Stealing the Alpha’s Heritage

Chapter 7

POV Aria

"Mama, look! I'm flying!"

Kael launches himself off the porch steps, arms spread wide, his dark hair wild in the morning sun.

My heart stops as I drop the laundry basket, rushing forward. But Evander is already there, catching my son mid-leap, swinging him up onto his shoulders.

"Little wolves who fly need to learn to land first," Evander says, his deep laugh mixing with Kael's delighted shrieks.

"Again! Again!" Kael bounces, his small hands gripping Evander's hair.

"Where's your brother?" I ask, scanning the yard. My pulse still races from the near-miss.

"Here, Mama." Finn peers out from behind the garden shed, a butterfly cupped gently in his palms. "Look what I found. Can we keep it?"

"Butterflies need to be free, sweetheart." I kneel beside him, brushing his lighter hair from his eyes. "But we can watch it for a while."

"Like us?" Finn asks innocently. "We're free here?"

The question pierces my chest. Even at three, he senses things—the way I check the tree line, how I tense when strangers arrive.

"Yes, baby. We're free." I pull him close, breathing in his sweet scent.

"Aria." Elena approaches from the pack house, carrying a medical bag, her healer's instincts already scanning my boys for injuries. "No broken bones today? That's a new record for these two."

"The day is still young," I say, forcing lightness into my voice despite the way Evander's shoulders have tensed.

"Speaking of young wolves and their endless energy," Elena says, but there's something deliberate in her casual tone, "I need to borrow them for their check-up. You know how they hate sitting still unless I bribe them with those honey cakes from the kitchen."

"We already had our check-up last week," Finn protests, still cupping his butterfly.

"That was for your height, little one. This is for something much more important." Elena winks at him. "I need to test if your howls are getting stronger. It's an official pack business."

"Boys, why don't you go with Aunt Elena?" Evander says, setting Kael down, ruffling his hair. "Show her that new trick you've been practicing."

"The howling one?" Kael's eyes light up.

"My ears may never recover," Elena jokes, but takes their hands. "Come on, troublemakers."

Once the boys leave with Elena, Evander's expression hardens. For three years, I've watched him shift between warm protector and cold Alpha—a pattern I've never fully understood.

"We need to talk about the Gala." His voice carries that edge that means his mood is turning.

"Evander—"

"You're coming as my mate." The warmth from moments ago vanishes completely. "It's been three years of this charade. My pack questions why the boys look nothing like me."

My chest tightens. "The whispers have gotten worse?"

"Some of the elders are asking questions. Kael looks exactly like the photos of Thorne from the old pack summits."

"I never meant for you to pretend they were yours. That was your idea. You knew what you were getting into—"

"I knew I was repaying a debt to Rowena." His brown eyes turn cold. "I didn't know I'd spend three years raising another Alpha's sons while you keep me at arm's length."

"You offered—"

"I thought eventually you'd stop looking over your shoulder for him." He steps closer. "But you still flinch when someone mentions Bloodfang. You still won't let me mark you."

The words hang between us, heavy with three years of almost-kisses, of his hand finding mine during pack dinners, of him reading bedtime stories to boys who aren't his.

Evander wants me to love him.

And he's been patient. He's been kind—when it suits him. But underneath that patience lives the same thing that lived in Thorne: the need to possess, to claim, to own.

The difference? Thorne took what he wanted with force. Evander tries to earn it with calculated kindness that evaporates the moment I don't respond the way he expects.

"That's not fair—"

"Fair?" He releases my hands, stepping back. "You want to talk about fair? I've been lying to my own pack, risking war if the truth comes out. Presenting you as my intended Luna at the Gala would give you stronger protection."

"No."

"Hear me out—"

"He'll be there." My voice cracks. "Thorne always goes to the Gala. He lives for that political posturing."

Evander's grip on my hands loosens slightly. "You're that afraid of seeing him?"

"I'm not afraid, I just—"

"Aria." His voice turns serious, studying my face. "Thorne has sent official queries to every major pack. Three times in the last year alone. Looking for his 'stolen Luna and heirs.'"

My blood runs cold. "You never told me—"

"I never responded." He releases my hands completely now, stepping back. "But you said no one would come for you. That you were nothing to him."

The accusation in his voice makes my stomach drop. "Evander, I—"

"You lied to me." His brown eyes flash with anger. "Three years ago, you stood in my office and swore no one would come looking. That you were nobody to him."

My silence is answer enough.

"Three years, Aria." He runs both hands through his hair, pacing now. "Three years I've been waiting for you to trust me. While my pack sheltered you, while my sister helped raise your children, while I fell in love with you—"

He stops himself, the admission hanging between us like a blade.

"Then why—"

"Because I'm asking you to face him now. At the Gala. As my mate." He turns to face me, and the disappointment in his eyes cuts deeper than anger. "And you still can't trust me. Even now."

"I'm sorry." The words feel inadequate. "I was terrified back then. I didn't know who to trust—"

"So you chose to trust no one. Not even me."

"Would you have taken us in if you'd known?" I lift my chin, meeting his gaze. "Would you have risked war with Thorne for strangers?"

A long silence stretches between us. Finally, Evander sighs, shoulders sagging slightly.

"We'll never know now, will we?" He moves toward the house, then stops. "But I gave my word to protect you. Unlike some, I don't break my promises."

"Evander—"

"You'll come to the Gala." His voice is cold now, professional. "Under my protection, as planned. But after this is over, after we face whatever comes, you and I need to discuss your future here."

"You're throwing us out?"

"I'm reconsidering the terms." He doesn't look back.

"And what happens when he sees the boys?" My voice drops to a whisper. "When he sees how Kael looks exactly like him?"

"He sees a strong mother who survived without him." Evander's hand comes to rest on my shoulder, steady and sure. "He sees what he lost."

"Mama!" Finn's voice carries across the yard. "Kael's stuck in a tree!"

"Of course he is," I mutter, but I'm already moving.

As I run toward my boys, Evander's words echo in my mind. Stop running.

But running has kept us alive this long.