Sorry, Alpha. You’re Not His Dad Anymore Chapter 09

Sorry, Alpha. You’re Not His Dad Anymore Chapter 09

Rowan’s restraint lasted only until the second my lips touched his.

His wolf rumbled deep in his throat. One hand gripped the edge of the treatment bed and crushed

a dent into the metal.

His other hand hovered beside my waist without touching me.

“May I?” he asked against my lips.

I took his hand and placed it on my waist.

The kiss turned fierce and scorching.

He possessed enough power to take anything he wanted, yet he was willing to stop and wait for

my consent.

When we parted, Rowan rested his forehead against mine.

“Aria, I don’t want your gratitude just because the North gave you shelter.”

“Good.” I began stitching his wound. “I don’t feel the least bit grateful right now.”

“Then what do you feel?”

“Angry.”

“Because I was hurt?”

“Because you were hurt and foolishly waited until I finished surgery to tell me.”

Rowan laughed.

Inside me, Lyla wagged her tail.

The treatment room door suddenly flew open.

Theo ran inside carrying three ribbons for the moon-naming ceremony.

He looked at me, then at Rowan’s disheveled clothes.

“Were you kissing?”

Before I could answer, Rowan admitted, “Yes.”

Theo asked in a serious tone, “Did Mom say yes?”

“She did.”

“Then it’s okay.”

He climbed onto a chair and spread blue, black, and silver ribbons before us.

“Which one should I choose?”

“Silver,” Rowan answered without hesitation. “It matches your young wolf.”

Theo’s eyes brightened.

His wolf hadn’t fully taken shape yet. It had shown only a pair of silver eyes on the night of his

fever.

Even I didn’t know that Theo had already given it a name.

Rowan did.

He also knew that Theo wouldn’t eat the crusts on his bread, that he always slept with one foot

outside the blanket, and that his favorite color had changed from blue to silver.

None of those things required blood.

They only required choosing, over and over, to stay.

Theo wrapped the ribbon around his finger and sneaked several glances at Rowan.

“Alpha, would you stand beside me at my moon-naming ceremony?”

Rowan crouched in front of him.

“Is that what you want?”

“Yes.”

“Then it would be my honor.”

He didn’t ask what Theo planned to call him.

Not once.

The day before the ceremony, Damian requested one final visit.

He waited in the Northern Garden for 2 hours.

Eventually, Theo agreed to see him for 10 minutes.

A council observer and I stood nearby.

Damian brought no gifts. He didn’t produce the heir’s moonstone.

“I withdrew my appeal,” he said.

Theo immediately asked, “Will you still send people to take me back?”

“No.”

Theo’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

That relief cut deeper than any hatred could have.

Damian watched him for a long moment.

“You were never a mistake.”

“I was.”

Theo looked down and scuffed the toe of his boot against the ground.

“Are you apologizing now?”

“Yes.”

“Then I heard you.”

He nodded politely. “Thank you, Alpha Damian.”

Not Dad.

Never again.

Damian didn’t correct him.

As he left the garden, he handed the Blackthorn heir’s moonstone to the council observer.

“Seal it away.”

It was the first time he had truly respected Theo’s refusal.

But respect that came too late didn’t automatically become forgiveness.