Chapter 10: The Secret Behind Leo

Elena's face had gone completely white.

Sebastian stepped toward her.

“What do you know?”

She shook her head.

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Then why are you afraid?”

Elena's lips trembled.

She looked at me, then at Sebastian.

For once, she had no carefully prepared answer.

The doctor quietly stepped away, giving us privacy.

Sebastian's Alpha aura filled the hallway.

“Elena. Tell me the truth.”

She swallowed hard.

“The blood marker isn't dangerous by itself.”

“Then what is it?”

“It's a sign of a second lineage.”

Sebastian's eyes narrowed.

“Second lineage?”

Elena nodded reluctantly.

“Leo didn't inherit everything from you.”

My heart skipped.

Sebastian stared at her.

“What are you saying?”

Elena closed her eyes.

“When Leo was born, his blood reacted strangely. I noticed it when he was only a few months old.”

“You knew?”

Her silence was answer enough.

Sebastian's expression became terrifyingly calm.

“How long?”

“Four years.”

His jaw clenched.

“You knew for four years that there was something unusual about my son, and you never told me?”

“I was afraid.”

“Of what?”

Elena looked at me.

“Of losing everything.”

I understood immediately.

This wasn't about Leo alone.

It was about power.

Elena continued in a trembling voice.

“The blood marker belongs to an ancient healing lineage.”

“A lineage that disappeared generations ago.”

Sebastian stared at her.

“Why would Leo have it?”

Elena hesitated.

“Because someone in his maternal line carried it.”

The hallway seemed to become colder.

Sebastian turned toward me.

His eyes searched my face.

“Faye…”

I shook my head.

“Don't look at me like that.”

“I didn't know anything.”

Elena whispered, “Neither did you.”

Sebastian's expression changed.

“Then who did?”

Elena looked down.

“My family.”

Silence.

The truth finally began to take shape.

Elena's family had known about Leo's unusual bloodline from the beginning.

They had recognized something in him that even Sebastian hadn't understood.

Something valuable.

Something powerful.

Something that could change the balance of the Silver Moon Pack.

“Why did your family want me gone?” I asked.

Elena didn't answer.

Sebastian did.

“Because they wanted Leo under their influence.”

Elena's eyes filled with tears.

“They believed an Alpha with that blood could unite the strongest families in the territory.”

“And Faye was the only person standing between them and control of the boy.”

My chest tightened.

Suddenly, so many things made sense.

The pressure.

The insults.

The constant reminders that I was too weak.

The insistence that Elena was necessary.

The elders' demand for an official Luna.

None of it had been accidental.

I had been pushed aside because powerful people believed I was inconvenient.

Sebastian looked at Elena with something close to disgust.

“Did you help them?”

Elena's tears fell.

“At first.”

His expression hardened.

“At first?”

“I thought I was protecting my family.”

“Then I realized they weren't protecting anyone.”

“They wanted Leo because of what he could become.”

Sebastian's fists tightened.

“And you?”

Elena looked at him.

“I wanted you.”

He went completely still.

“I wanted you to choose me.”

“I thought if Faye disappeared, you would eventually see me as the woman who belonged beside you.”

I stared at her.

For the first time, there was no smugness in her face.

Only regret.

But regret could not erase years of cruelty.

Sebastian looked toward me.

“Faye, I didn't know.”

I gave him a tired smile.

“I know.”

He looked surprised.

“You know?”

“Yes.”

“But not knowing doesn't erase what happened.”

His eyes lowered.

I could see the guilt settling over him.

For years, he had believed he was protecting his family.

He had never realized that his decisions had made me the sacrifice.

A nurse suddenly rushed toward us.

“Dr. Miller!”

We all turned.

“Leo's awake.”

Sebastian immediately moved toward the room.

I followed more slowly.

When we entered, Leo was sitting on the hospital bed.

His little face was pale, but his eyes were clear.

The moment he saw me, his expression changed.

“Mom?”

I stopped.

It was the first time in years that his voice sounded like the little boy I remembered.

Sebastian looked between us.

Leo reached out his hand.

“Can you stay?”

My heart broke.

For a moment, I wanted to say yes without hesitation.

Then I remembered the future.

I remembered the cold young man who had looked down at me as though I were nothing.

But this was not that Leo.

This was a four-year-old boy who still had time to become someone different.

I walked to his bedside.

“I'll stay for tonight.”

Leo smiled weakly.

Sebastian watched us in silence.

And for the first time, I wondered whether a second chance wasn't only meant to save me.

Maybe it had been given to me so I could save my son from becoming the man I remembered.