Page 14 of Abandoned By My Alpha Husband

"I finally found you, my daughter!"

Daughter?

The word hit my brain like a brick. Everything went blank. She looked about forty, well-kept, with dark brown hair swept back, delicate features, and a cold elegance in her expression. Her eyes were amber—the same amber as mine.

"My name is Cecilia," she said, touching my face. "My child."

Her fingertips carried a faint fragrance that reminded me of sunlight and warmth. It made my nose sting. After twenty-some years of getting used to having no mother, she'd suddenly appeared—like a gift delivered too late.

She told me she'd gotten pregnant after a one-night stand with my father. "You know how special mixed-blood status is here. I was terrified back then." My mother pressed a handkerchief delicately to her eyes. "So I had no choice but to give you to your father." Her voice caught. She gripped my hand. "Let me make it up to you now. Please?"

My eyes burned. I clutched the covers until my knuckles turned white.

"Okay," I said. "Mom."

She smiled and pulled me into her embrace.

Pressed against her shoulder, breathing in her faint perfume, only one thought circled through my mind—

My child.

I had to get him back.

She'd just said "let me make it up to you." She said she was from the Gray family—the Grays had power and influence in Silver pine, connections, guards, resources. She had more ability to find someone than I did. If I could use her power, her status, her resources, maybe I could get my son back. At least protect us from being killed.

"Mom." I pulled back from her embrace, gripping the covers, staring into her eyes. "There's something I need to tell you."

She smiled. "What is it?"

"I..." I took a deep breath. "I had a baby. Not even a month old. I left him at the guard station. Can you help me find out if he was adopted? I want to get him back."

My mother's expression froze. Less than half a second, almost imperceptible—but I saw it. Her smile didn't change, but something in her eyes went cold for an instant, quick as an illusion.

"You had a baby?" she asked.

"A werewolf's child." I lowered my head. "The father... I don't know him. I don't know who he is."

The room went quiet. She looked at me for several seconds. Then she laughed lightly and patted my shoulder, her voice brighter than I expected. "Of course I can help. You're back now. You're a Gray daughter. You have a mother, you have a family. One child isn't hard to manage."

My fingers twisted the covers tighter. "Really?"

"Really." She stood, smoothed her skirt. "You rest and recover. Don't worry about anything else. I'll send someone to the guard station tomorrow."

She glanced back at me from the doorway and smiled. "Get some rest. You need to learn how to be a werewolf, not that... human girl you used to be."

Her tone was gentle, but that pause—that half-second before "human girl"—made the hair on my neck stand up.

But she never mentioned it again. When I asked, she'd always say, "Elena, right now you need to focus on learning to be a werewolf." I'd look at her calm face and swallow my words. I started learning how to be a werewolf, how to be a "Gray daughter." So I dropped out of school and threw myself in completely. Werewolf etiquette, noble social codes, Moon Goddess rituals, pureblooded family genealogies—I stuffed it all into my brain, hoping that if I became good enough quickly enough, maybe then my mother would help me find my child.

But she didn't.

Gradually, I stopped asking. My mother... probably wasn't sincere. She didn't like that child—of course not. I was meant for a political marriage.

My heart sank, then lifted again.

No. I couldn't give up.

I searched for clues in secret, but the trail went cold fast. The guards at the station refused to say who'd adopted him. Even the records and paperwork were classified at the highest level.