1

“Mom, Dad asked me to get some apples, but I messed up. Sorry...."

My son had been struck by lightning while climbing an apple tree during a heavy rainstorm.

In fear and tears, the hospital hallways seemed to stretch endlessly as I rushed to my son's side.

I clutching his small hand, whispering prayers and promises.

Before I could save my son from his insolent father, he was declared dead by the doctor.

My knees buckled and I fell to the floor, the weight of the doctor's words crashing down on me. The grief was suffocating, but beneath it burned a fierce determination.

The anger directly surged my head. I called my husband just to hear, “Honey, Which position do you prefer in bed with me?”

With a steamy voice echoing from his end, I blurted out angrily, "How dare you, Denver!”

Soon, the woman’s voice cracked through the phone, "Ivy, don’t rag on Denver. I am the one who wants that apple. Oh! Faster, honey. Why are you so good at this?”

Denver's reckless disregard for our son's safety was unforgivable. How could a father have the heart to make his only son suffer just for his secret lover?

Denver had taken everything from me. His selfishness and recklessness had cost me my son.

I knew I had to act swiftly, to divorce him, break free from the cycle of pain and neglect he had created.

But he snapped at me when I discussed it, "Ivy, divorce is fine, but Gabriel will be mine."

***

“Gabriel! Gabriel!” I ran along the hospital corridor shouting my only son’s name.

My mind was already in a mess and I did not even think about what I looked like at that time.

I was cooking Gabriel's favorite dish that afternoon, waiting for him to come home after attending warrior training with Marcy Dalton, a Gamma in the Highridge Pack who was in charge of training young warriors.

However, suddenly heavy rain hit the land accompanied by thunder, making my heart beat erratically.

I was a little worried about Gabriel, but the next second, I calmed myself and tried to convince myself if Marcy would take good care of my son. After all, he was a good mentor for the young warriors, so he would protect them all.

However, while I was waiting for Gabriel to return, Marcy mind-linked me, "Ivy, your son is in the hospital right now."

Without having time to answer, I immediately ran in a panic under the rain and headed to the hospital where he was being treated.

My mind was full of questions.

Did Gabriel get hurt during sparring?

Did Gabriel fall while running home?

Or was it something else?

But before I could ask the reason, Marcy had already explained it with a mind-link, "Gabriel said his father told him to bring apples from the Vaughn family's garden, so he hurriedly asked permission to go home first from training.

"The next second, I found out that there was a child who was struck by lightning while climbing a tree. When I knew it was Gabriel, I immediately took him to the hospital."

His father?

So, it was Denver who made my son suffer?

How dare he!

However, I suppressed my anger and replied to Marcy, "Thanks, Marcy. Please take care of my son first. I will be at the hospital soon."

I was sprinting in panic at that moment. I did not even realize that I was not wearing shoes at that time.

But that was not a big deal for a werewolf. After all, we could recover quickly from big wounds, so small wounds like abrasions on the feet were not counted.

That was why I had a little hope that the fast recovery skills on werewolf would also apply to Gabriel.

While still hoping in my heart, I had arrived at the hospital door.

As soon as the people heard my scream, a nurse came to me and asked about my needs.

"I'm here to visit Gabriel Vaughn, a child who was just struck by lightning," I said in a hurry.

“Come here, Ma’am,” the nurse answered and took me to the emergency room, where my son was being treated.

As soon as I saw my son being treated by the doctor and screaming in pain, I could not hold back my tears.

Marcy was there, calming me down and said, "Calm down, everything will be okay. Gabriel is in good hands."

"How? How could he end up like this? Have you contacted Denver? Did he know about it? Why did he suddenly ask for apples?"

I bombarded her with questions, making Marcy confused about which one to answer first.

"Ivy, take your breath. Your son needs you right now. You should calm down while I will try to mind-link Denver again," Marcy explained.

It meant that he still couldn’t call Denver. But that was not the problem at that moment.

So, I nodded and tried to stop my tears.

The next second, Gabriel called me weakly, "Mom?"

I directly came to him and asked, “Yes, dear. What are you feeling right now?”

I grabbed his hand tightly. It was so cold until my tears couldn’t help falling again.

“Mom, don't cry. I… am fine,” he said weakly.

I nodded and tried my best to suppress my tears before saying, “Sure, dear. I will stop crying. Everything is fine, you will recover fast. Now, you can take a rest, okay?”

But by the time Gabriel answered, he was gasping his final breaths, "Dad asked me to get some apples, but I messed up. Sorry...."

2

The doctor announced the date and time of my son's death, while I was just pensive.

My hand was still holding Gabriel's hand which was starting to weaken at that time. It was indeed cold, but I could feel that the warm blood was still flowing in his veins.

“Ivy, I am truly sorry,” Marcy said and patted my shoulder to soothe me.

The doctor then said, “We will leave you with your son for a minute. Just tell us when you are ready, Ma’am.”

After that, everyone was leaving me alone, while my hand kept holding Gabriel's hand tightly.

I could not help wondering in my mind. Why did everything happen so fast?

That morning, Gabriel was still very cheerful.

He acted like usual, telling me all the things he did during training and also the things he wanted to improve.

Gabriel also said that he missed his father, but I just took it as usual, saying that his father was busy because he was the Beta to the Alpha of the Highridge Pack.

It was actually the cliche excuse I always told Gabriel, because I didn't want him to feel abandoned by his father. After all, Gabriel really adored his father who he thought was so cool.

Then Gabriel just replied calmly and asked me to cook his favorite dish for dinner tonight.

That was why I was so excited since morning; starting from shopping for groceries, buying new clothes for him and also some snacks that he might like.

But why in the next second, he had already left me?

It was a dream, right? A nightmare that I hoped I could forget as soon as I woke up.

But when his little hand was slipping from my grasp and falling limply, I began to realize that all of that was real.

Anger immediately filled my mind when I thought about the reason again.

That was all Denver's fault.

He knew that it was raining very heavily at that time, so why did he ask Gabriel to do something that was unreasonable?

Since the mind-link couldn't connect, I called him. Luckily, I had my cell phone with me.

After calling him several times, the call finally connected.

However, the first words that came out were, "Honey, what style do you prefer? Just for your info, I like the doggy style for the first one."

Then, laughter came to my ears. The next second, I heard a woman's voice, “Absolutely, woman on top. Oh, the call is connected, honey.”

With a heavy breath, Denver replied, "Oh, that's right, my hand slipped on the receive button.”

“Just answer, but don't slow down your tempo," the woman whispered, but I still could hear it.

“Naughty baby,” Denver said while continuing his business.

With a steamy voice echoing from his end, I was shaking with rage.

When all the problems that he caused made my life in a mess; Denver, who was nowhere to be found, actually enjoying his life like in heaven.

I blurted out angrily, "How dare you, Denver! When you are making out with your mistress, you instead tell your son to pick apples in heavy rain like this? Why, what is the reason behind this, Denver?"

Instead of Denver's voice, I heard Rosalyn Jensen, an Omega who was my husband’s childhood friend and his mistress at that time.

Her voice cracked through when saying, "Ivy, don’t rag on Denver. I am the one who wants that apple. It is good to eat apples in this weather, right? Just blame me for this.

“Oh, my Goddess, faster. Why are you so good at this?”

Wiping my tears, I retorted coldly, "Denver, I don’t have time for this childish thing. You better come home and sign these divorce papers."

However, Denver ignored my threat and was saying all sweet talk to Rosalyn instead, “You are amazing, honey. Let’s try your favorite style.”

But before I hung up the call, he suddenly snapped at me, "Ivy, divorce is fine, but I am keeping the kid. My request is as simple as that."

In frustration, I talked to the doctor calmly. After all, I needed to administer everything.

One thing for sure, I would never give my son to that heartless man.

The next day, I dragged myself around, sorting the funeral solo.

Everyone kept asking about Denver's existence, but it was Marcy who helped me to answer all the questions.

I actually didn’t have enough energy to answer all of that.

I even thought my tears had dried up, but when they cremated my son, my tears could not help falling again.

The reality hit me hard.

Starting from that day, I could not see my only son again.

His smile had disappeared with the wind, while our conversation had been replaced by the sound of the clock chiming in the living room.

I was all alone again.

Four days later, Denver, who was nowhere to be found, returned home in a drunken state.

As soon as he opened the door, Denver yelled at me, who was sitting in the living room with my son’s picture on my hand, “Water, bring me water!”

3

I was fed up with all of that and chose to stay where I was, assuming no one was home at that time.

However, Denver came with his shoes still in his foot and said, “Hey, are you deaf?”

But before he sat next to me, his finger casually swiped a finger over the table, scowling at the dust.

He grumbled, “Why is the house so dirty? I told you to clean everything, because even a little dust on the corner will make me itchy. If you are already dumb, please don't be a useless person.

“Make sure everything is clean before I come back, understand?”

Muttering his orders, he went off to the shower.

I knew if Denver was having a dust allergy, so I had been a clean freak for a decade to keep him comfortable.

But at that moment, I didn't even care anymore, instead hoping that his body would be covered in malignant rashes.

After taking a shower, it seemed that he had recovered from his drunk state.

So, he tried his best to come near to me, ignoring the dirty surrounding and asked, “Why don’t you move? Still mad at me because of that apple thing?”

I didn’t answer nor nod.

“Ivy, it is just a small problem. Look, our son is this big. Why are you so mad when hearing that I ask him to do a trivial thing?” He said while pointing at the picture on my hand.

“Trivial thing, you say? Sending our son to the storm just to make your mistress happy is a small problem?” I could not help yelling angrily.

The thing that my husband called a small thing had killed my son.

If he did not climb the tree that day, maybe he would be sitting next to me at that moment.

“Of course, just move on from it. Oh anyway, I brought you some gift, wait a minute,” Denver said and left me alone again.

I smirked, moving on was not an easy thing everyone could do.

How could I move from my son’s last sentence?

He was so disappointed when realizing if he could not deliver the apples to his father, without knowing that his father did not care at all.

Denver came again with a present in his hand. He said, "Check this out, see if it’s your style."

From the box, I could see if it was diamond jewelry.

But I had seen it before on Rosalyn’s social media. She bragged about having many diamond jewelry and would throw some of it.

So, the one Denver brought that time was the one Rosalyn threw.

“When I saw it, I immediately knew if it suits you,” Denver claimed.

I sneered, emphasizing ‘us’ in my words, “This kind of thing will never make us forgive you.”

Denver was taken aback when hearing that, he directly stated, “He is also mad at me because of that thing? Fine, I’ll smooth things over next holiday. Gabriel has always been a daddy’s boy after all.”

My husband was always like that, thinking that everything would be fine as long as you gave them something that made them happy. In fact, everything was not that simple.

In the end, I ignored him and stood up to take the divorce agreement instead.

“So, when’s this divorce happening?” I calmly asked while bragging about the document.

Denver’s mood soured immediately, he was fed up with that kind of thing and yelled angrily, "This thing again? Ivy, enough already. As long as the terms and conditions are still the same, I will never divorce you!"

Then he went out, banged the door and gave me silent treatment as he always did.

4

The first time I met Denver, it was in the most unexpected of places, an Academy restroom.

I was in such a hurry that I forgot to lock the door.

But when I had just dropped my pants and squatted down, the door suddenly burst open.

There stood Denver, frozen in place, his eyes wide with shock.

I screamed instinctively and wondered whether I went to the wrong toilet sign because I was in a hurry.

But then Denver apologized, “Sorry, I read the wrong sign. It should be for a woman.”

Then, he shut the door and I could hear that the restroom next to me was open.

My face was red because of embarrassment at that moment. I even waited for that man to come out of the restroom first, hoping I wouldn't meet him again.

But after waiting for so long, when I came out of the room, the man turned out to have been waiting for me outside.

I could not help screaming in startled, “Argh! Why are you still here?

“Sorry to startle you. I am sorry for everything. Please forgive me, I did not mean that. I was in a hurry so that I couldn't see the right sign. Don't be mad at me, I truly sorry,” he showered me with sincere apologies.

But that kind of thing was something that was unforgivable.

Although I was also wrong for not locking the door before using the restroom, it was improper to open the closed door right away.

Moreover, there was already a sign in front of the restroom that it was the women's restroom.

In embarrassment, tears welled up in my eyes as I yelled, "Apologies won’t unsee what you’ve seen."

He rubbed the back of his neck, looking genuinely regretful and said, "You are right. Everything has happened and we can’t reverse or erase it. But I promise I will fix it until you will forgive me."

I was still sobbing when I retorted, "How do you plan to fix this? It’s unforgivable."

Denver seemed hesitant at first, but then he gently wiped my tears from my cheek and promised, "After we graduate, you and I are getting married."

I was shocked when hearing his funny jokes. He seemed to take marriage too lightly, to the point of proposing in such a strange way.

“Don’t joke with me. We don’t even know each other,” I yelled again.

Denver was taken aback. He responded to my remark innocently, "So, you're worried about that? Well then, let me introduce myself, I'm Denver Vaughn, son of a Beta in the Highridge Pack. After graduation, I'll be an Alpha subordinate as well as your husband if you agree to marry me.”

What nonsense!

But then I laughed in tears.

“Oh, my Goddess. You are so funny. Why are you so innocent, Denver?”

5

Denver seemed confused by my answer. But he was just waiting in silence, as if he was still expecting a response to his proposal.

“Alright, Denver. Listen to me now. Even if I have known your name and your identity, we are still strangers.

“Also, I will never tell you about my name. But one thing you should know, I am a wolfless. So, a Beta like you will never like me or marry me in the future. I even start to think if maybe my partner in the future is a human.

“What’s more, you will have your own mate, while I never will,” I explained.

But before I could continue, Denver had cut me and said, “I indeed have not met my mate yet. But I promise, even if I meet her, I will stay faithful for you. Perhaps the reason why my mate has no one around is because I am actually your mate.”

I shook my head and told him, “No way. Just forget it, I forgive you.”

When I was about to leave, he grabbed my hand and said, “We can start getting to know each other from now on.”

So, the most embarrassing day for me was becoming our first day.

During our relationship, Denver always showered me with extraordinary love.

I even felt lucky at that time, considering myself the happiest woman in the world if I could be his wife in the future.

Denver accepted all my shortcomings and made it the thing he was most proud of, saying that I was unique and lucky to have me.

Until the day before my graduation, my parents, who were supposed to come to attend the event, had an accident because they were driving in heavy rain.

Their car was struck by lightning, causing it to swerve and fall into a ravine. Even the evacuation was very slow because of the difficult terrain that had to be passed.

While my friends were enjoying a happy graduation day, I returned to the Silentcrest Pack to attend the funeral of my parents who were Alpha and Luna.

The title turned to my uncle, who was my father’s brother, in the end.

He promised to take care of me, but despair still swallowed me and the light in my world when I realized that I was orphaned at that time.

I could not help coming to my parents' grave every day to vent my complaints and also ask things that had no answers.

Why did they leave me first?

Why didn't they take me with them, so that I would not be alone in this world?

Why had everything happened to me?

In my most difficult times, Denver came with his black umbrella, sheltering me not only from the rain at that time but also from the suffering I felt.

I looked up to see his charming face.

Denver said sincerely, “Marry me, Ivy. I promise I will look after you forever.”

Right, I should have graduated from Fantomhide Academy by now. But because I had to grieve, I didn't attend the graduation ceremony and chose to drown in sadness.

I answered in a low tone, “You deserve to marry a better person, Denver. Don’t do this out of guilt. I have said I forgave you, right?"

“It’s not guilt. I love you, Ivy. I want to be the only person you can rely on in this world,” he said while crouching down to hug me.

When he hugged me, tears could not help falling from my eyes again.

It was so warm, the thing I didn’t expect to get after my parents were gone.

However, I still denied it. It was precisely because of my love for him that made me unable to receive his proposal.

When I was young, everyone was proud of me because I was the daughter of an Alpha. Moreover, I could quickly grasp every lesson given by my teachers.

I always won every match held specifically for young warriors, so many people thought that I would be a very helpful Luna candidate for my future mate.

But all that changed when I was 14 years old, when most werewolves started to get their own wolves.

My parents continued to encourage me, saying that one day, my wolf would also come. There were some cases that had to wait until 16 years old, so I was not worried.

However, after I was over 16 years old, I still did not have it. So, my parents sent me to the Fantomhide Academy for my own sake.

Although my family always supported me, I realized that I was not worthy of being together with other werewolves, so I was determined to join the human race after graduating.

That was the reason why I did not want him to be stuck with a wolfless like me forever.

In the end, I reasoned, “A Beta like you marrying a wolfless like me? I’m not worthy. You’ll face the gossip of the people if you bring a woman like me into your Pack.”

He locked eyes with me, sincerity in his voice when he said, "Ivy, I repeatedly said I did not care about it. What’s more, since you entered the Fantomhide Academy, I already have my eyes on you.”

“You reasoned about mate, but I never met my mate. When you reasoned about your condition, that's still not enough to make me stay away from you.

“I still love you and will always love you forever.”

His voice was soft, but there was a firm determination that touched my broken spirit. It ignited a glimmer of hope in my desperate heart.

Before he said his last sentence, the rain had already stopped.

“Will you marry me, Ivy Shannon?”

6

When I agreed to his proposal, we went to my uncle’s house to ask his permission.

When we came, my uncle looked so happy. But before giving his permission, he asked about my decision first.

After I said “Yes,” he gave me his blessing.

One month later, we got married and I moved to the Highridge Pack.

Everything went smoothly, I even became close to the Luna and noticed that no one was gossiping about my situation.

What stunned me was Denver turned out to be the most respected Beta in the Pack, that was why he used to be busy since he was the one that the Alpha chose to accompany him.

He was also a caring type man, showering me with love and attention. Every day was like the best day in my life when I was spending time with him.

Under his faithful care, we welcomed our son into the world.

The first time Denver held our boy, he promised me that he would take care of him all his life. Denver even said that he would be the first to defend him when Gabriel was in trouble.

At that time, I saw him as a guardian who would protect us from everything.

Like a soil who would make the plant could thrive and lean on him without worry.

What was more, no matter how busy Denver was with his work, he would always make time for our son.

He learnt to feed him, change his clothes and bath him. Denver also became the first one who saw our son walking.

I could not ask for more at that time, since everything was getting better day by day.

But like a storm in broad daylight, everything changed when Rosalyn came back to the Pack. She was Denver’s childhood friend, who shared a long history with him.

I actually never knew about Rosalyn before, but the Pack member itself who told me.

She was an Omega’s daughter that used to be in Denver’s house since then.

Because they shared the same house, Denver and Rosalyn were so close. Some of his friends even thought that they had been dating for one or two years before Denver went to the Fantomhide Academy.

However, Denver denied it and said that he only considered Rosalyn as his childhood friend.

Moreover, after her mother died, Rosalyn chose to leave the Pack and worked as a servant for the other Pack’s Alpha she met at the banquet.

Denver's family decided to let Rosalyn choose what she wanted after all, that was why she was not the Highridge Pack’s member anymore since then.

After her departure, Denver entered the Academy.

Since that time, no one had ever known about their relationship. But I remembered Denver told me that he was interested in me since he entered the Academy.

For some reason, my instincts suddenly told me that he was just venting his loss to me, but I tried to get rid of those negative thoughts when I first heard about Rosalyn.

However, after Denver's change in attitude towards me and my son, I began to validate my thoughts again.

Denver rarely came home, always distracted and started to distance himself from me. I even often noticed he smiled at the messages in his phone, something he wouldn't share with me.

Our once happy home started to feel strained, the love and attention he once showered on me and our son becoming a distant memory.

One evening, I confronted him.

"Is it Rosalyn?" I asked, my voice trembling.

He sighed, looking away when he replied, "She needs help and I’m just being a friend."

But his eyes told a different story.

The days turned into weeks and the tension grew. The warmth that once filled our home was replaced with an icy silence.

He still made time to spend the weekend with me and my son, but it didn't last long, especially after I had always talked about Rosalyn and asked about the reason for her return.

The time I dared to question him, I was always painted as the villain. In the end, I tried to find the clue about it by myself.

I found out if she was kicked out of the Pack, because the Alpha she served had already gotten a mate. It was said that Luna from the Pack didn't like her.

Since then, I had been worried that Rosalyn would endanger our relationship.

But when I argued about it, Denver would turn into a madman and give me a silent treatment. Until one day, he started to ignore us more and only came back once every few days.