6

LEONARDO

Jerald tried to force his way in, trying to persuade the guard. Reminding her I was Alpha Leonardo even after we were told men weren’t allowed inside the restaurant. His desperation outmatched mine, probably fueled by guilt for letting the slut escape with my only chance at an heir. His eagerness almost annoyed me. Almost.

Cutting the entire thing was the wail of a newborn which cut through the air like a blade.

We could heard women rush around in a frenzy. The one guarding the entrance went and check, shutting the door behind hers. Second later, she came back.

“Alpha, I don’t think you’ll be able to see the boss. She suddenly went into labor.”

She was supposed to come out, and I was supposed to confirm if she was the woman I was searching for. But at those words, my chest tightened. My breath caught.

Six months. It had only been six months since the slut left.

She-wolves carried babies for ten month.

No.

A sharp pain gored through me. This had been my last hope, and now, it was gone. Vanished.

I clenched my fists at my sides, forcing my breathing to steady. But something inside me was crumbling.

Hope.

It slipped through my fingers like sand. Maybe I was never meant to have an heir. The witch had said that potion was my only chance.

Beside me, Jerald shifted uneasily, clearly feeling the shift in my energy. He knew what this meant for me.

“Alpha… I—I’m sorry,” he murmured. “We must have miscalculated. We—”

I didn’t respond.

Didn’t lash out.

Didn’t punish him, even though he expected it.

I turned on my heel and walked away, my steps slow, measured. The weight of failure dragged at my shoulders.

I got into my car and drove.

Alone.

Jerald had his own car, and I didn’t want company. Heat crawled up my body, making me rip open a few buttons on my shirt, but it did nothing to ease the burning frustration inside me.

I had no heir.

No family.

Nothing.

My father had been dead for years. He’d trained me to be the feared Alpha Leonardo, a leader people respected—not loved. I had a stepmother who barely hid her disdain for me. If she had her way, she would hand my title over to her son, my beta.

I lived among enemies. Slept with one eye open. Survived countless assassination attempts in my own home.

And the only woman who had been mine—the one the Moon Goddess chose for me—was gone.

My mate.

Ripped from me.

And now, even my heir had been stolen away. I gritted my teeth, gripping the steering wheel so tight my knuckles turned white.

What did I do to her that made her run?

I had offered her everything—money, power, the Luna position.

But she never came back. As though keeping my heir was worth more. A hollow ache settled in my chest. I refused to acknowledge it, refused to let it consume me.

Instead, I focused on the road ahead.

The orphanage.

As soon as I pulled up, I heard them—tiny, rapid footsteps pounding against the dirt. Then, excited voices cut through the air.

“Uncle!”

One of the kids playing in the dirt spotted me first. Then the others followed, all of them running toward me.

Their little hands grabbed at my clothes, clutching at me like I was the most important person in the world to them.

“Uncle Leo! The nurse gave me three injections today!” Maya whined, her big brown eyes still red from crying.

“Uncle, I didn’t get any sweets!” Nima pouted.

“Uncle, you promised us a dog! Where’s the dog?” Chase looked around, probably expecting one to jump out of my car.

I chuckled, ruffling his hair before squatting down to their level.

Nina, the most observant of them, tugged at my sleeve.

“You got the tattoos done?”

Shit.

She remembered.

I had told them I was going to have my own child, and when I did, I would tattoo his name on my arm.

But I never got the chance.

Nina pushed my sleeve up, her small fingers tracing over my forearm.

“It’s still the old tattoos,” she said quietly. “Bianca… and the name of a pack.”

Bianca.

The name of my mate.

And the name of the kingdom I destroyed.

A tribute. A punishment. A reminder of the blood on my hands.

I didn’t regret it. They deserved what happened to them. But the guilt never left me.

Nina glanced up, concern in her young eyes. “Uncle…?”

“The baby isn’t coming,” I said simply, squeezing her tiny shoulders before she could ask more questions.

“Then forget the baby. We’re your babies,” she said firmly.

I forced a small smile and ruffled Maya’s hair. “Three injections, huh?”

She sniffled. “That nurse is evil!”

I smirked. “Maybe. But don’t you feel better now?”

She frowned, crossing her arms. “What’s the difference?”

I chuckled, standing as the caretakers approached. They greeted me warmly, respectfully—but they never bowed.

They didn’t call me Alpha.

Because they didn’t know.

And I liked it that way.

Here, I wasn’t Leonardo, the ruthless Alpha. I wasn’t a man surrounded by betrayal and bloodshed.

Here, I was just Uncle.

Someone they ran to.

Someone they trusted.

And I craved that more than I wanted to admit.

Inside, I helped Grandma prepare dinner. Cooking reminded me of my mother. I missed her so much.

She glanced at me as I chopped carrots. “Is she back? The lady who ran off with your child?”

I shook my head. I didn’t want to talk about it.

The day the slut ran, I came here, heavy with frustration. Grandma had been the only one who sat with me in silence, letting me exist without expectation.

“I don’t think I’ll ever find her,” I admitted.

She sighed, but before she could speak, I cut in.

“I don’t like you cooking for the kids. I’ll hire a cook before the month ends.”

She smiled gently and nodded.

By the time I got home, exhaustion weighed on me. I pushed open my bedroom door and—

Pause.

I was taken aback by the scene.

A naked woman sprawled across my bed, one hand lazily tracing her bud.

My stepsister.

Victoria.

She dragged her fingers down her body, parting herself before sliding them back into her mouth. She smiled and then…

“Brother,” she purred.

“I’ve been waiting for you all day.”

Her fingers trailed lower again, dipping between her thighs.

“Come,” she whispered, her voice thick with need. “My pussy wants you.”

She pushed two fingers inside her dripping pussy, moaning as she went farther.