Page 18 of Reclaiming His Lost Mate (Secret Legacy #3)

“It’s my birthday today! Are…are these for me?” She asked uncertainly to no one in particular, bouncing on her feet, her usually soft tone more shrill than I’d ever heard it. “Mommy?” Mia’s eyes barely snapped from the gifts to question Selina, and it was then I took in her reaction.

Selina had paused mid-stride, confusion first contouring her features, but she quickly plastered a smile on. “I think they must be, darling,” she affirmed, her voice steady yet laced with a hint of reluctance.

If Mia hadn’t squealed in delight—her voice echoing off the shop’s wooden beams—my heart would have sunk entirely.

“Happy birthday, Mia!” I called out, forcing cheer into my voice as the child dove into the pile of gifts stacked beside the cake, her joy infectious.

She was too lost in her excitement to notice the tension hanging in the air between her mother and me. “Can I have a balloon?” she cried out, jumping up and reaching for the rafters, where I’d hung dozens of balloons.

“You can have as many as you like,” I smiled, bringing a few down that she instantly began to thwack around the room.

With the delight of balloons floating around us—an explosion of color and laughter—Mia insisted we play a game of hitting them between us, and I noticed the corners of Selina's mouth twitch upwards, though her eyes remained shadowed with unspoken conflict.

I tried to read the emotions that danced just below the surface, but she met my gaze before shaking her head minutely. It was clear she was keeping whatever she was thinking at bay to spare Mia from any worries.

As the party progressed, with Mia eagerly unwrapping presents and giggles filling the room, I caught fleeting moments of genuine joy on Selina’s face—a glimmer of the light I once knew.

When Mia unwrapped a storybook from an artist in my pack featuring beautifully drawn illustrations of Igaluk and the first wolves of the six Alaskan packs, I saw Selina's gaze soften, but almost immediately, she shored up the tenderness she’d shown as if it were an emotion she couldn’t afford.

Next, we lit the candles on Mia’s birthday cake, sang Happy Birthday in cheerful unison, and coaxed her to make a wish before devouring slices of strawberry cake. Mia's delight was evident as she cleared her plate with gusto.

Bursting with excitement to explore the nature kit I'd gotten her, Mia turned to her mom, asking if she could take it out to the garden behind the shop. “Please, Mommy?” she insisted, her little eyes sparkling with anticipation.

“Of course, baby,” Selina replied, her tone gentle as she watched Mia run off, fully absorbed in her new world of exploration.

With Mia happily occupied, Selina and I found ourselves alone amid the remnants of celebration—the scattered wrapping paper and half-eaten cake. The air shifted, thickening with unspoken words, and I could feel the weight of the moment as it loomed between us.

My attention turned to Selina, and I swallowed, feeling my organs shrinking under her merciless stare.

Hopelessness weighed my shoulders down because I knew that Selina was not only unimpressed by my actions but probably also mad.

“Selina,” I called warily and quietly, and as though my words being directed at her were a detonator to her explosive, she went off on me.

“I am not even going to bother with how you got into my shop to do this, but I am going to ask you what kind of elaborate joke this is, Alexis.” Her voice was low enough that Mia didn’t hear through her rampaging but laced with enough venom that caused me to still. “You haven’t done enough?”

“Selina…” I called with a frown, confused by her words, but she cut me off.

“The life you took from me five years ago wasn’t satisfying enough for you, so now you come here and put up all these decorations so you can take my daughter away from me?

Is that your plan this time?” Selina’s voice trembled, eyes red and glazed over with not just her rage toward me.

She was in my personal space now, but I couldn’t find it in me to feel the usual rush when all I felt from her were waves of bitter energy.

“And when you take her away, do you plan to make her life miserable like you did mine for no reason, Alexis?”

“No, Selina,” I put in quickly as she drew in a sharp, unsteady breath.

“Why would I do that? I do not want just her, and I don’t ever intend to take anything from you without your consent, Selina,” I tried to explain, but her mind was made up about me being a monster whose only purpose was to cause her pain.

“Don’t even start with me, Alexis. Just stop intruding!” Her voice rose an octave higher, and that caught Mia’s attention as her eyes snapped up to us.

Selina took a deep breath with her eyes closed, and when she opened it, resolve swam in her eyes while my heart plummeted to the bottomless pits of despair.

“We finally have a good life. Please, do not ruin it for us.”

The events of the past weeks leading up to this replayed on a loop in my head, and my most recurring thought was how Selina greatly misunderstood my intentions.

My wolf thrashed against my skin, pushing me to use whatever means possible to convince Selina that she had the wrong information about things—that I wanted and needed us to be okay and not that I wanted to steal our daughter away like some devil. But my reasonable side sprung up, too.

I had to keep my emotions in check, or else I risked further damaging our relationship, which was already strained, fragile, and weighing on thin ice.

My voice dropped low as I nodded once, the back of my throat burning as I said the handful of words.

“Alright, I understand you. I am sorry, Selina, truly,” I confessed, turning my back to her after one last look at Mia.

With a reluctant and painful gait, I turned away from the two most important people in my life, my heart heavy as I walked out of the shop.

A moment later, a call from Rhys pulled me back into reality, asking me to return to Shadow Moon for pack business.

But even before I was off the phone, a plan began to crystallize—a strategy to earn Selina’s forgiveness.

This wasn’t over—not by a long shot. I would go to Shadow Moon, but I’d return soon and show her I wasn’t the monster she believed me to be. I would fight for my family.