My Alpha Let Me Raise His Bastard—Did He Forget I’m Royal novel Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Wolfsbane?!” Father’s voice exploded through the phone.

“Who the fuck dares poison my daughter?”

“Just a small thing. I’ll handle it myself,” I said.

A few seconds of silence.

“Fine. Antidote arrives in three days.” Father said. “I’ll have Beta Galahad bring people to get you.”

I hung up.

Three days from now—full moon.

My wolf would wake up. And when it did, I’d take back every bit of wolf blessing I ever gave Draven.

—

Next morning, noise came from outside.

I stood at the window and looked down. Draven’s car pulled up. Door opened. A woman stepped out. She held a little boy’s hand. Five, maybe six years old.

Lilith. Mortis.

Draven looked up and saw me. Smiled that warm, loving smile. Like yesterday never happened.

By the time I got downstairs, they were already in the entrance hall.

“Elysia,” Draven walked toward me, holding the boy’s hand.

“This is Mortis. I adopted him from an orphanage. I thought… maybe he could become our son.”

I looked down at the kid. Green eyes. Brown hair. A carbon copy of Draven. If I didn’t know the truth, I might’ve actually believed it.

“And this,” Draven gestured to the woman, “is Lilith. She took care of Mortis at the orphanage. I was worried he wouldn’t adjust to a new place, so I asked her to come help with the transition.”

Lilith nodded at me. Perfect little smile on her face. Like she’d rehearsed it a thousand times. Every angle just right.

“Greetings, Luna.” Her voice was soft and polite. “I heard you just lost your son. I’m so sorry. I’ll do my best to take care of Mortis and stay out of your way.”

Such beautiful words.

If I hadn’t seen those photos, hadn’t read those texts, I’d think I met a saint.

Mortis suddenly looked up at Draven. Eyes all bright.

“Daddy, can I live here? It’s way bigger than the orphanage!”

Draven’s face changed. Mortis caught it too and quickly corrected himself. “I mean… Alpha.”

Draven crouched down, forced out a loving expression. “Of course you can live here. You don’t have to call me Alpha. Just call me Dad.”

He looked up at me. Testing. “Elysia, I know this is sudden. But seeing how broken you’ve been over Silvain… I thought maybe Mortis could fill some of that emptiness. We can love him like he’s our own.”

“You think some random bastard can replace my son?” I asked.

Draven’s expression froze for a second. “No. That’s not what I meant. No one can replace Silvain. I just… don’t want you to be so lonely.”

“How thoughtful.” I pulled my mouth into something close to a smile. “Even brought the nanny along. Thought of everything for me.”

Lilith’s smile stiffened a bit. “Luna, I understand your grief. If having me here makes you uncomfortable, I can stay in the servants’ quarters.”

“No need.” I looked at her face. “Draven arranged it. Stay.”

This pack would be gone in two days anyway. Didn’t matter where she slept.

Mortis clapped his hands and jumped. “Great! Can I see my room?”

I looked up. The hate in my eyes burned hot. “He stomped on Silvain’s necklace on purpose!”

“I didn’t!” Mortis immediately burst into tears. Perfect fake tears. “I just wanted to see the pretty necklace. Then the Luna pushed me! I fell and the necklace dropped…”

Draven looked at me. Disappointment and anger all over his face.

“Enough!” He shouted. “Elysia, you’ve gone too far! Mortis is just a kid. He just left the orphanage. Just got here. How can you treat him like this?”

“I didn’t—”

Slap!

The hit came so fast I didn’t even see it.

Force was too much. I fell to the floor. My cheek burned.

“You really disappoint me.” Draven looked down at me. Pure disgust in his eyes. “When did you become this vicious? Fighting over jealousy—you won’t even spare a child?”

Lilith held Mortis, looking all worried. But I saw it—that little smirk at the corner of her mouth she couldn’t pull back in time.

“Forget it, Draven.” She said softly. “Maybe we shouldn’t stay. I’ll take Mortis and leave right now. So we don’t—”

“No!” Draven turned to her. “You don’t have to leave. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

He reached out to help me up. I shrank back. Dodged his hand.

When they walked out, Lilith’s crying echoed in the hall.

“Draven, I’m really worried. If Elysia hates Mortis this much… I’m scared she’ll actually hurt him. After all…” She paused. “Mortis is the heir now. If something happens to him…”

“It won’t.” Draven’s voice was firm. “I won’t let anyone hurt Mortis.”