Daddy Don’t Break Mommy’s Heart: The Alpha’s Accidental Surrogate Returns.

Dinah's pov The next time I saw Alpha Cade was four years later. I got a call from the hospital — the compatibility test results were in. Alpha Cade’s pack doctor didn’t say whether it was good or bad, only that I should come in for a meeting. I remained on edge from that moment until I couldn't stand the tension rattling in my nerves. I was in the middle of something at work but dropped everything, asked my manager for leave, and hurried to catch a cab. Traffic was terrible, of all bloody days. By the time I arrived, someone was already in the pack doctor’s office. I froze at the door, my heart halting for a few seconds. I expected to meet someone from the Goldenclaw pack here, maybe one of his Betas, but I hadn’t expected it to be him! My heart immediately forgot rhythm and order as it pounded hard. I never thought he would want to breathe the same air as me, let alone be in the same room. I swallowed hard, and my breathing suddenly became labored. I thought I wouldn't feel as near as a flicker of emotion if we were to cross paths again, but my wolf betrayed me. I felt that sizzle in my spine. Even after all these years, the mate bond was still as vibrant as ever, and my poor wolf howled in response. Alpha Cade had so curtly dismissed me, treated me as an inconvenience, a distasteful mistake when we had once shared a bed and writhed in the warmth of each other's sweaty bodies. He was sitting sideways to the door, posture casual, leaning back in his chair, fingers loosely interlaced. I knew he had heard the door open but he didn’t look up. I scoffed inwardly. Cold and distant as usual. The corridor window was open; a gust of wind swept in. Maybe it was the aura of the Alpha sitting not too far away from me, but I shivered and couldn’t help recalling that morning four years ago. He’d looked the same way, sitting on the sofa in a hotel suite, voice cold as steel: “You really thought you could play me?” The weight of those words, coupled with his deep, thunderous voice shook the ground beneath me. My bones trembled, but I clenched my jaws and held my stance. The pack doctor, Adolph, was flipping through a report. He glanced up at me and faked a smile. “Come in, Dinah.” I took a deep breath, dragging my gaze away from the intimidating, still figure of Cade beside me. “Sorry, there was traffic. I would have arrived sooner.” I wish I could wear an approachable mask the same way Adolph did, but my smile melted before it could rise. Once I was seated, Adolph handed over the report with a sigh. My heart jerked. I took note of his every movement. The way his eyes dimmed, the slight tremble of his fingers. For goddess's sake, why did he sigh? “This is the bone marrow compatibility result.” He didn’t say more, but his tone said enough. My gaze dropped to the final line on the page. I’d prepared myself to face the worst, but still, my heart clenched involuntarily. I swallowed hard and a shaky breath escaped my lips. I couldn't face it. Alpha Cade reached over and took the report from me, the ghostly touch of his fingers making me almost gasp. “Not a match?” He glanced at me, his expression unreadable but his tone was almost sad and I know why. Adolph nodded. “There aren’t enough matching markers. A transplant isn’t possible.” It took me a while to find my voice, the reality of what this meant eating at my heart. I had a little hope we would be a match. “Is there… any other way?” “There is one possible alternative,” Adolph looked at me, then turned his gaze to Alpha Cade. A hint of hesitation in his eyes as he looked between us, “it might be the only viable option right now. You might want to consider it…” — When I returned to the office, it was lunchtime. Everyone else was heading out, and I moved against the flow, back to my desk. I felt dazed, my vision was blurry and I had to lean against my desk for support. The words Alpha Cade had said to me outside the hospital kept replaying in my mind. He’d been sitting in his car, window half-lowered: “Think about it.” That meant he’d agreed with Adolph's suggestion. His eyes bore that impassive look that made his mind difficult to read. If he went with it, it would be difficult for me to oppose. He was an Alpha and was used to getting his own way. But for flip’s sake! Have another child? With him? Wouldn't that reignite the mate bond? The same spurned feeling he had dismissed for so long? I rubbed my face, hesitated a few seconds, then opened the drawer beside me. On top lay a photograph — the result of my one night stand with Alpha Cade, my little boy, the joy I never got to hold in my arms. He’s about three years old, though he looked smaller than he should. Thin, frail, cheeks sunken, head bare. He was sick. Very sick. The heir to the pack? The members of the Goldenclaw pack would never accept his death. The pack doctor had said that without a matching bone marrow donor soon, his body wouldn’t be able to hold on. Alpha Cade’s family were not a match. Even the other alliance packs we knew, all asked for the test. If not for that, they would never have come to me. I was the mother to the young Alpha of Goldenclaw and Alpha Cade's lifelong disgrace and yet now, to save our first cub, he was willing to have another with me. My heart dropped. My emotions were erratic all day and I couldn't stop thinking about my son. The word tasted vile on my tongue. Ripped away from me at birth, I had never set my eyes on him in person. I had no right to claim him as my own, or refer to myself as his mother. I wasn't his mother, I was just his bearer. Nothing more. The rest of the day passed in a haze. By evening, my work was still unfinished. Forcing myself to focus, I stayed late to finish up. When I finally packed up and went downstairs, I saw a jeep parked by the curb, the windows were rolled down already and he just sat there like an ice sculpture. “Get in.” Alpha Cade said flatly, his dark glasses hiding his eyes from me but I know beneath them his eyes are churning in disgust. I took a deep breath and walked up. “Alpha Cade.” We had once shared a bed and a cub but truth be told, we were still strangers. I didn't know anything about him, or his pack. I never tried to know. Aside from that one mistaken night four years ago, we had no conversation or connection at all. We would have, if Alpha Cade hadn’t rejected the mate bond the moment I had given birth. He couldn’t even have the decency to do it in person, he rejected me over a video call. How pathetic. Cade spoke again, taking off his glasses. “Get in the car.” I hesitated briefly, but couldn't refuse. His eyes compelled me. They were cold, yet glowing with an incomprehensible fire he hid beneath his pupils. Before the door had even closed, the car shot forward like an arrow from a bow. He didn’t say where we were going. He just pressed harder on the accelerator. I didn't question him either. I wasn't in danger. He needed me. The son I had been forced to forget needed me even more.