Gideon’s POV
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What in the world could Leo want to talk about that he didn’t want Raven to overhear? Did something happen?
I clamped down on my fear, not wanting to overreact in case it was nothing. I trusted Raven and doubted that anything too serious would have gone on under her watch. But I couldn’t know until Leo told me, and reacting too harshly might cause him to clam up.
“Okay, she’s gone,” Leo said.
“What’s up, son?” I asked, trying to be casual, when I was half ready to drive out there right now.
“I want to talk about my real mom,” Leo said.
“Oh…” All the anger that had been building in the unknown and uncertainty immediately vanished. Suddenly, I was like a sailboat at sea with no wind, taken off–guard and uncertain how to continue.
Leo had a right to know about his mother, even if she hurt to think about. I had made so many wrong judgements, so many mistakes. I had trusted Daphne when I should have trusted my mate. Then I had cast her out, and now she was likely dead.
Gods, if I could go back in time and do it all again…
But my guilt was not something for Leo to worry about. He wanted to know about his mother and I would tell him everything that I knew. Well, the good things. The things I hadn’t ruined. The memories that weren’t tainted by Daphne’s twisted version of things.
“What do you want to know?” I asked.
“What was she like?”
“Well… she was very beautiful. Large brown eyes, red hair. Her wolf was on the larger side, very powerful. Her eyes glowed gold as she shifted, rather than green. She was special.” I cleared my throat, refusing to allow my rising emotion to enter my voice. “She loved you very much. She fought to keep you. I, uh…”
“Her name was Claire, right?” Leo asked.
“Yes,” I said, then paused. It was possible that Leo was reminiscing about his mother. Being away from home could be bringing up all kinds of feelings within him. Maybe thinking about his mother helped him feel less alone.
But, on the other hand, it was a little strange for him to ask about her and then to confirm her name. He knew her name. Why was he unsure? And why did he seem so nervous?
“Did something happen, Leo?” I asked.
“Well…” he said in the meandering kind of way that a six year old often did right before he was about to admit to some trouble he got into. “It’s just… I couldn’t sleep so I went into Raven’s room to talk to her. But she
Chapter 88
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wasn’t there, so I was going to wait for her. But then I saw a birthday card and it said, “To Claire.”
He said all of this in one drawn–out breath.
It was a lot, and took me a second to comprehend. Even then, I wasn’t fully sure what he was getting at. It almost sounded like he was saying that Raven’s real name was…
Claire.
My treacherous heart started to race.
No, it had to be a coincidence. Claire wasn’t an uncommon name, so even if that was Raven’s real name, it didn’t mean she was my Claire.
That didn’t stop my heart from hoping, or for my wolf to perk up within me.
I wasn’t fooling anyone, especially my wolf. I wanted Raven to be Claire, to have her back and alive, close to me. It would also explain my growing… attraction to Raven, if she was my mate.
The mate I had rejected…
Gods, I was never going to forgive myself for all that I had done to her. And if she was alive, I doubted she would ever forgive me.
“I can tell what you are thinking,” I told Leo. “But it can’t be that. Claire is a common name, and Raven would have said something by now.”
But that would explain why she always hid her face…
No, there were other explanations for that as well. It didn’t mean anything.
“But…” Leo said.
“Just put that thought out of your mind,” I told Leo, but I meant the words for myself too. “It’s just not possible.”
Claire’s POV
I stood in my room, still confused by Leo’s actions. He had been acting so strangely since the night before. Had I done something to offend him? Or was he mad at me for bringing him here?
I didn’t know, but the worries were flooding through my mind one after the next. What if he was asking his father to come get him and bring him home? Would Gideon do that, even with the danger it would put Leo in?
If our roles had been switched and Leo asked that of me, there would be nothing that would keep me from bringing my son home.
I rubbed my forehead, a stress headache starting to pierce through my temples.
When a small knock sounded on my door, I nearly leapt out ny skin as I turned around.
17:30 Fri, Jan 16 ..
Chapter 88
Leo stood there in the doorway, holding out my phone.
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I forced a smile as I went to take it from him. I didn’t want him to see how nervous I had been. “Everything go okay?”
“I guess,” Leo said. He continued to look at me, even after I had taken the phone. He tilted his head a little. “Miss Warrior, is your name Claire?”
I blinked, surprised. “Yeah. How did you…?”
“I saw it on your birthday card there.” He pointed to the card on the dresser. It had been signed by most of the pack and I was proud of it, feeling so accepted. I should have hidden it. I didn’t even think that it had my real name. “Clare was my mom’s name.”
My heart stopped. “Oh… was it? What a coincidence…”
“Miss Warrior… were you always a part of this pack?”
“I… well… no…”
“Which pack did you belong to before?”
I understood his hopeful eyes now, and as much as I wanted to tell him the truth, how could I? If he knew, then his father would know, and everything I had worked so hard for, to keep secret, to be near Leo… it would all be taken away. If Gideon knew who I was, I was certain I wouldn’t be able to be Leo’s bodyguard anymore. Maybe Gideon would even send me away.
For my own sake, and to be as close to Leo as I was now, I needed to lie.
“I had a rough start,” I said, purposefully vague. “My time before doesn’t really matter. I’m a pack member of the Night Mountain pack now, and this is where I belong.”
“Oh…” Leo frowned a little. “Okay,” he said and then turned away. “Goodnight, Miss Warrior.”
“Goodnight, Leo.”
I watched him go, confused. Maybe I had misunderstood. Maybe he had just been curious about my past. If he had thought I was his mother, surely he would have pushed a little harder.
Maybe I was getting paranoid.
I tried to sleep that night, but this new fear had me tossing and turning.
Early the next morning, before the kids were awake, I went down to the kitchen to get some coffee. I was going to need it today.
Curiously, Ivan was already there. He seemed to be showing someone around. I recognized a female member of the pack, but I hadn’t really talked to her much before.
“Oh, good morning, Claire,” Ivan said when he spotted me. You remember Lola.”
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“Yes, hello,” I said.
“Hello,” she replied.
…
Ivan said, “Lola is our newest employee.”
“Oh, great. Welcome,” I said.
“Thanks.”
“What’s the job?” I asked, to be polite. I really needed my coffee.
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“She’s going to be taste testing the children’s food,” Ivan said. “To protect them from potential poisoning.”
I froze.
