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“She’s in town,” I said simply. “She told me a different story about that night, after she showed up with her son.”

Blakely swallowed. “Herson?Ace, I—I?—”

“Is it true, Blakely?” I asked. “Did you run her off? Did you tell her I took you as my mate?”

“N-no!” she stammered. “No, Ace, I didn’t say any of that. She just left. Come on, you know I wouldn’t do that to you!”

I crossed my arms over my chest. I didn’t need to have a sixth sense to recognize these shaky, pathetic lies. “How long have you been hanging around this clubhouse? And you still think you can lie to me?” My dragon rumbled in my chest, and my rage tasted like brimstone on my tongue.

“I didn’t run her off!”

“Blakely!” I roared. The dragon’s power infused in the sound made Blakely blanch and quiver backward. “I’ve missed nine years of my son’s life because of you. Now tell me what you did.” I enunciated each word sharply, like a physical blow.

“I didn’t know she was pregnant!” She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes as her mouth twisted into a pained frown. “How was I supposed to know that?! I was sick of seeing her around the clubhouse and… and sick of hearing everyone talk about howgoodyou two looked together! It wasn’t fair! She showed up out of nowhere, and suddenly that was all anybody cared about! That was allyoucared about!”

Blakely dropped her hands from her face. She risked a look at me, and when I said nothing, she kept going. “I’d already spent so much time making you fall forme.I wasn’t going to let someoutsiderswoop in and steal you from me. What the hell else was I supposed to do?”

“Outsider?” I nearly laughed in her face. Blakely wasn’t even a shifter or a member of our clan. And yet she thought Harley was the outsider? “Do you even know what you did?”

“I did what I had to do,” Blakely said. “For you. And forus.”

“There is no us! Harley was never an outsider. She is myfated mate.The only woman I ever wanted to share my life with. The only woman my dragon ever wanted. And not only did you take my fated mate from me, you took my son, too. Nineyears, Blakely. Nine years without knowing my son. And for what? So you could convince me to have a few more rolls between the sheets? Harley trusted you, and you took advantage of that.”

Blakely’s eyes shone with tears—of sadness or anger, I didn’t know. “I’m the one taking advantage?” she shot back. “If she stayed, you would’ve just claimed her, then? Who cares what she wants, right? Then she would’ve been up shit creek without a paddle when you were in prison.”

“I never wanted her to be part of this life,” I said. “No matter what my dragon wanted, I was going to reject her.” My dragon whined at the mere thought of that. “I wanted to protect her from this world—myworld. But you took that choice away from me, too. Instead, I’ve spent the last ten years yearning for my fated mate. And Harley has spent nine years raising a son without a father. I lost the woman I love because ofyourselfish lies.”

Blakely pulled her feet up onto the bed and wrapped her arms around her knees. “You’re serious?” she asked in a small voice. “You love her?”

Again, I almost laughed. It was like asking me if the sun rose each morning. I didn’t even deign to answer her. “What you’ve done is not acceptable to the rules of this clan and this clubhouse. You kept me from my own flesh and blood.”

“Ace, I didn’t mean?—”

“You’re banned,” I said firmly. “From this moment forward.”

Her eyes widened. She unfolded her body and got unsteadily to her feet. “Wh—what do you mean, banned?”

“Expelled. Banned. Unwelcome. You are no longer allowed to attend events, social nights, or even step foot on clubhouse property. I don’t want to see your face anywhere near this clubhouse.”

“But… Ace, you can’t do this to me! This—this is my family!”

“Family doesn’t do what you did to me,” I said. “Family would be happy I found my fated mate. They wouldn’t lie the way you did.”

Blakely’s face crumpled, and tears spilled down her cheeks. Even as anger burned like flame through my veins, I understood her pain. To me, Blakely was a hang-around looking for a good time. She’d been around for ages, and some of the dragons had thought I’d take her as a mate. And if not me, then another dragon. Blakely was a loner in Lakeview, and this clan reallywasthe closest thing she had to a family. Removing her from the clubhouse would keep her away from the inner circle, but she’d still be able to stay in touch with her friends in the extended clan.

“Ace, please. You can’t do this to me.”

“Even if I had rejected Harley, I never would have chosen you as a mate,” I said. “You’ll never get what you want from me or from this clan. Leave now, Blakely, before I have to remove you myself.”

Blakely sobbed once, a broken sound. “You’ll regret this,” she hissed. “You’ll regret taking everything away from me, Ace, you bastard!”

“Get out. Stay away from Harley and my son.”

Blakely rushed down the stairs, still in tears. The clubhouse door slammed behind her.

I sat down at the foot of my bed and rubbed the palm of my hand over my forehead. I’d only been awake for a few hours, and I was already exhausted. Banning Blakely had been the right decision, but it wouldn’t fix the last ten years. I couldn’t get that time with my son back. Or that time with Harley.

All I could do now was try to make things right.