ARIA'S POV
The penthouse door slammed behind us so hard the windows rattled.
My hands shook as I locked it. Once. Twice. Three times. Like extra locks could keep out the man whose face was burned into my memory. The man whose scent—pine and smoke—still clung to my clothes, making my wolf whine.
*Traitor,* I thought viciously at my wolf. *He abandoned us.*
But wolves don't care about logic. They only know *mate*.
"Mom?" Ash's voice was small. Scared. "Why is Kai sleeping on our couch?"
I turned. Both boys were curled up together on my white sofa, Kai's head on Ash's shoulder, their hands intertwined. They'd fallen asleep in the car, exhausted from tears and shock and finding each other after eight years apart.
Eight years Kai had lived.
Eight years River hadn't.
"Because he needed us," I whispered.
"Are we keeping him?"
The question shattered something inside me. Like Kai was a stray puppy. A lost toy. Not a child—my child—I'd been forced to leave behind.
"It's complicated, baby."
"You always say that when the answer is no." Ash crossed his arms. At eight years old, he already had my stubborn streak. "But he's my brother. I felt it the second I saw him. Like a piece of me I didn't know was missing suddenly clicked into place."
Twins. Even separated at birth, they recognized each other.
River would have felt the same way.
*Stop it,* I ordered myself. *River is gone. Kai and Ash are here. Focus.*
"Ash, that man at the school—"
"Was my father." Not a question. A statement. "I figured it out. He looks exactly like Kai. And Kai looks exactly like me. Which means..." His amber eyes—Dante's eyes—met mine. "You had me with him. Then left. Why?"
God, I was so tired of lying.
"Because staying would have killed me."
"That's dramatic."
"That's the truth." I sat down on the coffee table, facing my brilliant, too-smart son. "I loved your father more than anything. I gave him everything. And he gave me nothing back. Every day, I got smaller and smaller, trying to fit into the space he wanted me in. Trying to be perfect enough that he'd finally love me."
"Did he?"
"No."
The word hung in the air like a ghost.
"Then he's stupid," Ash declared. "You're the best mom in the world. Smart and strong and you built a whole company from nothing. If he couldn't see that, he's an idiot."
I laughed. It came out broken, but it was real.
"Yeah, baby. He is."
"So we're not giving Kai back?"
"I don't know if we have a choice."
"We always have a choice. You taught me that." Ash glanced at his sleeping twin. "Kai needs us. He was crying the whole way here. Saying how scared he'd been. How he thought you were dead. How the blonde lady—"
"Sienna."
"—kept telling him you didn't want him. That you left because he wasn't good enough." Ash's voice hardened. "That's abuse, Mom. Psychological abuse. I read about it online. You can't give him back to people who hurt him."
My heart cracked wide open.
My eight-year-old was right.
Sienna had emotionally abused Kai for three years. Erased me from his memory. Made him feel unwanted by his own mother. And Dante had let it happen.
*But he didn't know,* a small voice whispered. *The spell—*
*Doesn't matter,* I shot back. *Spell or not, he chose her over me. Every single day.*
A knock at the door made me jump.
Marcus appeared from the kitchen, where he'd been giving us privacy. "Want me to get that?"
"No." I stood, checking the security camera feed on my phone. My stomach dropped. "It's him."
"Should I throw him out?"
"Please."
Marcus headed for the door. I heard it open. Heard Dante's voice, rough and desperate.
"I need to see my sons."
"You need to leave before I make you leave."
"Try it, Beta." Dante's Alpha power leaked through. "I'm not going anywhere until I talk to Aria."
"Aria doesn't want—"
"I'll call the police," Dante interrupted. "Report a kidnapping. Aria took my son—"
"Kai went willingly!" I appeared in the hallway, fury burning through my veins. "You saw him. He ran to me. Chose me. Or doesn't that count because it's not convenient for you?"
Dante stood in my doorway looking wrecked. Hair disheveled. Eyes wild. Still beautiful. God, I hated that he was still beautiful.
"You can't keep him," he said hoarsely. "He's my son—"
"OUR son. A son you let another woman raise. A son who had nightmares about me while you played happy family with your mistress!" My voice rose. "Don't you dare stand there and talk about rights. You gave up your rights when you let her erase me."
"I didn't know about the spell—"
"The spell." I laughed bitterly. "That's your excuse? Magic made you do it? Made you cold? Made you ignore me for seven years? Made you let Sienna into our bed—"
"I never slept with her!"
"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO!" The scream ripped from my throat. "You gave her everything else! Your time. Your attention. Your affection. Everything I begged for, you gave her freely. So forgive me if I don't care about your magical excuse!"
Silence fell like a hammer.
Dante stood there, looking like I'd stabbed him.
Good.
"The boys are asleep," I said quietly. Controlled. "If you wake them, I will make your life a living nightmare. More than I already am."
"Aria, please—"
"Go home, Dante. Call your lawyers. We'll settle this in court like civilized people." I started closing the door. "That's all you'll get from me. Legal distance and professional courtesy. Nothing else."
"I'm sorry."
The words stopped me.
I turned back slowly.
Dante's ice-blue eyes were wet. Actually wet. I'd never seen him cry. Not once in seven years of marriage.
"I'm sorry," he repeated. "For everything. For being cold. For not fighting for you. For letting Sienna poison our marriage. For—" His voice cracked. "For killing our son."
The world tilted.
"What?"
"River." The name fell from his lips like a prayer. "I saw the footage. The hospital. I know what happened. And Aria, god, I know it was my fault. If I'd been a better husband, if I'd loved you the way you deserved, you never would have left. Never would have been stressed. Never would have gone into early labor—"
"Stop."
"You almost died bringing our children into this world and I wasn't there. Not really. I was physically present but emotionally absent and that's worse. That's—"
"I said STOP!" My hands were shaking. "You don't get to do this. You don't get to apologize and expect forgiveness. You don't get to cry now that it's convenient—"
"It's not convenient! It's destroying me!" He stepped forward. Marcus growled but Dante ignored him. "I can't sleep. Can't eat. Can't breathe without remembering every moment I failed you. Every time you reached for me and I turned away. Every time you said 'I love you' and I said nothing. Every—"
"Then suffer." My voice was ice. "Suffer the way I suffered. Feel the pain I felt. Live with the regret I lived with for three years, wondering if I'd made a mistake leaving Kai behind. If I was a terrible mother for choosing one son over the other—"
"You're not—"
"I LEFT MY BABY!" The confession exploded out. "I left him crying in his crib because taking him meant risking Ash. Because I was barely surviving and couldn't protect two children alone. Because you made me CHOOSE!" Tears streamed down my face. "So don't you dare apologize. Don't you dare act like 'sorry' fixes anything. You broke me, Dante. Completely. And I had to rebuild myself from pieces. Alone."
He reached for me.
I stepped back.
"If you touch me, I'll scream."
His hand dropped.
"What do I have to do?" he whispered. "To fix this? To earn another chance?"
"There is no fixing this." I wiped my eyes angrily. "We're done. We've been done for three years. The only relationship we have now is co-parents. That's it."
"The mate bond—"
"Can rot." The lie burned my tongue. The mate bond was alive, screaming, begging me to forgive him. To touch him. To let him hold me. "I don't want it. I don't want you. I want my sons, my company, and my life. You're not part of any of those things."
I slammed the door in his face.
Locked it.
Slid down to the floor, sobbing.
Marcus sat beside me, silent. Letting me break.
"He's going to take them," I choked out. "He's going to take both boys and I'll lose everything again—"
"No, he won't." Marcus pulled me against his chest. "You have evidence. Documentation. Proof. He can't win."
"He's an Alpha. I'm an Omega. The courts always favor—"
"The courts favor the parent who didn't let their child get emotionally abused." Marcus's voice hardened. "And you're not just any Omega. You're Ria Stone. Billionaire. Legend. The woman who built an empire while raising a genius son alone. You really think a judge will give Kai back to the man who let Sienna destroy that child's sense of safety?"
"But what if—"
A crash from the living room cut me off.
We ran.
The boys were awake. Standing by the window. Staring down at the street below.
Where Dante stood beside his car, looking up at my penthouse.
Looking at his sons.
Who were looking back.
"Mom?" Kai's voice was tiny. Scared. "Do I have to go back?"
The question destroyed me.
"No, baby. You're safe here."
"Promise?"
I pulled both boys into my arms. Held them tight.
"I promise."
We stood there, the three of us, watching Dante below.
He didn't move. Didn't leave. Just stood there like a statue, staring up at everything he'd lost.
Finally, after what felt like hours, he got in his car.
And drove away.
"Is he gone?" Ash whispered.
"For now."
"Will he come back?"
"Probably."
"Are you scared?"
Was I?
I looked at my sons—both of them, together, safe—and felt something shift inside me.
Fear, yes.
But also fury.
Also determination.
Also a mother's rage that burned hotter than any mate bond.
"No," I said firmly. "I'm not scared. I'm ready."
"Ready for what?"
"War."
My phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
*You think you've won? You think taking my sons makes you powerful? Think again, little Luna. I'm coming for everything. And when I'm done, you'll wish you'd stayed disappeared. -S*
Sienna.
I stared at the message.
Then smiled.
Because Sienna had just made a fatal mistake.
She'd threatened my children.
And there was nothing—absolutely nothing—more dangerous than a mother protecting her cubs.
"Marcus," I said calmly. "Call our lawyers. All of them."
"Aria—"
"And call our tech team. I want every piece of dirt on Sienna Frost by morning. Every transaction. Every lie. Every crime." My voice went cold. "She wants war? She's got it."
"What are you planning?"
I looked at my reflection in the window. Saw the woman I'd become. The legend. The fighter. The mother who'd survived hell and come back stronger.
"I'm going to destroy her." I met Marcus's eyes. "Completely. Publicly. Permanently."
"And Dante?"
The name sent pain lancing through my chest.
But I buried it.
"Dante made his choice. Now he lives with it."
Another message appeared on my phone.
This one from Dante:
*Sienna's gone. Disappeared. Her apartment is empty. Her phone is off. Aria, I think she's planning something. Please, keep the boys safe. I'm begging you.*
My blood ran cold.
Sienna was on the run.
Which meant she had nothing left to lose.
And people with nothing to lose were the most dangerous kind.
I looked at Kai and Ash, still huddled close.
Then at the windows—floor-to-ceiling glass, forty stories up.
Easy to see in.
Too easy.
"Marcus." My voice was urgent now. "Get us out of here. Now. We're not safe."
"What—"
The power went out.
Emergency lights flickered on, casting everything in red.
And through the window, I saw it.
A red laser dot.
Centered on Kai's chest.
Someone was aiming at my son.
"GET DOWN!" I screamed, throwing both boys to the floor.
The window exploded.
Glass rained down like deadly snow.
And in the chaos, I heard one thing clearly:
Sienna's laugh, crackling through a speaker somewhere.
"If I can't have him, *no one can.*"