Chapter 104

ELENA

I hadn’t expected it to hit me like that.

Watching Derek teach Aiden to ride his bike… I don’t know. It gutted me in a way I wasn’t prepared for. Not because it hurt, but because it was right. The way Aiden beamed up at him.

The way Derek knelt beside him, patient and calm, catching him every time he fell. The way they both lit up when Aiden finally took off on his own, his legs pedaling wild and proud.

It wasn’t just about the bike.

It was about this—this moment that should’ve always belonged to a boy and his father.

And I’d kept it from them.

Not out of cruelty, but out of fear. Fear that Derek would hurt him, disappoint him, abandon him. Fear that he’d do to Aiden what he did to me.

But now?

Now I wasn’t sure anymore.

I watched them from the window, unseen, heart lodged somewhere between my ribs and my throat. Derek’s hand lifted to wave, and I stepped away instinctively. I didn’t want him to see me watching. I didn’t want him to see the crack forming in the wall I’d worked so hard to build.

I wasn’t ready to admit what I felt.

Aiden’s laughter echoed up the stone walkway as they came back inside. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes bright, a smear of dirt on one knee and no care in the world.

“Mom!” he yelled as he barreled toward me. “Did you see me? Did you? Dad taught me how to ride my new bike! Come see!”

He grabbed my hand and tugged with enough force to nearly yank me off balance. Derek trailed in behind him, smiling at us both with quiet bemusement.

I let Aiden lead me outside again, past the veranda and into the open yard where his bike lay on its side like it had been dropped in a hurry. He kicked it upright, threw a leg over the frame, and took off like a comet, weaving around the garden path.

“Watch me turn!” he called out. “I’m gonna go so fast!”

I clapped, trying to blink back the sting in my eyes. “Helmet!” I shouted. “You promised.”

Aiden groaned dramatically, dragging it out like it was so unfair, but he doubled back and scooped it off the grass with a grin.

As he pedaled off again—faster, more confident now—I turned to Derek.

“You did well teaching him,” I said.

He smiled faintly. “He’s a fast learner.”

I hesitated, watching Aiden make a wobbly loop around the garden path. “I tried to do everything on my own,” I said quietly. “And I don’t regret that. I did what I had to do.”

“I know you did,” Derek said, his voice low, careful.

“Logan and Mason were amazing. They helped so much. They were there for the scrapes and the stories and the nightmares. They showed up. They cared.”

He nodded, not interrupting.

“But…” I exhaled, arms folding loosely across my chest. “It’s clear now that he needs something else. Something I can’t give him. Not the same way.”

Derek’s brow furrowed, but not out of confusion. He understood. I could feel it.

“He needs a dad,” I said. “Not just male figures. Not just good examples. His dad.”

He looked away for a second, jaw flexing. “I’ve missed so much already. I’ll never get that time back.”

“No, you won’t,” I said, honest. “But what you do with the time you have—that still counts.”

He turned to look at me then. Really looked. And I saw the emotion in his eyes. Not just gratitude. But something heavier. Something rooted in guilt and longing.

“I’ll never stop trying to earn it,” he said. “His trust. Yours. Whatever you give me—I’ll never take it for granted.”

I didn’t respond right away.

Because that was the problem, wasn’t it?

He meant it. I could tell. But meaning something and living up to it weren’t the same.

Still, watching Aiden throw his head back in joy as he sped around the rose bushes, hair flying behind him and helmet finally strapped tight—I couldn’t deny the truth of what I’d said.

Derek had done something for him today that I never could have.

And it mattered.

Derek stayed quiet, the gravity of our conversation sinking in.

I turned to look at him fully. “I was thinking… maybe you’d like to take him for a weekend.”

His eyes widened, hope flashing through them so fast it made my stomach twist.

“You mean it?”

“Yes.”

The word had barely left my mouth before he stepped forward, instinctively reaching for me like he might pull me into a hug.

I stepped back.

Not far. But enough.

His arms dropped to his sides again.

He cleared his throat. “Thank you. Really. That means more than I can—”

“It’s not about you,” I said, more harshly than I meant. “It’s about him. And what he deserves.”

He nodded, chastened. “Understood.”

We stood there for a moment, watching Aiden circle the yard with the kind of joy only a six-year-old boy could muster.

“I’ll come pick him a week from Friday,” Derek said. “After school?”

“That’s fine.”

He smiled again, just a little. “We’ll get meatballs. Maybe go camping.”

I snorted. “Don’t spoil him.”

“No promises.”

After he left, I found Aiden in the packhouse, a juice box in one hand and his helmet still half-strapped to his head.

“Wear it properly or you there will be pieces of little werewolf all over the lawn,” I muttered, tightening the strap before he could run off again.

As he took off down the hall, we nearly collided with Logan.

Aiden lit up. “Logan! Did you see me on my bike?”

Logan grinned. “Your bike?”

“Yeah! Derek taught me how!”

I saw it then. Just a flicker. A tightening of the jaw, a tension in the eyes.

But to Aiden, he was all smiles.

“That’s amazing, dude! Congratulations!”

Aiden beamed. “Thanks!” He ran off again, yelling something about needing to do a “ramp jump” off the curb.

I rubbed my temples. “Helmet!”

I turned back to Logan, who was still staring after him.

“So,” he said slowly, “that’s going well, huh?”

I gave a little shrug. “Derek’s been… trying. And he’s good with him. Better than I expected.”

We stood quietly for a moment. “I’m letting him take him for a weekend.”

Logan’s brow creased. “Joint custody?”

I glanced at him. “Eventually, maybe. It’s not off the table.”

He didn’t say anything for a second.

Then: “You know the rogue attacks lately have only been hitting Moonstone, right?”

I frowned. “What are you implying?”

He hesitated, eyes scanning the corridor like he wasn’t sure how loud he should speak.

“Just that… you should be careful. You think Silverclaw’s completely innocent in all this? That after generations of animosity, one treaty at the Alliance Summit was enough to wipe the slate clean?”

He crossed his arms. “You think there aren’t people in that pack who hate Moonstone? Who remember the blood feuds, the territory wars, the betrayals?”

My chest tightened. “You’re saying Derek’s lying to me?”

“I’m saying maybe he doesn’t know what’s happening under his own roof,” Logan said. “Or maybe he does. Either way… if you send Aiden to Silverclaw… you may not get him back.”

My blood went cold.

He wasn’t wrong about the history. Silverclaw and Moonstone had been at each other’s throats for generations. The Summit hadn’t erased that—it had just buried it under the illusion of progress.

Derek would never hurt Aiden. But would he keep him? Keep him from me like all those years I’d done the same to him?

Doubt bloomed in my gut like rot.

“Thanks,” I said quietly. “I’ll think about it.”

Logan nodded, then turned and walked away, leaving me standing in the hallway, heart thudding in my ears.