5 Years Later

Renee’s POV

I stand before the mirror and put on the finishing touches of my makeup. I click on the cap of the lipstick and take a step back. My reflection catches me by surprise. I stare at the woman in the mirror and like what I see.

No longer is there a timid and submissive wife. The woman in the mirror is bold, her blonde hair and red lipstick is wild and sexy. Annie would never consider being blonde, it would stand out too much.

Renee on the other hand welcomes her accentuated striking features.

I may have the same face as I did five years ago, but somehow I look more alive. I feel more alive.

Just then, I catch a glimpse of part of my life waltzing into the room through the reflection in the mirror. “Mommy!” Debbie exclaims, wearing the dress I designed, though she’s more like swimming in it as the tail trails behind her.

I spin around and cock my head, “Well don’t you look beautiful,” Debbie gives a half twirl and a full smile.

“Thank you very much, but this is for you to wear,” Debbie says shimmying out of the dress. I laugh. It isn’t lost on me that her boldness is something she learned from me, from Renee. Annie would’ve never raised such an outspoken daughter, surely not with a husband like Eric around.

Of course, with Eric out of the picture and our connection being lost means that I am a wolfless person, and Debbie pays the price for that. Though Debbie is skinny to the point of almost scrawny, she still resembles her dad.

Thinking of Eric, my heart still aches involuntarily.

It’s moments like this where I see Annie buried underneath this facade trying to resurface, and I quickly have to shove her back down. “And why that dress?”

“Because,” Debbie says hopping up onto my bed. “It’s the best dress ever and you can find me a new daddy while wearing it tonight” Speechless, I can only manage to look at her in amusement.

Sometimes, having such an outspoken daughter has its drawbacks. Like the fact that she’s never shy about telling me how I ought to spend my night. Though I can’t blame her. I always wanted to know who my father was too.

I do feel a bit like Cinderella as I get ready to go to this welcome party at this company’s designer competition that I won.

Though it’s not just some random company. It’s at the most established clothing company in the nation, Blue Moon Group and there’s going to be a sea of designers all vying for this one position as lead designer.

I was already offered a job simply by winning, but nothing is set and stone. I haven’t even met the employer yet. But I need this job. It’s not just about the title, the pay is what matters.

Truth is, since I left Eric, I left behind all the status and wealth in the world that wouldn’t be so bad for me, but Debbie is ill. She may have a strong personality, but her physique is weak. She needs special treatment if she’s ever going to be strong like her peers.

I’ve given her everything I can, more than she knows and this is the one thing I’ve yet been able to do for her. So, tonight is important. I get one shot to learn this job and Debbie’s right that is the best damn turquoise dress. “All right then,” I concede, extending my hand out “Give it to me.”

Once dressed I step out of our tiny half bathroom and let Debbie inspect my appearance. Her jaw drops open. “Mom,” she says like she can’t believe it’s me. And honestly, I know how she feels. “You look beautiful!” Debbie squeals.

I look in the mirror and see that Debbie is right. I do look good. It’s not just the dress or the make up, but the confidence. It’s the realization that I don’t need to be sad about never seeing Eric again.

———

Third Person POV

The atmosphere in the Blue Moon company office is tense.

Andrew, the pack's beta, is updating the CEO on the new designers party and their onboarding status. "The artists for the ice sculptures would like to know if you want a harp or piano," he says professionally though his eyes cast worrying glances at Eric’s blasé demeanor. His Alpha always gets irritable around this time of year.

"What?" Eric snaps as though Andrew just interrupted some important train of thought.

"The ice sculptures. For tonight’s welcome party?" Andrew says nervously. Eric groans.

"Who cares about ice? It’s going to melt anyways," He kicks his feet onto the desk and pinches the bridge of his nose. Then starts flipping through the competition works of the new designers.

"This dress is exceptional." Eric pointing out a beautiful turquoise dress to his Beta. The dress is a work of art with a flattering cut and bold detailing. There is deceptive simplicity, making the wearer look effortlessly gorgeous. Andrew nods,"Yes, that was one of the winners. All winners have been recruited and will begin work soon."

"Let me see her resume,"Eric repies. He needs to know who creates this dress.

Just before Andrew could hand Eric the documents, someone dramatically pushes the door open.

"Andrew, go get us some water with ice and sliced lemon. It is brutally hot outside." Mia lowers her chunky sunglasses to the bridge of her nose. "And for the love of God, please make sure the lemon is fresh this time," Andrew hates the fact that Mia thinks she’s his boss.

Mia only just starts working here as a designer, but only because she’s with Eric. Her designs aren’t even that good. Mia gasps and takes the photocopy of the winning design dress from Eric’s hand. Her eyes widen in delight.

Though apparently, she has an eye for good design. "I want that!" She yells and looks at Eric expectantly. Eric rubs his temples.

“Mia, I’m working. This dress isn’t owned by the company yet so I can’t just get it for you. Its creative rights have to first be relinquished by the designer who I have yet to meet and sign any papers,” Eric says sounding exhausted just from explaining the process.

“Well, sorry for not knowing,” Mia says shifting her weight on her feet. She’s never been good at apologizing. “Anyway,” Mia says brushing aside the encounter, “you do recall my son Nilo, don’t you?” Mia says sarcastically.

“Yes, I know Nilo,” Eric says, obviously. Mia’s lips curve down to a dramatic frown.

“He misses you, he hasn’t seen you in a while” Eric sighs, softening his expression briefly.

He stands from his seat and puts his hands on Mia’s shoulders. "I’ll visit in a few days and bring him a gift," he says. Mia’s frown quickly turns into a satisfactory smile and she claps her hands together.

"Good," Eric tries to return her smile and then steers her toward the door.

“Go. I have lots of work. Someone will give you water downstairs,” he tells her knowing Mia would use that as an excuse to stay longer.

Once Mia is gone, Andrew continues to talk about the welcome party. “The party is at 6:00 pm tomorrow. I’ll tell the ice company to arrive last, the ice might melt considering it’s July,” He didn’t mean to further point out it’s the anniversary month of his ex-wife’s death. Eric’s eyes fly open.

Andrew tucks his notes away knowing what he says now about tomorrow’s itinerary will be landing on deaf ears. Instead, he watches as Eric rifles through his wallet and pulls out a small square photograph.

He stares at it for some time as Andrew patiently waits while his Alpha proceeds to have his moment.

It’s the very same B-ultrasound that was in the drawer the day she got hit by a car. Eric lost not only his fated mate that day but his child too. He grimaces as he recalls the pulling of emotions from that day.

Finding out you’re having a child in the same instant realizing it had just died caused a head to explode in his Eric’s skull as he were the one hit by the car. That same headache is coming on now. What would have happened if he had just stopped her, if he had done something other than stand there like a fool. What if...The guilt and sorrow plagues him constantly. Even after five years, her loss still hurts like it has just happened.

“Take me home,” he instructs Andrew carefully putting the ultrasound back his wallet, taking care not to wrinkle it. That piece of paper is the last thing he has of Annie, and it is a constant reminder of what he lost. “Take me home and then directly to the party tomorrow.” Andrew nods. That’s an order he doesn’t mind following.

----------

The next day on the way to the party, Andrew glances over at Eric who’s passed out in the passenger seat. He had to call his Alpha several times before he finally answered. He said he was asleep after being up all night and would be down shortly.

Andrew was driving, letting Eric attempt to relax before the big night of socializing ahead. Eric couldn't remember the last time he slept well. With Annie-Eric buried that thought. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to relax.

SCREECH-

Andrew slammed on the brakes.

"What the fuck-"Eric lunges forward but the seatbelt prevents him from hitting his head on the dashboard.

"There-there was a kid in the road," Andrew interrupted, panicked.

"What?” Eric growls and rips the seatbelt off of him. He slams the car door shut and looks around and sure enough, a small child is standing dumbfounded in the middle of the street.

"Debbie!" Some older woman still on the sidewalk calls out. She tries to hurry over. "I told you to look both ways," the old lady scolds, but Debbie isn’t paying attention.

Eric crouches down, meeting her eyes. "Are you okay, sweetheart?" He asks in a gentle voice that Andrew doesn't know he is capable of. She’s looking up at Eric with bright green eyes smiling as an idea formulates in her mind.

When he looks at her, the words fall short. They hold each other's gaze and though they’re meeting for the first time, it’s as if they’ve known each other all their lives. “Would you like to be my daddy?” Debbie asks.

Third Person POV

Eric and Andrew stand gobsmacked for a moment. Did she just ask what I think she asked? Eric wonders to himself, while Andrew just starts cackling.

Just then the old woman reaches them and Eric’s gaze hardens. "You should really keep track of your young," Eric reprimands Margaux. He looks her over and decides to leave out his comment that he is surprised she could even have children at her age.

The harshness of his tone and his strong aura startle Margaux. She puts her hands on her hips. "What are you doing?" Margaux asks Debbie breathlessly.

"I wanted to go see my mom," Debbie chimes in causing everyone’s eyes to fall on her.

"She's at a party. The--" she scrunches her nose, trying to remember, and Eric thinks he has never seen anything cuter. After a second, she perks up and exclaims, "Mama's at the Blue Moon welcome party!'

"Really,"Eric smiles,"Well that's where we are going now. Do you want to come with us?" Debby nodded furiously. "Let's go! I'll introduce you to Mama, and then she can make you my daddy!"

Eric bends at the waist so he’s eye level with Debbie. "I’ll take you to her,” he stands up and extends his hand out for Debbie to take but Margaux pulls Debbie next to her. Debbie is her responsibility and Margaux sure isn’t going to lose her privileges of watching this sweet little girl. "I don’t think that’s a good idea," Margaux says shaking her head.

Eric checks his temper. What he wants to tell this woman is he doesn’t care what she thinks. Instead, he puts his Alpha Voice on.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot. If her mother is going to be one of my employees, I find it to be my responsibility to return her to her mother." Eric flashes a sheepish smile, "Besides, she almost die trying to go find her mother."

Margaux wasn’t born yesterday. She’s picking up on his subtle threat.

"Oh, all right," Margaux says, forcing a smile. Eric nods his approval at Margaux for her smart decision.

_____

Renee’s POV

The welcome party is going smoothly. I have already gotten a lot of complements on my turquoise dress. Most of my future collegeagues seems nice and welcoming. I have found a few new mothers who are giving me tips about becoming a working mom, when out of the corner of my eye I see a small child wandering around.

"I am so sorry to interrupt you, but I need to check on something really quickly" l says. I rush towards the place I see her, dread filling my stomach. What is Debby doing here? I find her on the other side of the room, and when she sees me, her little face lights up. "Mama" she manages to say before I run and sweep her up in my arms. "Debby," I frantically say, "What are you doing here? Are you okay?" I look up and down, trying to see if she's hurt. I repeatedly told the nanny to watch over her.

"I wanted to see you,” she says simply. "And maybe see if you found me a new daddy yet", she adds with a sweet smile.

l look at my daughter in amazement. Her dedication is serious. “I have not,” l tell her. Debbie squints her eyes at me.

“Well, I found someone,” she says and l widens my eyes. Where is Margaux?

Proud of herself, Debbie twirls on her heels. “A handsome uncle brought me here and I want him to be my daddy,” Debbie says as though it’s a done deal. l sigh in defeat. I hug her tightly. We are going to have to have a don't get into strangers cars talk later, but for now, I am just glad she is safe. "Let's go to the snack bar and get you something to eat," I say.

"Pretzels?" Debby says excitedly.

"Pretzels," I nod with a mock seriousness. Just as l stand up, a high-pitched scream pierces my ears. I pull Debbie close to me out of instinct. If there’s danger, Debbie cannot send for herself.

I look in the direction of where the scream comes from. Everyone turns towards the doors, when they walk in. My blood runs cold as I see Eric and Mia walk in, arm and arm, looking beautiful and powerful and... perfect.

"Gosh, she's so lucky to be with him", someone in front of me fake whispers. Looking back at Mia, I realize she is wearing the dress I design. The same dress I'm wearing.

The person next to her answers in the same loud whisper, "I heard they've always been together, and that he does anything she wants." People swoon at that.

Always been together? I seeth. The words keep repeating in my head. No one knows that Eric had been married before-no, Eric erased me. He's always been with Mia, just like he's always wanted. Our marriage was just a stain on his perfect life, his perfect career.

Mia has replaced me, even wearing my dress. She is everything he wants.

I steel my heart, even as I feel a white hot rage envelope me. I won't allow Eric to move me, to hurt me. It doesn't matter that he erased me, because I don't need him. I has my daughter, and she is all I need. He never will have her, and that is his loss.

I could hear Mia bragging about my dress as she waltzes in my direction. Everyone assumes that Mia is Eric’s fated mate.

I realize now that the scream is some other designers gawking at Mia’s dress. The dress that I has designed. The distance between me and Mia is suddenly becoming shorter.

Mia's gaze moved to me. A mix of shock, rage, and embarrassment floods her face.

“Your dress is a fake,” she says in disgust to me. She raises her bejeweled arm in the air and snaps her fingers. “Security! Toss this imposter out of here!!!”

Renee’s POV

"Seriously," I laugh out loud. The old me would have slinked off, tried not to make a scene. But not the new me. The new me isn't going to let Mia get away with this.

People begin to crowd to see what’s going on. The pressure comes to a boiling point. Luckily, Eric hasn't noticed me cause l want nothing to do with him after what he did to me. I can’t let Eric see me and I can’t let people think that I’m a fraud. I spent half a year making this dress and aside from Debbie it might be the only other thing in my life that I’m proud of.

l level a look of pure apathy at her. "You can't just blatantly steal my design like that-and then expect people to believe your obvious lies just because you know the CEO," I reply. Mia starts spluttering, but I just keep going. "This dress is the original. We could look at the applications to the New Designers Competition, or you could just look at you haphazardly added lace as an overlay, the uneven hemline, and your neckline is a sloppy sweetheart shape while mine is a deep V"

Mia's face turns bright red.

The next one I see actually makes me laugh. "The soul line isn’t even stitched together properly." I wish it didn’t, but the thought of Mia tripping her dress ripping fills me with a mean delight. A few people standing nearby snicker. Her mouth hangs open as if she wants to protest, but knows that she can’t. "The dress is counterfeit," I tell her simply, putting the nail in the coffin. It’s a small win compared to all that she’s taken from me, but I’ll still count it.

The rest of the crowd murmurs amongst themselves. I should take the opportunity to walk away, to grab Debbie and head straight for the exit.

I can’t work here knowing that Eric is the CEO. It’s too risky. I knew this opportunity was too good to be true.

But somehow I can’t seem to get my feet to move. A small voice tells me to stay and I don’t know if it’s because the pay will help cure Debbie or maybe it’s Annie- before I can finish that thought, a presence approaching commands the attention of the room.

“What’s going on here?” A voice I thought I never would hear again cuts through the crowd. It’s his voice. I quickly step away from the scene before Eric can come any closer.

I allow Mia to do the explaining since that’s now her responsibility. As long as those attending the party know I’m not a fake, I don’t care what Eric thinks about me.

I awkwardly plant myself behind a colleague and hope his long black dress coat can shield me. The crowd is enamored by Eric.

Mia rushes over to Eric before he can take another step. I start to relax, maybe he won’t see me after all. Still, to be safe I try to maneuver through the crowd which is becoming increasingly impossible.

I sneak around, trying to stay low and politely say “excuse me,” to people, but all I want to do is run. I want to plow through the crowd and run as far as I can.

Even though he may not think I actually am Annie, I don’t know what he would do to someone who even looks like Annie.

Maybe that’s why he stayed with Mia. We couldn’t look more different. She’s petite, with straight long brown hair and dark brown eyes. I have blonde curls, a curvier figure, and hazel eyes. Though Eric has never said he had a preference, he never showed a liking to me.

"Oh darling," Mia says in a sweet tone, "A new artist was just defaming me. They are just jealous of my talent." I hear Mia say from somewhere behind me. She speaks as though I’m beneath her. "I already handled it," she adds. Sure she did, I roll my eyes.

I find Debbie over by the hors d’oeuvre and grab her hand making her drop the bacon-wrapped scallop. I try to get us out of here.

"Can we go meet the nice Uncle now?" Debbie whines. "He’s handsome!" She adds like that will persuade me to want to stay a second longer.

"This isn’t a place for kids," I tell her. It’s just about the only good excuse you can tell a child even if there isn’t any real good reason as to why not.

Besides, the only handsome person I’ve seen here is Eric so whoever Debbie met and is trying to be her new father, I probably won’t be interested.

I know it’s been five years, but there isn’t anyone I’ve even considered dating.

Finally, we reach the exit and I think we’re home free until Debbie drags her heels. "Uncle!" She shouts and wriggles out of my arms, panic running rampant through me. The more time we spend here, the more likely we are to be seen by Eric.

"Debbie!" I call after her, but it’s pointless. She’s already halfway across the room. I have no idea who this uncle is, but I guess I should meet the man who brought my daughter here and thank him. Or yell at him. I also need to tell Margaux to not let Debbie out of her sight.

With an annoyed sigh, I go to get Debbie and make a mental note to pick her up and carry her outside this time. Just then I see her and rather than run towards her, I freeze. She’s dragging the one person I didn't want to see-Eric.

I dare to take a quick look at Eric and instantly recoil at his intense stare, maybe even a slight look of shock. I turn myself around, pretending I’m not this girl's mother. It’s a bad plan, a stupid plan, but I’m out of options.

"This is my mom!" I hear Debbie proudly say to Eric. I bring my shoulders to my ears and try to literally cover myself with my own body.

"Turn around," a cold voice commands me. I took a large breath. I could do this. I slowly turn around, meeting Eric's intense green eyes. They are boring into me, as if trying to unravel me. Up close, he looked even more handsome ... But his eyes seem more sunken than usual with slight bags beneath them. Did he look haggard? I has never seen him like this. Eric doesn't do"haggard."

"This is the man I want to be my daddy," Debbie continues. I nearly choke. I look back at Eric and behind his eyes I see his mind jumping hoops trying to figure me out.

I know I look different, I am different but being around Eric makes me feel like I’m right back to being Annie and the worst part, I think he’s picking up on that.

No one says anything for a bit. The silence drags on as Eric studies me, looking for any obvious sign that I am who he thinks I look like.

Debbie looks between the both of us, "Do you already know each other?" Debbie asks with a hint of hope.

"No sweetie," I take another deep breath, and in a calm voice, "He's a stranger."

"Say that again." Eric raises his voice, forcing me to meet his gaze again. "Who am I to her?"