The Child Revelation

Xavier didn't sleep that night.

He couldn't.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Luna's face—cold, furious, beautiful. He heard her words echoing through his mind like a curse.

The answer is no. It will always be no.

He'd lost her. Truly, irrevocably lost her.

And worse—he'd lost his son.

The boy with his eyes. His heir. His blood. A child who would never know him, never call him father, never look at him with anything but confusion and fear.

Xavier sat on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands, as the first rays of dawn crept through the curtains. He'd been in this position for hours—ever since he'd returned from the banquet, ever since Luna had walked out of his life for the second time.

You deserve this, Kael whispered. You broke them. You threw them away.

"I know," Xavier muttered.

You don't deserve forgiveness.

"I know."

But you can still fight.

Xavier lifted his head, his eyes bloodshot and weary. Fight? How? Luna had made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. She'd threatened him with Moonfire in front of the entire pack. She'd told him to stay away from her family.

She said stay away from her family, Kael pressed. But the boy is your family too.

Xavier's breath caught. The wolf was right. Leo was his son—his flesh and blood. Luna could reject him, could hate him, could wish him dead. But she couldn't erase the bond between father and child.

And Xavier had never even met his son properly.

He'd seen Leo from a distance, had watched him cling to Damian's hand, had heard him call another man "Daddy." But he'd never spoken to the boy. Never looked into those grey eyes—his eyes—and seen the child he'd unknowingly created.

That was going to change.

---

The garden was quiet in the early morning light.

Xavier had asked Marcus to find out where Leo spent his mornings. The answer: the garden. Specifically, the small fountain near the eastern wall—the same fountain where Xavier had confronted Luna two days ago.

He approached slowly, his heart pounding in a way it hadn't since he was a boy. The garden was empty except for a small figure crouched by the fountain, his dark hair messy, his tiny hands reaching into the water.

Leo.

Xavier stopped a few feet away, his breath catching in his throat.

The boy was beautiful. There was no other word for it. He had Xavier's dark hair and grey eyes, but his features were softer, gentler—Luna's features. He was babbling to himself, splashing the water, completely unaware of the powerful Alpha standing behind him.

"Hello," Xavier said softly.

Leo spun around, his eyes wide. He scrambled backward, his small body tense with fear.

"You're the angry man," he said.

Xavier flinched. "I'm not angry. Not at you."

"Mommy said to stay away from you."

The words hit like a physical blow. Luna had warned her son about him. She'd told Leo to fear him.

But of course she had. Why wouldn't she? He'd given her every reason to hate him.

"I know," Xavier said, crouching down to Leo's level. "Your mommy is right to be angry with me. I made a mistake a long time ago. A very big mistake."

Leo tilted his head, curiosity replacing some of the fear. "What kind of mistake?"

Xavier's throat tightened. How could he explain the depth of his failure to a three-year-old? How could he admit that he'd rejected the boy's mother, cast her out, left her to die—only to realize too late that he'd destroyed the best thing in his life?

"I hurt someone I loved," Xavier said. "Someone very important. And I've been trying to make it right ever since."

Leo studied him for a long moment, his grey eyes—Xavier's eyes—unsettlingly perceptive.

"Did you say sorry?"

"I tried."

"Did she forgive you?"

Xavier's heart cracked. "No. She didn't."

Leo nodded slowly, as if this made perfect sense. "Mommy says some mistakes are too big for sorry."

"She's right."

They sat in silence for a moment, the fountain bubbling softly between them. Xavier could feel the bond—faint, barely there, but present—connecting him to his son. The bond that should have been strong, should have been nurtured, should have been everything.

"You look like me," Leo said suddenly.

Xavier smiled—a real smile, the first in days. "You look like me."

"Mommy says I have your eyes."

"She's right. You do."

Leo frowned, his small face scrunching up. "Do you know my mommy?"

Xavier's chest ached. "Yes. I've known her for a very long time."

"Are you friends?"

"No." The word was heavy with regret. "We're not friends."

"Why not?"

Xavier closed his eyes, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill. "Because I wasn't a good friend to her. I wasn't a good anything."

Leo was quiet for a moment, processing this information with the seriousness of a child who understood more than he should.

"My Daddy says everyone deserves a second chance," Leo said finally.

Xavier's eyes snapped open. "Your Daddy?"

"Damian. He's my Daddy."

The words were a knife to Xavier's heart. Damian. The man who'd taken his place. The man who'd raised his son, loved his mate, built the life Xavier had thrown away.

"He sounds like a good man," Xavier forced himself to say.

"He is. He's the bestest."

Xavier nodded, swallowing hard. "I'm glad you have him."

"Do you have a Daddy?"

The question caught him off guard. "No. My father died a long time ago."

"Oh." Leo looked sad for a moment. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you."

Another silence. The sun was rising higher now, painting the garden in shades of gold and pink.

"I have to go soon," Leo said. "Mommy will be looking for me."

Xavier nodded, though everything in him screamed to hold on, to keep the boy here, to beg him to stay.

"Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"I know your mommy doesn't want me around. I know she's angry, and she has every right to be. But I want you to know—" Xavier's voice broke. "I want you to know that I'm glad you exist. I'm glad you're safe. I'm glad you have a family who loves you."

Leo looked at him with those grey eyes, so like his own, and for a moment, Xavier saw something flicker in them. Recognition. Connection.

"You're sad," Leo said.

"I am."

"Why?"

"Because I lost something very precious. Something I can never get back."

Leo stood up, brushing dirt from his small trousers. "Maybe you'll find it again."

Xavier's heart clenched. "I hope so."

Leo turned to go, but paused at the edge of the garden. "Angry man?"

"Yes?"

"You should say sorry to Mommy again. Even if she doesn't forgive you. It's still nice to hear."

And then he was gone, running back toward the packhouse, leaving Xavier alone with the fountain and the weight of his son's words.

You should say sorry again. Even if she doesn't forgive you.

Xavier sat there for a long time, the sun warming his face, the sound of the fountain filling the silence.

And for the first time since Luna had returned, he felt something he hadn't felt in years.

Hope.