I locked eyes with Adeline, barely restraining my rage. "You better watch your mouth."
Adeline widened her eyes, feigning innocence as she leaned closer to my mate, her presence making my wolf bristle with unease. "Alpha, I don’t want to come between you two. If my sister refuses to admit that Kieran is faking his illness, then I’ll just drop it."
Disbelief surged through me. My brow furrowed as I turned to Ronan, my voice shaking. "You think Kieran is faking it too?"
His silence was answer enough. He didn't believe me. He never did.
Then, I caught him scanning the room, his eyes searching for our son. But Kieran was nowhere in sight. "Where did you hide him this time?" His voice dripped with suspicion, laced with an accusation that cut me deeper than any blade.
If only he came home more often, he would see the reality—the table littered with medicine bottles, the never-ending pile of medical reports from our wolf healers, the sleepless nights Kieran endured. But instead, he chose to believe Adeline's lies—the poisonous words that painted Kieran as a manipulative child rather than the sick, fragile boy he truly was.
I remembered the day Kieran confided in me, his small voice trembling as he told me he didn’t have much time left. His last wish was simple: to see the ocean one final time. He had always been enchanted by the sea, mesmerized by its endless waves and mysteries—a love passed down from the stories his late grandmother used to tell him. But we lived far from the coast, and the only way to make his wish come true was to get Ronan to agree.
So I had begged him. No, I had humiliated myself—kneeling before him, clutching the fabric of his pants as I pleaded. "Please," I had whispered, my voice breaking. "This will be the last thing I ever ask of you. I swear… after this, I’ll set you free."
Ronan had looked down at me then, something flickering in his gaze. Was it relief? Satisfaction? I couldn't tell. "You mean that?" he had asked, his voice void of warmth, calculating.
"Yes," I had murmured, closing my eyes as tears streamed down my face, feeling the last remnants of my dignity shatter.