Chapter 147

Ramon POV

I stood in the hospital chapel at two in the morning, staring at the small altar without really seeing it. I wasn’t religious—hadn’t been since I was a child and my mother had dragged us to mass every Sunday. But tonight, I needed somewhere quiet. Somewhere away from Lake’s trusting eyes and Ollie’s innocent smile. Somewhere I could finally let myself fall apart without anyone watching.

The paternity test results had been sitting in my pocket for three days now. Three days of carrying this knowledge like a weight around my neck. Three days of looking at Ollie and seeing myself in every feature, every expression, every gesture. Three days of wondering how the hell I was going to tell Lake the truth.

*You have one month*, Rhodes had said. One month to figure out how to destroy my mate’s trust in me. One month to find the words to explain that the kind alpha Lake remembered from that terrible night—the one who’d made him feel safe, who’d been gentle w