Chapter 206 The Snow Day

Alpha Sebastian finally told Serena to go home.

He had not agreed to accept the baby as his heir, but he had studied the ultrasound and allowed her to place his hand on her stomach. For now, that was enough. She had found a weak spot.

On her way out, Serena paused in the living room with one hand resting on her belly. She did not say a word. She did not need to.

The front door had barely closed when Isabella turned to Luna Margaret.

"Was that little performance really necessary?"

Luna Margaret kept staring at the door. "Your brother may be changing his mind about the baby."

"Great. So she gets exactly what she wants?" Isabella folded her arms. "And what happens if Alpha Sebastian is still trying to win Eira back?"

Alpha Roger let out a tired sigh. "Eira isn’t coming back to him."

Isabella frowned. "How do you know? She used to worship the ground he walked on."

Alpha Roger did not answer.

That morning, Eira had made it painfully clear that there was nothing left to save.

The study door opened before Isabella could ask anything else.

Alpha Sebastian walked into the kitchen with his phone in hand. Everyone fell quiet.

He had refused food all day. Now he took a container of chicken noodle soup from the refrigerator and put it in the microwave.

Luna Margaret started to get up, but Alpha Roger stopped her with a look.

Alpha Sebastian set his phone on the counter. His last exchange with Jordan was still open.

Jordan: The storm grounded most flights out of D.C. tonight. I’ll have to rebook.

A second message followed.

Jordan: They’re calling for the first snow of the season near Klamath Mountains tomorrow. Doesn’t that mean Ms. Crawford’s birthday is coming up?

Alpha Sebastian stared at the screen.

Palo Alto would only get cold rain. The snow was hundreds of miles north, in the mountains where Eira had grown up.

But that was the snow that mattered.

No one knew Eira’s real birthday.

Miss Gwen had found her outside an Omega group home in the mountains of Northern California during the first snowfall of the year.

With no records and no family coming forward to claim her, Miss Gwen had used that date on Eira’s intake forms.

That date became her official birthday and never changed.

Privately, though, Eira celebrated whenever the first snow returned to those mountains.

Alpha Sebastian had once asked her why.

She had gone quiet, and Miss Gwen had answered for her.

"She’s still hoping someone remembers," Miss Gwen had told him. "Maybe her family lost her in that first snow. If they hear her story someday, they might recognize it. She likes to believe she wasn’t abandoned. Maybe she was only lost."

Eira had never admitted that herself.

Years later, while they watched a livestream of snow falling over Klamath Mountains, she had asked him, "Don’t you think it’s kind of romantic? Waiting for winter to decide when your birthday starts?"

Alpha Sebastian had smiled. "You? Romantic?"

"You never know exactly when the first snow will come. Maybe November. Maybe December." She had watched the flakes cover the mountain road. "Then one morning, everything up there turns white, and suddenly it’s my birthday."

"I thought you liked things you could count on."

"I do." She had looked at him and smiled. "That’s what I have you for."

The microwave beeped, pulling him back to the kitchen.

Alpha Sebastian closed his eyes.

She had once believed he was the safest, surest thing in her life. He had taken that trust and broken it.

He carried the soup to the island and sat down. His family might think Serena had convinced him to eat. He did not bother correcting them.

The first snow was coming to Klamath Mountains.

So was Eira’s birthday.

--

Serena had barely left Number Eleven when her phone buzzed.

Lainey: Free for drinks tonight?

That evening, Lainey sat in a corner booth at a quiet hotel bar, reviewing the notes on her tablet.

For days, she had tried to make sense of the mess around Eira. Vincent gave her vague answers. Logan had only just returned from overseas. Fiona clearly knew more than she was willing to share, and Finn was useless. The second Eira’s name came up, he turned into her biggest fan.

Still, Lainey had worked out the basics.

Eira had loved Alpha Sebastian. Alpha Sebastian had chosen Serena. Now Alpha Sebastian wanted Eira back, Serena wanted to hold on to Alpha Sebastian, and Alpha Killian seemed determined to claim a place in Eira’s life.

Then there was Lainey, who had wanted Alpha Killian for years.

But none of that explained why Eira looked so familiar, or why learning she was an orphan had hit Lainey so hard.

When Serena entered the bar, Lainey locked her tablet and slipped it into her bag.

"Serena. Glad you could make it."

Serena slid into the booth and set her leather tote beside her. "You disappeared on me. What have you been up to?"

"A campaign shoot for the Carters. It took over my life for a few days." Lainey waved to the server, then poured Serena a glass of water from the bottle on the table. "Plus, my family still acts like I’ll drop dead if I stay out past nine."

Serena knew about Lainey’s heart condition. "I thought you were here on vacation. I didn’t realize you were working."

"I like staying busy." Lainey gave her a measured smile. "You apparently do too. Pregnant, and you’re already lining up another research project."

Serena’s shoulders stiffened. "Vincent told you?"

"He mentioned it."

"He promised to keep the pregnancy private."

Lainey caught the concern in her voice."So where do things stand with your boyfriend?Should I expect wedding invitations anytime soon?"

"We’re taking things one day at a time," Serena said lightly, though a flicker of unease flashed in her eyes.

Then she steered the conversation away from herself.

"What about Eira? You brought her up the last time we talked, but you never told me why."

Lainey looked down at her drink, pretending to hesitate.

"Promise you won’t laugh?"

"Of course."

"I’ve had a thing for Killian Sterling for years." She let out a self-conscious laugh. "A serious thing. Unfortunately, he only seems to have eyes for Eira. He even took her home to meet his parents."

Serena leaned back. "I didn’t know it had gone that far."

"Neither did I." Lainey traced one finger around the rim of her glass. "She came out of nowhere. No family, no Pack, no bloodline anyone can trace. Now she’s working with Sterling Group and having dinner with Killian’s parents like she already belongs there."

She let just enough resentment enter her voice.

Serena’s mood lifted at once.

Lainey was jealous of Eira.

For the first time all day, Serena felt like she had caught a break.