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I hadn’t been back to Harbor Mills in over fifteen years.

A company I had fleeting contact with over the years took care of the maintenance of the house.

Yet, even after so long, I began to recognize things.

An old, run-down farm that sat at one side of the highway was still there, though the ancient farmhouse was now nothing but a pile of rotting lumber, having finally collapsed under its weight.

A new Dollar General store had been built at the entrance to Harbor Mills.

But other than that, everything looked like it had been stuck in some sort of stasis. A time capsule of my youth.

“Are there other shifters here?” Ashton asked.

The question caught me so off-guard that I nearly swerved the car into the oncoming lane.

That wasn’t the real question he’d been wanting to ask, was it?

We’d never talked about his real father, but he’d probably always wondered about him.

My boy had been born an alpha, and I’d made sure he understood from a young age what that meant.

Yet, as a human, I could never truly help him through the change that was beginning to take place in his body.

He’d begun puberty only a few months ago, but it had somehow started sooner than I thought. Was he now further along? I didn’t think so. Otherwise, Ashton would have broken Perry’s jaw and not just his nose when he punched him the other day.

“There are,” I said. “Harbor Mills has a small pack. Um, your father’s family is in charge of it. Your grandfather is the alpha. It was around two hundred members the last time I was here. It may still be the same size.”

Ashton nodded, like he’d already known the answer before I spoke. Then, in a tone that tried its best to be conversational and nonchalant, he said, “Does my dad still live here?”

Bingo. There it was. The big question. Maybe that was the reason he hadn’t fought me on the move. Leaving his friends behind was awful, but the chance to finally meet his real father must have been too tempting to miss out on.

My first and greatest love. Cole Garrett. Six-foot-four inches of walking, talking alpha wolf. He’d swept me off my feet, and I’d fallen head over heels for the guy. Then, after some big issue with his family, he’d left me. I hadn’t known I was pregnant when he broke my heart and vanished.

“No, sweetie,” I said in a soft voice. “He doesn’t live here anymore.”

Ashton didn’t answer, just continued to stare out the window as we turned into the old neighborhood where my grandmother had lived.

What I didn’t tell Ashton—and I would soon—was that his grandfather did still live here.

One of the reasons I’d so willingly accepted Stormy’s solution was because I hoped the old man might finally acknowledge his grandson.

Might, in fact, help him through puberty and the upcoming first shift Ashton would have to deal with.

Things had not ended well between Cole’s family and me, and it was most likely a long shot, but worth a chance. I’d do anything for my boy.

My grandmother’s house looked the same, although the grass needed to be cut. Other than that, the maintenance company had kept it in good shape all the years since her death. Since I didn’t have the remote, I had to park in the driveway and manually punch in the garage code on the keypad.

After I’d pulled the car in, Ashton got out and looked around. “Kinda small, don’t you think? There isn’t even a bathroom.”

“It’s the garage, smartass.”

“ Oh ,” he said with exaggerated understanding. “Got it.”

“Come on. We can unpack once we get settled in.”

“Great. I gotta pee.”

The house had that musty scent of disuse. It was still decorated the same way my grandmother had done it, and as I stepped in after all these years, I was hit with a sense of deep nostalgia.

“Your room will be down there. You have your own bathroom,” I said, pointing down the hall.

“Sweet. I’ll be right back,” he said, hurrying to inspect his new living arrangements—and empty his bladder.

The house was smaller than what we were used to, but more than big enough for the two of us.

I walked around, flipping on a few of the lights, and chuckled when I saw the ancient tube-style TV sitting on the cabinet in front of the couch.

Grandma had never been one to invest in new technology.

At least the house had central heating and air.

“Hey, Mom?” Ashton called as he came down the hall. “The toilet won’t flush.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, it flushed, but it won’t fill back up.”

Frowning, I walked over to the kitchen sink and turned on the tap. Nothing. Only a faint clank in the pipes.

“Shit,” I muttered.

The trip to Harbor Mills had taken us two days, and I’d called the morning of our departure to confirm with the local utilities company that everything was turned back on. The electricity was working, but they’d obviously neglected to get the water back on.

“No water?” Ashton said with wide eyes. “We really are in the boonies. Do we have to hunt and forage for food?”

“Very funny. Hang on, let me phone them.”

I dialed the local water company to find out what the hell was going on. Apparently, we were “on the list” and someone was assigned to come out that very day to turn it on. I told her I expected them soon, and she promised us they’d make sure we were the next stop.

When I ended the call, a small flame of irritation roiled in my chest. Things weren’t going as smoothly as I’d have liked for the first fifteen minutes back in Harbor Mills.

“Let’s get our bags inside, then we can go to the grocery store. We need to get the pantry and fridge stocked up, anyway. We can do that while we wait for the water guy to get here.”

Ashton took his two suitcases and backpack to his room, then helped me with my things.

In the hurry to escape, it had felt like we were taking too much.

Now that we were here, it really looked like we were refugees running from something bad and only taking the clothes on our backs. It depressed the hell out of me.

We didn’t bother unpacking and headed straight to the store after unloading the car. Ashton spent the drive inspecting the town. I was delighted to see a new park had been built in my absence. It had a playground, a small baseball field, and, to Ashton’s excitement, four basketball courts.

“I can walk here,” Ashton said. “It’s only like a mile from the house. Would that be okay?”

Harbor Mills was a small and safe town, at least it had been when I was younger. Nothing I saw told me much had changed in that aspect.

“That’s probably fine. Do you want to go shoot hoops later?”

He shrugged noncommittally. A basic response from a teenager. I took it to mean, “ Maybe I will, and maybe I won’t. I don’t want you to think I’m too excited because that wouldn’t be cool.”

The grocery store was near the center of town. Though small, it would have everything we’d need. Once inside, Ashton grabbed a cart and began loading it with bags of chips, boxes of cookies, and other junk food.

“You know we have to buy some fruit and vegetables, too, right?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”

We rounded the corner to go down the canned food aisle, and that was when my day really turned to shit. A woman stood in front of me, her eyes widening with comical shock and surprise.

“ Avery ?”

“Hello, Farrah,” I said in a dry monotone.

Ashton frowned, glancing at me, then back at the woman. He was confused. No reason he shouldn’t be. This was his aunt. An aunt he’d never met or even heard about his entire life. Cole’s sister was not someone I’d ever wanted to see again.

When I found out I was pregnant after Cole left, I’d gone to her, desperate for her help to get in contact with him.

The woman had never liked me, had always thought her brother could do better.

When I told her I was expecting Cole’s child, she’d acted cold and disinterested.

In vague terms, she’d basically accused me of screwing around and said she didn’t believe it was Cole’s baby.

Even then, I’d begged her to get word to Cole.

I’d thought if he knew he had a child on the way, he might come back to me, pack drama be damned.

When Farrah came to me three days later and told me Cole wanted nothing to do with me or the baby, a piece of my heart broke off.

She said he wanted me to leave his family alone, and that I should never try to contact him again.

Farrah had left me there, a sobbing, heartbroken mess. Less than three months later, my grandmother, the only family I had, suddenly passed away. It was the worst year of my entire life. Without her, I’d fled Harbor Mills before Ashton was born and had never looked back.

Farrah looked at Ashton, her eyes going even wider. Any genetics I’d contributed must have been locked away somewhere deep inside him because he looked exactly like his father, and Farrah was seeing it now.

Rage filled my chest at the look on her face. Had she truly never believed that I was pregnant with Cole’s child? I supposed Cole hadn’t believed it, either. If he had, surely he would have contacted me at some point over the last fifteen years.

My anger was only tempered by how spooked Farrah looked. Like she’d seen a ghost.

“Wh… what are you doing here?” she finally stammered after tearing her eyes away from Ashton.

Her eyes flicked to the mark on my cheek where Perry had hit me. Sudden and intense shame filled me, but the old anger quickly wiped it away.

“I came home,” I said, then glanced at Ashton. No reason to hide the other reason I’d returned. “This is Ashton. He’s, uh, well, he’s starting puberty. He needs a pack to help guide him. I hoped that, maybe, your father might?—”

“I don’t see that happening,” Farrah said, her eyes flicking back to Ashton every few seconds.

Weariness, heavy and nearly debilitating, settled over me.

After everything that had happened the last few days, I was beginning to think nothing in life would be easy again.

Ever. Still, I had to try. I’d do whatever it took to help Ashton.

Even if I had to grovel at the feet of the Harbor Mills alpha.

“Look, Farrah, can you just tell me if you’ve spoken or seen Cole lately? Maybe he could talk to your father.”

Farrah’s face grew even more tense and pensive at the mention of her brother.

Ashton’s head jerked up. I hadn’t kept everything from him. He knew his father’s name. From the look in his eyes, I had the feeling he was beginning to put the pieces together on who this woman was.

Finally, Farrah said, “Cole washed his hands of this place, same as I did, same way as I thought you did. I don’t…” she trailed off, glancing at Ashton’s face again, then continued, “I don’t think anything has changed since you left as far as my family is concerned.”

I hadn’t seen this woman in fifteen years, and within three minutes, I already wanted to slap her. I wasn’t in this town for her, or even for myself. I’d returned to get my son the help he needed, help I couldn’t provide.

“That’s fine, Farrah, but you can bet I’m still going to try to contact Lance. You can let him know, or you can let it be a surprise. Up to you,” I said, and turned away from her, pushing my cart harder than was necessary and slamming it into a display of pretzels. The packets crashed to the floor.

“Mom?” Ashton said. “Am I related to this lady?—”

“Ashton Carlisle, get your butt over here,” I barked.

We grabbed a few more items, then hurried to the register. I did not want to see Farrah again. Thankfully, Ashton stayed silent as well, though I could see the hundreds of questions he wanted to ask in his eyes.

I drove away from the grocery store more tired than I’d ever been in my entire life.

All I wanted was a nap—and maybe a quick do-over of the last fifteen years.

A time machine might be better, though. Then I could go back to before Cole left town and tell him the truth.

To this day, I thought that if I’d told Cole to his face, he’d have believed me.

He’d have stayed. That was probably childish, wishful thinking.

His family had told him he had a child, yet he’d never even tried to make contact with me.

That told me all I needed to know about Cole Garrett.