Chapter 1: The hidden Heir

"Are you my dad?"

The question made Ryker turn his head instantly, and he froze with his hand on the motorcycle handlebar, staring down at the small boy who'd appeared in the garage and the only thing he could say was this.

The kid couldn't be more than six years old with messy dark hair and eyes that were too familiar and knowing for a human child.

"What did you say?" Ryker's voice came out rougher than he intended as he crouched down to the boy's level, his wolf stirring with interest beneath his skin.

Something about this child felt important and right in a way that made no sense because Ryker had never seen him before in his life.

The boy tilted his head and studied Ryker with an intensity that would make grown wolves uncomfortable.

"I asked if you're my dad," he repeated slowly like Ryker was the child here. "Mom says my dad had to leave before I was born but she gets sad when I ask questions so I stopped asking, but you smell like me and I don't smell like other people."

Ryker was beyond shock, because human children didn't notice scent patterns and this boy had just admitted he was different.

"What's your name, kid?" he asked, keeping his voice gentle even though his mind was racing through possibilities and none of them made sense yet.

"Kade Sedgwick," the boy said proudly. "I'm six years old and I go to Riverside Elementary and my mom works here and my Aunt Zara says I'm too curious for my own good but I think that's a good thing because how else do you learn stuff?"

Sedgwick. The name rang into Ryker's consciousness and suddenly he couldn't breathe because there was only one Sedgwick he'd ever known, only one woman who'd carried that name and disappeared from his life six years ago without a trace.

"Your mother," he said carefully, his hands clenching into fists. "What's her name?"

"Kyra," Kade said, then his eyes went wide. "But I'm not supposed to talk to strangers and you're definitely a stranger even if you smell right, so I should probably go find her before she gets worried."

"Wait," Ryker said, reaching out instinctively, but Kade was already backing toward the garage door with the kind of quick reflexes that came from wolf genetics. Before Ryker could stop him, a woman's voice echoed out loud.

"Kade Alaric Sedgwick, what have I told you about wandering off?" The voice was achingly familiar and Ryker turned slowly, his wolf howling inside his chest because he knew that voice, had heard it in his dreams for six years straight.

Kyra stood in the garage doorway wearing black work pants and a Velocity Motorsports shirt, her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and her face looked so pale.

Their eyes met across the garage and the mate bond that Ryker had suppressed for six years roared to life like someone had doused it in gasoline and thrown a match.

His wolf surged forward, demanding, and wanting to claim what belonged to them, and from the way Kyra stumbled backward, he knew she felt it too.

"Mom, I was just asking…" Kade started, but Kyra cut him off.

"Inside, now," she said, her voice shaking as she grabbed Kade's hand and pulled him toward her. She wouldn't look at Ryker, she just kept her eyes fixed on some point past his shoulder like if she didn't acknowledge him, he'd disappear.

"I think wee need to talk about stranger danger again."

"But he's not a stranger, Mom, he smells like…" Kade protested.

"Inside!" Kyra's voice cracked and she practically dragged Kade out of the garage, but not before Ryker saw the tears gathering in her eyes and the way her hands trembled on their son's shoulders.

Their son. Because there was no denying it now, not with the boy's face that was a perfect blend of both of them, not with the wolf scent that clung to his skin, or with the timeline that matched exactly.

Ryker stood frozen in the empty garage, his world tilting on its axis because six years ago he'd signed a contract with a woman he'd rejected as his mate and spent one drunken night with her before she disappeared.

Six years ago he'd let her go without a second thought because he'd gotten what he wanted, his alpha title secured and his pride intact.

Six years ago he'd made the biggest mistake of his life and now his mate was back with a son he'd never known existed, working in a human racing arena and looking at him like he was a monster she needed to protect their child from.

Ryker's wolf snarled at the thought, furious, possessive and determined, because whatever had happened six years ago, whatever reasons Kyra had for running, she was still his mate and that boy was his heir.

And Ryker Thorne didn't let go of what belonged to him.