MY EX-WIFE GAVE BIRTH TO MY RIVAL'S CHILD

CHAPTER 2

DAMIEN HALE

The road is wet and dark, surrounded by dense trees and the scent of fresh pine.

I drive as fast as I can while Maela remains silent, but I know she’s watching me from the corner of her eye.

The car shakes slightly with every bump, but my mind is elsewhere — or rather, on one person only.

Elara.

She’s in labor. Right now. The woman I swore to hate. The one I rejected. The one I cursed with my own pain.

And yet, here I am.

The tightness in my chest grows with every kilometer that brings us closer to her pack.

Part of me wants to jump out of the car, run away.

When we reach the gates of the Dorne pack’s border, the werewolves on guard are tense.

The looks they give me are filled with rage, but none dare approach me.

And then I hear it.

A scream.

Not just any scream. It’s her.

My chest explodes in pain.

Literally. As if a claw has pierced through my heart. It’s the mate bond — not dead.

Dormant. Wounded. But still alive. Every contraction she feels reverberates through me with brutal force.

I drop to my knees instinctively, gasping. I clutch my chest. My wolf side stirs, howls inside me.

“She needs you,” Maela says firmly, stepping out of the car and heading toward the large house at the center of the territory. I follow her.

As I approach the porch, I hear another scream from Elara — louder, more desperate.

My eyes turn to the door of the house where she is.

The door opens before I can touch it.

It’s her father.

Thalos Dorne. Large, hard-eyed, his face aged by grief and hatred. He glares at me like he could kill me.

“She won’t make it on her own,” he says through gritted teeth.

“And it’s your fault. You got her pregnant. You rejected her. And now… now she might die bringing your child into the world.”

I don’t reply.

There aren’t enough words in the world to fix what I destroyed.

I pass by him and enter the house.

I hear all the werewolves outside howling at once as if to give Elara strength.

I walk toward the bedroom, slowly. My heartbeat deafens me. When I stop at the door, everything else stops too.

There she is.

Lying down, pale, soaked in sweat, her hair stuck to her forehead, her lips trembling from pain and effort.

Maela is beside her, giving firm instructions.

I blink, taking in every strain on her face. Elara is still as beautiful as the last time I saw her.

Maela encourages her: “You have to push, Elara!”

“I… can’t…” she whispers, breathless, shaking. “Not without him…”

Maela looks at me from the door.

“She’s going to die if this continues. Her soul is breaking. Only you can stabilize the bond.”

I step back.

I shake my head, ready to leave, thinking it was a mistake to come here — but then I hear her.

“Damien…” she whispers.

My head turns automatically. Her eyes call to me. Beg me.

“You came…”

My whole body freezes.

I should walk away. Leave the pain behind. Leave her with the pup that might not even be mine. But…

“Elara...”

“Stay… Please… don’t leave me.”

Her voice knocks the air out of me. I take a step forward. Then another. Until I’m by the bed.

“You’re dying…” I say, my voice trembling.

Another scream. She writhes. Blood flows. My eyes burn.

“Maela, she’s bleeding too much.”

“She’s very weak,” the healer says, looking at me like she’s waiting for me to do something.

Elara turns her face toward me. Her blue eyes, full of pain, meet mine.

“Stay with me, Damien…” she murmurs.

“Just for now…”

My hands reach for hers before I even realize it. Her fingers intertwine with mine.

“You have to push, Elara. Now. For him.”

“For who?” she whispers.

“For your son.”

She grips my hand tightly.

And then, with a wild, primal scream, she pushes. The bond explodes in me like an electric current.

Another scream. Then another. And then…

Time stops.

The baby is born.

Maela holds the baby and cuts the cord. She cleans the small body and wraps him in a cloth.

“It’s a boy,” she says, her voice thick with emotion.

I stand up, looking at him.

So small. Innocent.

So perfect.

My eyes fall on the few strands of dark hair on the baby’s head — for a moment, I wish he had something of mine.

That he might be my son.

But he’s not mine.

He never will be.

Elara watches him, crying.

“You did it,” I whisper, gently touching her forehead with my fingers.

“You survived.”

She smiles, exhausted.

“Thank you for being here…”

I don’t respond. I turn. Head toward the door. I can’t stay.

“Damien!” she calls, her voice weak but urgent.

“Wait!”

I don’t wait and quickly leave the house, my hand on my chest, feeling the tears in my eyes.

It’s not my son. He’s not my son.

I close my eyes as I hear the werewolves howling again, celebrating the birth of another pack member.

I’m only a few meters from the road when a deep, firm voice freezes me.

“You’re going to let the scum who destroyed her take what’s yours?”

I turn.

It’s Thalos, Elara’s father. He stands there, arms crossed, eyes burning with fury and pain. There’s no more resentment — only desperation.

“She made her choice,” I murmur, unable to fully look at him.

“She betrayed me.”

“You still believe that lie?” he growls.

“Do you know what Cyrus did?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I lie. “She chose him that night.”

Thalos takes a step forward, his eyes blazing like embers.

“She never betrayed you. Cyrus drugged her that night, Damien. He used a potion. A substance that removes consciousness but keeps the body… responsive. She had no choice.”

My heart skips a beat.

“You’re lying.”

“Look me in the eyes and tell me you think that’s impossible,” he fires back.

“Didn’t you feel that something was wrong? Didn’t you smell something strange in the room? The way she cried?”

I remember. Damn it, I remember. The confusion in her eyes. The tremor in her voice. The way she begged me to listen.

A deep pain pierces my chest.

“I banished her…” I whisper, almost voiceless. “I broke the bond… I made her suffer alone…”

“And now you’re going to leave her vulnerable in the hands of the same monster who caused all of this?” Thalos steps closer, firm.

“You can fix this. You can still fight for my daughter.”

An engine’s roar interrupts our conversation.

A black car appears down the road. It stops abruptly, kicking up dust.

The back door opens, and Cyrus steps out.

The same arrogant smile on his face.

The same disgusting stare. Two guards from his pack flank him protectively.

He snaps his fingers, adjusting his expensive shirt as if coming to claim some prized possession.

“I came to take what’s mine,” he says loudly, for all to hear. “The mother… and the child.”

A murmur spreads among the wolves of the Dorne pack. They ready themselves, tense and confused.

I remain still.

My blood boils in my veins. But I’m trying to process everything.

Cyrus walks slowly toward the house, confident, venomous.

“She never loved you,” he says, looking directly at me. “If she had, she’d be with you now. But she chose me, Hale. She wants me. We’re going to be a family now.”

Thalos stares at me one last time, his gaze heavy.

“Are you going to let this happen?” he asks, his voice filled with fury.

“Let the monster who drugged her touch your woman? Your son? You swore at your wedding to protect her from everything, Damien! Honor your promise and defend my daughter!”

Something rises inside me.

Without a word, I turn my back to Thalos and enter the house.

I pass through the narrow halls until I reach the room where Elara lies, surrounded by healers and women from the pack.

The baby sleeps in an improvised crib beside the bed. But when they see me, silence spreads like fire.

Everyone steps back a little. Their eyes on me are tense.

Elara sees me.

Her eyes are full of tears — and so are mine.

I look at the baby, wishing once more that he were mine, but I can’t let the woman I love suffer with another man.

“Damien, what are you doing?” Elara asks, her eyes wide.

I take a deep breath and lift my chin. My voice comes out strong, echoing off the walls:

“I, Damien Hale, Alpha of the Scarlet Moon Pack, claim this woman, Elara Dorne, as my mate, and this boy as my son. Before the Moon, the pack, and the old gods, I take them under my protection, honor, and blood.”

Tears stream down her face and I see her touch the mark on her shoulder.

My mark on her body from the first time I claimed her as my mate.

“Damien…” she whispers.

I blink, trying to step closer, but at that moment Cyrus bursts in like a beast. His body is already partially transformed. His eyes red with fury.

“YOU WILL NOT DO THAT!”

I try to reach Elara to protect her, but he lunges at me, and the blow throws me against the opposite wall, breaking the wood and punching a hole in the structure.

Everyone screams and I groan, pulling a shard of glass from my shoulder as I see him glaring at me.

Cyrus leaps again, claws extended.

I begin to shift, bones cracking and fur spreading.

He pounces on me again and we crash outside the house with force.

He hits my shoulder, but I tear into his side. The fight is brutal. Savage. Desperate.

“YOU TOUCHED HER WITHOUT PERMISSION!” I roar, slamming him to the ground.

He laughs. Blood drips from his mouth.

“I’d do it again!” he spits.

“She was never yours. She’s mine! And the baby… the baby is mine, Hale! I took what was yours. And now she’s going to thank me for it!”

I clench my fists, my claws extending as I see Elara, despite the pain, appear at the doorway, tears in her eyes.

Elara screams behind me, her voice cracking:

“It’s a lie! He… he forced me! I never chose him! Never!”

The thought of him touching my wife with his filthy hands makes me sick, and I want to kill him in that moment.

I grab Cyrus by the throat, lifting him off the ground. He thrashes, but can’t escape.

“You will pay for every drop of pain you caused her,” I growl, my eyes burning.

But I don’t kill him. Not yet.

Because he will pay as every traitor should: exiled, humiliated, destroyed before everyone.

I throw his body with force.

His werewolves try to approach, but Elara’s pack wolves block them.

My claws dig into his shoulder and my teeth meet his flesh.

Cyrus screams, trying to get up, but I slam him down again.

“This man touched a mate without consent,” I say loudly, shifting back to human form, panting.

“He betrayed the code of the alphas. Broke the laws of the Moon. And tried to take what isn’t his.”

Thalos approaches with the pack guards.

“He will be judged by the Council of Packs,” he says, fury in his eyes.

“But you, Damien…”

I turn to him, still panting.

“You… defended my daughter...”

I take a deep breath as I see the wolves dragging Cyrus away.

I lift my head and see Elara watching me, crying.

I run to her and she throws her arms around me, and I close my eyes, breathing in her scent.

“Forgive me… forgive me…” I whisper over and over, feeling her tremble with her face against my shoulder.

“Forgive me for not believing you, for banishing you from my life...”

She lifts her head, looking at me with shining eyes, and I feel my heart break all over again.

“I would never betray you...”

I gently touch her face.

“If you still want me… if there’s still a place for me… I’ll never leave you again. Not you. Not him,” I whisper, and she smiles.

“It was always you…” she says. “It always will be.”

“No one will ever touch you again...”

I kiss her and she holds my face, and I know everyone is watching us in that moment.

She is mine, she has always been mine, and I made a mistake when I sent her away.

Elara is everything to me, and now we’ll have a family — even if that baby isn’t mine.