Chapter 15 · The Alpha's Correction

Sebastian didn't sleep that night.

He sat in his hotel suite—Celeste in the adjoining room, mercifully quiet—and spread the investigation files across the bed. Photos of Z Design's headquarters. Financial records. Client lists. Photos of twin boys in a backyard, faces blurred in some, clear in others.

Leo and Milo.

His sons.

He'd known they existed—had felt them through the bond, a doubling of heartbeat that had confused him until a healer explained rejected mates could sense pregnancy, could sense offspring. He'd known Zaia had given birth. He'd known she'd never contacted him, never filed for custody, never asked for a dime of the settlement he'd tried to force on her.

He hadn't known she'd built this.

Z Design. Twelve million in revenue. Clients that included his competitors. A reputation that made corporate wolves whisper *Ms. Z* with respect and envy. A woman who'd taken the ashes of rejection and built a phoenix.

And she'd done it while raising his twins alone.

Sebastian's wolf howled inside him—pride, grief, rage at himself. *Our mate. Our pups. We abandoned them.*

Marcus Hale arrived at dawn.

"The pack is talking," Marcus said. "Celeste is furious.