Maya's POV
I threw my phone at the wall as hard as I could.
The screen shattered into a dozen pieces, but Dominic's words still echoed in my head: "Hello, Maya. Hello, son."
"Mama, what do we do?" Ethan whispered, holding to my hand in the darkness.
I pulled him toward the back door, grabbing our emergency bag with my free hand. Five years of planning for this exact moment. Five years of knowing that someday, somehow, Dominic would find us.
But I'd never expected him to bring an army.
Through the back window, I could see forms moving in the woods. At least six dogs, maybe more. They had us surrounded.
"The fire escape," I whispered to Ethan. "We'll climb down and—"
A huge crash shook the entire building. Dominic had broken down someone's door downstairs. Heavy footsteps echoed in the stairs, getting closer to our floor.
"He's coming, Mama," Ethan said, his eyes starting to glow gold with fear.
That's when I smelled it. A different scent, cutting through the wood and snow smell that belonged to Dominic's pack. This smell was warmer, softer. Like safety and security and... Home.
"There's someone else here," I breathed.
A howl echoed from the parking lot. Not frightening like the others, but calling. Like someone was announcing their arrival.
The footsteps in the hallway stopped. Through our thin door, I heard Dominic snarl with anger.
"Kai," he growled. "I should have known."
Kai. The name hit me like lightning. Kai was here. Kai had come.
But that was impossible. Kai didn't even know where we were. Did he?
Another crash, this one right outside our flat. Two Alphas were fighting in the hallway, and the sound was frightening. Growls and snarls and the sound of bodies hitting walls.
"Who's Kai?" Ethan asked.
I didn't know how to answer. How could I explain that Kai was the man I should have chosen five years ago? The man I'd been too scared and confused to reach out to? The man who'd watched me with silver eyes that made my heart skip, even when I thought I belonged to someone else?
"He's..." I started, then stopped. "He's someone who wants to help us."
The fighting in the hallway got worse. Something heavy crashed into our door, making it crack down the middle.
"The window," I said quickly. "We have to go now."
But before we could move, our door burst inward. A huge black wolf fell through the opening, blood matting his dark fur. Behind him came an even bigger dog with golden eyes that burned with madness.
Dominic.
The black wolf fought to get back on his feet, but he was badly hurt. Deep claw marks ran down his side, and one of his back legs wasn't working right.
Dominic stalked toward him slowly, his lips pulled back to show teeth as long as my fingers.
"You always thought you were better than me," Dominic snarled, his voice somehow coming from the wolf's mouth. "Always thought you deserved what was mine."
The black wolf tried to stand between Dominic and us, but he was too injured. He crumpled, silver blood pooling beneath him.
Silver blood.
My healing impulses screamed at me. I'd never seen silver blood before, but somehow I knew exactly what it meant. This wolf was special. This wolf was important.
This wolf was dying.
"Stay back, Ethan," I whispered, pushing him behind me.
But I couldn't stay back. My healing powers were going crazy, pulling me toward the hurt wolf like a magnet. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to touch him, to fix him, to save him.
"Maya," Dominic said, changing back to human form. He stood naked in our wrecked doorway, his golden eyes fixed on me with an intensity that made my skin crawl. "Come home."
"This is my home," I said, surprised by how steady my voice sounded.
"No," Dominic shook his head. "Your home is with me. With our son."
"He's not your son," the words came out before I could stop them.
Dominic went very still. "What did you say?"
I looked down at the bleeding wolf, and suddenly everything made sense. The silver eyes. The silver blood. The way Ethan had always asked about his "real daddy" even though I'd never told him Dominic wasn't his father.
"I said he's not your son," I repeated, louder this time.
Dominic's face twisted with rage. "You're lying."
"Am I?" I knelt down next to the injured wolf and put my hands on his wounds. The moment my skin touched his fur, power exploded between us. Not just my healing power, but something much stronger. Much deeper.
The mate bond.
Real this time. Not the fake one Dominic had forced on me with his Alpha compulsion and dark magic. This was what a true mate bond was meant to feel like.
The wolf's silver eyes opened and looked straight into mine. Even in his animal form, I could see the intelligence there. The love. The urgent need to protect me and Ethan.
"Hello, Kai," I breathed.
His wolf form shimmered and changed, changing back into the man I'd dreamed about for five years. Tall, broad-shouldered, with dark hair and those amazing silver eyes that had always made me feel safe.
"Hello, Maya," he said softly.
Dominic roared with anger. "LIES! All of it lies! The boy is mine! Maya is mine!"
But Ethan stepped out from behind me, his little face set with determination I'd never seen before.
"No," my four-year-old son said, his voice carrying an Alpha order that made even Dominic take a step back. "She's not yours. I'm not yours."
Ethan walked over to Kai and took his hand.
"You're my real daddy," Ethan said frankly. "I can smell it. I can feel it. You've always been my daddy."
The truth hung in the air like a bomb waiting to burst.
Dominic stared at us with increasing madness in his eyes. "Impossible. I was there when he was born. I felt the bond when Maya got pregnant."
"You felt what you wanted to feel," Kai said, trying to sit up. "The bond you made with magic. But magic can't make life, Dominic. Only love can do that."
"Then how..." Dominic's words trailed off as understanding dawned on his face.
I took a deep breath and told the truth I'd been hiding for five years.
"Remember the night before your wedding announcement?" I said quietly. "When you were too drunk to remember anything? When I was crying because I thought you'd picked Victoria over me?"
Dominic's face went white.
"Kai found me that night," I continued. "He comforted me. And for one night, I felt what real love was meant to feel like."
"You cheated on me," Dominic whispered.
"No," Kai said firmly. "She was never really yours to cheat on. The mate bond between you and Maya was manufactured. What Maya and I shared was real."
Dominic's hands started to shake with rage. His eyes flickered between gold and red, a sign that the family curse was taking full control.
"If I can't have her," he said slowly, "then no one can."
He raised his hand, and I saw his claws lengthen. But he wasn't shooting for me.
He was going for Ethan.
"NO!" I screamed, throwing myself in front of my son.
But I was too far away. I wouldn't make it in time.
That's when something impossible happened.
Ethan's eyes blazed pure gold, and a wave of power rolled out of him that knocked Dominic backward into the hallway.
My four-year-old son had just defeated a full-grown Alpha.
In the sudden quiet, Ethan looked up at Kai with tears in his eyes.
"Daddy," he whispered. "I think I'm broken."
Kai pulled my son into his arms, and the family resemblance was suddenly obvious. The same sparkling eyes. The same strong mouth. The same protective feelings.
"You're not broken," Kai said softly. "You're just powerful. More powerful than any of us realized."
From the hallway came the sound of Dominic getting to his feet. When he spoke, his voice was no longer human.
"If the boy is that strong," he said, "then I definitely can't let him live."
And I knew our nightmare was just beginning.