Page 20 of The Alpha Wolf’s Secret Baby Boy

But there’s only one choice I really have when I need to get back to my son. And if that means—

“Fine. I’ll do it. I’ll go through with the ritual,” I call out, and this time, Damian doesn’t even spare me a glance over his shoulder.

“Good girl…” he drawls balefully with a spiteful chuckle. “See you later, my bride.”

My gut churns at the use of the name that once would have brought me joy. Now, it’s a shackle around my ankle, but my only way out if I ever want to see my son again. As the tears fall from my eyes, I place a hand on my necklace, the pendant feeling warm beneath my palm, and another wave of sadness hits me.

Perhaps if I wasn’t an orphan, if I had parents to speak for me, to protect me, I wouldn’t be in this situation. I wouldn’t know heartache and suffering the way I do now.

But I am a mother now, and the thought of my son out there without me is painful.

I’ll just have to figure out how I’m supposed to get to Daniel without ever letting Damian know about his existence. Now more than ever, I will protect my son from him and his delusions.

One thing is for sure.

I hate Damian Walker.

Chapter 5 - Damian

Standing outside the door I just locked, I take a deep breath to calm my nerves and recalibrate my mental space.

What the fuck was that?

How have I become so irrational? So vile? Like a brute without a conscience, or a care in the world for the woman I’m supposed to protect?

She’s a prisoner in the guest bedroom, and I turn to the door and place a flattened palm on the wood. My prisoner. But it’s only because she won’t accept that we are fated mates.

Still, I have no idea what’s gotten into me. Last night, I drugged her and kidnapped her to Cedar Valley, turning into the kind of monster I’m supposed to protect my pack and loved ones from.

I didn’t face my demons.

I became them.

But there’s no controlling myself when I’m around her. When I look at her, when I feel her presence, she’s so close and yet so far away. I can’t touch her. Can’t hold her. Can’t keep her close enough…

My mind is running mercilessly ahead of me, and everything I’ve done since last night hits me almost like a physical punch to the gut. After using the sedative on Poppy, I carried her to my car and drove away from Fort Smit, quietly slipping away from the celebrations without saying goodbye.

She was still asleep when we arrived in Cedar Valley. I carried her upstairs and left her in the guest bedroom, but not without locking the door as a safety measure so she wouldn’t dare to escape.

I’ve been so paranoid, so anxious, so angry.

I don’t know what’s happening to me.

Since I saw her in Fort Smit, talking to the Nightclaw beta, I’ve been quickly losing my mind.

A small flicker of my sanity pops up just for me to mentally chastise myself for my actions, which are probably driving a wedge between Poppy and me. One that is bigger than the one that already existed in the space of ten years.

I sigh as I hang my head, shame churning my gut. But stronger than my guilt is the feeling of unworthiness, a wound that I’ve been carrying like armor since the day my brother left the pack.

It’s because of him that I lost Poppy Barnes in the first place. My hesitation and indecisiveness only came because I had to pour my energy into making other decisions for the pack. As the alpha who was never meant to be the alpha.

I was meant for the simpler things in life, but I didn’t have the chance to pursue them.

My anger resurfaces, and I raise a clenched fist at the door, but stop myself from throwing another punch. I’m going mad—there’s no doubt about it. Even more insane than I became when I was forced to take over from my father.

I decide to spend the rest of the day throwing myself into my duties. It’s the only way I can keep a semblance of my sanity intact.

At least until tonight, when I finally claim Poppy as my mate. She may not be able to see it now, or sense that we are fated mates, probably too clouded by the past, and I was too blind to see what fate was dangling right in front of me. She slipped through my fingers once, and I won’t let it happen again.