The Alpha Chose the Wrong Pup

The seventh time Damian Blackthorn left me and our daughter for Savannah Pierce's wolf cub, we learned to be good.

He paraded Savannah and Duke everywhere. They hit the trending page. They made the cover of a gossip rag. I didn't say a word.

Duke tore up June's crayon sketchbook, every page, and dragged the scraps into a corner to sleep on. June watched him do it. She didn't cry.

Then Duke chased her down the main staircase, and she tumbled the whole flight and cracked her head on the marble. Concussion. The healing wing. Damian showed up after it was over.

"Finley! Why didn't you tell me? I'm her father too!"

He could have felt it through the link. But three years ago I'd shut my end of it, and he'd never once checked.

I'd spent the night on the bench outside the treatment room, watching the clock over the nurses' station. Counting. My voice came out flat.

"Mild concussion. They want to keep her two days."

"I know you're busy. June will understand."

Damian went still.

"A concussion, and you tell me it's nothing? What kind of mother—"

He was winding up to really shout when the whispers behind him stopped him.

"Honestly, Alpha belongs with Miss Pierce. If she hadn't run off to Europe, some backwoods omega would never have gotten near him."

"Right? Can't even keep her own pup safe. Not Luna material."

His jaw tightened. "There is nothing between Savannah and me. I think of her as a sister."

Her brother had been his Beta. He'd taken a silver blade meant for Damian. That was the debt, and Damian paid on it every single day.

I nodded. "I believe you."

"It was Duke who chased June down the stairs. I didn't tell you because I know he's Savannah's whole life. I didn't want to put you in a bad spot."

Shame flickered across his face, there and gone.

"I'll get June the best healer in the territory. Duke is all Savannah has left, you know that. Her wolf is fading."

"I understand, Alpha. June will learn to call you that, too."

He panicked. "If you're upset, say it! Don't put on an act and drag her into it!"

"Okay. Got it."

I was done making scenes. My permit to cross into California territory had already been approved. The train ticket was booked. Five days, and we'd be nothing to each other.

June woke around midnight. Her first words were for me.

"Mommy, don't tell Alpha I'm in the hospital. He'll be mad at me."

Damian was already in the doorway. He'd heard. He crossed to the bed, and his voice caught.

"June, I don't have to sit with Duke tonight. I'm here with you."

She looked at him for a long moment. Then she scooted back until she was behind my arm. "Alpha."

His face went whiter than the sheets.

His phone rang before he could speak. Savannah, crying, loud enough to fill the whole room.

"Damian, Duke threw up. Please come, I'm scared."

He looked at our daughter. He looked at the phone.

"Wait for me. I'll be right back." He tucked the blanket around June's shoulders. "I'll bring you a strawberry cream cake."

June didn't answer. She'd picked the cream roses off every cake since she was two. She was allergic to dairy.

He never remembered.

His footsteps hit the corridor fast and faded. June stared at the door.

"Mommy, does Alpha not like me?"

I smoothed her hair. "It's not that he doesn't like you. He just likes something else more."

At three a.m., Savannah posted to Instagram.

As long as I have you, I'm not afraid of anything.

The photo was Damian's profile, giving Duke his medicine. Frowning. Focused. Gentle.

So ironic.

Nobody came to pick us up when June was discharged.

Back at the house, I found out why. He'd given the master suite to Savannah and Duke. Our things had been packed into two boxes and left outside the north guest room.

They took down our mating portrait while I stood in the hallway. Eight years on that wall. It left a pale rectangle behind.

Damian walked past and took the frame from the housekeeper. I thought he might say something.

He wiped the dust off with his sleeve and handed it back.

"Put it away. Don't chip the frame."

Then he turned to me, like I'd asked for an explanation.

"Savannah gets emotional around wedding pictures. Be gracious. A Luna should be. Okay?"

Be gracious. He'd been saying it for eight years. The dresses, the perfume. Now our bedroom.

"Damian, when I've been gracious all the way to the end, what do I have left?"

He thought about it. He honestly did.

"You still have me."

That night he cooked. Chicken noodle soup with a poached egg dropped in. He'd learned it for me, back when we had nothing.

I picked up my spoon.

Savannah came downstairs with Duke on a leash. "That smells amazing."

Damian slid the bowl in front of her. "Start with this. There's more in the pot."

The pot was empty. He made a fresh batch.

Savannah took two bites and set the bowl on the floor. "Duke wants some."

It was my mother's blue-glazed bowl. She'd made it by hand. I watched Duke bury his face in it and lap.

Damian didn't stop him. He laughed. "Easy, buddy. Nobody's going to take it from you."

I went upstairs.

June was waiting on my bed. She dug into her backpack and pulled out half a bread roll.

"School gave out snacks. I saved this for you."

It had gone a little hard. I ate all of it with hot water.

Damian came in late and wrapped his arms around me from behind.

"Don't be mad at me. When Savannah's better, I'll send them away. Then we'll be fine, I promise."

His shirt smelled like Duke's raw meat.

I nodded.