Chapter 2

The following day, I moved into the private recovery suites at the pack hospital. Somehow Vanessa ended up in the room beside mine again. A stay there cost a small fortune. She worked an ordinary office job; she couldn't have paid for it herself. Nathan must have covered the bill.

In my last life, I'd defied my father, the Alpha of our pack, to take Nathan as my mate. He was an ordinary wolf, one of the pack's Healers. He'd promised he loved me and would never let me suffer. I'd trusted him enough to leave my job and care for our family. Then I'd given everything to the boy they'd put in my arms.

Oliver had pulled out my oxygen tube while I lay dying. All the meals I'd made, all the years I'd spent caring for him, hadn't stopped him. I couldn't even call for help as he stood over me. Vanessa was there to watch.

"Without you, I could've been with Mom and Dad years ago!" he'd said. "You ruined everything, you old hag!"

Vanessa had laughed at my bedside as she told me how she and Nathan had switched the boys the day they were born. She'd kept my son hungry, held back his wolf, and raised him as if he were weak. If he began to awaken, the pack's Alphas would recognize his bloodline. To keep their secret, she planned to arrange an accident before that happened. She never meant to let him grow up. Nathan had known and chosen her anyway. Soon after my death, Nathan took her as his mate in front of the whole pack. My mate and the boy I'd raised belonged to her, while my real son was gone. They would get to live as a happy little family after everything they'd done.

Now Vanessa smiled at me as though we were old friends. I wanted to wipe that look off her face.

"Our babies have the same birthday," she said. "What are the odds?"

She had no idea I'd already switched the babies back. The pup in her arms was her own, with her ordinary bloodline and faint wolf instincts.

When she looked at my son, she thought she was admiring her own child. She didn't realize the weak pup she looked down on was her own son.

Later, she came into my room with him and chatted for a while. Her gaze settled on the baby I held.

"He sure can cry," she said, trying to hide a smirk. "Must have a strong bloodline. Maybe he'll be an Alpha like you one day."

She looked down at the pup in her arms. "Not mine. The Healer says his wolf is weak. I don't even know if he'll manage his first shift."

I nearly laughed. Vanessa went on boasting, so I watched her and let her talk. At last she seemed to realize how she sounded and changed the subject.

"Have you named him yet?"

I was about to answer when the mate bond pulled tight in my chest. Nathan walked in.

"I picked our son's name ages ago," he said. "Oliver."

Our son. Was he talking to me, or to Vanessa? I smiled up at him.

"My father has already chosen one. Caleb, after my grandfather."

Nathan's face tightened. In my last life, my father had brought me a whole list of names for his grandson. I'd used Nathan's choice instead, afraid he'd think my family looked down on him. This time, his reaction told me enough.

Dad had been excited enough to bring me name after name, and I had turned them all down to keep the peace with Nathan. Seeing him balk now made me remember how easily I'd set Dad's wishes aside. He wasn't going to decide this child's name for me again.

"Shouldn't we pick the name ourselves?" he asked.

Vanessa jumped in. "Exactly. Grandparents always pick old-fashioned names. I'd listen to your mate."

"He's my son," I told her. "Why does his name bother you?"

Nathan came to my side. "Easy. Your dad's choice is good. Let's call him Caleb."

I hummed without agreeing to anything else, then turned to Vanessa.

"And your boy? What's his name? I haven't seen his father."

She sighed. "My mate's been away on business since last month. As for the baby, why waste a good name on a weak pup? We just call him Scraps."

"What a choice," I said, reaching out to play with the baby. "Scraps. Little Scraps. Who's a good boy?"

Vanessa looked pleased with herself. She had named her own son something cruel without knowing it. I would be watching what she did to him. And I would be there when Caleb's wolf awakened and the pack learned whose blood he carried. Nathan and Vanessa would answer for what they'd done.

I kept smiling at her, though I couldn't bear the thought of what she might do to the boy in her arms. He was not my son, but he was still a baby. I couldn't warn anyone without tipping off Nathan. So I watched them both and waited for their lies to unravel.

After we left the hospital, Vanessa moved into our upscale apartment building. I kept an eye on Scraps from then on, waiting for proof that would expose them both.

I didn’t know it would take four years, or that Scraps would nearly pay for it with his life.