My Mate Saved Ex’s Pup and Abandoned Our Son

My best friend, Diana, always said my seven-year-long unrequited love was a complete waste of my life.

So on the night my wolf first answered Jaxson Vance's, Diana slipped a moonpetal herb into my drink and pushed me into his bed.

He claimed me with a frenzied possession, our bodies tangled together until dawn.

Afterward, Jaxson coldly agreed to a bonding ceremony. But as soon as it was over, he vanished from my life, citing the need to expand the Vance Group's European operations.

He was gone for four years.

I gave birth to and raised our son, Desmond, all alone, waiting for him to return.

Until, on Desmond's birthday, a breaking news headline caught my eye.

The news was flooded with intimate photos of him, his ex-girlfriend Selene Sterling, and her son, Ashford, vacationing in Europe. They looked like a perfect family of three.

My heart shattered.

I submitted an application to the Alpha Council to sever our mate bond. I took my son and erased our names from the Vance pack's official records.

I left that place of heartbreak behind for good.

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1

Suddenly, the pup training center collapsed.

The housekeeper's call came through, her voice distorted with panic.

"The building collapsed! Desmond is still inside!"

My heart stopped. Desmond was in there for his preliminary empathy training.

When I rushed to the scene, all I found was a wreckage of twisted metal and shattered concrete.

Desmond was curled up under a broken steel beam, a twisted shard of silver-laced rebar piercing his calf, dark blood seeping from the wound.

"Mom..." He stumbled into my arms, tears mixing with dust to streak down his pale cheeks.

"Father really doesn't love me, does he?" His voice was broken by sobs.

His words shredded my heart.

"When the building collapsed, Father was the first one to arrive. I thought... I thought he came to save me."

Desmond's small body trembled in my arms.

"I called out to him for help, begged him to save me. But he... he just ran right past me."

"He ran straight to Ashford, picked him up, and left me alone under the rubble."

"When the rescue team asked, he told everyone he was Ashford's father. He didn't even glance at me..."

I held my trembling, bleeding son tightly to my chest, unshed tears burning my eyes.

I wanted to say something to comfort him, but the thought of Jaxson's chilling indifference over the years made the words catch in my throat.

A wave of painful regret washed over me.

My mate, Jaxson, had finally returned—four years after abandoning me the day of our bonding ceremony.

I had thought that after four years, he might have finally changed his mind about us.

But I was wrong. Terribly wrong.

He came back only because Selene wanted to return to the Vance pack.

He arranged everything for them, even enrolling Ashford in the most elite pup training program.

I looked down at my son's wound. The silver's poison was eating away at his flesh, suppressing his natural healing. With a trembling hand, I channeled my empathetic abilities, trying to soothe the agony radiating from his mind.

This physical trauma might leave a permanent scar, but the wound to his spirit would take much longer to heal.

"Dad..." Desmond whimpered in pain as I tried to stabilize the silver shard in his leg.

"Why doesn't Father want me?"

I bit my lip until I tasted blood.

On the day of Jaxson's return, Desmond had spent a month learning to bake his father's favorite welcome cookies.

He had dressed in his best little suit and asked me nervously, "Mom, will Father like the cookies I made?"

I had nodded. "You're his only son. Of course, he'll love them."

But when we arrived at the private airstrip, brimming with hope, we saw Jaxson holding Selene's hand, with five-year-old Ashford nestled in his arms.

Desmond and I froze.

Ashford ran over and knocked the cookie box from Desmond's trembling hands. The cookies Desmond had spent a month perfecting shattered across the tarmac.

Jaxson barely glanced at the mess. "Sorry, I don't like sweets. You two should head back first."

"I need to help Selene and Ashford get settled."

He didn't spare a single glance for Desmond, but his eyes were full of warmth when he looked at Ashford.

My gaze fell to the scattered cookies on the ground, and I squeezed my eyes shut in despair.

"I'm sorry, Desmond. It's all my fault. Next time you're in trouble, you call for me. I will always come for you."

That night, Desmond woke up from a nightmare, screaming out "rubble" and "help me."

My heart fractured.

If it weren't for that forced bond four years ago, Desmond wouldn't be suffering like this.