WANT HER BACK

COURTNEY

What had Diego and his mistress done to my son?

They had manipulated a five-year-old child, fed him lies, and turned him completely against the only mother who had ever truly loved him. They took away his childhood, made him call another woman "Mommy," and then, the moment he fell gravely ill, they cast him aside like trash on the side of the road.

I sat in my private office, staring at Bryan’s detailed medical file, my vision blurring behind a thick veil of tears. I had taken over his case completely, wiping his name from the general roster and assigning him directly to my care. I checked his medical records again and again, hoping for a miracle, but the diagnosis was undeniable.

He had advanced bone marrow cancer. He desperately needed a bone marrow transplant surgery to survive.

In wolf shifters, a bone marrow match requires a direct full-blooded sibling or a parent with a rare genetic alignment. Because my own system was altered from giving Diego my kidney years ago, my marrow was ineligible. He needed a sibling to help bring him back to life—a biological brother or sister whose stem cells could rebuild his dying body.

Yet, despite the rage and grief burning inside me, I still refused to tell anyone in the hospital that this sick, dying patient was my son. I kept my composure as Chief of Medicine. I didn't want the staff whispering, and more importantly, I didn't want Diego or his pack finding out where Bryan was until my son was safe and healed.

I focused all my attention on making my son feel better. Every evening after my rounds, I took off my white coat, walked into Ward Ten, and sat by his bedside. He spent most of his days asleep under heavy pain medication, but whenever he opened his pale green eyes, I held his tiny hand, stroked his forehead, and sang the soft lullabies I used to sing to him five years ago. He didn't recognize me through the haze of his illness, but he clung to my fingers as if I were his only anchor in the dark.

Then, one Thursday afternoon, a woman came to see Bryan.

I was standing near the nurse station when I saw her strutting down the hallway. It was not the blonde woman I had seen in Diego’s bed five years ago. This one was far younger—maybe early twenties—wearing a tight red dress, heavy makeup, and popping bubble gum loudly as she walked.

I followed her into Ward Ten, staying near the doorway. She stood at the foot of Bryan's bed, looking down at his frail, sleeping frame with pure disgust.

"He is my stepson," she hissed, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. "His real mum ran away or died or whatever, and then that blonde mistress followed another man two years ago, leaving this little baggage under my care."

My heart hammered against my ribs. I stepped forward, forcing my voice to stay even and professional. "And his dad?" I asked, my hands clenching into fists inside my coat pockets. "Where is Alpha Diego?"

"He is there, my husband," she hissed again, blowing a bright pink bubble and popping it with a loud snap. "Probably sleeping with his tenth woman for the day. He doesn't care about this kid. Diego only cares finding fresh girls for his bed."

A sickening wave of nausea washed over me. Diego had destroyed our home for a mistress, only for that mistress to abandon him, and now he was married to a self-absorbed child while living in complete moral decay.

"Look, doctor," the young woman continued, tapping her acrylic nails against her designer purse. "We don't have the money to pay for long-term hospital stay for a kid who isn't even mine. How much is the bill so far? Because Diego told me not to spend a single dime of pack funds on him."

I looked at my helpless son lying on the bed, then looked at this shallow, cruel woman.

"Do not bother about the bill," I said softly, my voice cold and firm. "In fact, you and your husband should forget the boy entirely. I will take full care of him."

She blinked in surprise, then let out a sharp laugh. "Seriously? You'll treat him for free?"

"Yes," I replied, refusing to tell her I was his real mother. "Stop stressing yourself since you already consider my—this boy—a burden. Go back home and leave him to this hospital."

She didn't hesitate. She shrugged, popped her gum again, and walked out without giving Bryan a single backward glance.

I thought that was the end of it. I thought they would simply let him die in peace or leave him to me. But I underestimated how greedy and heartless Diego had truly become.

The very next day, the young woman returned to the hospital—and she wasn't alone.

I was sitting in my private office reviewing surgical schedules when my secretary’s voice came through the intercom, sounding confused and flustered.

"Dr. Courtney? There is a man and his wife at the main desk. He says he is Alpha Diego of the Crescent Moon Pack. He is demanding to speak to the doctor in charge of the abandoned boy in Ward Ten."

My blood ran cold.

I stood up slowly, walked to the cracked door of my office, and listened to the loud, booming voice echoing from the reception lobby below.

"The doctor said some rich woman or charity wants to adopt the sick child, so we came to finalize it!" Diego’s deep voice shouted arrogantly to my secretary. "We are here to sign over parental rights! But I want a processing f*e. My pack raised him for ten years, so whoever wants him needs to pay up!"

I leaned against the wall inside my office, tears streaming down my face in silence.

I over-heard it all. I buried my face in my hands and cried bitter, painful tears before pulling myself together.

Diego had taken my son from my arms. He had turned him against me, abandoned him in a hospital when he got sick, and now he was standing in my lobby, ready to sell his own flesh and blood off to the highest bidder just to line his pockets for his next mistress.

"I don't want any money from her!" the young wife’s voice whined loudly from the lobby. "Diego, just sign the paper! The doctor said she'll take him off our hands so I can finally have time for our vacation! Stop begging for money and let's go!"

"Shut up, bitch," Diego growled back at her. "Everything has a price. If this chief doctor wants the kid, she pays."

He was standing there, openly condemning my son, treating a dying ten-year-old boy like damaged property he wanted to liquidize.

I wiped the tears from my eyes. I took a deep, steadying breath. The broken, weak woman who had walked out of his mansion ten years ago on bare feet was gone. In her place stood the Chief of Medicine, an independent woman backed by powerful Alphas, and a mother who was ready to tear down anyone who touched her child.

I pushed open my office door.

My heels clicked sharply against the polished marble floor as I walked down the grand corridor, heading straight toward the reception lobby.

My hands tightened into fists inside the pockets of my white coat as I looked at the man standing before me.

Diego was still the epitome of power and wealth. Unlike the broken, weathered man I might have expected, he looked immaculate. His custom-tailored charcoal suit fit his broad, muscular frame to absolute perfection, his dark hair was styled with sharp precision, and he exuded the commanding, intoxicating presence of a supreme Alpha who commanded empires. He wasn't a drunk. He wasn't destitute. He was as influential, wealthy, and terrifyingly magnetic as he had ever been.

He just loved women, kept a string of mistresses, and was so consumed by his dominance and pack empire that he had barely any time for Bryan—leaving his care to rotating shifts of nannies and young, indifferent wives.

Diego froze, the arrogant sneer slipping from his face as his sharp dark eyes swept over me. For a moment, the man who had once discarded me like trash was completely paralyzed, staring at the polished, powerful Chief of Medicine standing before him.

"Courtney...?" he whispered, his deep voice carrying a jolt of genuine disbelief. "You... you are the Chief Doctor here?"

I didn't flinch. I kept my posture straight, my gaze chillingly steady.

"Yes, Diego," I replied, my voice ringing clear and authoritative across the lobby. "And you are standing in my hospital, trying to hand over my son."

Diego blinked, quickly recovering his composure as he masked his shock behind a cool, impenetrable mask. He straightened his cuffs, looking at me not with guilt, but with the arrogant entitlement that always defined him.

"Ah, so it was you," Diego said smoothly, his voice dropping into that rich, baritone register that used to make my heart flutter years ago. "My secretary mentioned a prominent doctor was taking a strange interest in the boy. I didn't realize it was my former wife. Small world, isn't it?"

His young, bubbly wife looked between us, her eyes widening in confusion and irritation. "Wait, Diego, you know her? Is this the crazy ex-wife you told me about who ran off into the woods years ago?"

The words hung in the air like a blade between us.

Diego stared at me, his dark eyes wide as he digested the truth. The woman he had discarded, the wife he thought had vanished into nothingness on bare feet, was standing before him as the proud, powerful Chief of Medicine and sole owner of the largest medical empire in the region.

A flash of intense emotion rippled across his handsome face—shock, disbelief, and a sudden, violent surge of raw possessiveness that flared deep in his dark pupils. He looked at my tailored clothes, my diamond-encrusted badge, and the absolute authority I held over everyone in the lobby.

"Diego, what are you waiting for?" Chloe whined, tugging at his arm. "Get the papers signed so we can leave!"

Diego didn't hear her. Without breaking eye contact with me, he roughly shoved Chloe’s hand off his arm. He took a single, heavy step toward me, his jaw clenching tightly.

"Courtney..." he breathed, his voice rich, low, and laced with an unexpected, fierce hunger. "You built all of this?"

I kept my posture rigid, my chin held high. "This is my hospital, Alpha Diego. And you are standing on my property."

He opened his mouth to speak, a hundred conflicting emotions battling in his eyes, but I turned my back on him. I motioned for my security team—a dozen heavily armed, elite guards stationed in the lobby—to step forward.

"Show Alpha Diego and his guest out," I ordered calmly. "They are no longer welcome on the premises."

Diego’s eyes darkened into a dangerous storm. The pride of the greatest, most powerful Alpha in the territory had been struck, but beneath that pride, a sudden, consuming fire had ignited in his heart. He looked at me one last time—not with cold detachment, but with the terrifying resolve of a predator that had just realized the rarest treasure in the world had slipped through his fingers.

Without signing a single paper, without taking a dime, and without saying another word to Chloe, Diego turned sharply on his heel and walked out of the hospital entrance, his long black coat billowing behind him like a war banner.

He didn't give up. The moment Diego stepped outside my doors, he didn't head for the airport or return to his pack duties. The realization that I was no longer the weak, desperate woman begging for his touch—that I was now a powerful, radiant queen in my own right—drove him mad.

Within hours, Diego set his sights on the man who had helped me rise: Alpha Lucas.

That evening, I was in my private office reviewing Bryan's treatment charts when the heavy glass doors to the administration wing were thrown open. Alpha Lucas walked in, his broad shoulders tense and his expression grave.

"Courtney," Lucas said gently, closing the door behind him.

"Lucas? What's wrong?" I asked, setting down my pen. "How is the border?"

"Diego has officially declared an economic and territorial blockade against the Silver Fang Pack," Lucas said, taking a seat across from my desk. "He called an emergency meeting of the Regional Alpha Council two hours ago. He’s using his massive influence, his bank reserves, and his trade routes to pressure my allies into cutting ties with me."

My breath hitched. "He's trying to ruin you? Because you funded my hospital?"

"He's trying to break me," Lucas corrected, a sharp, determined smile touching his lips despite the gravity of the situation. "Diego believes that if he destroys my pack financially and forces me to declare bankruptcy, the loan for your hospital will default, and he can step in, buy your debt, and force you back under his authority."

"He won't touch you or this hospital," I snapped, my blood boiling. "Diego thinks he can buy and sell people like assets. I won't let him ruin what you built, Lucas!"

"He's powerful, Courtney," Lucas warned softly, leaning forward and placing a reassuring hand over mine. "He is still the wealthiest and most feared Alpha in these lands. He isn't used to losing. And right now... he wants you back with a dangerous, obsessive ferocity."

Before I could reply, my desk phone rang sharply. I picked up the receiver, keeping my voice steady.

"Dr. Courtney."

"You look breathtaking in white, my Luna," Diego’s deep, velvety baritone echoed through the line, smooth and chillingly confident.

My heart did a violent thud against my ribs. "Diego. How did you get this line?"

"I own three communications networks in this territory, Courtney. Getting your line took three seconds," he chuckled softly, the sound low and intoxicating. "I made a mistake ten years ago. I let a diamond walk away from my mansion. But I am an Alpha who gets what he wants. Lucas cannot fight me. He will crumble in a month, and when he does, you will come home to my bed where you belong."

"I am not your Luna, and I will never return to your bed!" I hissed into the receiver. "Leave Lucas alone!"

"Tell Lucas to step aside, give me back my wife and my son, and I will spare his territory," Diego replied smoothly, his tone laced with absolute power. "Otherwise, I will crush his pack until he has nothing left to offer you. See you soon, Courtney."

The line went dead.

I held the phone in my trembling hand, looking across the desk at Lucas, then out the window toward Ward Ten where my sweet Bryan lay sleeping. Diego had declared war—not to abandon us, but to tear down the entire world just to drag me back to his side.