Desired By Three Alphas; Fated To One novel Chapter 185

Chapter 185: DNA Result

Hailee’s POV

Nathan unfolded the paper with slow fingers. The room had gone unbearably quiet; even the ticking of a distant clock sounded accusatory. He scanned the sheet, jaw working as if he were chewing a bitter thought. For a heartbeat his face was unreadable. Then something like pain — sharp, raw — flickered across his features. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"It... doesn’t match," he said finally, his voice as flat as stone. "The sample they compared—there’s no paternal match."

Relief hit me first, hot and guilty. I felt my shoulders unclench as if I’d been holding my breath for a decade. I had tricked him. For now.

But the relief was small and shameful; it tasted of ash in my mouth when I caught the look on Nathan’s face. Hurt cut through him like a blade. He had expected—hoped?—and the result had ripped a splinter of something out of him.

He didn’t crumble. He looked up, eyes hard and dangerous again. "I don’t believe this," he said. "I’m not taking this at face value."

Dane’s hand tightened into a fist at his side. Callum watched like a coiled animal.

Nathan folded the paper back into his palm and said one word that made the room drop cold. "We’ll do another test. Blood."

A sick, panicked noise escaped me. My throat closed. "No," I blurted, before I could catch myself. "You can’t—Oscar can’t—he hates needles. He’ll freak out—"

Nathan cut me off, his voice iron. "Does he need to be conscious for it?" he asked calmly.

My answer stuck in my throat. I knew what he meant. My skin crawled as all the ways they could get what they wanted flashed through my head.

"No," he said, as if reading my thought. "We’ll have the medics. He doesn’t have to be aware for them to take a sample. This result is contaminated or fabricated. I won’t let a line on a page decide my son’s fate."

Dane cleared his throat and asked, "What sample did they use?"

Nathan did not look at me when he answered. His voice was flat. "Hair," he said. "A strand from the comb she gave me."

Dane’s brow furrowed. He did not sound convinced. "Hair can be planted," he said. "It can be swapped."

Callum laughed once, a cold sound. He stepped closer, eyes burning. "Give it up, Nathan," he said. "Those boys aren’t yours. They belong to me."

The words hit me like a blow. My hands clenched at my sides. I felt like I might faint.

Nathan’s face went very hard. He looked like stone. His jaw worked. For a second I thought he would say nothing. Then he snapped, "You can say whatever you want, Callum. I don’t care what you claim. I might not be sure about the other two, but Oscar—Oscar is mine."

His fist hit the arm of his chair so hard the wood creaked. The room snapped tight with the noise.

I opened my mouth to protest. But nothing came out.

Dane stepped closer. "We will do blood," he said quietly. "All three. Properly taken. No tricks."

I frowned. "Why don’t you men get it? My sons have their father—my late husband. If you men badly need children, then go get a girl pregnant. Leave my sons alone," I spat.

"How," Callum growled, stepping closer, "do you know Lord Frederick?"

The name on their tongues made bile rise in my throat. Frederick had found us... of course he would. He knew of Nathan, Callum, and Dane.

I clenched my fists, forcing my voice to remain calm as it cracked. "We... we lived in Frederick’s home," I whispered. "After my husband’s death."

Their eyes stayed fixed on me, sharp and full pf disbelief. My throat burned, but I pushed the words out before they could twist the story in their heads.

"He... he is my sons’ godfather," I said quickly. "That’s all. He gave us shelter when I had nowhere else to go. He fed us, kept us safe."

The memory pricked my skin like thorns, but I forced myself to keep speaking. "For years, after I lost everything, Frederick’s house was the only roof over our heads. Without him, I don’t know if the boys or I would have survived.""

The silence that followed was suffocating. Nathan’s eyes narrowed, hard as stone. Dane’s lip curled like he’d just tasted poison. Callum’s fury rolled off him in waves.

"You lived under him?" Dane demanded. "Do you have any idea what that means?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came. My knees felt weak, my chest tight.

Frederick was here. He had come for me. And if the alphas thought they were fighting before... this was about to become war.