EZRA'S POV
I need to get my children away from him. Now.
"Come on, babies," I say, tugging their hands gently. "We need to get our bags."
But Lucas won't move. He's staring up at Asher with those big silver eyes—Asher's eyes—full of innocent curiosity.
"Daddy, why does he have pretty eyes like us?" Lucas asks loudly.
No. No, no, no. My worst nightmare is happening in the middle of a crowded airport.
Asher drops to his knees so fast it startles me. He's eye-level with Lucas now, and I can see his hands shaking as he reaches out—then stops himself, like he's afraid to touch.
"Because..." Asher's voice breaks. "Because I'm your—"
"We need to go." I pull Lucas behind me, my heart hammering so hard it hurts. "Now."
"Ezra, please." Asher stands up, and he looks destroyed. Actually destroyed, like someone reached into his chest and ripped something vital out. "If they're mine, I have a right to know."
"You have no rights!" The words explode out of me before I can stop them. Several people turn to stare. I lower my voice, but the fury stays. "You gave up any rights five years ago."
"I didn't know you were pregnant!"
"Because you never asked! You just threw me away like I was nothing!"
Lily squeezes my hand three times—our signal. She's scared. I'm scaring her. I need to calm down, but I can't, because Asher is standing here looking at me like I'm the one who did something wrong.
"Ezra, I made a mistake—"
"A mistake?" I laugh, and it sounds slightly crazy even to me. "You called our entire relationship FUN. You told everyone I wasn't good enough for you. That wasn't a mistake. That was a choice."
"My mother threatened—"
"I don't care!" My voice rises again. Lucas starts to cry, soft little whimpers that break my heart. I immediately scoop him up, pressing his face against my shoulder. "See what you're doing? You're upsetting them. Just leave us alone."
"I can't." Asher steps closer, and my Omega instincts scream at me to run. He's too powerful, too overwhelming, too much like the boy I loved who broke me into pieces. "Those are my children. I can smell it, Ezra. They have my scent, my eyes. You can't keep them from me."
"Watch me."
That's when I see Kai pushing through the crowd, and relief floods through me so fast I feel dizzy.
"Kai!" I call out.
Both twins' heads snap around. "PAPA KAI!"
They wiggle out of my arms and run to him, and I see the exact moment Asher's world ends. His face goes white. His mouth opens like he's trying to breathe but can't. He watches Kai catch both children, spinning them around while they giggle.
"There are my favorite troublemakers," Kai says warmly, setting them down. Then he looks at me, and his expression shifts to concern. "You okay?"
I'm not. I'm very far from okay. But I nod anyway.
Kai's eyes move to Asher, and something cold enters them. "Problem?"
"Who the hell are you?" Asher demands. His Alpha dominance rolls out—that commanding presence that's supposed to make other wolves submit.
It bounces right off Kai like water off a rock.
"I'm Kai Volkov," he says calmly, walking over to stand beside me. His hand settles on my lower back—protective, possessive. "Ezra's partner. And you are?"
"Asher Thornwell." My ex's voice is dangerous. "And those children—"
"Are none of your concern." Kai's tone could cut glass. "Ezra asked you to leave. So leave."
"They're mine!" Asher's control shatters completely. "I can smell it! They have my eyes, my scent—they're MY children!"
Lucas buries his face in my leg, frightened by the shouting. Lily glares at Asher with four-year-old fury.
"You're mean," she announces. "You're making Daddy upset."
Asher flinches like she hit him. "I'm not trying to—sweetheart, I'm your—"
"Don't talk to them." My voice comes out deadly quiet. "You don't get to call them sweetheart. You don't get to claim them. You weren't there when I was throwing up every morning for four months. You weren't there when I had to deliver them alone because I had no pack, no mate, no one. You weren't there for their first steps or their first words or any of the nights they woke up crying. Kai was. He's been more of a father to them in two years than you could ever be."
The lie tastes bitter on my tongue, but it's necessary. I need Asher to believe Kai is their father. I need him to back off before he destroys the fragile peace I've built.
"That's not—" Asher's eyes are wet now, actual tears threatening to fall. "Ezra, please. I know I don't deserve anything from you, but they're innocent. They deserve to know their real father."
"They know their real father," Kai says firmly. "They call me Papa. I'm the one who reads them bedtime stories and makes their breakfast and teaches them to be strong. Biology doesn't make you a parent. Being there does."
It's a killing blow. I watch it land, watch Asher crumble.
"Ezra..." he whispers. "Please don't do this."
"You did this." I pick up Lily, who immediately wraps her arms around my neck. "Five years ago. This is just the consequence finally catching up to you."
I turn and walk away. Kai follows with Lucas, shielding us from view. We don't look back.
Behind us, I hear Asher make a sound like a wounded animal.
Good. Let him hurt. Let him feel a fraction of what he put me through.
The car ride is silent except for the twins' chatter about the airplane. Kai drives, shooting me concerned looks every few minutes. My hands won't stop shaking in my lap.
Seeing Asher broke something open inside me that I thought I'd sealed shut forever. All the pain, all the humiliation, all the nights I cried myself to sleep while pregnant and alone—it's all flooding back.
"You okay?" Kai asks quietly when we stop at a red light.
"Fine," I lie.
"Ezra—"
"I said I'm fine."
In the backseat, Lily goes quiet. Then her small voice cuts through the tension: "Daddy, why did that man make you smell scared?"
My blood runs cold. "What?"
"At the airport. When the man with pretty eyes talked to you, your smell changed. Like when you have bad dreams."
Four years old, and she already understands scents better than most adults. Sometimes I forget how perceptive Omega children are.
"I wasn't scared," I say, but my voice wavers.
"Yes, you were," Lucas adds softly. "You smelled like fear and sad and..." He scrunches up his little face, trying to find the word. "Like something broken."
Kai's hands tighten on the steering wheel. In the rearview mirror, I see his jaw clench.
"That man is from Daddy's past," I finally say. "Before you two were born. He... he hurt Daddy very badly."
"Why?" Lily demands with four-year-old logic. "If he hurt you, why did he want to talk to you?"
"Because sometimes people don't realize what they've lost until it's too late."
"Is he my real daddy?" Lucas asks, and my entire world stops spinning.
The car swerves slightly. Kai swears under his breath, straightening us out.
"What makes you think that?" I ask carefully, my heart in my throat.
"He smelled like family," Lucas says simply. "Teacher says family smells match. His smell matched mine and Lily's. Papa Kai doesn't smell like family. He smells like pack. There's a difference."
I can't breathe. My four-year-old son just figured out in five minutes what I've been hiding for five years.
Kai pulls over to the side of the road, putting the car in park. He turns around to look at both twins with serious eyes.
"Lucas, Lily. I need you both to listen very carefully. Can you do that?"
They nod solemnly.
"That man back there is biologically your father. But he walked away before you were born. He hurt your Daddy so badly that we had to start over somewhere new. Do you understand?"
"So he IS our daddy?" Lily's eyes go wide.
"No," Kai says firmly. "He's the person who gave you life. But I'm your Papa. I chose you. I chose your Daddy. That's what makes a real family."
Both twins are quiet, processing this.
Then Lily asks the question that makes my blood turn to ice:
"If he's our biological father, does that mean he can take us away from Daddy?"
And in that moment, I realize my worst fear.
Because Asher Thornwell is the heir to one of the most powerful packs in the country. He has money, lawyers, and family connections I could never match.
And if he decides he wants custody of his children, there might be nothing I can do to stop him.