Chapter 3: The Alpha's Claim

Ryker watched emotions flash across Kyra's face and his wolf snarled at the fear he saw there, he hated that his mate was looking at him like he was a threat instead of her protector.

Six years ago he'd been an arrogant fool who'd let pride blind him to what actually mattered, and now he was standing in a hallway of a human racing arena facing the consequences of his stupidity.

"You're still my mate," he repeated, softer this time, watching her flinch at the words.

"The contract didn't break the bond, Kyra, it just postponed it, and you know that as well as I do."

"The contract said one year," Kyra said, her voice shaking but her chin lifted in defiance that made his wolf want to push her against the wall and kiss her until she remembered who she belonged to.

"I fulfilled my end of the bargain and then I left like you wanted, so you don't get to show up now and claim rights to a child you didn't know existed."

Ryker stepped closer and caught her scent, honey and home, and the mate bond pulled so hard between them he saw her stumble.

"I'm not claiming rights," he said quietly. "I'm claiming my son, there's a difference, and you can fight me all you want but we both know how this ends."

"With me running again," Kyra shot back. "With me taking Kade somewhere you'll never find us, because I won't let you reject him the way you rejected me."

The words actually made him stumble back a bit, his chest tightned with shame.

"I was twenty-four years old and stupid," he said. "The elders were threatening to strip my title if I didn't take a mate by the deadline and you were an omega maid with no pack status, do you have any idea what that would have done to my reputation?"

"So you paid me to play pretend and made sure everyone knew it was temporary," Kyra said bitterly.

"You got exactly what you wanted, Ryker, your precious alpha title and your reputation intact, so why do you even care about Kade now?"

"Because he's my son!" Ryker's voice came out louder than he'd intended and he saw Kyra glance nervously at the break room door. He lowered his voice and moved closer, caging her against the wall with his arms on either side of her head.

"Because that boy in there has my blood, my wolf, my future running through his veins, and you are keeping him away from me."

"I am keeping him safe," Kyra whispered, and tears gathered in her eyes that made Ryker's wolf whine.

"I kept him from a father who would look at him and see a mistake, who would be ashamed that his heir came from an omega nobody."

"I would never…" Ryker started, but Kyra cut him off.

"You don't get to decide that now," she said. "You made your choice six years ago when you handed me that contract and told me I wasn't good enough to be your real Luna, so don't stand here and pretend you suddenly care."

Ryker stared at her and saw the hurt he'd caused written all over her face, saw the years of raising their son alone and building a life from nothing while he'd been playing alpha with a clear conscience.

"I want to meet him properly," he said finally. "I want to know my son, and I want him to know me, not as some stranger in a garage but as his father."

"No," Kyra said immediately. "You're here for three days for the championship and then you're leaving, and Kade will forget he ever saw you or think you both are in anywhere related."

"I'm not leaving," Ryker said, and he saw panic flash across her face.

"I'm staying in Portland until we figure this out, until I get answers about why you never told me you were pregnant, until I understand why you thought running was better than giving our son his father."

"Because his father didn't want his mother!" Kyra's voice broke and she shoved at his chest, but Ryker didn't budge.

"You looked at me with disgust, you made me sign a contract that treated me like a business transaction, you took what you wanted that night and I woke up knowing you'd throw me away the second the year was up, so forgive me for not calling you with baby news."

Ryker felt something crack open in his chest because she was right, about all of it, and he couldn't take back the things he'd said or the way he'd treated her.

"I was wrong," he said quietly. "About everything, about you, about us, and I can't change the past but I can be here now for our son."

"He doesn't need you," Kyra said, but her voice had lost its strength. "We've been fine for six years without you."

"Have you?" Ryker asked, and he reached up to catch a tear sliding down her cheek. "Because that boy just asked a complete stranger if he was his father, which tells me he's been wondering about me for a while now."

Kyra's face crumbled and she turned her head away. "Get away from me, Ryker," she whispered. "Please, just go back to your life and let us have ours."

"I can't," Ryker said simply. "Not now that I know, not now that I've seen him and felt the bond and realized what I lost, so you can hate me all you want, Kyra, but I'm not going anywhere."

The break room door opened and a young woman stepped out, her face set in protective anger that reminded Ryker immediately of Kyra.

"Get away from my sister," Zara Sedgwick said coldly. "Before I make you regret ever knowing the Sedgwicks.”