Freya?

Mason's POV:

Everything I had just heard made me realize what a big fool I was because I had lost the one person who had loved me unconditionally, who had stood by me through every storm, every financial crisis, and every sleepless night because of one insolent, stupid, lying bitch who had played me like a fool from the very first day she smiled at me with those deceitful eyes.

Freya would never have done this, she would never have deceived me or have cheated on me yet I had thrown her away.

I was such a fool for letting everything my mother's constant whispers about bloodlines, alliances, and how Freya’s “weak” omega blood would taint the Pack get to me. I was a fool for letting Selene’s honeyed words slither into my ears, promising me an heir, promising me strength, promising me everything I thought I needed.

I was a coward, terrified that the Pack’s finances would collapse, and that the Elders would turn on me, that I would lose my title if I didn’t secure a “proper” mate with stronger southern connections. So I had chosen Selene over Freya.

And Freya had run away from the house the night I betrayed her with her own best friend in our bed. But if what my mother had always suspected was true, if Freya had been pregnant when she fled, then my real child was out there somewhere in the world, alone, while for the past five years another man’s bastard had been reaping every benefit of being called the son of an Alpha.

The sound of Doctor Aria sighing dragged me back to the present and I turned to see her standing a few feet away, still wearing that damn surgical mask, so her eyes were the only visible part of her face.

“I will do whatever I can to save Ethan.” She said quietly. “His blood type is rare, but I know several healthy werewolves in the pack who might be willing to donate. A small transfusion of clean blood, combined with the new treatment protocol I’ve been developing, could flush most of the mutated cells and give his body a chance to stabilize.”

Hearing this, I glanced down at Selene who was still on her knees at my feet, clutching the hem of my trousers, tears streaming down her face as she thanked the doctor. “Thank you so much, Doctor Aria.”

I felt nothing but disgust and before I could stop myself. “I don’t want him treated.”

Doctor Aria’s eyes widened above the mask, and although I couldn’t see her full expression, the shock in her gaze was unmistakable, and I knew exactly what she was thinking.

For years I had believed Ethan was my son, I had held him the night he was born, I had taught him his first steps, and I had carried him on my shoulders through the pack grounds. But now, barely thirty seconds after learning the truth, I was ready to let him die.

To her, I must have sounded like a cold-hearted monster which stung me, but I didn’t take the words back as Doctor Aria cleared her throat, bowed her head respectfully. “I will give you all some privacy to make your decision. When you have decided, please send for me, I will be in Ethan's ward.”

Then she turned and stepped out without another word while Dante, who had remained silent until now, crossed his arms and fixed me with a hard stare.

“I’m not going to let an innocent child die, Mason so Aria will treat Ethan whether you approve or not.” He thundered. “If you no longer want him, I will keep the boy here and train him to become a reputable soldier in the Northern Army. While you return to Bloodhall Pack and sort out your family problems in peace.”

“Anything that has to do with that bastard is no longer my business.” I chuckled, darkly. “I’m stripping Selene of her position as Luna the moment we return and she will be executed for lying to her Alpha, deceiving the entire Pack, and passing off another man’s whelp as my heir.”

Dante exhaled slowly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I would probably feel the same if I were in your shoes, cousin. But if you kill Selene, Ethan becomes an orphan. The boy is only five, do you really want his blood on your hands as well? Just banish her and let the child grow up here under my protection.”

I paced the small room, my boots thudding against the stone floor as the rage inside me clawed its way up to but beneath the fury was emptiness. “Fine!” I finally growled. “I’ll leave the boy here to be treated. But I’m taking Selene back to Bloodhall Pack tomorrow to decide her fate. And until then, have her locked in the cells. I don’t want to look at her.”

Dante nodded once, respecting the request even if he didn’t agree with all of it. “As you wish.” Then he stepped to the door and called out. “Guard!”

Two warriors appeared instantly, and Selene’s eyes went wide with terror. “Mason, please! Don’t do this! I love you! I did it for us!”

She scrambled toward me on her knees, sobbing, reaching for my hand. I turned my back on her so I wouldn’t have to see her face as the guards grabbed her arms. She struggled, kicking and screaming, her cries echoing down the corridor as they dragged her away. “Mason! Mason, please! Ethan needs me! Don’t take my son from me!”

The sound of her voice faded, and the room fell silent once more so I excused myself without another word to Dante and made my way to the guest wing. The room Selene and I had been given was large and luxurious with silk drapes, a massive four-poster bed, and a balcony overlooking the training fields.

Taking a deep breath, I sat on the edge of the mattress, with my elbows on my knees, and my head in my hands. My mother had always told me to be strong, to act strong, to never let the pack see weakness. But right then, alone, I cried because I had made such a terrible mistake.

My company was failing, the Pack’s finances were collapsing, and the elders were circling like vultures so Selene had seemed like the answer. I had convinced myself she was better than Freya, who was sweet and naive and sometimes too soft for the harsh world of Alphas.

But now I wished with every broken piece of my soul that I had chosen the naive one. Because Freya would never have betrayed me.

I took a deep, shuddering breath and glanced around the room until my eyes landed on the corner where a dusty bottle of champagne that Dante had gifted me yesterday to “celebrate family.” Now I stood, walked over, and yanked the cork out with my teeth.

The fizz sprayed across my hand as I tilted the bottle and drank straight from it, the bubbles burning down my throat. I drank until the room tilted, until the pain in my chest dulled to a distant ache.

For the entire day and well into the night I stayed there, drinking and thinking about the way Freya’s smile used to light up the entire room, the way she used to trace patterns on my back when I couldn’t sleep, and the way she had looked at me the night I told her it was over, like I had ripped her heart out with my bare hands.

By the time night fell and the moon hung high outside the window, I pushed myself to my feet. “I want to see Ethan one last time.” I muttered to the empty room because truly, in every sense that mattered, the boy was innocent.

I had loved him as my own for five years, I had tucked him in, kissed his scraped knees, and told him stories about great Alphas of old so it was evil of me to turn my back on him so suddenly. I would go see him one last time before I left him here because I still loved him, in a way. But if I took him back to Bloodhall, I would have to look at him every single day.

And every single day I would be reminded of three unbearable truths, that Ethan was not my son, Ethan was a bastard, and I still had no heir, the very thing the elders and my mother demanded from me constantly.

I took another deep breath, steadied myself against the wall, and wobbled out of the room. The packhouse corridors were quiet at this hour, only a few torches flickering and I didn’t bother asking for directions because I knew exactly where the private ward was as I had visited Ethan there twice already.

On arrival, I pushed open the heavy door to see a figure in a white lab coat sitting beside the small bed, back to me, gently adjusting the blanket over the sleeping boy. The familiar scent of medicines and herbs filled the air which made me know that it was Doctor Aria, so I opened my mouth to call her name.

However, before I could, she turned around and I was stunned to see that the mask was gone and the woman looking back at me was Freya.

I thought I was imagining things at first but then I realized that I wasn’t that drunk because my Alpha senses were still sharp. Just to be certain I blinked hard several times and she was still there with the same slight upturn of her nose that I used to kiss every morning.

My gaze dropped to the name tag pinned to her lab coat that read Dr. Aria. But the scent… that strange, muted scent I had been catching around her for days… it was the same one clinging to Freya now.

I took one unsteady step forward, then another, until I stood right in front of her, then with a shaky voice, I whispered. “Freya?”