Chapter 6

Xenois

The night air is a bit chilly as I drive home, a small wrapped gift on the passenger seat beside me.

It's late—nearly midnight—but I've finally fulfilled my obligations at the hospital and at Riley's party.

Now, I can finally head home and see Ollie. I'll apologize for missing his birthday party, give him the action figure I picked up, and promise to take him fishing this weekend.

Luna will be angry, but she'll get over it. She always does when it comes to this. For the sake of our son.

I checked my phone and was a bit confused at seeing no new messages from Luna.

My phone has been strangely silent for hours. Usually, Luna would have called or texted multiple times by now, letting me know exactly how much I've disappointed her and Ollie.

Perhaps she's finally accepting that as Alpha, I have responsibilities that go beyond our immediate family and I can't always be there to look after them no matter how much she wants me to.

The pack house is dark when I arrive, which is odd. Normally, Luna leaves lights on for me. I shrugged it off properly thinking she forgot after putting Ollie to bed and going to bed early. I'll probably make it up to her tomorrow with something. Take a day off and spend it with them.

Ollie would agree to it and forgive me and Luna would definitely come around as well.

I entered quietly, setting down my keys and the small gift on the table as I looked around and noticed that all lights inside were off and there was no sound of anything being done or moved around.

There's some sort of heaviness in the air, like something is wrong that my wolf immediately senses, but I can't quite place it. The bond between my mate and I was dull and I could not get a reading off it, but then again it had been muted for a long time on both sides as we closed it off to avoid distractions.

"Luna?" I call out, switching on lights as I move through the house, getting more agitated as I searched everywhere for any sign of them. "Ollie?"

No answer. Nobody answered back at all.

I checked Ollie's room first—empty, the bed was still made and it didn't look like he had slept in it this morning.

I also checked Luna's study is also empty. I checked the gardens and it was quiet as well.

Frowning at this finally, I push open the door to our bedroom and find her sitting on the edge of our bed, still wearing the clothes she had on this morning.

Her face is blank, eyes are vacant as she seemed to be staring at nothing in particular and her hands were limp in her lap.

"Where's Ollie?" I ask, feeling fear go up my spine.

She doesn't move, doesn't blink or register that someone is talking to her at all.

Just stares straight ahead as if I'm not there.

"Luna," I say more forcefully, my Alpha tone slipping in as I stepped fully into the room. "Where is our son?"

Finally, she looks at me, and the emptiness in her eyes makes me take a step back in shock as I had never seen that look in her eyes.

It's filled with venom, hatred and loathing just fixed for me. She glared at me like I was trash in her eyes.

I opened my mouth to spew out excuses from my mouth, trying to give her excuses for why I didn't come back early when she interrupted.

"He's gone," she whispered, her voice so low that I was barely able to hear it.

"Gone? What do you mean, gone? Where did you take him?" My fear turned to anger as I thought of different scenarios.

Has she left me? Taken my heir and hidden somewhere? Was this some kind of joke trying to take my son away from me because I missed a stupid birthday party?

"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU TAKE HIM TO? BRING HIM BACK NOW " I yelled as she looked at me calmly. Not bothered about my tone as she replied

"He's dead, Xenois."

The words hit me like a physical blow, driving the air from my lungs as I staggered backwards.

I searched her eyes willing for this to be some sort of joke but some part of me knew it was true. She wouldn't lie about this but I was stuck in denial.

"What? That's impossible. He was fine this morning." I said shaking my head trying to cling onto something.

"This morning," Luna repeats, her voice hollow as she laughed. Her laugh seemed to be haunting me as she stopped and stared at me.

Her fists were clenched by her sides as she looked at me.

"When was the last time you actually saw him? When was the last time you spent more than five minutes with your son?"

I staggered again, my mind racing, trying to remember.

Last week? Two weeks ago? "What happened?" I demanded, my voice breaking.

"We saw you," she said, rising slowly from the bed. "In town. On the big screen. Celebrating Riley's birthday on Ollie's birthday."

"There was an accident. I was hurt by an car but I pushed him out of the way. Later he collapsed right there in the square. His heart stopped in the ambulance."

"No," I shake my head refusing to believe this.

"No, that can't be right. Where is he? Where have they taken him?" I'm already turning, ready to tear the town apart to find my son.

"The morgue," Luna said , and the word stops me cold. "While you were out celebrating Riley's birthday with your other family, I was identifying our son's body."

My knees give out, and I sank to the floor, despair pouring out from me.

"Why didn't you call me? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"I called you seventeen times," Luna says, her voice rising for the first time.

"I left messages. I sent the Beta to find you. You were unreachable. Too busy celebrating."

The accusation was hurtful but true. I'd turned my phone off during the party, not wanting interruptions from the pack and Luna. I knew deep down she would call and I turned off the phone because I felt Riley was more important at the moment.

I'd ignored Beta's attempt to speak with me, assuming it was pack business that could wait until the next day.

"This is your fault," I whispered looking at her, desperate to push away the crushing guilt that I felt in my bones.

"You were supposed to take care of him. Why didn't you notice he was so sick?"

Luna moves faster than I've ever seen her, her hand cracking across my face with supernatural strength. "I BEGGED YOU!" she screams, her composure finally breaking as she launched herself at me hitting me, crying as she kept speaking.

"For months, I told you something was wrong! I asked you to help me find better doctors, to use your connections! But you were too busy with Riley and Sophia to care that your own son was dying!"

She's right. God help me, she's right.

The fever. The weight loss. The fatigue Luna kept mentioning. I'd dismissed it all, told her she was overreacting, that it was just a sickness. A mere ailment that would soon go. But it didn't and the pain of seeing me with another kid must have caused a heart attack he didn't survive.

"Where is he?" I ask, my voice breaking, as I ran a hand over my face.

"I need to see him."

"You're too late," Luna says, clutching her chest suddenly. "You're always too late."

She staggered a bit, her face frowning in pain as she gasped. I reached for her instinctively, catching her as she collapsed against me.

"Luna? What's wrong?" I started panicking once more as I realize something is terribly wrong.

Her heartbeat is erratic, her breathing labored.

"Heart attack," she gasps, her fingers digging into my shirt. "Mate bond...breaking."

"No, no, no," I pleaded gathering her into my arms.

"Stay with me, Luna. Please. I can't lose you both."

Her eyes were on mine and I could see the resolution and gratefulness in her eyes despite the pain.

She was happy she was dying, leaving me for good. Happy that I lost both my mate and son.

"You never deserved us. We were too good for you. If I had another chance," she whispered slowly pausing to breathe,

"I would never stay with you. I would save my son from your indifference. I would spare us both the pain of loving someone who never loved us back."

"I did love you," I insisted, tears rolling down my face. "I do love Ollie. Please, Luna."

But she's slipping away, her body growing heavier in my arms. With her final breath, she looked behind me, perhaps to where Ollie is waiting for her.

"Next time," she promised, a smile on her lips and tears running down freely her side of her eyes, "we'll be free."

And then she's gone, my mate's body turning cold in my arms as the bond between us breaks completely, leaving a gaping void in my soul.

I howl my grief into the empty house, but there is no one left to hear.

"Please don't do this to me. Luna please. You can't leave me." I begged her as I rocked her from side to side, pressing kisses down her face as she doesn't respond.

I took a deep breath and gathered my wits.

No, she was still sleeping. This was all a prank. Ollie would come out of hiding and she would wake up.

Or.....this was a doppelganger. My mate was out there hiding from me and I would find her.

I just needed my phone.

The object rings as if listening to me and I picked it up. It's my Beta Thorne.

"Alpha." His voice is low, sounding grieved.

"I don't have time for pack business. I need you to find my son. Luna is here...or maybe a doppelganger and is playing dead in my arms and I know it's not true. Gather all the men, lock down the city." I said as there was a sob from the other end of the call.

"Luna went back home to wait for you.... she's....dead?" His voice broke on this.

"Stop playing these tricks with me, Thorne..she is not dead. Find my son. She will wake up once she sees him. Maybe Alpha Zade or Alpha Elijah kidnapped him. Yes they did. I just need to start a war. They will bring him out. Gather my men."

"Alpha Xenois, your son is in the morgue. There was a video that went viral, a child dead in the square and we found it. We searched the CCTV camera and found the footage. I went to the morgue and confirmed his body. Luna was too shook up to say anything. She said she wanted to go home and wait for you. I tried calling but it was picked up by Sophia who told me not to disturb you that you were putting Riley to sleep. She left and went home." He said as each word is breaking me even further.

"No, you are lying. Is this all a game?! You fg ae. Are you sleeping with my mate? Is that why you are saying all this?" I yelled.

"I'm so sorry Alpha" He said as the call ended as I smashed it on the ground yelling as I held on tight to Luna.

"Okay, you win. You win. Just come back please. Come back to me. We will go to Disneyland with Ollie tomorrow.....no tonight. They will open it for me. And....and ... We will taste all the different kinds of cotton candy. All those things, remember. We did them. We always did them..why did it stop? Why can't I remember? God what did I just do?"

I yelled as I held on tight to her, her body cold to touch as I break down completely, realization dawning on me.

I had lost them both.

ONE YEAR AGO