His First Love Took My Place as Mother

At nineteen, I married Carter Blackwell when half of Ashborne Pack was waiting for him to lose his Alpha claim.

His accounts were frozen, his allies vanished, and I sold my mother's moonstone pendant to keep the Alpha House running.

Carter swore I was the one person he would never replace.

Five years later, he wore the Alpha ring, I wore the Luna mark, and our eight-year-old son Eli still came to me whenever he was scared.

I thought the worst years were behind us.

Then Carter's first love came home a widow.

Sienna Graves moved into our house "for a few weeks."

My chair at breakfast became hers.

Eli started asking her for help before he asked me.

Then I found a Mother's Day invitation hidden under his schoolbooks.

That night, I stopped outside Sienna's guest suite when I heard my son's voice.

"Sienna should come," Eli whispered. "She's more fun than Mom."

"Don't say that where Lena can hear you," Carter said.

"I don't want to take her place," Sienna murmured.

"You're not," Carter answered. "You're just giving Eli what he needs."

***

I set the steaming bowl of honey oats in front of Eli’s usual spot at the breakfast table. My eight-year-old son ignored the food, walked right past me, and climbed into the seat next to Sienna.

"Can you help me build my school family tree tonight?" Eli asked her, his voice bright.

Sienna had moved into the Alpha House twelve hours ago.

Carter reached across the table, his hand wrapping around the back of my chair—the one right next to his at the head of the table. He shoved the heavy oak wood toward Sienna.

"Sit here," Carter told her. "You need a little home-like feeling after losing your mate."

I stared at the empty space where my seat used to be. Five years ago, the pack council froze Carter’s inheritance. I sold my mother’s moonstone pendant, dropped out of university, and emptied my savings to keep this house running. On his succession day, he stood before the entire pack and swore he wouldn’t be Alpha without me.

Now, his gaze slid past me entirely. "Lena, don't make our guest feel like a burden."

"I thought we were doing your project tonight, Eli," I said, keeping my tone even.

"Sienna and I are going to do it," Eli mumbled, digging his spoon into a dry bowl of cereal.

I left the dining room without another word.

Later that morning, I found Carter in the hallway. He was programming a silver access badge on the security panel.

"She can stay in the guest room," I told him, crossing my arms. "But a family decision like moving someone in should be discussed with me first."

Carter didn't look up. He dropped the spare badge right into Sienna’s waiting palm. She hovered just behind his shoulder.

"Why are you turning taking care of an old friend into a marriage issue?" Carter asked, his jaw tightening.

"An old friend who left you six years ago to marry into the North Ridge Pack," I shot back. "You told me she was just the past."

Carter’s expression hardened into ice. "She is a widow who just lost her husband, Lena. Not your rival."

He stepped closer, his voice dropping, vibrating with the heavy command of an Alpha. "You are the Luna. At least try not to act so insecure."

Sienna stepped forward, clutching the silver badge against her chest. "I should just go to a motel. I don't want to cause trouble."

"You're staying," Carter snapped, cutting me off before I could speak. "That’s final."

He turned his back to me and escorted her down the hall. He vetoed my voice in my own home, just like that.

The afternoon sun angled through the living room windows as Eli glued photos to a large poster board on the floor. I stepped closer, my stomach plummeting at the arrangement.

He had pasted my picture on the far outer edge of the cardboard. Right in the center, wedged tightly between his photo and Carter's, was a picture of Sienna.

"Why did you put her there?" I asked, my voice tight.

Eli didn't look at me. "Sienna knows about skateboards and video games. She knows cool things."

The badge display flashed a list of permissions before it went dark: family wing, private kitchen, school pickup, after-hours entry. Those were not guest privileges. They were the same permissions Carter had once insisted only the three of us should hold.

"And I don't?"

"You just ask about my homework, if I slept, and if I took my vitamins," he muttered.

Carter walked into the room, leaning against the doorframe. He chuckled.

"It’s good the kid finally has someone to help him relax," Carter said, a smile touching his lips.

I peeled my isolated photo from the edge of the board and held it out to Eli. "You decide where this belongs."

As he reached for it, his elbow knocked his open backpack over. A glossy blue cardstock slipped out onto the rug.

I leaned down and read the bold letters across the top. Mother's Day Showcase: Bring the Woman Who Feels Like Home.

Before my fingers could brush the paper, Eli snatched it up and shoved it deep into his desk drawer.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Nothing," Eli said, his eyes darting to the floor. "The school isn't having an official event this year."

The lie stung worse than a slap. Sienna wasn't just claiming the guest room. She was sliding into the spaces between my husband and my son, pushing me out entirely.

The house grew quiet by ten o'clock. I walked down the carpeted hall toward the guest room, needing to settle this with Carter once and for all.

The door was cracked open. A sliver of yellow light spilled onto the floorboards.

"Let Sienna go," Eli’s hushed voice drifted through the gap. "She’s funnier than Mom."

My feet rooted to the spot.

Carter didn't tell him to stop. He didn't say, Lena is your mother.

"Just don't say that in front of her," Carter replied softly.

"I really don't want to replace anyone," Sienna murmured, her tone laced with gentle concern.

"You aren't replacing her," Carter told Sienna. "You're just giving Eli what he needs right now."

I didn't push the door open. I didn't demand answers.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out. The screen lit up with a text from the prenatal clinic. Appointment reminder: Tomorrow at 9 AM.

I stared at the glowing letters. I had planned to surprise them both with the news of a new baby after Eli's award ceremony next week.

I had spent the last two days imagining Eli pressing his ear to my stomach and Carter finally smiling at me the way he used to. After what I had just heard through the guest-room door, the announcement no longer felt like a celebration. It felt like information I needed to protect until I understood what was happening to my family.

I pressed the power button, plunging the screen into darkness.

Turning away from the crack of light, I walked back to the kitchen. The family calendar hung on the fridge, my appointment card pinned under a magnet. I pulled the small square of paper free.

Opening my leather wallet, I slid the clinic card into the hidden zipper compartment.