#Chapter 4: Bitter Medicine

Lena POV

Maya’s hands folded over mine, her voice gentle but firm. “You don’t have to keep living like this, Lena. You’re wasting away here. I could talk to the Head Healer at the hospital. They’re always short-staffed. With what you know, you’d be useful there. Respected.”

Respected… the word echoed inside me, tolling like a bell in an old, abandoned church.

I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to be seen that way. When I was younger, studying herbs, dreaming of becoming a Healer before Damon swept me into his shadow, I had so many dreams of what my life would be like in the future.

Never in my wildest ones did I ever imagine my life turning into this kind of a mess.

“I…” The idea stirred something long buried inside me, a yearning that felt dangerously like hope.

A job. My own purpose. A chance to be more than the invisible shadow following my son day in and day out. What would it mean to be something more than the forgotten nd rejected mother I was now?

But just as soon as that dream began to manifest, Noah’s face flashed in my mind, flushed with a fever as his small hands pushed mine away. His voice was sharp as he told me he wanted Celeste instead, begging me to get her to comfort him.

I swallowed hard. As much as that imagine haunted me, I couldn’t just abandoned my baby like that. Not without it ripping me in two. “I can’t, Maya. Not now. Noah needs me… He’s been unwell and… if I left him, even for a little while, who would watch over him? Celeste barely has training and Damon certainly would have no idea what he’s doing.”

Maya’s eyes softened, but there was frustration there too. We’d had this conversation many times before where she begged me to get out and find a better life for myself but I never listened.

“Lena, you can’t protect him from everything. And you can’t keep letting Damon and Celeste strip you down to nothing. One day, you’re going to break and I’m not sure anyone is going to be able to put you back together.”

Her words echoed in my head long after I left her cottage.

That evening, I poured my heart into preparing a late meal for Noah. He’d barely touched food all day, his fever leaving him worn out and irritable. I chopped vegetables finely, simmered a broth rich with herbs I knew would help restore his strength. Every movement was familiar, practiced, a ritual I clung to as if it could save both of us.

Out of habit, one I should have abandoned long ago, I made a portion for Damon too. No matter how coldly he treated me, I still found myself cooking for him as if some part of me still believed he might taste the food and remember what we once were.

It was stupid, of course, but that didn’t stop my hands from plating his portion anyway. With trembling hands, I packed the meal carefully and sent it off to Damon with one of the other Omegas, keeping Noah’s with me to bring it up to him personally.

When I reached his room on the second floor, steam curling in the air from the bowl held in my hands, I forced a smile as I pushed his bedroom door open. “Hi, sweetheart. Eat this, it will help you feel better.”

But before I could set it down, his face twisted. “I don’t want that.”

“It’s good for you,” I coaxed, sitting on the edge of his bed and resting the porcelain against my knee. “It’ll help you get strong again. Just drink a little bit, okay?”

His little hand shot out, striking the plate I had under the bowl. It toppled over before I could stop it, broth and vegetables spilling across the floor in a heap.

“I said I don’t want it!” His voice rose, shrill with frustration. “Celeste says the things you give me make me sicker! She says you don’t know anything.”

The words sliced into me, sharper than any blade.

She said what?

His cheeks puffed out as he continued. “She gives me sweets. Cakes. Honey bread. She said I’ll be fine if I eat those instead. I don’t need your food, miss Lena. Without you, I’d be healthier.”

I froze, unable to breathe, my hands trembling violently from where they were frozen in the air. The broth seeped into the floorboards, some of it soaking my pants from where it first hit, but I didn’t care. My son’s words echoed in my skull, each one striking like a hammer.

Without you, I’d be healthier.

He preferred her. Her sweets, her lies, her presence. Everything she offered was bright and warm, and everything I gave him was simply bitter medicine. All discipline, that kind of care he no longer wanted.

Tears blurred my vision, but I forced myself to stand, to clean the mess with shaking hands and scoop it back into the bowl as best as I could.

I couldn’t cry in front of him. I wouldn’t. But inside, something in me broke. Noah watched me curiously as I mopped up his floor with spare towels and draped them over the bowl and dish. I left his room without another word, shutting his door behind me right as the tears began to streak down my cheeks.

I couldn’t stop myself, I needed to see Damon. I needed him to hear what was happening between my son and I, to understand that Celeste was turning our son against me.

After returning to the kitchen to deposit the dishes and stained towels, I rushed to the Alpha’s office, my heart pounding so loudly I could barely hear the echo of my own steps over it. When I arrived, Beta Caleb stood guard at the door, arms crossed, expression unreadable.

“I need to speak with the Alpha,” I said, breathless.

“He’s busy, Lena.” Caleb replied curtly.

“It’s about Noah,” I pressed, desperation creeping into my voice. “Please, it’s important.”

His gaze hardened, eyes sweeping over me and stopping when they reached the stains still covering my pants. “The Alpha said no interruptions today. He’s in the middle of important negotiations. Go back to the servant quarters. If he wants to see you, he’ll come to you.”

My hands balled into fists, nails biting my palms. “Please, Caleb. This is serious! I need to speak with him about—”

“That’s enough.” His voice cut through mine, cutting me off before I could get anything out. “You’re overstepping. Do not embarrass yourself further, Omega.”

Humiliation burned hotter than fire. I opened my mouth again to plead with him, but before I could form another word, movement down the hall caught my eye.

Celeste.

Of course.

She swept toward us, radiant in silk, a basket draped over her arm. Her smile was sweet, but her eyes glinted when they flicked to me.

“Hello, Caleb. Mind letting me past? I’ve brought Damon his dinner,” she said, her voice honey-smooth.

Caleb’s expression immediately softened. “Of course, princess. He’s been expecting you.”

My stomach twisted. “I already sent him food.”

“Oh,” she tilted her head, blinking innocently at me. “You did? Hm, that’s strange. He called just a bit ago telling me he was hungry. Maybe you sent it to the wrong place.”

What?

That made no sense. I knew this place like the back of my hand. How on Earth would I have sent Damon’s food to the wrong place when his office has always been located in this building?

She turned and stepped around me, following Caleb through the doors as he parted them for her as though she belonged there. I stood trembling outside of them, shame and fury boiling in my veins until it threatened to consume me.

Since Caleb left the door unattended for a moment, I didn’t think, I acted. My hand shot out, twisting the knob, and I slipped inside. My eyes darted wildly around the long hallway, searching for any sign of them, but they were long gone.

As I moved further down the hallway, something caught my eye. The wastebasket right outside his door. Inside, tossed carelessly, lay the meal I had prepared. Tears blurred my vision as I staggered closer, staring down at the ruined food. My hands shook as I reached for it, but I stopped myself, my fingers curling back.

Not only had Damon thrown it away, he hadn’t even bothered to hide it. It sat there in the open, like proof of how meaningless my efforts were.

What was the point?

I was nothing.

The ache in my chest grew unbearable. My heart pounded with the weight of it, threatening to shatter me completely. And yet, somewhere deep inside, a flicker of anger stirred.

If Damon saw me as nothing then why was I continuing to just stand here and take it? What was the point? Even if Celeste mocked me, even if Noah had begun to believe their lies that I was nothing more than his nanny, I knew the truth.

I was Noah’s mother.

I’d rather die than let them erase me so easily.