Calvin’s POV
I leaned against the doorfra, watching Evelyn with our children. A few dark strands of hair fell across my forehead as I stayed quiet, taking in the scene.
Alexis was helping her little brothers pack their backpacks. Seeing them together stirred sothing primal inside — a possessive, territorial feeling I couldn’t shake.
“Do you really think this will help you get custody?” I asked, my voice cold as I stepped closer behind Evelyn.
She turned to look at , steady and calm. “I just want to spend ti with my children.”
I t her gaze with my usual icy stare, trying to read her true intentions. Then my eyes shifted to Alexis, and a ss of complicated emotions churned inside .
“You already have a daughter by another man,” I said sharply, the accusation clear in my tone. “Why are you still so focused on my kids?”
Even as the words left my mouth, they tasted bitter. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless and uneasy.It disagreed with what I was saying, though I couldn’t explain why.
“Evelyn,” I said, my voice tightening, “you can’t have it all.”
Evelyn’s POV
His words ignited fury in my chest. I looked worriedly at the children in the other room before arranging for soone to watch them. Then I grabbed Calvin’s arm and practically dragged him into the study.
“What exactly have you contributed beyond your genes, Calvin?” I demanded, my voice shaking with barely contained anger. “I carried them for seven months. I nursed them. You were busy with pack affairs and the company. Your mother, Diana, wouldn’t let raise our children or be part of their lives. But I still cherished those four years I spent with them.”
The mories fueled my fury. “You’ve only been a father for three years. Have you forgotten those four years when you ignored them? Who missed their birthdays because of ‘urgent business trips’? Who never once personally guided their Alpha training?”
“It was you!” I hissed. “You have the nerve to accuse of greed?”
My rapid accusations left him montarily speechless. Heat rose to my cheeks from the intensity of my emotions, and when his cold eyes t mine, I quickly looked away—too afraid to show how much he still affected .
“If you cared so much about the boys,” Calvin finally said, voice rough, “why did you leave without a word three years ago, after rejecting ?”
I laughed bitterly. “Did I have a choice? My pack had already rged with yours. I was a wolfless Oga with no career, no way to give the kids a better future. How could I possibly stand against the mighty Alpha of Bloodbane Pack?”
“Then why did you reject —” he started but stopped abruptly.
Silence filled the room as we both recalled the painful rejection,the breaking of our mateship bond.
I was already pregnant with Alexis then. Calvin had brought Clara ho, intending to replace as Luna. Continuing as mates was impossible.
As a doctor, I knew the stress was dangerous for my pregnancy. Just the thought of my mate taking our twin sons to see his mistress sent my emotions spiraling.
Before I could be a good mother, I had to reclaim myself.
Rejecting him and severing the mate bond was inevitable. It was the only way I could leave his pack.
I stared at the floor, calming myself.
After a long pause, I finally spoke, voice steady and clear.
“I didn’t reject you or leave the pack to give up on my children. I left the pack to give up on you.”
My eyes t his directly, my words deliberate and final.
"I didn’t want you, Calvin."
Calvin’s POV
My heart seized in my chest, a sharp pain that made feel like I was suffocating.
The world went silent around . I couldn’t hear Evelyn’s voice anymore, couldn’t hear my children. It felt like I’d been thrown from the peak of a volcano straight into a glacier, my limbs suddenly useless and heavy.Cyra growled low and restless, sensing my turmoil.
After what seed like an eternity, I turned my back to her, steadying my breathing until it returned to normal.
When I finally spoke, my voice was colder and more rciless than before.
"If you don’t want , fine. But I won’t give you custody of the children."
I could sense her eyes on , judging.
"What would it take for you to give custody?" Evelyn asked, her voice steady despite everything.
My gaze burned into her. "Nothing. I won’t give them up. Ever."
"You!" she sputtered.
I cut her with a sharp look. "I won’t let them call another man ’Dad.’"
She took a deep breath, eting my gaze directly. "You don’t want them calling soone else ’Dad,’ but you think I want them calling another woman ’Mom’?"
I frowned. "When have I ever made them call soone else ’Mom’? You’re the one getting rejected to remated. Don’t turn this around on ."
"Who knows?" she scoffed.
I turned to face her fully, my voice dropping dangerously low. "Evelyn, explain yourself. When have I ever made them call anyone else ’Mother’?"
She walked toward the door. "Whatever you say must be right."
She left alone in the room, my hands clenching and unclenching as the tension pulled tight against my nerves. My vision blurred montarily, forcing to rub my temples until it cleared. Only then did I follow her toward the door.
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