The Winter Wolf's Secret Heir

The coffee pot felt like lead in my hand. It was heavy and burning hot against my glass, but my fingers were so cold I could barely feel it. "Noelle. Table four is waiting." My manager’s voice snapped like a dry twig in the winter air. I flinched. I always flinched lately. It was a habit I couldn't break, like biting my nails or checking the locks on my door three times before I went to sleep. "Coming, Rick. I’m coming." I hurried across the diner floor. My boots were wet. The snow outside had been falling since dawn, relentless and white, burying the city in a silence that made my skin crawl. I hated the snow. I used to love it. I used to think it was magic, back when I was young and stupid and thought the world was a kind place. Now, snow just meant cold. It meant high heating bills I couldn't pay. It meant my son, Leo, would cough that deep, rattling cough that kept me awake all night staring at the ceiling and praying to a Moon Goddess I wasn't sure listened to people like me anymore. I poured the coffee for the man at table four. He didn't look at me. People rarely looked at me. I was just the waitress in the faded uniform. I was small, with pale blonde hair that I tied back tight so it wouldn't get in the way. I wore thick sweaters under my uniform to hide my shape because I didn't want anyone looking too close. "Here you go," I whispered. He grunted. He wouldn't leave a tip. I went back to the counter, wiping my hands on my apron. My heart was doing that thing again, that fluttering panic that felt like a bird trapped in my ribcage. I needed this shift. I needed the extra hours. Christmas was five days away and Leo didn't have boots that fit him. Rick was waiting for me by the register. He had his arms crossed over his chest. He looked like a bulldog who had just chewed up a slipper and wasn't sorry about it. "Noelle," he said. He didn't look me in the eye. "We need to talk." My stomach dropped. It felt like I was on an elevator and the cable just snapped. "I can work the late shift," I said quickly. The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. "I know I was five minutes late yesterday, but the bus—" "It's not the bus, Noelle." He sighed. It was a sound of annoyance, not pity. "Business is slow. You know how it is. The owner wants to cut costs." I gripped the counter. The Formica was sticky. "Please," I said. My voice was shaking. I hated how weak I sounded. "Rick, please. I have a son. It’s Christmas." "Everyone has a sob story, kid. You’re let go. Effective immediately. Take your apron off." He turned his back on me. Just like that. I stood there for a long moment. The diner smelled like bacon grease and stale coffee. The radio was playing some happy holiday song about bells ringing, but all I could hear was the rushing of blood in my ears. I was fired. I had seventy-four dollars in my bank account. Rent was due in two days. And my three-year-old son was waiting for Santa Claus to bring him a red truck. I went to the back. I took off my apron. My hands were trembling so bad I could barely undo the knot. I put on my coat. It was a cheap thing I got at a thrift store, thin and worn at the elbows. It wasn't enough for this weather. Nothing I had was enough. I walked out the back door into the alley. The wind hit me like a physical slap. It bit into my cheeks and made my eyes water. I pulled my scarf up, trying to hide my face. I felt like I was drowning, right there on the pavement. I started walking. I didn't have money for the bus now. Every penny had to be saved. I walked for forty minutes to get to Mrs. Gable’s house. She watched Leo while I worked. She was a human, old and nearly blind, but she was kind and she didn't ask questions about why a young woman like me had no husband and no pack. She didn't know what I was. She didn't know I was a wolf. She didn't know I was an Omega without a pack, a rogue in everything but name, hiding in the human city because I was terrified that if I went back to the wolf world, the pain would finally kill me. "Mama!" The scream was happy. It pierced through the fog in my brain. I opened the door to Mrs. Gable’s small living room and there he was. Leo. He was a ball of energy, hurling himself at my legs. I fell to my knees, not caring about the wet snow on my jeans, and wrapped my arms around him. He smelled like milk and baby shampoo and that unique, wild scent that was just him. "Hey, baby bear," I whispered into his hair. My throat was tight. I was trying so hard not to cry. "Did you be good for Mrs. Gable?" He pulled back. His face was round and soft, his cheeks pink from the warmth of the house. He had my nose. He had my smile. But he had his father’s eyes. They were blue now, innocent and bright, but sometimes, when the light hit them just right, or when he got angry, they shifted to a gold that stopped my heart. "I drew a wolf!" Leo announced proudly. He held up a piece of paper. It was a scribbly black blob with four legs. I froze. My heart hammered against my ribs. "That's lovely, Leo," I said, my voice sounding thin. "But remember what I said? We draw dogs. Not wolves." "It's a big wolf," he insisted. He growled, a tiny, playful sound in his throat. I stood up, taking the drawing. I wanted to crumple it up. I wanted to burn it. I was so scared. I was always so scared that his wolf side would come out before I was ready, before I could hide him better. "Mrs. Gable, thank you," I said to the old woman dozing in the armchair. I put the cash for the day on the table. It was the last of my tips. "You're early, dear," she mumbled. "Let go," I lied. "Early holiday break." I grabbed Leo’s hand. "Come on. Let's go home." The walk to our basement apartment was miserable. The wind was picking up. The weatherman said a blizzard was coming, the "storm of the century". Leo shivered. I saw him limp slightly. I looked down. His sneakers were soaked through. The sole on the left one was flapping open, letting the snow touch his sock. My heart broke. It actually cracked, right down the center. He needed boots. He needed a warm coat. He needed food that wasn't instant noodles. I unlocked our door. The apartment was cold. I kept the heat low to save money. We huddled on the couch under three blankets. I gave Leo my phone to watch cartoons so he wouldn't see me crying. I checked my email on my cracked tablet. I had applied for every event planning job in the city. I used to be good at it. I used to organize festivals for the pack before... before everything happened. There was one new email. Subject: URGENT: Event Planner Needed - Immediate Start I clicked it. My hands were shaking. Ms. Snow, We received your application. Your portfolio is impressive. We have a last-minute crisis. Our lead planner for the Winter Solstice Gala has fallen ill. We need someone to step in immediately. Location: The Blackwood Estate, Northern Territory. Pay: $15,000 for two weeks of work. I dropped the tablet. It clattered onto the floor. Blackwood. The name echoed in my head like a gunshot. No. No, no, no. I couldn't go there. I couldn't go back there. That was where he was. Alpha Kane Blackwood. The man who looked at me three years ago, with eyes cold as ice, and told me I was nothing. “You are too weak to be my Luna, Noelle. I need a warrior. I need strength. You are just… soft. Leave my territory. I reject you.” I remembered the snow that day. I remembered how I begged. I remembered how he turned his back and walked away while my heart was being ripped out of my chest. I ran away that night. I didn't know I was pregnant then. I didn't know I was carrying his heir. If I went back... if he saw me... I couldn't. It was suicide. He would kill me for hiding his son. Or worse, he would take Leo away from me. "Mama?" Leo tugged on my sleeve. "I'm hungry." I looked at him. I looked at his wet socks drying on the radiator. I looked at the empty fridge in the kitchen. Fifteen thousand dollars. That was enough to move us to a new city. Enough to buy Leo boots. Enough to pay rent for a year. Enough to never be scared of the cold again. I looked at the email again. The Blackwood Estate. He probably wouldn't even notice me. The estate was huge. He was the Alpha King. He was busy running the territory, dealing with politics, probably spending time with... her. Lady Elara. The woman everyone said was perfect for him. The woman who was strong and cruel and beautiful. I was just the hired help. I was invisible. I had been invisible for three years. I could wear scent blockers. I could keep my head down. I could do the job, get the money, and leave before Christmas morning. "Mama, tummy hurts," Leo whimpered. That decided it. I wasn't a weak girl anymore. I was a mother. And a mother would walk through hellfire to feed her child. Or in this case, she would walk back into the wolf’s den. I picked up the tablet. My fingers felt numb. I’ll take it, I typed. Two days later, I was driving a rental van up the winding mountain roads that led to the Blackwood territory. The storm had started. The snow was coming down in thick, heavy sheets, blinding the windshield. The wipers were fighting a losing battle, screeching back and forth like they were in pain. Leo was asleep in the car seat behind me. I had told him we were going on an adventure to Santa’s workshop. He believed me. He trusted me with everything he had. I gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white. The GPS beeped. You have arrived. I looked up. Through the swirling snow, I saw the gates. They were massive, iron and stone, towering over the road like the entrance to a fortress. The Blackwood crest—a wolf howling at a pine tree it was etched into the metal. My scent blockers were slathered on my skin. I smelled like synthetic vanilla and fear. I rolled down the window to scan my temporary pass at the security box. The guard didn't even look at me. He just waved me through. I drove up the long driveway. The trees here were ancient, tall pines loaded with snow. It was beautiful. And equally was terrifying. And then, the lodge came into view. It was a castle made of wood and stone, with windows glowing like golden eyes in the dark. Smoke curled from the chimneys. It looked warm. It looked like a home. It used to be my home. Or at least, I thought it would be. I parked the van around the back, near the servants' entrance. I needed to be invisible. I needed to be a ghost. "Wake up, baby," I whispered, unbuckling Leo. He rubbed his eyes. "Are we there?" "Yes. We're here." I stepped out of the van. The air here was different. It was sharper. It smelled of pine and deep forest. It smelled of Alpha. My wolf, buried deep inside me where I kept her locked in a cage of shame, stirred for the first time in years. She whined. She knew where we were. Danger, she whispered in my mind. Mate. Shut up, I told her. He rejected us. He is not our mate. He is just the boss. I grabbed our bags. I grabbed Leo’s hand. "Stay close to mommy," I said, my voice trembling in the wind. "Don't run off. Ever." "Okay," Leo said. He was looking at the huge house with wide eyes. I took a deep breath of the freezing air. It tasted like mistakes. I walked to the door and knocked. There was no turning back now. I was back in the Blackwood Pack. I was back in his world. And I had a feeling that the winter was about to get a whole lot colder.