Layla's POV

Cameron stood at my window, his small hands pressed against the glass, watching the guards patrol the courtyard below. He'd been quiet all morning, too quiet for a boy who

usually bounced off walls with energy.

"Mama, why is everyone talking about the ghost boy?"

I set down my teacup carefully, forcing my expression into something gentle. "What ghost boy,

sweetheart?"

"The one who looks like Papa." Cameron turned from the window, his blue eyes confused. "Sarah at the kitchens said Papa has another son. A ghost boy who came back from the dead with his dead mama."

My fingers tightened around the teacup handle until I thought it might snap. The staff were gossiping. Of course they were gossiping. Cecelia's return was the biggest scandal to hit the

pack in years.

"Come here, baby." I held out my arms and Cameron climbed into my

lap, his small body warm and solid against mine. Real. Mine. "That woman, Cecelia, she's not a ghost. She's Papa's old

mate from a long time ago."

"Before you?"

"Yes, before me." The lie tasted bitter but necessary. "She went away and now she's back, claiming she has a son."

"Does she?" Cameron's voice went small. "Does Papa have

another son?"

I could lie. I should lie. But Cameron was nearly four years old,

smart enough to piece together truth from the whispers around him. Better he heard it from me, shaped the way I

needed him to understand it.

"She says so," I said carefully. "But you're Papa's son, Cameron. You're the one he raised, the one he loves. That other boy, if he even exists, is just a stranger."

"But everyone keeps talking about him." Cameron's voice wobbled. "They say he's missing and Papa is looking for him. Papa never looks for me like that."

"That's because you're safe here with me." I stroked his hair, the same golden color as Zeke's even if the genetics didn't match. "This woman is trying to trick Papa. She wants to

take your place, make Papa forget about you."

Cameron's eyes widened. "She wants to replace me?"

"She wants to replace both of us." I let real fear bleed into my voice. "If Papa finds her son, if he believes that boy is

his, where does that leave you? Where does that leave me?"

"But Papa loves us." Cameron sounded less certain now. "He said he loves me."

"He does love you, baby. But this woman, she's dangerous. She's going to try to turn Papa against us." I tilted Cameron's chin up so he looked directly at me. "We have to be strong.

We have to show Papa that we're his real family, not some ghost from the past."

Cameron nodded slowly, processing this information the way children do, filtering it through their limited understanding of adult complexities. I could see the

jealousy taking root, the insecurity I'd carefully planted beginning to grow.

Good. Let him be confused and hurt. Let him act out. It would only prove my point that Cecelia's return was destroying the stability we'd built here.

"Can I go play now?" Cameron asked.

"Of course, sweetheart. But remember what I said. Be careful around that woman if you see her. She's not your friend."

Cameron climbed down from my

lap and ran out of the room, his little feet pounding against the hardwood floors. The moment he was gone, my gentle expression dropped.

They'd found the phone. The burner phone I'd been stupid enough to keep hidden in my jewelry box instead of destroying it. The investigators had torn through my quarters yesterday while I watched helplessly, unable to stop them

without admitting guilt.

I'd seen the evidence bags. The phone. The bank statements showing the cash withdrawals I'd

made to pay for information about Cecelia and her brat. The receipt from the private investigator I'd hired to track them

down in Seacreek.

It was only a matter of time before they unlocked the phone and saw the messages. The coordination with the woman I'd

hired to gather intelligence. The planning. The timeline of Golden's kidnapping.

I should run. Pack a bag and disappear before Zeke had me arrested. But where would I go?

I had no allies outside this pack, no resources beyond what Zeke

provided. And Cameron, I couldn't take Cameron without it looking like a kidnapping of my own.

My hands shook as I poured more tea, the liquid sloshing over the rim of the cup. Three years. I'd had three years of relative peace after Cecelia's death. Three years of being the

closest thing to Luna this pack had, of raising Cameron in the palace, of believing that eventually Zeke would forget about his dead mate and see what was right in front of him.

Then she came back. Rose from the grave like some avenging spirit

with her tragic story and her convenient son. And Zeke had looked at her the way he used to look at me, back before the

war destroyed everything between our families.

A knock at my door made me jump.

"What?"

One of the junior guards poked his head in. "Miss Layla, Master Cameron is in the south garden. He's upset and

asking for you."

I set down my teacup and smoothed my dress. "I'll be right there."

The south garden was one of Cameron's favorite places to play. It had a small fountain and flowering bushes that attracted butterflies in the summer. I found him there now, his face red and streaked with tears.

"Cameron, what's wrong?"

"She's mean," he sobbed. "She said I was being a brat."

I looked around and spotted Cecelia sitting on a bench near the rose bushes. She stood when she saw me, her expression weary.

"What did you do to my son?" I

demanded, moving to Cameron and pulling him against my side.

"I didn't do anything to him." Cecelia's voice was calm but I heard the edge underneath. "He threw rocks at the fountain

and splashed water all over my clothes. When I asked him to stop, he called me names."

"He's a child," I snapped. "What did you expect?

You show up here claiming to be his father's true mate, flaunting your supposed son, making Cameron feel unwanted in his own home."

Layla

"I'm not flaunting anything." Cecelia took a step closer. "I'm trying to find my missing child. That has nothing to do with

Cameron."

"It has everything to do with Cameron." My voice rose

despite my attempts to control it. "You come back here after three years playing dead and suddenly everyone's falling over themselves to help you. Meanwhile, my son, the boy Zeke has raised since birth, is being pushed aside like he doesn't

matter."

"That's not what's happening and you know it."

"Is it?" I gestured wildly at the palace. "Zeke barely looks at Cameron anymore. He's too busy chasing after your ghost

child, proving he's some kind of hero who'll save the day.

Where was this devotion when Cameron was a baby?

When Cameron needed a father?"

Cecelia's eyes narrowed. "Maybe if Cameron was actually his son, things would be different."

The words hit like a slap. I felt my face go hot with rage and shame. "How dare you."

"How dare I what? Speak the truth?" Cecelia's voice stayed level but I saw her hands clench. "We both know Cameron

isn't Zeke's biological child. The tests proved it. So maybe stop using that boy as a weapon against me when you're the

one who's been lying to everyone for years."

"I did what I had to do to survive." The admission escaped before I could stop it. "After you died, after I lost my baby, I was broken.

Cameron gave me a reason to keep going. Zeke gave me a

home. Was I supposed to just walk away from that?"

"You were supposed to tell the truth."

Cecelia moved closer, her presence somehow taking up more space than her small frame should allow. "You were supposed to admit that Cameron wasn't his instead of letting everyone believe a lie. You were supposed to not try to kill

me in the first place."

"I didn't kill you." The words came automatically. "You fell. It was an accident."

"I didn't fall, Layla. You pushed me." Cecelia's voice dropped to barely above a whisper but somehow it felt louder than shouting. "You put your hands on my chest and you pushed me off that cliff because you wanted me dead.

Because you wanted my place, my mate, my life."

Cameron had gone still against my side, his tears forgotten as he listened to us. I should have sent him away, should have protected him from this conversation. But part of me

wanted him to hear it, wanted him to understand why I'd done what I'd done.

"You took everything from me," I said, my voice shaking. "Zeke was supposed to be mine. We were in love before the war, before our fathers tore us apart. And then he chose you.

Plain, boring, adopted you. Do you know what that felt like? Watching the man I loved marry my sister out of duty while I

had to smile and pretend I was happy for you?"

"So you tried to murder me." Cecelia's words were flat, emotionless. "That was your solution."

"You were supposed to just

disappear." I hated how desperate I sounded. "Just fall and be gone and then everyone could move on. Zeke would

grieve for an appropriate amount of time and then he'd turn to me for comfort and eventually, eventually things would be

the way they should have been from the start."

"Except I didn't die."

"No, you didn't." The rage bubbled up fresh and hot. "You survived somehow and built yourself a nice little life in some backwater pack. You had Zeke's son, the heir I could never give him. And now you're

back to ruin everything again."

"I came back to find my son." Cecelia's voice rose finally, some of that careful control cracking. "I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to see Zeke or you or this palace ever again. But someone took my baby and I needed help finding

him. That's the only reason I'm here."

"How convenient that the kidnapping happened right when you needed an excuse to return."

Cecelia's expression shifted to something dangerous. "Are you suggesting I staged my son's

kidnapping?"

"I'm suggesting that everything about your return is suspiciously timed." I knew I should stop talking, knew I was revealing too much, but the words kept coming. "You show

up claiming Zeke has a son he never knew about, right when Cameron's parentage is being questioned. You have this dramatic story about being pushed off a cliff and surviving

against all odds. You need Zeke's resources and protection. It's all very convenient."

"You're delusional."

"Am I?" I laughed but it sounded unhinged even to my own ears. "Or am I the only one willing to say what everyone's

thinking?

That maybe, just maybe, you're not the tragic victim you're pretending to be."

"What's going on here?" Zeke's voice cut through the garden like a blade.

I spun around to find him striding toward us, his expression thunderous. Behind him, several guards hung back at a respectful distance.

.

"Zeke, thank goodness." I moved toward him but he stepped around me, going straight to Cecelia.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, his voice gentle in a way it never was with me anymore.

"I'm fine." Cecelia didn't look at him, still staring at me with those cold eyes. "Just having an interesting conversation with your houseguest."

"I heard shouting from my office." Zeke's attention shifted to me and the gentleness vanished. "Layla, what did you say to her?"

"I was defending my son." I pulled Cameron closer. "He came to me crying because she was mean to him."

"She's lying, Papa." Cameron's voice was small. "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 silence that followed was deafening. Zeke's eyes moved from Cameron to me, and I saw the moment his expression changed from anger to disgust.

"You told him what?" His voice was dangerously quiet.

"I told him the truth." I lifted my chin, refusing to back down even as my heart raced. "That woman is trying to take his place in your life. Cameron deserves to know what's happening."

Layla's pov

"Cameron is a child." Zeke's voice rose now, his Alpha authority bleeding through every word. "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." Zeke moved closer to me and I had to fight the urge to step back. "You're using a little boy as a weapon in whatever twisted game you're playing. And I'm

done with it."

"Zeke, please-"

"Go to your quarters, Layla. Now." His tone left no room for argument. "And you're not to speak to Cameron about

Cecelia or Golden again. Is that understood?"

"You can't keep me from my son."

"He's not your son either." The words were brutal in their honesty. "Cameron is the child of another wolf, one you've never bothered to name. You've used him to secure your position here for years, but that's over now. Do you

understand? It's over."

Tears burned my eyes but I refused to let them fall. Not here. Not in front of Cecelia, who watched with that same cold expression. Not in front of Zeke, who looked at me like I was

something dirty he needed to scrape off his shoe.

"You'll regret this," I whispered.

"The only thing I regret is not seeing through you sooner." Zeke gestured to the guards. "Escort Miss Layla back to her quarters. She's not to leave without my explicit permission."

The guards moved forward and I had no choice but to go with them. Cameron tried to follow but Zeke held him back gently.

"You'll stay with me for now, Cameron. We need to have a talk about truth and respect."

I looked back as the guards led me away. Cecelia hadn't moved from her spot by the roses. She just stood there watching me with those knowing eyes, probably thinking she'd won.

But she hadn't won. Not yet.

My quarters felt like a cage when

the guards finally left me there with orders to remain inside until Zeke summoned me. I paced the room, my mind racing through possibilities and plans that all ended in disaster.

They'd find the messages on the phone. They'd trace the

payments. They'd connect me to Golden's kidnapping and then what? Exile? Prison? Execution for conspiracy against an Alpha heir?

I grabbed my own phone, the one they hadn't found yet because I kept it on me at all times. There was one number programmed into it, one

contact I'd been instructed to use only in emergencies.

This qualified as an emergency.

The call connected after three rings. "I told you not to contact me unless absolutely necessary."

"We need to move up the timeline." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "She can't stay here. The longer she's in the palace, the more Zeke pulls away from me. I don't care what you have to do, but Cecelia needs to disappear. Permanently this time."

"That wasn't our agreement."

"I'm changing the agreement." I moved to the window, looking down at the garden where Zeke was now sitting with Cameron, talking seriously while the boy nodded. "I'll double your payment. Triple it. Just make her go away."

"And the boy?"

I hesitated. Golden was innocent in all this, just a child like Cameron. But he was also the proof of Zeke's connection to Cecelia, the living reminder that she'd given him something I never could.

"Do what you have to do," I said

finally. "Just make sure neither of them can come back."

"It'll cost you."

"I don't care. Name your price."

We negotiated quickly, my bank accounts draining with each promise I made. But money meant nothing if I lost everything anyway. At least this way, I had a chance. At least this way, Cecelia would finally be gone for good.

After the call ended, I stood at the window watching the garden. Zeke finished his talk with Cameron and sent the boy off with a guard. Then

he just sat there on the bench, his head in his hands, looking more lost than I'd ever seen him.

Part of me wanted to go to him, to offer comfort the way I had so many times over the past three years. But I knew he wouldn't accept it now. Not from me. Not anymore.

The sun was setting when I saw Cecelia return to the garden. She walked slowly, like someone who carried weight they couldn't put down. Zeke must have heard her footsteps because he looked up, and even from this distance I could

see his expression change.

He stood. She stopped several feet away. They didn't touch but I saw the invisible thread pulling between them, the connection I'd never been able to break no matter how hard I

tried.

Zeke said something. Cecelia shook her head. He said something else and she finally moved closer, sitting on the bench beside him but maintaining careful distance.

They talked for a long time as darkness fell around them. I couldn't hear what they said but I

didn't need to. I could see it in the way they slowly relaxed, the way the space between them seemed to shrink without either moving. The way Zeke's hand rested on the bench

between them, so close to hers but not quite touching.

This was what I'd never had with him. Not even before the war, when we'd been young and in love. There had always

been something held back, some part of Zeke that remained closed off to me.

But with Cecelia, even after everything that had happened between them, he was open.

Vulnerable. Real.

I'd already lost. The truth settled into my bones with crushing certainty. Even if I managed to make Cecelia disappear

again, even if Golden never came back, I'd still never have what I wanted. Because Zeke's heart had made its choice years ago and I wasn't it.

But if I couldn't have him, neither could she.

I watched them in the garden until full dark, until they finally stood and walked back toward the palace. Zeke's hand hovered near Cecelia's

lower back, not quite touching but protective. She didn't pull away.

Tomorrow, the plan would be in motion. Tomorrow, my contact would handle things. Tomorrow, Cecelia would learn that coming back from the dead once didn't guarantee you

could do it twice.

I turned away from the window and began packing a small bag, just the essentials. When everything went down, I'd need to be ready to run. Cameron would understand eventually. Or he wouldn't. Either way, I couldn't take him with me where I was going.

The phone on my dresser buzzed with a message from my contact: "Timeline moved to 48 hours. Be ready."

I typed back a single word: "Confirmed."