Chapter 1: Unclaimed / Orion & Elara

In just a few seconds, everything in my life flipped completely. It felt like my world had been turned upside down, shaken hard, and then thrown away. I had a son? Was this really happening?

So many thoughts and emotions rushed through my head at once. How could I have walked away from Elara? I had left her to raise my child alone for fifteen years. And Selene had lied to both of us, which made everything worse. Why would my own sister lie? Why?

“Okay, Mom? I know you told me to go to my room, but—”

“Oh my God, Kael, what did I say?” Elara snapped, placing her hands on her hips. She always did that whenever she was angry.

The boy kept looking at both of us, thinking hard, his eyes moving between his mother and me. Every time he looked at me, it felt strange—like I was staring at myself from twenty years ago. There was no way to deny it, no way to hide it. The kid was mine.

Then I noticed the black eye on his face, and the bruise on Elara’s cheek. Where did those come from? Who did that to them? Even after all these years, all the pain, and everything that had happened between Elara and me, a strong wave of anger suddenly rose inside me.

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How it all starts… (Elara)

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“How much longer, Mom?” Kael asked.

“About ten, maybe fifteen minutes,” I replied as the wild lands of Georgia passed by on both sides of the road.

“Great,” he said, his voice full of the kind of sarcasm only a fourteen-year-old boy could manage.

“You might actually like it,” I said. “You never know.”

Instead of replying, he sighed, reached over, and turned on the radio.

“When Moses came down from the mountain, he saw that his people had turned away from God—”

He rolled his eyes and switched the station.

“Job knew that God loved him, even while his life was falling apart. That’s how we should all—”

“Oh my god, Mom, don’t they have music in Georgia?” he asked, switching the radio to Bluetooth and connecting his phone. “Is this all they play down here?”

I shrugged. “It’s the South. What can I say?”

“Pinecrest Valley at least has cell service and Wi-Fi, right?” he asked, looking at me with hope. “I don’t think I can survive without it.”

Using one hand, I reached over and messed up his hair, making a teasing face. “Aww, is Mr. Man going to die without his social media?”

He laughed and pushed my hand away. “Maybe. I want to text my friends and stuff.”

It had been a while since I last heard him laugh, and hearing it now made me feel warm inside. There hadn’t been much laughter after what happened a few days ago. The bruise on my cheek and Kael’s black eye were getting lighter, but they were still clear reminders of what happened. When Kael’s eyes moved to my cheek, his smile disappeared, and he turned to look out the window as his music started playing.

I never thought things would end up like this. Not even once did I imagine I would go back to Pinecrest Valley. But Travis made sure I had no other choice.

I could still remember it clearly, like it was happening right then. Kael was meant to play a basketball game, and I told my fiancé, Travis, that we would be back in about three hours since the team planned to eat pizza after the game. He kissed me goodbye, and everything seemed fine.

I didn’t know that just thirty minutes later, my whole life would fall apart.

On our way to the gym, Kael’s coach called to say that both referees had gotten a stomach virus, so the game was moved to the next Wednesday. We were both disappointed, Kael really wanted to play, and I loved watching him happy on the court, but we decided to make the best of it. We got some Chinese food and went back home to surprise Travis.

That surprise turned out to be something else.

I heard moaning and heavy breathing the moment I stepped inside the house. Before I even fully understood what I was hearing, my stomach dropped, and the food fell from my hands as I walked into the foyer and saw my soon-to-be husband—Kael’s soon-to-be stepfather—balls-deep in our neighbor’s wife, Shawna.

She saw me first and screamed in shock, quickly covering her breasts with her arm.

“What the fuck are you doing home?” Travis asked, hurriedly pulling up his pants.

“Excuse me? What do you think you’re doing, Travis? Jesus fucking Christ.”

Shawna somehow got dressed very fast and ran out of the house, passing Kael, who stood there with his mouth wide open.

“Don’t you raise your goddamn voice at me!” Travis shouted, pointing his finger at me like I was the one who got caught cheating.

“We are done, Travis,” I said, tears filling my eyes as everything I had hoped for started falling apart.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Travis said angrily, grabbing my arm and pressing his fingers hard into my skin until I cried out. “You don’t talk to me like that.”

Then his other hand came forward and hit my cheek hard. A hot, sharp pain spread across my face. My lip broke open, and a loud ringing filled my ear as I fell to the floor, holding my cheek and gasping.

Travis always had a bad temper, but I never thought he could be violent like this.

“Hey, asshole!” Kael shouted, rushing forward. “Don’t you fucking touch her!”

Before I could stop him, my son threw a punch straight at Travis’s nose. A fourteen-year-old boy’s strength usually wouldn’t match a grown man like Travis. But Kael wasn’t just a normal boy. He was a shifter and had just entered puberty. He wasn’t at his full strength yet, but he was still stronger than most boys his age.

His fist hit Travis’s face, and the bigger man stepped back as blood came out of his nose and ran down to his lips. He staggered but didn’t fall.

Travis turned to Kael, his eyes full of anger. “Little shit! You hit me?” Blood and spit came out as he spoke. “Think you’re a big man now? Huh? Come on, hit me again.”

Then suddenly, he slapped Kael hard.

My son’s head turned sharply, and a red mark quickly appeared under his eye. Kael stepped back, holding his face, and the anger in his eyes scared me. If we stayed there, things would only get worse.

“Enough!” I got up quickly and pulled Kael back.

“No, Mom,” Kael said, tears starting to form. “He hit you. He can’t do that.”

“It’s fine, baby,” I said, pulling him toward the door, even though it wasn’t fine at all. “Let’s go.”

“Yeah, go,” Travis said, waving toward the door. “Get out. I don’t need you. Get the fuck out of my house, you stupid cunt. We’re done, you hear me?”

“Your house?” I asked, shocked. “Last time I checked, my name is on the mortgage, not yours. But you know what?” I added, tasting blood in my mouth. “You stay. I don’t want to be here for one more second.”

Travis waved his hand at me. “Whatever, you dumb bitch.”

Kael growled and tried to go after him again, but I held him back, just barely.

I got him outside and into the car, and we spent the night in a hotel. I didn’t sleep. I lay awake for hours, thinking about what to do. Around three in the morning, I quietly left the room so I wouldn’t wake Kael and called an old friend.

Aria Wallace, whose nickname is Stormy, is my best friend since we were kids, had moved back to our hometown, Pinecrest Valley, just a month ago after her husband Dominic died. I used to think she was crazy for going back there, but she said being away made her see the town differently. Even though it was late, she picked up on the third ring, her voice sleepy and worried.

“Elara? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

I tried to say I was fine, but I just started crying. It took her almost five minutes to calm me down enough to talk. When I told her everything, she didn’t hesitate.

“Come home,” she said. “You still own your grandmother’s house. It’s there waiting for you. I pass by it every day. You have somewhere to go. Come home. We’ll figure everything out.”

The old house was still mine. I had planned to sell it and use the money for Kael’s college. But now, it was the only safe place I had left in the mess my life had become. I agreed, and when Kael woke up early in the morning, I told him our plan.

The look on his face almost broke my heart more than what I saw with Travis. He understood what it meant. He would have to leave everything—his friends, his basketball team, his school—if we moved to a small town in Georgia.

But my son was more of a man than the person who almost became his stepfather. Instead of arguing, he nodded sadly. “Okay, Mom. Let’s go.”

I held back my tears as I hugged him, and then we went back to the house. Travis had already gone to work, and I saw seven messages and three missed calls from him. Kael and I packed a few bags, only what we could carry in the rental car I arranged while we were there. My car had been a gift from Travis nine months ago, so his name was on it. I didn’t want to deal with any trouble if he decided to report it stolen. Renting a car for a few weeks would cost a lot, but it was better than dealing with the police.