He Called My Son Bastard, I Married His Rival

Chapter 3

It started to rain.

At first, just a few cold drops smacked against my face. Then, all at once, the sky opened up.

Both Kyle and I were soaked to the bone, water sloshing around in our shoes. We looked like total drowned rats.

Before we could find anywhere to take shelter, he suddenly whimpered, "Mom," and collapsed in a heap, his face drained of all color.

My stomach dropped. I called his name softly, "Kyle?"

His eyes were squeezed shut, no response at all. I pressed the back of my hand to his burning forehead.

It was burning up.

I peeled off my own jacket and draped it over him, then gritted my teeth and tapped Kane's name on my phone.

He finally picked up on the seventh call.

"What do you want?"

"Kyle has a fever..."

"Not my problem!"

Kane cut me off, his voice ice-cold. "Using the kid to soften me up? Don't even dream about it."

The dial tone beeped in my ear, and I felt like all the air had been sucked right out of my lungs.

I clutched Kyle to my chest and sprinted down the street. By the time I burst through the hospital doors, I looked like a ghost dragged straight out of a river. One of my shoes was gone, and I looked like a total wreck.

Kyle was wheeled into the emergency room, and I collapsed onto a chair in the hallway. Then I heard a familiar voice coming from the VIP consultation room.

Kane walked out carrying Lissa in his arms, his eyes soft with concern. "Still feeling dizzy?"

Lissa pressed her face to his chest and shook her head.

Kane's brows furrowed tightly. "Vesper is vicious. You can't see her alone ever again, understand?"

The nearby nurses were practically swooning, hearts in their eyes. "The Alpha is so good to Lissa!"

"Do you think we're gonna get a new Luna soon?"

Lissa hid her face in her hands shyly, too flustered to meet Kane's adoring gaze.

All I felt was bitter, sharp irony.

The day I became Luna was the third day after Lissa had left.

She'd left a letter saying she was going to find her true love, and Kane tossed that letter straight into the fireplace, the paper crackling as it went up in flames.

He'd looked at me so seriously back then and said, "Vesper, be my mate. I will be loyal to you, forever."

When Kyle was born, Kane had held him by the window, pointed out at the hunting grounds, and said, "All of this will be yours one day."

Turns out those vows we swore under the full moon only applied to the person he cared about at the time. The second Lissa came back, they were crushed to dust and trampled into the dirt.

The red light above the emergency room was still glowing when my phone pinged with a new message.

Kane: 9 a.m. tomorrow, Alpha Council. Bond break.

I stared at the screen.

Then I laughed.

Turns out when you're so angry you can barely breathe, you don't even have the energy to hate. All you can do is laugh at how ridiculous it all is.

Ridiculous that I ever believed him. Ridiculous that he spouted a whole new set of vows the second another woman came along. Ridiculous that I couldn't even afford the hospital bill right now, and here I was, laughing despite myself.

Before I even had time to process what was happening, my body moved on its own.

I texted him back.

Vesper: Okay.

When Kyle was released from the ER, he was moved to a regular ward.

The doctor had given him a fever-reducing shot, and he was asleep, but his brows were furrowed tight, looking deeply unsettled.

I sat in the chair next to his bed, borrowed some iodine and gauze from the nurse, and tended to the cuts on my feet myself.

That was when Lissa walked in, holding a bouquet of flowers.

"The doctor told me you and Kyle were here too, so I came to check on you," she said.

She'd dropped the nice girl act completely. That soft, helpless smile was gone, replaced by sharp, cutting eyes.

I didn't bother answering. I just stared at her, cold as ice.

Lissa stuffed the flowers into a vase, grinning like she'd already won. "Don't blame me, sister. Kane was always mine to begin with."

She tilted her head. "Where there's hate, there's love, right? The more he hated me back then, the more he loved me. Now that I'm back, he doesn't want you anymore. Not even his own son."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Kyle's eyelids fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes. When his gaze landed on Lissa, he stuck his hand out from under the covers and squeezed mine as tight as he could.

Lissa noticed he was awake, and her voice softened into that sickly sweet coo. "Don't be scared, Kyle. Even if you're not your dad's real son, he'll still take care of you. He's an Alpha, after all—he can afford to raise one kid."

She said the most disgusting, cruel thing imaginable in the softest, kindest tone possible.

Kyle's face went dead pale as he looked over at me. My blood boiled so fast I saw red. I grabbed that vase with her stupid flowers and hurled it straight down to the floor.

"Get out!"

The glass shattered so loud it echoed through the room. A shard nicked Lissa's leg, and she let out a high, shrill scream.

Kane burst through the door right then.

One glance at Lissa's bleeding leg, and he flew into a rage. He reared back and slapped me hard across the face.

My head snapped to the side. My cheek burned like it was on fire, and I could taste blood in my mouth.

"Vesper, that's enough. Don't push it."

I let out a cold, bitter laugh. "You want to talk about knowing when to stop? Where was that when you faked Kyle's paternity test?"

"Where was that when you threw me and my son out on the street with nowhere to go?"

"Where was that when you were all over Lissa, acting like we never existed?"

Kane's jaw tightened.

But a second later, he was angry again—guilty, angry, and grasping for excuses. "What are you rambling about? The whole paternity test was supervised by the elders. Do you really think I could fake something like that that easily?"

He trailed off mid-sentence.

Because his gaze had landed on Kyle, lying in the hospital bed. There was an IV stuck in the back of his hand, and his face was so pale it was almost translucent.

Kyle was staring straight at him. He didn't cry, he didn't say a word. But you could see it—something in his eyes shattered right then and there.

Kane flinched, as if that look had stabbed him straight through the chest.

Then he turned his face away, helped Lissa up, and walked out.

I didn't so much as spare him a second glance.

The ward stayed dead quiet for ages. Neither Kyle nor I said a single word.

After a while, he stirred. He climbed out of bed, unzipped his sopping-wet little backpack, fished out the suede football, and stared down at it for a little while.

Then he walked over to the window.

And let go.

A soft plunk echoed up from the flower bed below. Kyle climbed back into bed, lay flat on his back staring at the ceiling, and spoke in a soft, quiet voice. "Mom, Kane isn't my dad anymore."

That's right.

Kane was still the Alpha, but he was no longer Kyle's father.

The next day, I grabbed all my documents and headed to the Alpha Council.

I signed my name. They stamped the papers.

The severance agreement was official.

Kane walked out holding the signed papers, that cool, condescending composure still on his face. "Once Lissa's kid gets into Alpha Academy, I'll take you back. We can remarry."

"No need. I have a partner now."

He froze mid-step, shock wiping the arrogant look right off his face. "What did you just say?"