Chapter 21: He Is Also Allergic to Almonds?!

"Leo, how many seasonal cycles must I remind you? You are strictly forbidden from addressing a stranger as your father."

For reasons Clara could not map, every single time Leo uttered that word toward Dominic, her heart suffered a violent, agonizing twist.

She was sweating with pure, suffocating terror; if the supreme Alpha King ever unraveled the truth—that Leo carried his dominant lineage—he would violently tear the pup from her embrace. To compound her dread, Leo appeared to harbor an unnatural, deep affinity for Dominic Vance!

She understood with absolute certainty that for a pup displaying minor congenital mind-link deficiencies, if Dominic initiated a legal reclamation campaign before the pack elders, his material wealth was an infinite multiple of her own. The final judgment would utterly crush her standing.

Consequently, from this exact initialization cycle, she could never permit Dominic Vance to register the reality that Leo was his true heir.

"Mommy... Leo didn't mean to."

The little pup’s dark eyes filled with trembling, pathetic tears that refused to spill over.

Through his primal resonance, he registered that the towering male standing before him was his authentic sire!

Furthermore, only a breath ago, his Mommy’s internal consciousness had clearly articulated the truth within her thoughts:

He is Leo's father.

Leo wept silently within his mind-link; why did Mommy harbor such a fierce, unyielding hatred toward Daddy? Leo intensely craved his father’s presence; his senses could map the thoughts vibrating deep inside Daddy’s chest, and he loved Leo with a fierce, protective devotion!

Clara remained entirely locked out of the reality that ever since that chaotic event three winters ago, her pup had awakened a supreme, mystical gift—the capacity to intercept and decode the internal thoughts of those within his perimeter.

Yet, because of this exact talent, Leo had discovered that the sector instructors who projected a warm facade actually harbored deep revulsion for young pups within their thoughts.

The juvenile playmates who shared their wooden toys were secretly commanded by their mothers to isolate his scent, branding him a rogue bastard of unknown bloodline, a contaminated creature.

Even his adored Mommy, whenever her emerald gaze anchored onto his profile, would trigger a dark cluster of agonizing memories; though she never projected a shred of blame onto his spirit, he mapped her nocturnal tears during the deepest midnight hours.

From that hour onward, Leo locked his vocal cords, refusing to articulate words.

He possessed zero desire to communicate with superficial, deceitful adults, nor did he wish to host their chaotic, twisted thoughts inside his mind, and he fiercely rejected making Mommy endure such panic and terror on his behalf.

Leo frequently targeted his own wolf with severe self-blame, calculating that his existence brought Mommy profound sorrow. If only he could secure his father's strength, they could merge their power to shield Mommy from the wilderness.

Consequently, the exact second his sharp vision locked onto Dominic Vance at the terminal border, his inner wolf had exploded with supreme, untamed joy—not merely because Leo had claimed a sire, but because Mommy would finally have a dominant Alpha King to protect her territory!

"Mommy, don't be angry." As the thoughts settled, Leo suddenly registered that his father’s powerful chest no longer carried its absolute sweetness.

He extended his small, pale arms toward Clara, his milk-toned voice softly begging for her embrace.

Witnessing his submission, Clara’s guarded armor dissolved instantly.

She swiftly captured Leo into her arms, pressing a soft, maternal kiss against his flushed cheek. "Leo is my perfect, good pup. Forgive Mommy; I should never have unleashed my volatile temper against your spirit."

Dominic observed the intimate sequence of the mother and pup locked in an embrace, and a sudden, violent tremor brushed the deepest chambers of his cold chest, leaving a heavy, suffocating ache of longing.

This bizarre, intoxicating sensation was an absolute anomaly within his cycles of rule, causing a rare trace of bewilderment to manifest across his chiseled features.

Could his wolf truly be signaling the reality his Matriarch continuously proclaimed—that the seasons demanded he claim his Luna and establish his den?

The exact second the calculation formed, the device inside his heavy tailored coat vibrated with a sequence of rapid alerts.

Drawing the crystal screen from his vestments, his gaze locked onto the high-tier diagnostic files Gamma Logan had covertly extracted from the medical facility registry.

The parchment mapped the patient code: Leo Thorne. Age: 3 winters.

Pathological analysis: Severe bloodline toxic reaction induced by the accidental consumption of almond-infused materials, resulting in persistent fever and immediate respiratory constriction.

Dominic’s pulse suffered a violent, shattering arrest. Leo’s genetic makeup shared his exact elemental restriction—the pup was also lethally allergic to almonds?!