CHAPTER 212: THREE FATHERS

Nathan’s POV

The minutes that followed felt like hours. The doctor and nurses moved quickly, carrying our blood samples away while Hailee lay silently on the hospital bed, her face pale and turned to the wall.

Callum stood with his arms crossed, trying to stay calm, but his jaw was tight, and I could see the muscle ticking near his temple. Dane leaned against the wall, his hand over his mouth, his eyes dark and unreadable.

As for me, I couldn’t stop pacing. My heart was pounding so loud I could hear it in my ears.

Every thought twisted like a blade in my chest.

One of us. One of us is the father.

The words kept echoing over and over.

How could she keep that from us? How could she lie all this time?

Then again, I already knew deep down that something about those boys pulled me in ways I couldn’t explain. Every time I looked at Oscar, I felt a strange familiarity, like looking at a younger version of myself. But I never dared to say it out loud.

And now we were about to find out the truth.

I stopped pacing and looked at Hailee again. She was crying quietly, her shoulders shaking. I wanted to be angry, to shout, to demand why, but all I could do was stare.

Because even now, even after everything, I still loved her.

Callum broke the silence first. "How long were you planning to keep this a secret?" he asked, his voice calm but sharp.

Hailee didn’t look at him. "Forever," she whispered. "If I could."

Dane’s tone was harsher. "That’s not an answer."

She turned her head slowly, eyes red and tired. "You think I wanted this?" she said, her voice cracking. "You think I wanted to destroy what little peace I had left? I didn’t plan for any of it to happen. I didn’t even—" she broke off, covering her face. "I didn’t even know who the father was."

Her words hit hard.

I wanted to ask a hundred questions, but before I could, the door opened again.

The doctor stepped back in, holding a tablet and a folder. His expression was unreadable. "Alphas," he said carefully, "we have the results."

The room went still.

My pulse thundered in my ears. Callum straightened, Dane pushed off the wall, and I could barely breathe.

The doctor looked at me first. "Alpha Nathan," he said, "we tested your DNA with the first boy, Oliver."

I swallowed hard. "And?"

He paused. "The result was negative."

The word hit me like a punch to the gut.

Negative.

For a moment, I just stood there, staring blankly at him, my mind refusing to process what I’d heard.

So it wasn’t me. It wasn’t me?

That meant it was either Callum or Dane.

My hands clenched at my sides, my breathing uneven.

The doctor looked down at his tablet again, frowning. "But something strange came up," he added quietly. "Something I’ve never seen before."

Dane frowned. "What do you mean?"

The doctor hesitated, then turned the screen toward us. "All three of your DNA samples share partial genetic matches with all three boys."

Callum blinked. "That’s impossible."

"I thought so too," the doctor said, his brow furrowing. "But the results were verified twice. It’s rare, extremely rare, but not impossible under certain conditions."

He turned to Hailee, raising a brow at her. "Ma’am, can you tell me something honestly? How much time passed between each of your encounters with them?"

Hailee froze.

Her face flushed red, her lips parting in shock. She looked at all three of us, then closed her eyes slowly, whispering, "Hours."

The doctor tilted his head. "Hours apart?"

She nodded weakly, tears sliding down her cheeks. "It all happened so fast. The same day. I didn’t plan it. I didn’t even know."

The doctor sighed and nodded slowly, as if the puzzle pieces had just fallen into place. "That explains it."

"What the hell do you mean, it explains it?" Dane asked, stepping forward.

The doctor took a deep breath. "When multiple partners are involved within a very close window, particularly within twenty-four hours, it’s possible for multiple fertilizations to occur at once. It’s rare, but if the eggs release together and different sets of DNA reach them, then each child can have a different father."

We all froze.

The words hung heavy in the air, unbelievable, impossible, yet somehow true.

The doctor looked at each of us, then back to Hailee. "That’s what happened here. All three boys share her DNA, but each carries a distinct paternal match."

He turned to me first. "Alpha Nathan, you’re the biological father of Oscar."

My breath caught. I felt my knees weaken, my heart pounding painfully in my chest. "Oscar," I whispered.

The doctor continued. "Alpha Callum, you are the father of Oliver."

Callum’s eyes widened slightly. He said nothing, but his jaw tightened as if he didn’t know whether to be relieved or horrified.

"And Alpha Dane," the doctor finished, "you are the biological father of Ozzy."

For a moment, no one said anything.

Three fathers.

Three sons.

One mother.

The room spun. My head throbbed with disbelief.

I stared at Hailee, at the woman lying broken on that hospital bed, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t know whether to cry, shout, or fall to my knees.

All I could think about were those boys, our boys, lying somewhere in the next room, fighting for their lives.

Three different fathers. One bond. One woman who tied us all together.

The doctor’s voice broke through the silence again, gentle but firm. "We’ll need each of your blood samples for the transfusions. The boys need you, all of you."

He turned and left.

I looked at Callum. He was staring at the floor. Dane was rubbing his forehead, muttering something under his breath.

And me, I just stood there, staring at the door that led to my son.