towards her. “I’m Hannah.”

Molly explains hesitantly how she found Bash in the woods several years before. Probably because of the shock and a fall from a small cliff, all Bash could vaguely remember from the past was his name.

Molly assumed he was a victim of war, abandoned and orphaned. She is the omega of her pack, and she kindly took Bash on as her own.

She saved and raised your son. Thank her properly. I reminded myself.

“My husband should be home any moment. He is the alpha,” I say, forcing a smile. "Let's get you something to eat first. We are so grateful for all you've done to care for our precious boy."

Molly stood and reached out her hand to Bash. He took it and they started moving forward.

I turned, awkwardly, and led the way back to our packhouse.

I reminded myself that getting him home was the first step. Maybe once he was there he'd start to remember.

We finally reached the house and made our way inside.  I motioned to Molly for them to come in and have a seat in our living room.

Molly’s eyes instantly bulge as she walked in, sweeping across the room.

I could understand why Molly was surprised at the life Sebastian and I was living as the Alpha and Luna of a strong pack. My contact had told me that Molly was an omega, the weakest even in her small pack. No power, no money, and most likely, no mate in her life yet. That's why she brought Bash back as her company.

I looked to Bash, who kept himself hidden behind the leg of Molly. "Bash, do you like cookies?"

His chin shot up and his eyes shined at me. He looked at Molly and then back at me.

She said, "It's okay. You can have some snacks."

His little voice was so sweet when he said, "Yes, ma'am."

I held out a hand and he reached for me. I almost wept.

Bash warmed to me slowly when we spent time together. First a grin, then sitting close, then climbing into my lap while he built Legos on the table. I sent him my calm, peaceful scent and he looked up at me and smiled.

For thirty minutes, I was his mother again.

Until Molly sat across from us and her voice took on an edge I hadn't heard before. "See how nice it is here, Bash?"

He looked up at her briefly but continued playing without answering.

A flash of irritation crossed Molly's face.

"You know...you should live here with your real mom and dad," Molly paused. "while... I should go back to our...my cabin alone now."

I frowned at her words. Why the rush?

But before I could ask her to stay a bit longer for Bash to get more famliar with the 'new' surroundings, Bash already stopped eating and burst into tears. He raced to Molly and buried his face into Molly's neck.

“I don’t want it! I don’t want any of it! I just want my real mommy!”Bash screamed.

My lip started to quiver. A flash of satisfaction flickers across Molly's face as she rubs his back, giving me a sympathetic look.

“I’m sorry," she whispers.

Maybe because the heartbreak and jealousy I was feeling affected my judgment, I couldn't bring myself to believe that Molly really meant it.

“It's fine. There's no need to rush, You should make yourself comfortable in the guest room. My husband should be home soon. We have a lot to discuss,” I smile through the pain.

I make arrangements with the housekeepers to prepare a bed for both Bash and Molly. They bring them both warm tea and desserts to accompany them to their rooms in our house.

Sebastian gets home later than expected. He is shiny with sweat, exited to see his son again. I explain to him the conundrum under the glow of the kitchen sconce.

“He thinks she is his mother?”

I nodded. “She saved him, after all,” I admit in the dim.

"Hey, let's just invite this Molly to stay with us," he said after pondering for a while. "As long as Bash needs. We are a strong pack. We can take another omega in easily."

“You are right,” I mutter. “We are totally strangers to Bash now. He needs Molly.”

"For now," Sebastian placed his hand on my shoulder. "He will soon love us the same as he did three years ago. We are his biological parents after all. "

After we shared the news with Molly and Bash in the guest room, Bash immediately beamed and ran straight into Molly's arms again.

“That settles it then. Molly, you will stay with my pack as long as Bash wants. I want my boy happy, ” Sebastian announced.

Little did I know it was something that changed our lives forever.

6 MONTHS LATER

I had just come back to the cabin to get some towels.

Bash and the other wolf pups were swimming in the lake. A group of the pack moms had taken them down to the shore for an afternoon picnic.

Molly had stayed behind to rest. She said she'd had a headache all day. It was more than fine with me because any time I could get alone with my boy was perfect.

I'd hoped that Molly would have moved off by now, but I'd begun to fear that she was just too comfortable with our gracious arrangements.

As I entered the cabin, the first thing I noticed was that I smelled Sebastian.

What is he doing home? I thought he and his pack council had gone into town for supplies. Maybe they'd finished early.

I was just about to call out to him when I heard something that sounded like a moan.

My wolf started to prowl and pace around inside my mind.

She knew it before my mind was willing to accept what truth laid behind my bedroom door.

I snuck upstairs, the quiet surrounding the sound as thick as wool. A long line of light to the bedroom cracked through the dim of the hallway.

Then, more sounds. Grunting. Lips smacking. Moaning.

“Oh yes, Sebastian.”

I peeked through the crack in my bedroom door and that was when I saw my husband behind Molly.

He was shirtless. His thick muscled arms were wrapped around her from behind. Her head was thrown back against his bare chest.

Molly moaned again as he slipped his hand beneath the waistband of her jeans.