The wife he gave away

Untitled EpisodeChapter9

She was there

"Seraphina... are you scared of losing your son?"

The question landed with far more force than it should have.

For a moment, I simply stared at Valeria. The kitchen suddenly felt smaller than before, as though the walls had quietly moved closer while nobody was paying attention. Kael was still holding her hand. Dominic was still standing near the counter with his coffee. The morning sunlight was still pouring through the windows exactly as it had been a few seconds earlier. Nothing had changed.

And yet everything had.

Because the worst part wasn't the question itself. The worst part was that I couldn't answer it. Not honestly. Not with Kael standing right there looking between us. Not when the answer was sitting heavily in my chest.

Yes, I was scared. Terrified, actually.

It was not because I thought someone could physically take my son away from me. Not because I believed a few gifts and school rides could erase years of motherhood. I was afraid because I could already feel something shifting between us. Small changes. Tiny cracks. The kind people ignored until one day they looked up and realized an entire wall had collapsed.

Valeria's smile remained perfectly pleasant, warm and patient, as if she had asked the most innocent question in the world.

I hated that smile. Not because it was fake. Because it was effective.

I finally forced myself to breathe. Then I looked away from her and focused on Kael.

"Can I ask you something?"

The boy nodded immediately. His expression brightened the moment my attention landed on him.

"What is it, Mom?"

I knelt so our eyes were level. My heart already knew I wasn't going to enjoy whatever came next. Still, I needed to hear it. I needed to understand exactly what was happening.

"Why do you want to go with Auntie Valeria so much?"

The question seemed simple enough, so simple that Kael didn't hesitate.

That should have comforted me. Instead, it made everything worse.

"Because she's fun."

The answer came immediately. Without thought. Without effort. Like he had already considered it many times before.

I swallowed. "Fun how?"

His face lit up. "Auntie Valeria teaches me cool things."

My stomach tightened.

He continued before I could respond. "She showed me how to remember things faster. She taught me a game that helps me learn words. She says learning doesn't have to be boring. She teaches me better than you do, mom. She's even promised to take me to the moon goddess."

While his excitement grew with every sentence, every word felt like another tiny stone added to the weight already crushing my chest.

"She knows lots of stories too."

I forced a smile. "Does she?"

Kael nodded enthusiastically. "The best stories."

Valeria laughed softly. The sound scraped against my nerves. “Don't tell your mother all our secrets, son,” she said to Kael.

“Son?,” I whispered under my breath.

Then Kael continued talking. He spoke about books she had bought him. Educational games she had introduced him to. Places she had taken him. Things she had promised to teach him in the future.

The more he spoke, the more I realized something that made my blood run cold.

None of this had happened overnight. This wasn't a sudden attachment. This was something carefully built over time. Slowly. Patiently. Deliberately.

I looked at Valeria. She wasn't interrupting. Wasn't encouraging him. Wasn't defending herself.

She simply stood there quietly while my son listed all the reasons he enjoyed spending time with her.

It was as if she already knew what he would say… as if she had heard it before.

Then Kael said the one thing I couldn't prepare myself for. "Auntie Valeria says I'm special."

Everything inside me froze. The words weren't cruel. They weren't even unusual. Parents told children they were special every day. Teachers did too. Relatives. Friends. Everyone.

But something about hearing it now made my chest ache. Because I suddenly understood the real problem…

Valeria wasn't replacing me by taking things away. She was replacing me by giving things. Attention. Encouragement. Time. Admiration.

The realization terrified me.

Children naturally moved toward the people who made them feel important. And Valeria seemed to understand that better than anyone.

I stood slowly, while the room felt strangely unsteady.

Before I could say anything, Dominic finally spoke.

"He's just excited, Seraphina."

I turned toward him. His expression remained calm. It was the same expression he always wore whenever he wanted to make someone else's concerns seem irrational.

"That's all this is."

I stared at him.

A few days ago, I would've believed him.

A few days ago, I would've accepted his explanation without question.

Now I found myself studying him instead. Watching. Observing. Looking for signs. Tiny things. Small things. The half-second pauses. The carefully chosen words. The expressions that appeared and disappeared too quickly.

For the first time in our marriage, I wasn't listening to my husband. I was analyzing him.

The realization unsettled me, almost as much as the betrayal itself.

Eventually, Kael and Valeria left for school, the front door closing behind them. The house immediately felt quieter and emptier, as though someone had removed something important.

I stood near the window and watched Valeria open the passenger door for Kael. He climbed in happily, smiling, laughing, and completely unaware of the storm growing around him.

A few moments later, the car disappeared down the street.

Only then did I turn around.

Dominic was gathering his things, preparing to leave.

I watched him for several seconds, thinking, remembering and comparing.

Then I asked the question… "How long have you known Valeria?"

The reaction lasted less than a second. Most people would've missed it. I almost missed it myself… a tiny pause, a flicker in his eyes… gone so quickly it would've been easy to dismiss, except I wasn't dismissing anything anymore.

"What do you mean?" His answer came too fast, too carefully.

I felt my heartbeat speed up. "Exactly what I asked, Dominic."

Dominic looked away briefly. Then shrugged. "I met her after she came to the pack."

I didn't believe that. I didn't know how, but every instinct I possessed screamed that it was a lie.

For years, I had trusted this man completely. Now I found myself questioning every word that left his mouth.

It was exhausting, and strangely enlightening… because once trust cracked, certain things became impossible to ignore.

"That's all?" I asked.

Dominic nodded. "That's all."

Another lie.

Or at least an incomplete truth.

The certainty settled heavily in my chest. I didn't argue, didn't accuse. I ridn't confront him. Instead, I simply nodded and watched… the way Alpha Alaric had watched. The way hunters watched. The way people watched when they were no longer looking for reassurance, but evidence.

“If you have anything to say to me, just say, and stop asking me questions that don't make sense,” he said to me and walked away.

The silence that followed felt enormous. For a long time, I stood alone in the living room, thinking and remembering.

Then eventually, my eyes drifted toward the old photo album… the one sitting exactly where I'd left it.

I carried it to the table and opened it again. This time, I wasn't looking at memories. I was looking for patterns.

The difference mattered.

Page after page passed beneath my fingers. Birthday parties. Pack festivals. School events. Family gatherings.

And there she was, again and again.

At first glance, the appearances seemed random, almost accidental. A woman in the background. A blurred figure. A familiar necklace. Nothing remarkable… until I stopped looking at my family, and started looking at her.

My breath caught.

Every photograph showed the same thing. Not Dominic. Not me. Kael…

She was always looking at Kael every single time. Sometimes from a distance. Sometimes closer. But always watching him.

My hands tightened around the album. The realization sent a chill through my body. This wasn't normal. It wasn't coincidence. It wasn't curiosity. It was intention.

I stared at the photographs for a very long time. Then, without fully understanding why, I grabbed my purse.

An hour later, I stood inside the records building near the center of pack territory. The elderly woman behind the desk greeted me warmly. We exchanged polite conversation before I carefully slid one of the photographs across the desk.

The woman adjusted her glasses, then looked down. Immediately, her expression changed. I could sense recognition, clear and immediate.

My heart stopped. "You know her?"

The woman blinked, then laughed softly. "Of course I know her."

Suddenly, it became difficult to breathe. I gripped the edge of the desk, trying to remain calm… trying not to reveal how important this moment was.

The elderly woman tapped the photograph. "I remember her very well."

My pulse pounded loudly in my ears. "Why?"

She looked up, confused by the question.

Then answered casually… "Asking about that little boy."

Every muscle in my body locked.

"What little boy?"

The woman smiled.

"The one in your photograph."

My blood turned to ice… because according to everything I knew, Valeria wasn't supposed to have been anywhere near my son back then.

The elderly woman pointed at the picture again. Then said the words that made my entire world tilt…

"She came here several times after he was born.”