The Alpha Who Never Loved Me (Serena and Kieran) novel Chapter 107

Chapter 107

Kieran

The drive was silent. Mother sat beside me in the back; her eyes stayed on the window, her hands folded in her lap. Jenna sat on my other side, her fingers twisted together in her lap. Father sat in the front. Nobody spoke. What was there to say? I could not talk them out of this, could not stop what was coming, could not protect Serena from a room full of people arriving to dissect her life.

We arrived.

Grandfather knocked on the front door.

Sylvia opened it. The second her eyes landed on the cluster of us on her doorstep, her face drained of color; her hand tightened on the edge of the door, her shoulders stiffened.

“What are you doing here?” Her voice was low, guarded. “We have nothing to discuss.”

“We came to talk about the pregnancy,” Grandfather said. “Let us in.”

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“There is nothing to talk about, Mr. Thawthorne. We settled the divorce months ago—”

“Let us in.”

Sylvia looked at him, at Father, at me; her jaw worked. For a long moment I thought she would close the door in our faces, and a part of me wanted her to. But she stepped back, pulled the door open wider; reluctance pressed down on her shoulders, a weight she could not put down.

We walked inside.

Frederick rose from his seat the moment he saw us; his jaw tightened, his hands dropped to his sides. Josh came from the hallway, saw us, stopped, his eyes burning with the same hatred they carried since the day I grabbed his wrist at the hospital.

Footsteps came down the staircase.

Serena.

My eyes moved to her before I could stop them. She came down slow, one step at a time, her hand on the banister,

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her belly round against the fabric of her dress. Her hair fell loose past her shoulders. She did not look at my family; she did not look at her own. Her eyes found mine.

Cora purred inside my chest.

My wolf pressed toward the bond so hard my ribs ached; he wanted to cross the room, wanted to close the distance, wanted to pull her against my chest and bury my face in her hair. The pull was a rope yanking at my sternum. Every muscle in my body resisted the urge to move toward her; I stayed where I was only because I forced myself to.

She reached the bottom of the staircase. Her hand dropped from the banister to her belly.

“What is happening?” she asked.

Father spoke before anyone else could. “You happened.” His voice was hot, ugly. “You happened to this pack. You went abroad, embarrassed our family, came back pregnant with another man’s child, now you walk down the stairs with your chin up-”

Stop speaking to her like that!” The words ripped out of2

me before I registered them. “Do not open your mouth to

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her again, Father. I warned you.”

“Kieran.” Frederick’s voice cut across mine; his eyes were sharp, his posture straight. “I do not need you to stand up for my daughter.”

I closed my mouth.

Frederick turned to my father. “Are you here to insult my family? Because if that is the purpose of this visit, you can leave. The only thing we have to discuss with the Thawthorne family is the divorce. Nothing else.”

The living room was small with all of us inside it. Sylvia stood beside Frederick now, her hand on his arm; Serena moved to stand on his other side, her chin raised. Josh positioned himself behind them. My family and I stood in the middle of their living room, three against four, the unwelcome guests who pushed through their door.

Grandfather spoke first. “We are here to discuss the child Serena carries. We want to know who the father is.”

Frederick leaned forward; his hands gripped his knees. “You agreed to a divorce. Both families reached an agreement months ago. Why does this matter now?” 4୪

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“It matters,” Father said, “because if the child belongs to Kieran, the terms of the divorce change.”

“The terms don’t change.” Sylvia’s voice cut through the room; her eyes hardened. “The agreement was a divorce, not a negotiation over a baby.”

“If the baby is Kieran’s-” Grandfather started.

“We already have an agreement,” Frederick cut in; his spine was straight, his jaw firm. “Divorce. That was the conclusion, that was the promise, that is what will happen.”

Father stepped forward. “If the child belongs to Kieran, we can reach a new arrangement. Perhaps the divorce does not have to happen. Perhaps the child brings them together.”

“The child brings nothing together,” Sylvia said. “Serena suffered enough. The divorce is happening.”

The back-and-forth rolled through the room; voices rose, fell, collided. Grandfather pressed. Frederick held. Father argued. Sylvia refused. I stood at the edge of it, my hands in my pockets, my jaw tight.

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Frederick raised his hand; the room quieted. “Kieran ran a paternity test. He has the results. Let him tell his own family if he is the father.”

Every eye turned to me.

I looked at Serena; her hand stayed on her belly, her chin up, her eyes steady on mine. Cora pressed forward inside me; the bond hummed warm, steady. Aina was there on the other side, faint but real. I could feel her. I could feel my wolf reaching for her wolf the way he always reached, without resistance, without interruption, the way a mate bond behaved when betrayal did not touch it.

Why would I accept a lie my own body was telling me was wrong?

“The mate bond between Serena, me is still strong,” I said. “She did not cheat on me. I can feel Aina through the bond; the connection between our wolves has not broken. If she carried another man’s child, the bond would sour, it would twist, it would rot. It has not. That baby is mine.”

The room held its breath.

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Serena stood.

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