Chapter 5: The call

•Lisa•

“It’s my son.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

The moment they left my mouth, I wished I could pull them back, but it was already too late. Ronan’s hand remained wrapped around my wrist, yet his grip loosened slightly as if those three words had interrupted whatever anger was burning inside him.

For the first time since I entered that room, he looked uncertain.

Not angry, not mocking.

Just confused.

“Your son?”

His voice was quieter than before, but somehow that made my heart beat faster.

I lowered my gaze, avoiding his eyes.

The phone continued ringing in my hand, but neither of us moved. The name of the hospital flashed across the screen, reminding me that every second I wasted could cost Milo precious time.

“Let me answer.”

Ronan didn’t release me completely.

“Who is he?”

I looked up.

“What?”

“The child.”

His expression hardened as if he was already preparing himself for an answer he wouldn’t like.

“Who is this son you’re suddenly talking about?”

My lips parted, but no words came out.

How could I explain something that would change both our lives forever?

How could I tell him that the child he thought belonged to someone else was the same child he had never been allowed to hold?

How could I tell him that every day I looked at Milo, I saw the man standing in front of me?

I couldn’t.

Not here.

Not when Ronan was looking at me with so much anger.

“I don’t have time for this.”

I tried to pull my hand away.

This time, he let me but before I could reach my phone, his voice stopped me.

“You left me.”

The accusation was quiet, almost calm but it carried years of pain.

“You disappeared and let me believe you were dead. You let me bury you.”

My fingers tightened around my phone.

“Ronan…”

“No.”

His eyes darkened.

“Don’t say my name like nothing happened.”

I looked away because I remembered saying his name differently.

Back when it meant safety.

Back when it meant home.

Before everything was destroyed.

“You don’t know the truth.”

“Then tell me.”

Silence filled the room as Ronan stared at me, waiting.

For once, he wasn’t demanding as an Alpha.

He was asking as the man who had loved me and that made it harder.

“I can’t.”

His face changed.

A bitter smile appeared.

“You still can’t.”

I swallowed.

“Some things are not that simple.”

“No.”

He shook his head slowly.

“You made them simple five years ago.”

My chest tightened.

“You chose to leave.”

I looked at him.

“You think I wanted to?”

The question escaped before I could stop it.

For a second, something flashed in his eyes.

Pain.

Confusion but then the walls came back.

“If you didn’t want to leave, then why did you?”

I had no answer.

Not one I could give him because the truth was not just about me.

It involved my mother.

His father.

The pack.

And the child who was the only reason I had survived everything.

My phone rang again.

This time, Ronan looked at the screen.

The hospital name was impossible to miss.

His eyes moved from the phone to me.

“Your son is in trouble?”

I hesitated.

That hesitation told him enough.

His expression changed.

“You’re afraid.”

I hated that he noticed.

I hated that after five years, he could still read me so easily.

“I need to answer.”

I reached for the phone again.

He didn’t stop me.

I answered immediately.

“Hello?”

But before the person on the other end could speak, Ronan stepped closer.

I turned away from him.

“Yes, this is Lisa.”

My heart pounded as I listened.

I didn’t need to hear many words to know something was wrong.

The change in my expression must have been obvious because Ronan’s eyes narrowed.

“Lisa.”

I covered the phone slightly.

“I have to go.”

His face hardened.

“Go where?”

I ignored the question.

“Please.”

Something in my voice made him pause.

For a moment, he looked at me differently.

Not like the woman who betrayed him.

Not like the person he wanted answers from.

Like the Lisa he remembered.

But it disappeared quickly.

“You’re leaving again.”

The words hurt because they sounded like he truly believed I would always run from him.

“I’m going because someone needs me.”

“Your son.”

I nodded.

“Yes.”

The room became quiet again.

Ronan looked away for a moment before looking back at me.

“How old is he?”

My heart stopped.

I wasn’t prepared for that question.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

That silence made his expression change.

“You don’t even want to tell me that?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.”

The words came out sharper than he probably intended.

I looked at him.

And for one second, I saw the boy who used to care about every little thing involving me.

The boy who noticed when I was hungry.

The boy who knew when I was pretending to be okay.

But that boy was gone or maybe he was still there, buried beneath everything that happened.

“I have to go.”

I turned toward the door.

Ronan didn’t move.

But his voice followed me.

“Lisa.”

I stopped.

“If you walk out of this room, don’t think this conversation is over.”

I closed my eyes.

“I know.”

“You still owe me answers so don’t try to run this time”

I gripped the door handle.

“I know.”

Then I left.

Ronan remained inside the room long after the door closed.

The silence that followed felt unfamiliar.

For five years, he had imagined Lisa in a grave.

He had imagined never hearing her voice again.

Never seeing her face.

Never touching her nut she had been alive.

Living, breathing and raising a child.

His jaw tightened as he stared at the door she had walked through.

A child.

That was the part he couldn’t understand.

Lisa had disappeared five years ago.

Five years ago, she had supposedly died so when had she found someone else?

When had she built another life?

His wolf growled deep inside him.

Not because of the child because of the unknown man.

The man who had been there while Ronan mourned her.

The man who knew a part of Lisa that Ronan had never seen.

His Beta entered the room carefully.

“Alpha?”

Ronan didn’t look back.

“Find out everything.”

“About?”

His eyes darkened.

“Lisa.”

The Beta remained silent.

Ronan’s voice lowered.

“And find out who the father of her child is.”

The Beta hesitated.

“You think she had a child with another man?”

Ronan looked toward the closed door.

The woman he loved had returned from the dead but she had returned carrying a secret.

A secret she was willing to protect with her life.

His hands tightened.

“I don’t know what to think.”

A pause.

Then his voice became cold.

“But I will find out.”

A child she had hidden from him.

A child that raised only one question in his mind.

“Whose son is he?”