Page 16 of Betrayed Alpha Bride

Clara nods. “I understand. I felt something similar, but mostly, I just needed another wolf to help Nico.”

“You’ve got one.”

“I don’t know, Galen—”

“Please, Clara,” I urge. “Come home with me. Come home with our son. I can help him, and he so desperately needs it.”

Her eyes flood with tears, and even though her pain cuts through me, I’m also deeply moved by her strength.

She did this all alone, and she was going to keep doing it. I can’t imagine how much she’s suffered.

“Okay,” she replies, wiping tears from her cheeks. “I’ll come back. I’ll honor the contract. But this isn’t about us—it’s about helping Nico. Do you understand?”

“Yes, of course,” I answer, but I feel like a tremendous weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

I’ll be with my son, and I’ll finally have my chance to make it up to Clara. I’ll respect her boundary and not ask for more.

But I will never stop showing her how much I still love her.

Chapter 5 - Clara

The next morning, the nerves hit me hard. For the briefest of seconds, when I open my eyes, the world is fresh, clean, and new. But the moment I think of my son, last night’s events come screaming back to me.

Galen is here!

I take a couple of deep breaths, wondering if he’s still on the couch where I left him or if I’ll have to dodge him in the kitchen or bathroom. I could cower in bed, trying to avoid the situation entirely, if it wasn’t for Nico.

My baby.

I pull myself out of bed, knowing no matter how bad I feel, Nico will be worse off. The nightmares and episodes have been steadily getting more intense, and I know he’ll wake up sore and hungry. And still exhausted, even if he slept all night.

Before I fully get up, I grab my phone to see that Iris has messaged back. Everything happened so fast yesterday, I didn’t get a chance to talk to her. But before I went to bed, I sent her a text, asking if it was possible to break the contract now.

Hi Clara! Thanks for your message. It is possible to negotiate the contract, even though both of you have signed, but the agency has worked hard to match the two of you. So, I’d advise you to at least give it a try for a week before we start talking about any fallout that might occur from deciding to change the terms. Does that sound okay to you?

I stare at the screen for a moment, not really knowing what to think. I knew when I signed the contract that it was binding, and that there would be some legal—and possibly financial—repercussions to breaking it. I just didn’t think too hard about it at the time, and now that pen has been put to paper, it’s too late to worry about it.

Especially since I said yes to Galen, I told him I would give it a try for Nico. I can’t take his dad away from him now. Nico needs him.

I sigh, typing out a message.That’s okay, Iris, thank you. I’ll settle in a bit and then talk to you again soon. Thanks!

A few seconds later comes the reply.

Wonderful! I’ll be in touch. Best of luck, Clara!

I put the phone down and head to the bathroom, checking on Nico quickly as I go down the hall. He’s still asleep, but obviously restless, shivering and muttering in his sleep.

I try to put my worry aside and get ready for the day, but thoughts of Nico weigh me down, and I find it difficult to get moving. When I stagger into the kitchen to make coffee, I’m shocked to see Galen standing at the stove.

“What are you doing?” I ask nervously.

“Making some breakfast,” he answers, waving the spatula. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“No—” I start to reply, but Galen turns around, and I see he’s wearing a frilly pink apron adorned with the words: “You’re as sweet as sugar!”

He stares at me for a few seconds, spatula still held high as if it’s a rapier and he’s about to engage in a duel. When he sees me gaping at the apron, he looks down and chuckles.

“Oh, right. I found this hanging on the back of the pantry door. I didn’t have any other clothes, and I didn’t want to mess up my shirt with bacon fat, so…”

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