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S IENNA

I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. It felt like a bad dream I was stuck in, one I couldn’t wake up from.

My father. The man I had just met. He was standing in front of me, explaining everything in that cold, detached tone of his.

My mother had never been one to talk about my father often, but her version of him was different.

That was all. She told me I was better off not knowing.

But now, standing in front of this man who claimed to be my father, everything was different.

He looked at me, his face hard as stone. "I never wanted this for you, Sienna. But your mother...she knew. She knew the risks. That's why she left."

I blinked, trying to absorb his words. "Why now? Why didn’t you come for me before?"

His jaw tightened, and he let out a slow breath. "Years ago, when I met your mother, there was a dispute with the Blackwood pack. After everything went south, she left. She knew, as a human, she would be a liability, an easy target for my enemies."

My heart twisted at the thought of her leaving, thinking she was doing it for my safety.

But then he dropped the bombshell. "She sent me a message, told me she was pregnant, and that she had to leave to keep you safe.

I tried to find her, searched everywhere.

But it was like she vanished into thin air. No trace, nothing."

I swallowed hard. "But why didn’t she tell me any of this?"

His eyes softened for a moment, but the hardness soon returned. "I don’t know. She thought it was best that you didn’t know, probably to protect you from all this. From me. From this world."

A thousand thoughts rushed through my head, none of them making any sense. My mother had always told me it was a fling, a one-night mistake with a wolf. That was it. But now, I was staring at the man who claimed to be my father, and everything about my life felt like a lie.

I shook my head, trying to make sense of it all. "I don’t...I don’t understand. All these years...you never looked for me? She just disappeared, and you gave up?"

His expression hardened again. "I never gave up. I didn’t know where to look. And even if I did, I wouldn’t have been able to get close. Not without risking your life."

I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to shout that it wasn’t enough, that I deserved better than this vague explanation. But I held it in. For some reason, his words still carried weight. It was the first time I felt like maybe he actually cared. But then again, he was still a stranger.

As I tried to piece things together, I heard a familiar sound—the howl of a wolf.

The air in the room shifted. My eyes snapped toward the door as Damian walked in.

He was standing there, in the doorway, his expression frozen when he saw me.

His eyes locked onto mine, and for a moment, everything else disappeared.

But then, his expression changed. His shock turned into something else, something darker. His eyes narrowed as he took a step forward, his gaze flicking to my father, then back to me.

I was about to ask him something when my father spoke, his voice laced with disdain. “You’re here to confirm the rumors, aren’t you?”

Damian’s eyes darkened, the words hitting him like a blow. "Your daughter?"

I could feel the weight of the moment pressing down on me.

Damian’s gaze was cold now, calculating.

It was like all the warmth from the night we shared had been stripped away.

My wolf howled in excitement, but his eyes—his eyes were different.

They were filled with something that stung, something bitter. Resentment? Anger? Maybe both.

I couldn’t respond. My mouth felt dry, and my thoughts were a jumbled mess. I didn’t know what to think anymore.

And then, just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, my father spoke again. “This man, Damian, and his bloodline instigated the war between our packs.”

My world had just been turned upside down, and I was standing there, staring at the man who had somehow found his way into my bed—only to find out that he was somehow tied to all of this. To the war. To “my father”. To everything.

I couldn’t believe it. The man I had trusted—whose arms I had found comfort in the night before—had caused this? He was the reason people were dead? He was the reason my mom had left.

I felt sick. Everything about last night felt like a lie. The way he had kissed me, held me. It was all so meaningless now.

He had snapped. “But congratulations, Sienna. You’re exactly where you belong.”

Damian’s eyes flicked over to me again, his expression cold but filled with something I couldn’t quite place. It was like he had completely shut me out. Like he had made up his mind. And it stung.

"I came here to end this war. But now, I’m not sure I’m doing it for you anymore."

I stood there, my heart racing, my mind a whirlwind of confusion. Who had I slept with? A man I barely knew, who was now part of everything I hated. Part of the war. Part of the destruction. The man who had been nothing but a stranger was now a mistake.

I had to get away from him.

“Can you give us some space, please?” I said to the man who I just found out was my father.

His gaze softened for a moment, but then he stepped closer, his hand resting heavily on my shoulder. "I want you to understand, Sienna. The Blackwood pack is not your ally. Damian is not your ally. He will destroy everything we’ve built, just like he destroyed everything before."

He had stepped out of the room. I needed a moment, just a moment to face Damian, to figure out what the hell had just happened. How could everything fall apart so quickly? Yesterday, we were tangled in each other’s arms. Today, I was standing in front of him, wondering if I had imagined it all.

“Do you feel anything about yesterday?” I asked, my voice unsteady, raw from the emotions I could barely hold in. “Or was that all just an act?”

He blinked, his lips tightening into a thin line. “No,” he said, his tone distant, almost indifferent. “You were just a fling. I regret every bit of it, and for your lies, and betrayal. I, Damian of the blackwood pack, reject you, Sienna, as my mate.”

The words hit me like a slap, and I felt my breath catch in my throat.

I stared at him, disbelief flooding my chest. Was this real?

Did he really just say that? My heart shattered, the pieces falling to the ground around me like glass.

The air between us felt thick, heavy with the weight of his words.

I could feel my wolf stirring, agitated, but it wasn’t just my wolf.

It was me too. The pain, sharp and deep, gnawed at me from the inside out.

I stepped back, my legs unsteady. My breath came in ragged gasps, the sting of tears just behind my eyes. I wanted to scream, to demand an explanation, but the words caught in my throat.

His eyes flickered, and for a moment, I thought I saw something.

A hint of regret, maybe. But he masked it quickly, his expression blanking out as if he had shut it all down.

His wolf, too, seemed to retreat into a dark corner of his mind, leaving him cold and distant.

I saw the pained expression on his face as he tried to mask the hurt that came with a severed bond but he couldn't. It was there, tearing through him just like it was shattering every piece and bit of me. My wolf howled in protest, feeling the hurt I couldn’t express.

I couldn't feel his wolf like I did before, but I knew it was silent.

“Damian,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “Why?”

His gaze softened, but only for a moment. “It was just a night. Just that. Nothing more. Goodbye Sienna, I hope we never cross path again.”

The finality of his words struck me like a ton of bricks.

He was rejecting me. Completely. And for some reason I couldn't even comprehend, it hurt more than I had ever imagined it would. I couldn’t make sense of it.

We had shared something, hadn't we? It felt real.

But now? Now, it was just...nothing. I was nothing to him.

I wanted to run. I wanted to leave and never look back, but my legs wouldn’t move. The weight of the hurt kept me in place, frozen in this moment.

Damian turned then, the door to room creaking as he reached for it. He didn’t look back. He didn’t say anything else. He just walked out, and with each step, I felt like the space between us grew larger, until it swallowed everything.

I stood there, numb. The pain surged through me in waves, and my heart ached in ways I couldn’t describe. It wasn’t just the rejection. It was the betrayal, the way I had allowed myself to believe something—no, someone—would be different. But I was wrong. So wrong.

I could hear my father’s footsteps returning, his presence suddenly suffocating as he walked back into the room. He must’ve known. He must’ve seen everything. The tension, the hurt. He could feel it in the air.

“It’s for the best, you know,” my father said, his voice surprisingly gentle. He walked toward me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “You’re better off without him. Damian is a Blackwood. He’ll drag you into their war, whether you like it or not.”

I shook my head. “I don’t care about the war,” I muttered, my voice bitter. “I don’t care about him. I don’t care about any of it.”

He sighed, pulling me into a tight hug, his strong arms wrapping around me. “You don’t have to go through this alone. We can fight this together. You and me. You don’t need him.”

I pulled away from him, wiping my eyes, trying to compose myself.

“I don’t want to fight. I just want to get away from all of it.

” I shook my head, my voice trembling. “I need time. I need space. I can’t be part of this.

I can’t keep getting caught up in this feud of yours.

I barely know you were entangled in this mess before today. It’s all too much.”

My father didn’t argue. He looked at me with those tired, knowing eyes. “I understand,” he said quietly. “Just know you’re not alone. I’m here, always.”

I nodded, but the weight of it all crushed me. I needed to go. I needed to leave, to find something else. I needed to forget. Forget Damian. Forget this war. Forget everything that had brought me to this point.

And so, I walked away. Slowly. Carefully. Every step felt like a burden.

I didn’t know how to forget him. How could I? Damian had been my mate. He had been a part of me. But now, he was gone. And I was left with nothing but the remnants of a dream I had dared to believe.

When I found out I was pregnant, I had mixed feelings.

It was a pregnancy that came as a result of one of the short-lived moments of my life, with a man I had buried in the deepest part in my heart.

I had carefully tucked away the memories of him, but when I felt the life in me, saw it in an ultrasound, everything changed for me.

The life growing inside of me became my everything.

Months passed, I threw myself into work, into building my life from the ground up, not just for myself, but for the life growing inside of me.

I moved to a new city, a place where no one knew my name, where no one knew the heartache, I carried.

Victoria, my assistant, helped me through the darkest days, holding my hand when I couldn’t bear it all.

But nothing filled the hole in my chest.

Then came Clara. My beautiful, perfect girl. I knew from the moment I saw her that she would be my reason to keep going. To push forward. To survive.

Raising her was hard. There were nights when I cried alone, when the loneliness crept in and threatened to consume me. But I kept moving. For her.

Five years later, I had become someone I never thought I would be. I was a partner in a prestigious law firm. The kind of woman who made decisions, who held her ground, who refused to be broken. And when I bought the firm? It felt like a victory. A victory for Clara. A victory for me.

But no matter how hard I worked, how much I built, there was always a part of me that was missing. The part that had once been connected to him. To Damian.

I thought I had forgotten him. But I never really did. Every success, every step forward, felt hollow without him. And every night, when I closed my eyes, his face lingered in my mind. And my wolf, still restless, howled for him, even as I tried to silence it.

It wasn’t just about the pain of the past anymore. It was about a future I wasn’t sure I could have. With or without him.

And yet, somehow, I kept moving forward. For Clara. For myself. But I couldn’t help wondering—could I ever truly escape the ghosts of the past? Could I ever truly forget Damian?