Chapter 83
Claire’s POV
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At Ivan’s rejection, Gideon’s entire posture shifted, tightening. He had been tense this entire conversation, which wasn’t unexpected given the topic, but he had remained open with Ivan, his face calm. Now, he looked like he was half a heartbeat away from starting an Alpha battle right here in his office.
Instinctively, I moved closer toward him. As I was his mate, my presence should have been naturally reassuring to him. which should have helped some of the tension in the room. Since I was hiding who I truly was, I didn’t know what kind of reaction my closeness would stir in him.
I was a member of Ivan’s pack now, so he might have perceived it as a threat.
Surprisingly, my closeness did seem to work. Gideon closed his eyes, inhaled and exhaled, then relaxed his hands.
Ivan relaxed too, after Gideon did. I only noticed now how Ivan had brought his hands into tight fists, ready to respond if a fight broke out.
It still might, but at least for the moment, the friction in the room had diminished, even if only slightly.
“I am not… comfortable… simply handing my only son and heir over to another pack,” Gideon said, his voice low and rough, like he was still struggling to contain the wolf within that wanted to protect his own.
I knew this was hard for Gideon, who had been with Leo since so near his birth.
“Even with Raven there to protect him, I dislike the idea of my son disappearing under the wing of another Alpha.”
Ivan leaned forward, his face scrunching with annoyance. “Are you accusing me of wanting to steal your heir?”
“You have no children of your own,” Gideon said.
“My pack is strong,” Ivan said through clenched teeth. “There are many members of every age who would make fearsome and powerful Alphas. I have no need to steal a six year old boy.”
“Gideon,” I said gently, hoping to bring comfort. “I can assure you that Ivan does not have ulterior motives here. He simply wants to help.”
Gideon glanced at me and a bit of peace settled in his eyes. That he found such comfort in me stirred a deeply buried pleasure within me. My inner Luna preened at having served her Alpha. I quickly shoved that feeling down, shamed by it.
I did not care to be a servant to those emotions
–
to Gideon. I did not exist to help him feel better.
My children were my life now. Gideon was barely an afterthought, which was all he ever wanted to be to Claire. I wasn’t going to allow my hidden identity to change that for either of us, subconsciously or otherwise.
“If you would ask me why I would not want you to visit, I would give you the reason,” Ivan said, returning the room’s focus back to him.
When Gideon looked away from me, I felt like I could breathe again. I hid my relief by not moving a single muscle.
“Why?” Gideon asked him.
“The assassins would follow you,” Ivan said. “You would lead them straight to Leo.”
Gideon looked down, his irritation clear.
I gave a look to Ivan, hoping he could understand even with my mask in the way. While I agreed Leo’s protection was the
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Chapter 83
most important, I worried if we put too many rules in place that Gideon might back out of the agreement.
Leo couldn’t stay here. For all our sakes, I was silently pleading with Ivan to negotiate.
His pack was strong, and if Gideon was careful…
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Ivan closed his eyes a moment, exhaling slowly. I recognized the gesture and knew that likely meant that I had won him over with my quiet persuasion.
“Fine.” Ivan said. “I will allow for some visitation, but the arrangements must be made in advance, in secret, and there can be no one outside of us who truly knows where you go when you visit. Do you find those terms agreeable?”
“Yes,” Gideon said, and I swore we all breathed some relief in that moment. “We are in agreement.”
“Good,” Ivan said.
I nodded, pleased.
“Then there is only one thing left to do,” Gideon said. He swallowed hard. “I have to tell my son to pack.”
Gideon’s POV
I wasn’t surprised to find that Leo was still awake, even though he should have been asleep hours ago. We’d moved him to a different window while his was being repaired, but he was still sitting upright, his back against the headboard, watching the curtains like they might move, revealing another attacker.
The sight simultaneously gutted me while also reassured me that I had made the correct decision in making this alliance with Ivan. Leo deserved to know safety and security again. Right now, he would never find such a thing in my pack.
I had asked to speak with Leo alone, so Raven wasn’t with me when I knocked, clicked the light of his room on, and entered. I left the door opened a crack behind me as I approached.
I sat on the edge of his bedside.
“Dad?”
“I have to tell you something, Leo. It won’t be easy, but… you will need to go away with Raven and Nova for a while. You are
to stay with them in Ivan’s pack house, where you will be kept safe until I can… solve some matters here.”
Leo would find out about the contract on him over my dead body. He had enough to worry about without knowing someone valued his death for the tune of two hundred million dollars.
Leo’s face crumpled a little at first. “You’re not coming with me?”
“No,” I said. “I… I will visit when I can, but I must stay here to sort things out. I want this pack to be a safe place for you again, Leo, and it isn’t right now. But I will make it so. This I vow to you.”
When his bottom lip started to quiver, Leo bit down on it with his teeth. He was trying to be brave. I couldn’t be more proud. of him as my heir and my son.
“Raven will be there?” he asked. “And Nova?”
“Yes,” I said. “Raven will keep you
safe.”
That seemed to steel Leo’s resolve. “Then I’ll protect her too,” he said, and made it sound like a promise.
I placed my hand on his shoulder. “I know you will.”
“We’re leaving?” said a quiet voice from the doorway. Looking, I saw Nova there, her head poking into the room. Tears
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Chapter $3
welled in her eyes. “You don’t want us here anymore?”
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“That isn’t it at all,” I said to her at once. I waved her in, waved her closer. When she came to my side, I took one of her little hands in mine, and one of Leo’s with my other. “I need you both to look after each other, alright? To keep each other together while I fix things here. But I will visit when I can, I swear.”
That I would miss Leo was natural. He was my son. But the realization that I would also miss Nova, almost if not entirely as deeply, caught me by surprise.
“You have to mind Raven and Ivan, alright?” I told the two of them.
They nodded.
Then I held my arms out and they both moved in for a hug. I held them both tightly, trying to draw out this moment, hating that I would soon have to let both of them go.
At the doorway now, the door opened fully, Raven stood, watching us. I couldn’t see her face, but I was certain that our eyes were locked. Something stirred deep within me, a protective, nostalgic sort of feeling.
Though Leo was my only blood relative from the group, I started to see the rest as… family. That seemed impossible, but I couldn’t deny the feelings mixing inside of me, strange as they were.
Looking at Raven…
It almost felt as if…
“Raven,” Ivan said from the hallway. “I need to speak with you.”
The feeling was gone.
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