I Was the Pack’s Mistake… Until the Alpha Saw Our Little Wolf

Chapter 6: A Boy Who Knows

"Up! Put me up!"

Lairen’s high-pitched voice echoed down the stone corridor. My seven-year-old son lunged forward, wrapping his small arms tightly around Korren’s muscular thigh.

I stopped dead in my tracks, my heart leaping into my throat.

"Lairen!" I snapped, spinning around. "Let go of the Protector immediately. He is working."

"But I want to see from up high!" Lairen whined, burying his face into the dark leather of Korren’s uniform. "Uncle—I mean, Dad always puts me on his shoulders!"

Korren flinched.

The word Dad, referring to King Thane, hit the massive Alpha like a physical blow to the stomach. His jaw locked so hard I heard the bones crack. His broad shoulders went completely rigid.

He looked down at the boy clinging to his leg.

This was the King's son. The living, breathing proof that I had moved on. The boy should have been the ultimate symbol of Korren's agonizing defeat. The Alpha inside him should have snarled and pushed the rival's pup away.

But he didn't.

Korren stared at Lairen's dark, messy hair. The lethal warrior's hands trembled. Slowly, agonizingly, Korren dropped to one knee, bringing himself down to the child's eye level.

"I am not the King, little prince," Korren rasped. His voice was thick, choking on his own crushing jealousy. "I am just a guard."

"You are a giant!" Lairen countered stubbornly, his massive dark eyes—exact replicas of the ones staring back at him—shining with pure awe. "Please? Just for a minute?"

Push him away, Korren, I prayed silently, my fingernails digging into my palms. If you hold him, you will break.

Korren closed his eyes. A ragged, defeated sigh tore through his chest.

His large, black-gloved hands reached out. They were weapons designed to snap necks and break bones, but they wrapped around my son’s tiny waist with the utmost, heart-wrenching gentleness.

Korren lifted Lairen effortlessly, swinging the giggling boy up and settling him onto his broad shoulders.

"Hold onto my collar," Korren grunted, standing up. "Do not pull my hair."

Lairen shrieked with pure joy, gripping Korren’s dark uniform. "I can see everything! Look, Mom, I'm taller than you!"

I couldn't speak. A massive, suffocating lump of glass lodged in my throat.

I watched the man I loved carrying our son. I watched Korren's large hands firmly grip Lairen’s small ankles to keep him safe. I watched the way Korren’s head tilted back slightly, just enough to catch the boy's scent.

Korren inhaled deeply, and his eyes fluttered shut for a fraction of a second.

He smells like me, Korren must have been telling himself. He smells like his mother. That is why my wolf is howling for him.

It was the sweetest, most agonizing torture imaginable. Korren was falling in love with a child he believed belonged to his greatest rival.

"Put him down, Alpha," I ordered, my voice trembling violently. I turned my back to them, unable to bear the sight any longer. "We are going to the gardens."

"Yes, my Luna," Korren rumbled behind me.

But he didn't put the boy down. He carried Lairen all the way to the royal gardens, ignoring my icy glares.

An hour later, I was hiding.

I stood behind a massive marble pillar on the shaded terrace, completely out of sight. My back was pressed against the cold stone, my hands covering my mouth to muffle my erratic breathing.

I was spying on them.

Korren was officially off-duty for the next hour, but he hadn't gone to the barracks. He was in the center of the sunlit courtyard, surrounded by blooming rose bushes.

And Lairen was glued to his side.

"No, your stance is too wide," Korren’s deep, gruff voice drifted across the courtyard. "Bring your left foot back. You are leaving your center exposed, little wolf."

I peeked around the edge of the pillar.

Korren was kneeling on the grass. He held a small, beautifully carved wooden sword in his hands. He had whittled it himself.

Lairen stood in front of him, clutching a training stick, his little face scrunched up in fierce concentration. The boy shuffled his feet exactly as Korren instructed.

"Like this?" Lairen asked, swinging the stick clumsily.

"Better," Korren nodded.

The Alpha reached out, his massive hands gently adjusting the boy’s grip on the wood.

My heart physically ached. The pain in my chest was so sharp I had to press my fist against my sternum.

Look at them, my wolf whimpered.

They were identical. The exact same messy dark hair. The exact same stubborn set of their jaws. The exact same intense, focused glare when they held a weapon.

How could Korren not see it? How could he look at this boy and not see his own reflection staring back at him?

"Why do I have to hold it so tight?" Lairen pouted, dropping his arms. "My dad just swings his sword with one hand. He looks cool."

Korren stiffened. The wooden sword in his hand suddenly snapped in half with a sharp crack.

Lairen jumped back, startled.

Korren stared at the broken pieces of wood in his hands. His chest heaved. The reminder of Thane ripped through his momentary peace, dragging him back into his agonizing reality.

"Your father is... a King," Korren gritted out, his voice turning incredibly bitter. He tossed the broken pieces onto the grass. "He fights like a King. I fight like a soldier. There is a difference."

"I want to fight like a soldier," Lairen declared stubbornly.

Korren looked up. His dark eyes locked onto the boy's face.

For a long, torturous moment, the icy mask on Korren’s face completely melted. The sheer, overwhelming tenderness that flooded his features was devastating. He looked at Lairen with the absolute, unconditional love of a father.

And it was killing him.

"You don't want to be a soldier, Lairen," Korren whispered hoarsely, reaching out to brush a stray curl out of the boy's eyes. His gloved fingers lingered on Lairen's cheek. "Soldiers bleed. Soldiers lose the things they love. You will be a King. You will have everything."

"I don't care about being a King!" Lairen huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You will understand when you are older," Korren sighed, pulling his hand back. He looked away, staring blankly at the rose bushes. The crushing sorrow radiating from his aura was suffocating. "Go play, little prince. My break is over. I need to return to the Luna."

"Wait!"

Lairen dropped his training stick. The wood clattered against the cobblestones.

The boy stepped right into Korren’s space. He grabbed the heavy leather straps of Korren’s chest armor with both of his small hands, forcing the giant Alpha to look down at him.

"What is it?" Korren asked gently, his eyebrows furrowing.

I stopped breathing behind the pillar. My blood ran completely cold.

Don't, I begged silently. Lairen, don't.

Lairen stared directly into Korren’s eyes. The boy’s chin trembled slightly, but his gaze was fiercely determined. He didn't understand politics. He didn't understand fake marriages or hidden truths. He only understood the primal, instinctual pull of his own blood.

"I don't want Uncle Thane to just be my dad!" Lairen announced loudly, his childish voice ringing crystal clear across the quiet garden.

Korren froze entirely. His body turned to solid stone.

"What?" Korren choked out.

"He is always busy!" Lairen continued, his voice rising, bouncing off the palace walls. "And he smells like stupid perfumes! You smell like the forest! You smell like me!"

"Lairen..." Korren gasped, his hands hovering over the boy, completely paralyzed by shock.

Lairen took a deep breath, his massive dark eyes shining with absolute, innocent desperation.

"I want you to be my dad!" Lairen yelled at the top of his lungs.

Clatter.

The remaining piece of the wooden hilt slipped from Korren’s paralyzed fingers. It hit the stone path, the sound echoing like a gunshot.

Korren’s jaw dropped. The air was violently sucked out of his lungs. He stared at the little boy in front of him, his entire world violently spinning off its axis.

Behind the marble pillar, my legs completely gave out.

I slid down the cold stone wall, hitting the floor with a silent, horrified gasp. My vision blurred. My hands flew to my ears, but it was too late.

The secret was out in the open.

And Korren was staring at his son, completely shattered.