Kieran's POV
"Get the children inside. Now."
My voice came out sharp and commanding. Darius didn't question it—he was already moving toward the garden door.
But we were too slow.
Lyanna Cross smiled at my children through the iron gates like a wolf watching lambs. Even from this distance, I could see the calculating coldness in her eyes. The same eyes that had looked at me five years ago and called me "defective goods" not worthy of her son.
"Storm! Sage!" Darius called, trying to sound calm. "Come inside, please. Snack time."
"But we just got here!" Sage protested.
"Now, Sage." The firmness in Darius's voice made both twins stop playing. They knew that tone meant business.
They ran toward the house, holding hands. I watched them through the window, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst. Don't look at the gates. Don't see her. Please don't see her.
But Storm, my observant little boy, glanced toward the entrance as he reached the door.
He froze.
"Mama," he said slowly, pointing. "There's a lady watching us."
Lyanna waved. Actually waved at my son like she had any right to acknowledge his existence.
I moved before I could think, stepping outside and positioning myself between the gates and my children. "Inside. Both of you. Great-Grandpa has cookies waiting."
"But Mama—"
"Inside!" The Alpha command in my voice made them flinch, but they obeyed. Darius ushered them through the door, though Storm kept looking back with worried gray eyes.
Eyes exactly like hers. Like Ashton's. Like the family that destroyed me.
I walked toward the gates, my hands clenched into fists. Grandpa Theron was beside me in seconds, his presence a solid wall of protection.
"Lyanna Cross," Grandpa said coldly. "You're trespassing."
"I'm on a public road," she replied sweetly, gesturing to the street beyond the gate. "Perfectly legal. I'm just admiring the beautiful estate. And those lovely children playing in the garden."
"My great-grandchildren are none of your concern."
"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, Elder Vale." She smiled, and it was all teeth. "Those children are my grandchildren too. My son's blood runs in their veins. I have rights."
"You have nothing," I spat. "You threatened me. You destroyed my life. You forced me to disappear. And now you think you can just show up and claim my children?"
"Our grandchildren," she corrected. "And yes. I made mistakes five years ago. I see that now. But those babies deserve to know their father's family. They deserve the Cross name, the Cross resources, the Cross legacy."
"They have a legacy." Grandpa's voice was steel. "The Vale legacy. One far older and more respected than yours."
Lyanna's smile faltered for just a second. She knew. Of course she knew. By now, everyone knew that the "disgraced" Omega she'd threatened was actually Vale royalty.
"Times have changed," she said carefully. "I'm willing to negotiate. Visitation. Shared custody. Financial arrangements. Surely we can come to an understanding that benefits the children."
"No." The word came out flat. Final. "You will never touch my children. You will never speak to them. If you come near them again, I'll file for a restraining order so fast it'll make your head spin."
"You can't keep them from us forever." Her mask was slipping now, showing the vicious woman underneath. "Ashton has rights. And I have grandparents' rights. The courts will see reason—"
"The courts will see that you stalked and threatened a pregnant Omega five years ago!" I was shaking with rage. "I have evidence, Lyanna. Every text message you sent. Every threat you made. I kept everything. So go ahead—take me to court. Let's see how judges react when they learn you drove away your son's mate while he was carrying twins."
Her face went white. "You're bluffing."
"Try me." I pulled out my phone with trembling hands. "I have seventeen text messages from you. Voice recordings from three phone calls. And a witness who heard you threaten to destroy what was left of my family's reputation if I didn't disappear. Want me to send them to the media right now?"
"You wouldn't dare—"
"I already released my hospital photo to the world," I reminded her coldly. "What's a few more receipts?"
Silence. Heavy and dangerous.
Then Lyanna smiled again. "You've changed, little Omega. Grown a spine. Good. You'll need it for what's coming."
She pulled out her own phone, tapped something, and turned the screen toward us.
It was a court document. Emergency petition for grandparents' rights and temporary custody.
"I filed this an hour ago," she said pleasantly. "The hearing is set for next week. I have lawyers, evidence, and witnesses who will testify that you're an unfit parent using your children as revenge weapons. By the time I'm done, those babies will be living with me while you and my son sort out your mess like adults."
My blood turned to ice. "You can't—"
"I can. And I will." She pocketed her phone. "See you in court, Mr. Vale. Oh, and tell Storm he has his father's eyes. So striking. It would be a shame if he grew up never knowing where they came from."
She walked away, heels clicking on the pavement, leaving me shaking with fury and terror.
"She can't actually win this, can she?" I asked Grandpa desperately. "She has no grounds—"
"She has Ashton," Grandpa said grimly. "If he backs her claim, if he testifies that you're keeping the children from him... Kieran, grandparents' rights cases are complicated. And you just went public with a revenge lawsuit. Her lawyers will use that against you."
My phone buzzed. I looked down at the screen, my stomach dropping.
Unknown number: "We need to talk. Please. - Ashton"
I stared at it. Behind me, through the window, I could see Storm and Sage eating cookies at the kitchen table, safe and happy and completely unaware that their world was about to explode.
Darius appeared at my side. "Do you want me to block the number?"
"No." My voice sounded dead even to my own ears. "If he's going to be a problem, I need to know what he's planning."
My fingers moved across the screen: "There's nothing to talk about. Stay away from my family."
The response came within seconds: "OUR family. If those children are mine, I have rights."
My hands started shaking.
Another message: "I just want to know the truth. Please. I'm begging you."
The phone felt like poison in my hand. Five years ago, I would have given anything to hear Ashton beg. To hear him say he'd made a mistake. To have him fight for us.
But five years was too late. Five years was an entire lifetime for my children. Five years meant Storm and Sage had grown up without him, built a life without him, learned to feel safe without him.
And now he wanted to destroy that safety because of biology.
I threw the phone across the room. It hit the wall and clattered to the floor.
"Kieran—" Darius started.
"Mama?" Storm's voice came from the doorway. He stood there holding his half-eaten cookie, his gray eyes wide and frightened. "Mama, why do you look so scared?"
I tried to smile. Tried to be strong. But my hands were shaking and tears were burning my eyes and I couldn't breathe.
"Mama's just tired, baby," I managed.
"You're lying." Storm's voice was small and accusing. "You only throw things when you're really, really scared. Like when Sage got sick last year and we had to go to the hospital."
He was too smart. Too observant. Just like his father.
Sage appeared beside him, cookie forgotten. "Is it because of that scary Alpha at the airport? The one who made you cry?"
"No, sweetheart—"
"Or the mean lady at the gates?" Storm pressed. "I saw her, Mama. She was looking at us funny. Like... like she wanted something."
She wants you, I thought but couldn't say. She wants to take you away from me.
My phone buzzed from the floor where it had landed. Grandpa picked it up, his face going pale as he read the screen.
"Kieran," he said quietly. "You need to see this."
I took the phone with numb fingers.
It was a photo. Recent. From today.
Storm and Sage in the garden. Playing. Laughing. Completely unaware they were being photographed.
The message below it made my blood freeze: "Beautiful children. It would be such a tragedy if something happened to them. If, say, their unstable Omega parent had a breakdown and couldn't care for them anymore. If they needed a stable home with proper family. Think carefully about your next move, Mr. Vale. My mother plays to win. And she doesn't care who gets hurt. -A"
Was that a threat? Was Ashton actually threatening my children?
Another message came through immediately: "That wasn't from me. I swear. My mother took my phone. Kieran, please—she's planning something. We need to talk. Meet me. Tonight. Alone. I'll explain everything. If you don't come, I can't protect you from what she's going to do next."
"It's a trap," Darius said, reading over my shoulder. "Don't go."
But my phone buzzed again. This time, a news alert.
BREAKING: Lyanna Cross Announces Emergency Custody Petition for Vale Twins - Press Conference at 8 PM Tonight
Eight PM. Two hours from now.
My children stood in the doorway watching me with frightened eyes. And somewhere out there, Lyanna Cross was preparing to tell the world why I was an unfit parent.
My phone buzzed one final time.
Ashton: "Meet me at the campus gardens. Where we first met. One hour. Come alone or don't come at all. This is your only chance to stop what's about to happen. Please trust me. Just one more time."
The campus gardens. Where five years ago, Ashton had smiled at me and made me believe in fairytales.
Where he'd destroyed me three days later.
And now he wanted me to walk back into that trap.
Storm tugged my hand. "Mama? You're scaring me."
I looked down at my son—at Ashton's gray eyes in his small, frightened face—and knew I had no choice.
I had to meet Ashton.
Even if it meant walking into another nightmare.