The Alpha's Regret

Chapter 4: The Timeline

JAXON'S POV

Jaxon sat in his hotel room, staring at the wall. The clock read 2:47 AM.

Sleep was impossible. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw them. Ice-blue eyes. Dark hair. Blonde curls. Children who looked like him.

His children.

The words still felt unreal.

His phone buzzed. Celeste again. He'd been ignoring her calls since they'd left the gala. She'd wanted to come to his room, to "talk things through," but Jaxon had sent her away. He needed to think.

He pulled up the photos he'd managed to take at the gala. Just a few blurry shots on his phone before everything exploded. The boy—Kai—standing with his arms crossed, defiant. The girl—Luna—laughing at something, chocolate on her face.

They looked happy.

Jaxon zoomed in on the boy's face. The resemblance was undeniable. Same nose—slightly crooked from where Jaxon had broken his as a teenager. Same stubborn jawline. Same way of tilting his head when suspicious.

It was like looking at a photograph of himself at that age.

And Luna—she had Aria's delicate features, but that dimple in her left cheek was pure Steele bloodline. His grandmother had it. His father had it. Now his daughter had it.

His daughter.

Jaxon's hands shook as he opened his laptop and pulled up his divorce file. The paperwork he'd signed three years ago without really reading. Too eager to move on. Too convinced he was doing the right thing.

Divorce finalized: March 1st, three years ago.

He pulled up a calculator and counted backwards. If the twins were three years old now, celebrating their birthday recently based on what Luna had said.

Werewolf gestation was eight months. If Aria had given birth around June or July three years ago, she would have conceived in October or November of the year before.

Two months before the divorce.

She'd been pregnant. When he'd stood in that courthouse and called her infertile, she'd been carrying his children.

Jaxon pulled up more documents. The fertility reports from their pack doctor. The ones that had declared Aria unable to conceive after three years of trying.

Patient shows signs of severe hormonal imbalance inconsistent with successful pregnancy. Recommend acceptance of infertility and exploration of alternative options.

Dated two months before the divorce. Right around the time Celeste had returned.

And right around the time Aria would have been getting pregnant.

Jaxon's wolf stirred uneasily. Something's wrong.

"Everything's wrong," Jaxon muttered. But his wolf was right. The timing was too convenient. Celeste returns from the dead. Suddenly Aria's fertility tests come back negative. The pack doctor—who'd always been friendly with Celeste's family—declares Aria infertile.

And Jaxon had believed it all without question.

He'd wanted to believe it. That was the worst part. He'd wanted an excuse to choose Celeste. Wanted permission to walk away from the pressure of being Aria's perfect mate.

So he'd taken the doctor's word as gospel and filed for divorce.

While Aria was pregnant with his twins.

Jaxon stood abruptly and paced to the window.

His phone buzzed again. This time it wasn't Celeste—it was Marcus Reed, Derek's uncle.

We need to talk. My office, 8 AM. Don't be late.

Jaxon glanced at the clock. Five hours. He should try to sleep.

Instead, he pulled up a search engine and typed in Aria's name.

Dr. Aria Winters Opens Fertility Clinic in Crimson Falls

Award-Winning Healer Helps Hundreds Conceive

Local Doctor's Breakthrough Treatment Revolutionizes Werewolf Reproductive Medicine

She'd built a career out of helping others have children. The bitter irony wasn't lost on him.

Jaxon clicked on the first article. A photo of Aria standing in front of a modern medical building, white coat crisp, hair pulled back in a professional bun. She looked different.But her eyes—those amber eyes he used to dream about—looked tired.

The article was from six months ago:

"Dr. Aria Winters knows firsthand the pain of being told you can't have children. 'I was diagnosed as infertile early in my first marriage,' she explains. 'The shame, the grief—it nearly destroyed me. But then I discovered I wasn't infertile at all. The diagnosis was wrong. By the time I learned the truth, I'd already lost everything.'

"That experience drove Dr. Winters to specialize in reproductive medicine. 'I wanted to make sure no one else suffered from a misdiagnosis the way I did,' she says. 'Too many she-wolves are told they're broken when they're not. Too many families are destroyed by bad medical advice.'

"Her clinic boasts an 89% success rate..."

Jaxon stopped reading. His vision blurred.

Aria had known the diagnosis was wrong. She'd known she wasn't infertile.

Which meant she'd known when she was pregnant. When he'd divorced her. She'd known and she'd said nothing.

Rage flared hot in his chest. She'd kept his children from him. Hidden them for three years. Let him believe he had no heirs while she raised them with another man.

But the rage died as quickly as it came, replaced by something worse.

Understanding.

Of course she hadn't told him. Why would she? He'd just publicly humiliated her. Told her she was worthless because she couldn't give him children. Severed their mate bond while she was on her knees in pain.

What was she supposed to do? Come crawling back and beg him to want her again? Prove she wasn't broken by showing him the pregnancy test?

He would have—

What? What would he have done?

Jaxon forced himself to be honest. Three years ago, standing in that courthouse with Celeste on his arm, if Aria had told him she was pregnant... would he have stayed?

He wanted to say yes. Wanted to believe he would have done the right thing.

But he wasn't sure. And that uncertainty was its own kind of hell.

Because three years ago, he'd been in love with the idea of Celeste. His first love, returned from the dead.

Aria had always been strong. Self-sufficient. She'd loved him, but she hadn't needed him.

Celeste needed him. Or at least, that's what he'd told himself.

Now he wondered if that had been a lie too.

A knock on the door interrupted his spiraling thoughts. He checked the peephole—Celeste.

Jaxon considered not answering, but she'd just keep knocking. He opened the door.

"It's 3 AM," he said.

"I know." She pushed past him into the room, still in her gala dress. Her makeup was smudged from crying. "I couldn't sleep. Jax, we need to talk about what happened tonight."

"What's there to talk about?"

"Are you serious?" Her voice pitched higher. "You found out you have children! Secret children that witch kept from you!"

Jaxon's jaw tightened. "Don't call her that."

"Why not? She lied to you! She kept your heirs hidden for three years!"

"Because I gave her every reason to."

"I divorced her, Celeste. I told her she was worthless. Why would she trust me with our children?"

Celeste's face twisted. "So you're taking her side?"

"I'm stating facts." Jaxon moved to pour himself a drink. Whiskey. Neat. "Aria was pregnant when I divorced her. The timeline doesn't lie."

"She should have told you anyway! You had a right to know!"

"Did I?" He turned to face her. "Really think about that, Celeste. I divorced my mate for being infertile. What right did I have to those children?"

"They're your blood!"

"Blood doesn't make you a father."

"Being there does. And I wasn't there."

Celeste stared at him like he was a stranger. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I f****d up." Jaxon downed the whiskey in one burning gulp. "I destroyed my marriage. I threw away the woman who loved me. And now I'm paying the price."

"You didn't throw me away," Celeste said softly, moving closer. "You chose me, remember? You chose us."

"Did I? Or did I just run away from the pressure of being Aria's mate?"

Celeste flinched. "That's not fair."

"None of this is fair." Jaxon set down his glass before he threw it. "But it's the truth. I was a coward, Celeste. I took the easy way out. And now my children don't know me."

"So what are you going to do?

"How?"

"I don't know yet." Jaxon ran a hand through his hair. "But those are my children. My son and daughter. I'm not going to abandon them."

Something flickered across Celeste's face. Fear? Anger? It was gone before he could identify it.

"What about us?" she asked quietly.

"What about us?"

"Jax, we've been together for three years. We've built a life. You can't just—"

"I'm not just anything," he interrupted. "But my children come first. They have to."

"Even before me?"

Three years ago, Jaxon would have said no. Would have chosen Celeste. Would have prioritized their relationship over everything else.

But tonight, he'd looked into his children's eyes and seen nothing but distrust.

"Yes," he said simply. "Even before you."

Celeste's face went pale. "I see."

"Celeste—"

"No, I understand."

"Your bastard children with your ex-wife are more important than the woman who's been by your side for three years."

"They're not bastards. They're my heirs."

"They're mistakes! Products of a failed marriage! You said so yourself—you never wanted children with Aria!"

"I was wrong."

"About everything. About Aria, about the divorce, about thinking I could just move on and forget. I was wrong, and now I have to live with that."

Celeste stood frozen for a long moment. Then she grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Jaxon asked.

"Back to my room. Clearly you need time to process." She paused at the door. "But Jax? Those children don't want you. That woman doesn't want you. You're going to destroy everything we've built chasing a fantasy of a family that doesn't exist."

"Maybe," he acknowledged. "But I have to try."

She left without another word.

Jaxon stood alone in the quiet room, his wolf pacing restlessly in his mind.

We need to see the pups again, his wolf insisted. Need to make sure they're safe.

"They're safe. Derek's protecting them."

We should be protecting them!

"We will." Jaxon pulled out his phone and called his pack lawyer. "Thomas? I need you to file for paternity rights. First thing tomorrow morning."

This was just the beginning. The hard part was still to come.

But as Jaxon looked at the blurry photos of his children one more time, he knew one thing for certain:

He'd failed them once by not being there.

He wouldn't fail them again.