Single Mother of a Werewolf Baby

Chapter 152: Ethan's Happy Days

Ethan shook himself from his reverie. With an apologetic smile he said, "Sorry, sweetheart. I'm not as good at

games as you are."

Freya pouted, then brightened. "It’s okay. It was just a game. Don’t worry... I'll teach you. You'll be a pro in no

time."

Enthusiastically, she began explaining the two-player controls. Despite her young age, she was a natural

strategist, a gifted player. Ethan followed every instruction, gazing fondly at her earnest face. He loved these

moments... his daughter teaching him, role and counter-role reversed.

Just then, Eleanor appeared in the doorway. "What are you two up to?"

Both looked at their back. Ethan smiled. "You're back."

Freya bounded across the room and wrapped her arms around her. "Mommy, | missed you!"

"I missed you too, sweetie," Eleanor murmured, hugging her close.

"Freya," Ethan said, "let your mother change. We should start preparing dinner now so she can join us later."

Freya nodded and released Eleanor. Father and daughter headed downstairs to the kitchen while Eleanor slipped

away to freshen up.

Since the duel, Ethan had cleared his schedule for every hour Freya was out of school. The workload at

Purplebricks had surged after a sudden expansion into the Stockport market, but he delegated most tasks to his

managers; twith his daughter was worth more than any contract. Eleanor’s own calendar had been packed,

so she'd asked him to handle school pick-ups for a few days, and he'd leapt at the chance.

Rumours drifted through the family about how, while he was locked in combat, Eleanor had shattered the

Gerymoore Clan’s long-standing political base. Ethan had suspected she was planning something when she

requested him to prolong the duel, yet he had never imagined she would cripple a Gerymoore Clan’s power base

overnight. In Manchester's business circles he was known as a ruthless businessman, but Eleanor’s actions

redefined ruthlessness in his mind. She had destroyed the Brown family completely and severed the

Gerymoore’s London-based political lifeline.

The Gerymoore Clan searched every corner possible for proof of Raynor involvement in their downfall, but found

none. People whispered that the Raynors had orchestrated the downfall, yet without evidence the Gerymoores

could do nothing. They had lost both inside the Coliseum and outside of it.

To outsiders, Ethan's victory over Lucian Gerymoore had looked effortless; in truth, it had almost broken him. He

possessed no extraordinary physical gifts... his power lay in calculation and prediction. He could foresee an

attack’s trajectory and prepare an instant defence, but when two alphas clashed... that moment was vanishingly

brief.

Lucian, a prodigy who had awakened his clan's earth magic, boasted a body as resilient as granite and benefited

by training from the renowned Fenroth Clan. Elder Bedivere had therefore drilled Ethan in a single technique: a

rebounding counter that multiplied an opponent’s force but required landing at the precise center of the

incoming blow. Ethan's predictive talent made him uniquely suited, yet his lighter frmeant he spent most of

the fight evading until that one decisive instant. When the rebound struck, Lucian fell... but Ethan bled inside.

Days later, he was still healing despite the best medicines. Endurance, however, had its rewards. In one bout, he

beca star among werewolf youth. Calls and messages poured in... greetings, offers of partnership,

invitations to parties. For a man who had lived quietly at the edge of every crowd, the attention was disorienting

yet promising for his business ambitions.

For now, he cherished recovery and these golden hours with Freya. He told himself he was living the best days of

his life.

Hand in hand, father and daughter descended the stairs... but before they reached the dining room, a cheerful

voice rang from the front door.

"Good evening, Mr. Raynor! Darling Freya! I've cfor dinner."

Anastasiya Ivanova swept inside, the picture of vivacity. Grand-daughter of Lord Alexander Ivanov, the noble

vampire who had accompanied Eleanor from Russia, she now lived permanently in Teresa's villa. In mere weeks

she had befriended Teresa, Cassandra, Lily, and Maya. Whether human or werewolf, few could resist her charm.

Traditionally, vampires and werewolves did not mingle, yet Anastasiya’s bright spirit had thawed the tension

among the villa’s guards. After a brief period of wary silence, it becalmost ordinary to see a vampire

laughing beneath a werewolf roof.

"Aunt Ana! | don’t love you anymore."

Freya turned her small face away from Anastasiya. In only a few days, they had grown so close that Freya had

shortened her nfor convenience.

"Why is my darling angry with me?" Anastasiya asked, pulling an exaggeratedly woeful face. "If you don’t love

me, I'll cry."

"You promised to play withtoday, but you forgot. You're not the sweet aunt who lovesthe most!" Freya

huffed, still refusing to look at her.

"I didn’t forget," Anastasiya protested. "I just had a mountain of work at the office. Look... | brought you an

apology present."

At the word ‘present’, Freya's ears twitched, though she kept her gaze averted. Anastasiya noticed the flicker of

interest and pressed on.

"Can you guess what it is?"

"I don’t want your gift."

With a theatrical sigh, Anastasiya said, "I thought the new version of Assetto Corsa would be perfect for you. But

if you don’t want it, | suppose I'll give it to someone else."

Freya's head snapped around. "But, Aunt Ana, | already have the latest update."

"This is a closed beta version... still unavailable in stores," Anastasiya replied, shaking the case. "I thought you'd

like it."

Freya marched over and snatched the box. "All right, | guess I still love you a little." Her grin dazzled. "We're

getting dinner ready. You can join us."

Anastasiya punched the air in triumph. "Yay! Let's eat together."

She glanced toward the stairs. "Where's your mommy?"

"She went to change," Freya said. "She'll be down after she freshens up."

"Straight from the office?"

Freya nodded. "Uh-huh."

Ethan had watched the exchange from the side. He disliked how easily this vampire breezed into the house, yet

Eleanor trusted her and Freya seemed to like her. Besides, though Anastasiya looked barely twenty, he knew she

was far older and therefore potentially dangerous. He quelled his wariness and offered courtesy.

"Good evening, Miss Ivanova. Dinner will be ready in about half an hour."

Anastasiya beamed. "Thank you, Mr. Raynor. After tasting your cooking once, | couldn't stay away."

"My daddy is the best," Freya declared.

"Indeed he is," Anastasiya agreed.

Ethan disappeared into the kitchen; Anastasiya and Freya took their seats in the dining room.

The first tAnastasiya met Freya, she was stunned... "Eleanor, so young, with a child this old?" Age mattered

little in the supernatural world, yet the realization left her feeling unexpectedly behind. Twith Freya only

deepened her longing for a family of her own.

Meeting Ethan brought fresh surprises. Eleanor, it turned out, was not born a Raynor; the surncthrough

marriage... or so Anastasiya had assumed. Greater shock followed when she learned Ethan and Eleanor were not

married at all, yet Eleanor becthe heir to the Raynor clan.

Among vampires, lineage purity is paramount; no outsider could ever lead a clan, no matter how powerful. A

hybrid remained a hybrid, and even fully turned descendants were looked down upon. Anastasiya had first

chalked it up to politics.

Then, she met Fiona Elizabeth Raynor, the formidable clan matriarch, and saw how fiercely Fiona cherished both

Eleanor and Freya. Ethan's parents were no different. Other relatives were absent, but over time, Anastasiya

understood why werewolves thrived while vampires stagnated.

The secret lay in family dynamics. Werewolves welcomed anyone who joined the pack, judging worth by

contribution, not birth. She watched Eleanor treat her werewolf guards, who were clearly from lesser clans... with

genuine respect. In business, werewolves accepted orders from humans according to rank, working side by side

without a hint of superiority.

Heimdall offered the clearest proof. Eleanor ran her empire through a handful of trusted humans. Teresa wielded

vast authority; Anastasiya had seen her spend millions of dollars without even consulting Eleanor. Maya, Lily,

Ava, Helena, James, Timini, Olivia, and other humans occupied key posts in her company.

Even here, in the villa complex, humans and werewolves lived in seamless harmony. Anastasiya could smell the

wolves and sense their auras, yet they remained perfectly human in bearing so that no mortal sensed anything

amiss.

At last, she grasped the root of Eleanor’s success... and of the Raynors’ ascent. They blended with humanity,

valued it, harnessed it. Vampires, by contrast, clung to arrogance, viewing humans merely as food sources like

cattle. And so, while werewolves flourished, vampires slipped further behind.

Freya, absorbed in a freshly

downloaded game, scarcely noticed

Anastasiya sitting beside her, lost in

thought. Anastasiya way 11gifg £

Bh@hdw impulsi

upders w she, the impulsive

visitor who had cto the kingdom

on a whim... had beca part of an

enterprise Eleanor was quietly

building in her name. One rash

decision, she reflected, and she was

entangled beyond escape. The

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the latest chapter there!

More than ten billion dollars from

Eleanor now sat in an account

bearing her signature. With a single

transfer Eleanor had anchored her to

the venture; fleeing ya@nadoger an

7

optipf . Mefr Yalrs

project-management team was

already working around the clock to

construct a new factory in Russia...

on her own ancestral land. They had

even assigned her an office in

0 B g

Heimdall's headquarters, though in

truth, Teresa and Lily directed

day-to-day operations while she

observed and learned. The content is

on novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

f 2 a

Teresa's choice of project manager

still amazed her: a Russian female

named Polina Kournikova.

Kournikova held a Ra Naferidls

SpignodYrér the Moscow Institute of

Physics and Technology and an MBA

in Global Technology Operations

from MIT Sloan. She had logged

years at Microsoft, Google, and IBM

a qa ) q

before joining Eleanor’s space project

in the United States. The content is

on novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

Silently, she cursed her grandfather for thrusting her into this trap. She was now so deeply invested in the

project that there was no turning back.