ZEKES POV
The shouting from the south garden reached my office through the open window. I recognized both voices immediately. Layla's shrill accusations and Cecelia's
measured responses that were starting to fray at the edges.
I was down the stairs and across the courtyard before I consciously decided to move. Something about hearing Cecelia's voice raised in anger made my chest tight with an emotion I couldn't name.
Protectiveness maybe. Or guilt that she was dealing with Layla's poison at all.
The scene in the garden stopped me short. Layla stood with Cameron pressed against her side, using the boy like a
shield. Cecelia faced them both, her clothes damp with water and her expression cold in a way I'd never seen during our
marriage. Back then, she'd always softened when confronted, always tried to make peace.
This Cecelia had learned to bare her teeth.
"What's going on here?" My voice came out harder than I intended
Layla spun toward me, relief flooding her face. "Zeke, thank goodness. This woman was attacking Cameron-"
"She's lying, Papa." Cameron's small voice cut through his mother's words. "I threw rocks and got her wet and she asked me to stop nicely but I called her a name because
Mama said she's trying to replace me."
The air left my lungs. I looked at Layla, waiting for her to deny it, to
explain that Cameron had misunderstood. But she just lifted her chin in that defiant way she had, daring me to challenge
her.
"You told him what?" The words came out quiet but I felt my Alpha authority bleeding into them, making the nearby guards shift nervously.
"I told him the truth." Layla's voice shook but she held her ground. "That woman is trying to take his place in your life. Cameron deserves to know what's happening."
"Cameron is a child." My control was slipping and I didn't care anymore. "He doesn't need to be caught up in adult
problems. He doesn't need his mother poisoning his mind against people he doesn't even know."
"I'm protecting him."
"You're using him." I moved closer to Layla, close enough to see her eyes widen. "You're using a little boy as a weapon in
whatever twisted game you're playing. And I'm done with it."
The confrontation escalated quickly
after that. Layla trying to justify her actions. Me ordering her back to her quarters under guard. Cameron crying because
he'd never heard me speak to his mother that way before.
I kept Cameron with me after the guards took Layla away.
The boy needed to understand what he'd done wrong, but more than that, he needed to know this wasn't his fault.
Children shouldn't be weapons in adult wars.
We sat on one of the garden benches while I explained things as simply as I could. Yes, Cecelia was
someone important from my past. Yes, she had a son who might be my son too. No, that didn't mean Cameron was being replaced. No, Cecelia wasn't trying to hurt anyone.
Cameron listened with the serious expression he got when processing difficult information. "But Mama said-"
"I know what your mama said." I kept my voice gentle even though rage still simmered under my skin. "But sometimes
adults say things they don't mean when they're scared or hurt. Your mama is
scared right now."
"Of what?"
Of losing her place here. Of facing consequences for attempted murder. Of the truth finally catching up with all her lies. But I couldn't say any of that to a nearly four year old.
"Of things changing," I said instead. "Change can be scary. But that doesn't make it okay to be mean to other people."
Cameron nodded slowly. "I'm sorry I called her a bad name."
"You need to apologize to Miss Cecelia, not to me."
"Okay." Cameron hesitated. "Papa? Do you love the ghost
boy more than me?"
The question drove straight into my chest. I pulled Cameron onto my lap, hugging him tight. "I love you, Cameron. That
hasn't changed and it won't change. The other boy, Golden, I don't even know him yet. But he's in danger and needs help. That's why everyone's working so hard to find him."
"Because he's your real son?"
I thought about lying, about softening the blow. But Cameron deserved honesty, even if the truth hurt.
"I don't know if he's my biological son yet," I said carefully. "But even if he is, that doesn't make you less important to me. I raised you. I've been there for every birthday, every
scraped knee, every nightmare. That matters more than biology."
Cameron seemed satisfied with that answer. I sent him off
with a guard to get cleaned up for dinner, watching his small figure disappear into the palace. The boy was
innocent in all this mess. He didn't deserve to be caught between Layla's schemes and my mistakes.
I stayed in the garden after Cameron left, sitting on the bench with my head in my hands. Everything was spiraling
out of control. Golden was still missing. The investigation into Layla was
revealing layers of deception I'd been too blind to see. Cecelia was back in my life, close enough to touch but further away than ever.
And I was failing everyone.
Footsteps on the gravel path made me look up. Cecelia
walked slowly toward the fountain, her damp clothes clinging to her frame. She looked exhausted in a way that went
deeper than lack of sleep.
"I'm sorry about that," I said, standing. "About Layla and Cameron. You shouldn't have had to deal with that."
"It's fine." But her voice said it wasn't fine at all.
"It's not fine. Layla had no right to use Cameron against you. To poison his mind like that." I ran my hand through my hair in frustration.
"I should have seen what she was doing. Should have stopped it before it got this far.
Cecelia moved to the fountain, trailing her fingers through the water. "You can't control everything, Zeke. As much as you try."
"I can control what happens in my own pack house."
"Can you?" She looked at me then, really looked at me. "Because from where I'm standing, things have been out of your control for a long time. Maybe they always were."
The words stung because they
were true. I'd thought I had everything managed. Thought I could keep Layla content while maintaining order, thought I could honor Cecelia's memory while moving forward, thought
I could raise Cameron and lead my pack without anything falling apart.
Instead, everything had fallen apart. I just hadn't noticed because I'd been too busy maintaining the illusion of control.
