Page 111 of Alpha-Ex Wedding Ruse
I walked over to the sofa. “Nothing. Go get Ollie.”
I hated the polite, distant tone in her voice. Like I was just another person walking into her house. A stranger.
“Mommy!” From upstairs, I heard Ollie’s excited voice a notchhigher now. I guessed the reunion had already happened after her two-day absence.
A few moments later, I lifted my head as Leila came down the stairs, Ollie in her arms.
The second his eyes landed on me, his face split into a grin. Something warm and fierce flooded my chest—pride, protectiveness, wonder. My son. I felt the unmistakable tug of a bond threading itself between us, and deep inside, my wolf stirred, as if recognizing something primal.
Leila brought him to the double sofa and sat down with him.
“It’s good to see you again, kiddo,” I said, my voice surprisingly steady. “How’s that LEGO project coming along?”
He gave a little shrug. “I was hoping you would come again and help me finish it.”
I turned to Leila, catching her watching me. The moment our eyes met, she looked away and cleared her throat.
“Ollie,” Leila said gently, reaching for his hand. “There’s something really important we want to tell you, okay?”
His eyes widened. “Am I in trouble?”
A small chuckle escaped me. “No, bud. Not even close.”
She glanced at me, her fingers tightening slightly around his, then turned back to him. “You’ve asked me before why your dad wasn’t around. Do you remember what I told you?”
He nodded. “You said he couldn’t be here. That he was far away.”
Her throat worked as she swallowed. “That was true then. But it’s not anymore. Because he’s here now.” She looked up at me, then back at Ollie. “This is Luca Vaughn. Your Dad.”
Silence.
Ollie blinked, like his brain needed a second to catch up. “He’s my dad?”
Leila nodded slowly. “Yes. He’s your biological father.”
Ollie’s mouth parted slightly, his gaze snapping to Luca. For a heartbeat, he just stared—wide-eyed, as if memorizing his face, like he was seeing him properly for the first time. Then he turned to me. “But…I thought you said he wasn’t coming back.”
Leila’s voice was quiet. “I was wrong.”
His gaze bounced between the two of us again, wide and disbelieving. Then slowly, he stepped forward, like he needed to see for himself. He stopped in front of me, brows furrowed in concentration, then reached up with both hands and touched my face—small fingers brushing my jaw, my cheek, like he was trying to feel if I was real.
“Is this why your hair is black and Mom’s is yellow?” he asked innocently.
Leila gave a soft laugh beside him. “It’s blonde, baby. Not yellow.”
“Blonde,” he murmured to himself like he was filing the correction away. And when he looked back at me again, his face broke into a wide grin. “You’re really my dad? Like, really, really?”
I nodded, my voice thick with emotion. “Yeah, kid. Really, really.”
And then he did something I didn’t expect—he wrapped his arms around me. My heart clenched so hard I thought it might split open. This boy—my son—was accepting me without hesitation. It undid something in me I didn’t even know was wound tight. My wolf leaped inside of me, filling me with a pride so fierce it almost stole my breath. He was ours—our blood, our scent, our boy. My wolf wanted to wrap himself around him, to guard him from the world, to make sure nothing—nothing—could ever hurt him. The need to protect him was bone deep, as natural as breathing.
“My teacher said to give our dads a hug on Father’s Day last month. I didn’t have one to give then, but now I have one. Promise me you’ll never leave us again, Dad.”
My throat burned, the words scraping out rough. “I’m here now. And I’m not going anywhere. Not ever.”
His head snapped up as though he remembered something urgent, then turned to Leila. “Does that mean I can go to the games day with Dad now, Mom?”
I blinked. “Games day?”
