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“She’s yours.”

At first, the words didn’t register. I frowned, blinking as I tried to figure out what she meant by “yours.” My what?

And then it hit me.

My jaw dropped, and I took a step back, my hand sliding away from Audrey’s face as I stared at her, trying to fully grasp what she had just said.

“Mine,” I repeated numbly. “As in, my kid?”

She gave the tiniest nod, her face strained with unease and panic.

“And I’m guessing you don’t mean in the metaphorical sense or because you and I are mated,” I said, my throat going dry.

She shook her head, her entire body rigid, every muscle tensed and coiled. Her eyes searched my face, trying to gauge my reaction.

My mind went back to that night eleven years ago. Eleven years. Claire was ten. God, how had I missed it? We had the same hair color, similar mannerisms. I had thought the matching hair color was a coincidence, and the mannerisms were there just because we had been spending time together. But no, Claire was my kid.

My kid. I had a kid.

I struggled to process it. It felt like I’d just been whacked on the side of the head with a sledgehammer. My mind seemed unable to fathom the idea.

My wolf was a different story. He growled in approval, his tail swishing. He seemed content. Happy, even. I had to wonder if he had always known, and was just waiting for me to figure it out on my own.

I stared at Audrey, who looked back at me with an anxious expression on her face, her arms wrapped around her stomach. She looked terrified. How long had it taken her to muster the courage to tell me? And how the hell had I not figured it out on my own?

Another memory struck home. Saul, Audrey’s father. He had said I looked familiar. It hadn’t been because we had run into each other while I was working on a mission or anything like that. It was because of Claire.

I ran my fingers through my hair to give my hands something to do as I continued to process the situation. Claire was my daughter. The bizarre thing was, she was the exact type of kid I would have wanted: smart, a good learner, a good hunter. She enjoyed games and had a bit of a goofy streak to her.

Then I thought about all the time I had lost, and what might have happened if I had known about her from the start. Frustration and annoyance rippled through me. All those precious things I had missed because Audrey had kept Claire a secret instead of coming back to my pack when she found out she was pregnant. Instead of letting me help, letting me meet my daughter and help raise her, she’d decided to return to an abusive home.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” I asked. I couldn’t hide the flash of irritation in the words. “That’s kind of a big thing, you know. Maybe I would have liked to have known that the first time I met her?”

Audrey winced. “I know, and I’m sorry,” she said. “I must have debated telling you a hundred times. There were so many times when…” She took a deep breath as she ran her fingers through her hair, looking off into the distance as she tried to find the right words. “But I was afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

“Of how you might have treated her,” she finally said. And some of that old spark, that old fire I had fallen for all those years ago, flickered to life in her voice. “You left me once before.”

“You thought I would leave you because of Claire?” I asked.

“I didn’t care whether or not you left me,” she said. “But I didn’t want to introduce Claire to her father, only for him to turn around and reject her. Trust me, I know from experience what that feels like.”

Those last words slammed home in a way that nothing else did. I turned to look at Audrey. For a moment, we were both kids again. She had just wandered into my pack, looking for a new place to stay. I remembered asking her during one of the first times she came over to hang out with Mira what she was doing here. I’d asked her if her parents would be worried sick about her.

She had laughed and tossed her hair back over her shoulder, a defiant flame in her eyes. “There’s a reason I left, and it wasn’t because I was bored. They didn’t want me, so I don’t want them.”

She had sounded so strong then, so dismissive. But in later conversations, I could see how much the situation actually hurt her. She desperately wanted her parents to care about her. She knew the pain of not feeling wanted. She’d been forced to go back to it when she had Claire.

And look at her now. Over the last few days, I’d seen that old spark I’d fallen for reemerge, but years of rejection had taken their toll. It’s no wonder she would want to protect her daughter from a similar fate.

Her father isn’t the only one who rejected her, a voice in the back of my head sneered. You did, too. It’s no wonder she would worry you hadn’t changed. And besides, if you had been there for her all those years ago, if you hadn’t decided going into the army was more important, none of this would have happened. You would have had ten years with your daughter.

I closed my eyes as I let those words wash over me, knowing there was a kernel of truth in them. I let that bitter truth quell the anger still building inside me. When the anger finally subsided, I took a deep breath and turned to look at her.

“Audrey, I’m so sorry,” I said. “I’m sorry for what I did to you back then. But I was a stupid kid who didn’t know how to express what I felt, and I was selfish, too. I didn’t want to get tied down yet, and I was afraid that staying with you would do just that. I wish I could take it all back. I know I can’t,” I added quickly before she could interrupt. “But I wish I could. And I understand why you would wait to tell me about Claire.”

She blinked, as if she couldn’t believe what I was saying. Her lips parted slightly. “You’re not mad?” she asked, sounding hesitant and more than a little surprised.

“That’s complicated. Less angry and more hurt, maybe,” I admitted. “Frustrated that I could have had ten years with my daughter that I’ll never get to have back because of the way I treated you. But I understand. You didn’t want to risk her getting hurt in any way.”

She swallowed, eyes beginning to water. “I thought it was the right thing to do,” she said. “Now I don’t know. Maybe I should have told you sooner.”

“Does she know?” I asked.

She shook her head. I hesitated, the question I was dying to ask pressing on my lips. Worrying about the answer wasn’t going to change anything, though.

“Are you going to tell her?” I finally asked.

Biting her lip, she glanced away. “I’ve always told her that her dad went and joined the military after she was born, and we lost contact. That was the closest I could get to the truth with her. But I guess there’s no hiding it anymore,” she said. “She’ll find out sooner or later at this point. So, yes, I just have no idea how to explain that she’s been living with her dad for the last couple of months, and I’ve been hiding it from her.”

She started pacing, running her fingers through her hair. “God, how do I tell her any of this? She’s going to hate me and think I’m a terrible mother. I was just trying to protect her.”

I stepped forward again, hands cupping her face. A tear began trailing along the side of her nose, and I swiped it away with my thumb.

“If you think you made a mistake here, I can promise you that mine were ten times worse,” I said. “And I’m going to make it up to you. To both of you. I swear.”

I bent down, kissing first one cheek, and then the other, tasting the salt from her tears. My lips brushed gently across hers, lingering.

What started as a gentle, reassuring kiss turned deeper, more fervent. Her hands knotted into fists in my shirt as she pulled me closer to her. A primal snarl escaped my lips, and my hand went to the back of her head, holding her in place as my mouth claimed hers. She melted against me. The feel of her breasts pressing against my chest made my cock twitch. I needed her.

Without asking, I lifted her up off her feet, keeping her against me. Her legs locked around my waist and I carried her to the bedroom. My mouth went to her neck, nibbling gently. The soft moan that escaped her and the way she leaned into it drove me and my wolf wild with hunger.

The instant we were inside, I kicked the door shut with my foot. Her fingers were tangled in my hair. I needed her, needed her in a way I had never experienced before. And this time, I wasn’t going to let her get away.