He Called My Son Bastard, I Married His Rival

Chapter 2

When I stepped into the bedroom, I found Kyle sitting on the edge of the bed, his eyes puffy and red, clutching our family portrait and staring at it intently.

He fought back the tears welling in his eyes and asked, "Is dad still mad at me?"

"No, he's not anymore."

I wrenched open the wardrobe and shoveled clothes into the suitcase one by one. "Kyle, do you want to go somewhere fun?"

Kyle blinked in confusion for a second. "Where to?"

"Somewhere with a swimming pool. You've been begging to go splash around, right?"

He hopped right off the bed and started shoving toys into his tiny backpack. When he picked up the rawhide football, he paused and glanced up at me.

Kane had made that football for him with his own hands after the spring hunt.

I gave him a small smile, and he tucked the ball into his bag without hesitation.

By the time we got to the beach house, it was pitch black outside. I stood at the front door punching in the passcode when the housekeeper yanked the door open from inside.

Every other time we'd come, she'd hurry over politely to help me with my bags.

This time, though, she just stood in the doorway, rooted to the spot. "Vesper? What are you doing here?"

I pushed my luggage forward to step inside. "We're staying here for a few days."

She stuck her arm out to block my path, then darted a glance at Kyle standing behind me. "This villa belongs to the Alpha. It's not appropriate for you to bring that bastard in here, is that clear?"

I stared her down, my voice ice-cold. "Get out of my way. Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?"

All her usual politeness was gone now, pure disgust oozing from her face. "The whole school's talking about it already. Kyle isn't the Alpha's kid at all. What gives you the right to strut around here like you're the lady of the house?"

I reared my hand back to slap her across the face, but she yelled over her shoulder, "What are you all standing around for? Get over here!"

Before my hand could connect, two bodyguards stormed over and shoved me hard. I stumbled back three or four steps and crashed to the ground. A huge patch of skin was scraped off my elbow, and blood started seeping out.

Kyle darted forward and wrapped his arms around one bodyguard's leg, his little face tight and bright red with effort as he yelled, "Don't touch my mom!"

The bodyguards scowled, hauled him up, and tossed him right next to me. His tiny backpack flipped open with a soft thud on impact, and the rawhide football rolled out onto the cold concrete step.

Likely not knowing how Kane planned to deal with us later, they didn't lay another hand on us. They just slammed the villa gate shut in our faces with a loud clank.

I scrambled to my feet and pulled Kyle up. He buried his face in the crook of my shoulder, his whole body shaking like a leaf.

He didn't cry.

He was holding it in, and that hurt worse than if he'd screamed and sobbed.

Kane had raised Kyle since he was little to be the Alpha's heir. The boy held himself to impossibly high standards, and he never let tears fall without a fight.

I drew in a deep, shaky breath and let it out slowly. "It's okay. Mom's gonna take us to a hotel, alright?"

Kyle rubbed at his eyes, picked up the rawhide football, brushed the dirt off its surface, and stuffed it back into his backpack. I dragged our suitcase behind me, and the two of us stumbled all the way to the nearest hotel.

We stumbled up to the front desk, and I pulled out my credit card to pay. The receptionist swiped it once, frowned, then swiped it again. She looked up at me. "Ma'am, your card's showing as frozen."

"That can't be right. It's under my name."

"The system says the freeze was specially approved through the Alpha Council."

A tingling numbness spread all the way to my fingertips.

Kane had actually used his Alpha privileges just to force me to admit Kyle was some so-called bastard child.

There was a line of people waiting behind us. A woman with sharp ears caught what was going on, glanced at Kyle standing behind me, and leaned over to whisper to her friend.

Soon, the murmurs got loud enough for us to hear.

"Oh my god, so the rumors are true! The Alpha's kid really is a bastard."

"No s**t, why else would they get kicked out?"

"People like her should get the crap beaten out of them. How does she even have the audacity to show her face around here?"

Every stare from the crowd felt like a needle jabbing into my skin.

Someone even held up their phone and shoved it right in Kyle's face to take pictures.

The flash blinded Kyle for a second. He stumbled back and bumped into a random man, who glanced down at him with a look of pure disgust.

The receptionist rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed. "Ma'am, you still want that room, or what?"

Before I could get a word out, the hotel's revolving door swung open, and someone stepped inside.

It was Rook.

Kyle spotted him first. His eyes lit up like little stars, and he called out, voice bright with surprise, "Uncle!"

His voice was soft, laced with quiet hope. He was hoping his uncle would hoist him up onto his shoulders just like he used to.

But Rook's gaze turned ice-cold. "Shut your mouth. I don't have a bastard nephew like you."

He grabbed my arm so hard his fingers dug into my skin. "Aren't you embarrassed enough already?"

Before I saw Rook, I'd still held onto the stupid fantasy that he was only helping Kane pull all these cruel stunts because Kane's Alpha status had him cornered, that he didn't actually mean any of it.

But right then? I couldn't keep making excuses for him anymore.

My voice shook with rage. "Rook, you know perfectly well Kyle isn't a bastard..."

His eyes darted away for a split second before he covered it up, staring right back at me with pure disgust written all over his face. "As if a paternity test could be fake? A cheap slut like you doesn't deserve to call me your brother!"

Rook had doted on me since we were kids. After our mom died, we only had each other to rely on, sticking together through thick and thin.

That all changed when he took in the helpless, orphaned Lissa.

All the affection he'd ever had for me seemed to shift right over to her, as if I no longer existed to him.

Rook gave my bedroom to Lissa. He gave all my jewelry to Lissa... hell, even this marriage to Kane got dumped on me after Lissa ran away from the wedding.

And now Lissa was back.

He was so dead-set on forcing me to hand everything back to her that he didn't think twice about smearing my name as a slut or calling my innocent son a bastard.

An icy coldness seeped into every last inch of my body, right down to my bones.

Rook lifted his eyelids lazily, like he was doing me a huge favor just by speaking. "You publicly admit Kyle is a bastard, dissolve your partner bond with Kane, and give the Luna status back to Lissa. Then I might consider taking you in."

It felt like a sharp knife had been driven straight through my heart. The last fraying thread of our blood tie snapped clean in two, gone forever.

Lissa stepped out gracefully from behind him, the corners of her eyes puffy and red as if she'd been crying. "Brother, if my coming back is putting sister in such an awkward position, I should just leave."

She reached for Kyle's hand, her voice soft and syrupy sweet. "As for this child... I'm sure Kane would accept him!"

Kyle let out a sharp shriek and shoved her away as hard as he could.

Lissa stumbled back two steps and fell right into Rook's arms. She pressed a hand to her chest, looking like she'd just had the life scared out of her. "Sister, I know you hate me for exposing the truth about you, but he's just a little kid. How could you teach him to attack people?"

Kyle looked up at me, his eyes big and glistening with hurt. "Mom, she was the one who..."

"Enough!"

Rook stormed over in one long stride and hauled Kyle right off the ground. "Apologize to Lissa right now."

Kyle's feet dangled uselessly in the air. He didn't say a word, just bit down so hard on his lip I thought it might bleed.

Rook's anger flared even hotter. His hand tightened around Kyle's neck, his voice dripping with disgust. "A bastard's always a bastard. You don't have a single drop of Alpha blood in you, do you?"

Every bystander around us just stared. Not a single person spoke up, let alone tried to stop him.

"Let him go!"

I lunged forward to yank Kyle out of his grip, but he kicked me hard to the floor. He pushed his way through the crowd to the hotel entrance, then just let go of Kyle like he was nothing more than a piece of trash.

Kyle's head smacked against the edge of the step with a sickening thud.

Rook's face was ice-cold. "If you don't put out that public statement, the two of you deserve nothing more than to sleep on the streets!"

I scrambled over and pulled Kyle tight into my arms. He mumbled so quietly I almost missed it, "Mom, Lissa pinched me."

He rolled up his sleeve. Purple, bruising finger marks stood out stark against his pale, thin little arm.

"We're leaving."

The wind was icy cold as I carried him into the night.