Chapter 2

Diya's POV

At the first sound in the hallway, Hugh ran to the door.

But the footsteps stopped next door. He slowly sat back down and pulled the box of building blocks closer to his chest.

By afternoon, his food had already been reheated twice.

I crouched in front of him. "Sweetheart, let's eat first. When your dad gets here, I'll open the door for you."

Hugh shook his head and scooted over to make room for me. "Mommy, let's eat here. That way, we can open the door faster."

Someone suddenly knocked. Hugh jumped up excitedly and rushed to open the door. "Uncle Ryan, you're here!"

A uniformed werewolf stood outside. "Ms. Wilder sent me to bring you to the estate."

Nancy Wilder was Ryan's mother and the former Luna.

"Is Grandmother taking us to see Uncle Ryan?" Hugh asked, his eyes lighting up as he looked at me.

I couldn't bring myself to tell him no.

Maybe Ryan would be there. He could at least spend one last evening building blocks with Hugh.

I drove Hugh to the estate. A housekeeper led us to the sitting room, where Nancy sat on the couch, drinking tea.

Hugh walked up to her, clutching his box of building blocks.

His cheeks were pink with excitement. "Grandmother, did Dad ask you to bring us here? Where is he? I've been waiting to build with him."

Nancy set down her teacup and ignored Hugh. She looked at me instead.

"Ryan still needs the support of the Elders' Council and Odile's father. I don't want a repeat of what happened at the banquet yesterday."

Hugh hugged the box to his chest and stepped forward. "Grandmother, is Dad—"

"Hugh." She cut him off. "From now on, you'll address me as Ms. Wilder."

Hugh stood with his mouth open but said nothing more.

After a moment, he pulled back the box he had started to offer her and held it against his chest. "Yes, Ms. Wilder."

I stepped in front of him. "All he did was call you Grandmother."

"Then teach him to call me Ms. Wilder." She fixed her gaze on me. "If you cause another scene, I'll make sure the whole pack learns how a Rogue Ryan took in tried to use her lowborn pup to cling to the Alpha."

Hugh's knuckles had turned white from gripping the box so tightly. When I reached for it, he only hugged it closer.

"Let me hold it for you," I whispered. "You can still build with it later. It won't get lost."

Hugh finally let go.

I folded his pale fingers into my hand and looked at Nancy. "I have no interest in fighting for the Luna position. Hugh and I won't be coming here again."

Nancy started to speak again, but I had already taken Hugh's hand and turned to leave. "Come on. Let's go home."

As we passed the garden, Hugh suddenly stopped and squeezed my hand. "Mommy, those outfits look like the ones I picked out."

On the lawn, Ryan bent down to catch the child running into his arms. The woman beside them held up a camera and told them to stand closer together.

All three of them wore matching family outfits.

Hugh's hand slipped from mine, and he took a small step forward. "That's Uncle Ryan."

His voice was barely audible, and no one on the lawn turned around.

Hugh had carefully picked out that outfit at the mall. Ryan had said it wasn't suitable to wear yet, then took it away.

Hugh tugged at the hem of his shirt, then looked back at the trio. "Mommy, did Uncle Ryan take the wrong outfit?"

I crouched to straighten his clothes. The button was within reach, but I tried twice and still couldn't fasten it.

Hugh put his hand over mine. "It's okay. We can wear something else."

A child's laughter rang out across the lawn. Hugh watched them over my shoulder for a while before asking softly, "Will Uncle Ryan still come back tonight to build with me?"