Chapter 6
The next morning, three slow knocks sounded against the door, I froze as Damien’s scent, tangled with Selene’s, drifted through the house while Lila ate breakfast at the kitchen table with my mother.
I stood by the counter making coffee. I set my mug down, my instincts sharpening as my wolf reacted to their presence, then turned to my mother.
“Mom, take Lila upstairs,” I said, forcing a smile so she wouldn’t worry.
“Elena, what is it?” she asked, her concern growing.
“Just do it, Mom. Please.”
She didn’t argue, taking Lila’s hand and leading her toward the stairs while I waited until they disappeared before approaching the front door.
Another knock sounded, and when I opened it, Damien stood there with his cold expression and commanding Alpha presence, Selene beside him with one hand protectively covering her swollen stomach, making my anger surge.
"What are you doing here?" Damien looked past me.
"Can we come inside?"
"No." His jaw tightened.
"Elena-"
"I said no." Selene gave me a small smile.
"I only wanted to talk."
"I have nothing to say to you." She lowered her gaze to her stomach.
"That's unfortunate." Her voice was soft, but there was satisfaction hiding under it.
“I thought you’d want to know about the baby.”
I stared at her without answering, hoping my silence would make it clear that I had no interest in whatever she and Damien had come here for, but she only glanced at Damien before turning her eyes back to me.
"Once the baby is born, things will change." My fingers curled around the edge of the door. Selene smiled, then spoke again.
"Damien and I have already discussed everything."
I looked at my husband, raising an eyebrow when he didn't correct her, and my stomach twisted at his silence.
"Discussed what?" Selene gently rubbed her stomach again.
“Lila will stay with us sometimes.”
The words hit me like a slap, and I let out a bitter laugh as I stared at them, unable to believe what I had just heard.
“No,” I said firmly, Selene blinked in surprise.
“She’s Damien’s daughter, Elena.”
“She’s my daughter,” I corrected, my voice firm.
"She's a member of the Silvercrest Clan."
"And?" Selene smiled.
"She should know her younger brother." I stepped forward.
"Don't call that child her brother as though you've already decided where you belong."
Damien's eyes narrowed. “Don’t start, Elena." He warned.
I turned toward him. "You brought her here."
"She's carrying my child."
"And that gives her the right to decide what happens to my daughter?"
"That's not what she's saying."
"Then tell her to stop talking." Selene stepped closer.
"I don't understand why you're making this difficult."
A low growl rose from my wolf, and Selene heard it clearly enough for the smile on her face to disappear for a moment.
"You're angry because Damien chose to have another child."
"No." I looked directly into her eyes.
"I'm angry because you think you're entitled to mine." Her face hardened.
"Lila will be part of our family."
"No." I stepped closer.
"Listen carefully, Selene." My voice dropped.
"You will never touch my daughter." Her eyes flashed.
"You can't stop me forever."
"I can stop you today." Damien moved between us.
"That's enough." I looked at him.
"Take her and leave."
"Elena-"
“I said leave, and don’t ever come back here thinking either of you has the right to decide what happens to my daughter.”
For several seconds, neither moved. Then Damien's gaze hardened.
"You'll regret making this harder than it needs to be." I almost laughed.
"You should worry about what you'll regret."
Damien stared at me for a long moment before turning away, and Selene followed him, but before stepping off the porch, she looked back at me with her hand still resting over her stomach.
"Lila will eventually understand where she belongs."
My wolf slammed against my control. I opened the door wider.
"Try to take her, and you'll learn exactly where you don't belong."
Selene said nothing as Damien led her away, and I watched them disappear down the driveway before finally closing the door once their car was gone. My hands trembled with anger rather than fear, and when I turned around, I found my mother standing at the bottom of the stairs with Lila beside her.
"Mommy?" I immediately softened. I walked over and knelt in front of her.
"Are you okay?" She nodded.
"Who was outside?" I forced a smile.
"Nobody important."
She hugged me, and I wrapped my arms tightly around her, silently promising that no one would take her from me, not Damien, not Selene, not the council, and certainly not anyone else.
Moments later, my phone vibrated in my pocket, and when I pulled it out, I saw a message from an unknown number waiting on the screen.
You don't know the whole story.
I stared at the screen, my pulse quickening as another message appeared after the first.
My name is Hunter. My instincts sharpened.
I have something you need to see.
Seconds later, a file appeared right under the message, and after a brief hesitation, I opened it, only for the first photograph to make my blood run cold when I saw Damien and Selene together, not at the hospital or recently, but in a photograph taken months earlier.
Another photograph appeared, then another, showing Damien and Selene together at restaurants, hotels, private residences, and events where he had supposedly been attending pack meetings, and there were dozens of them.
I kept scrolling as my chest tightened, realizing they had been together for at least a year, until a third file opened containing financial records, transfers, accounts, and payments, with one particular transaction catching my attention.
$650,000 - House payment.
My breath caught when I saw the transfer for six hundred and fifty thousand dollars to Selene, money he had given her while I was still his wife, while Lila and I were living under the same roof with him, and while he had been telling me the pack’s finances were complicated. I took screenshots of everything, my anger sharpening as another message appeared on the screen.
He has been moving assets for months.
My eyes narrowed as anger surged through me, and before I could think better of it, my fingers were already typing a reply.
Why are you helping me? The reply came almost immediately.
Because men like Damien believe their power makes them untouchable.
I stared at the words on the screen, my pulse quickening as another message arrived.
He is wrong.
I looked toward the staircase where Lila remained with my mother, safe, before turning my attention back to the files and realizing the affair was more than a betrayal because Damien had been moving money, buying property, and building a separate life with Selene while expecting me to remain silent.
The realization settled heavily in my chest as I understood that he had been preparing for a life without me long before I ever knew I needed to leave.
I forwarded everything to Olivia. Then I typed another message to Hunter.
What else do you have?
The reply came a minute later.
Enough to bring down an Alpha.
I stared at the screen, realizing that Damien’s betrayal was only the beginning because he hadn’t simply chosen another woman, he had been preparing to erase the life we had built together.
And if he thought I would let him take my daughter and walk away with everything he had stolen from us, then he had made the biggest mistake of his life.