Nova’s POV
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When I returned outside, Leo broke away from the instruction with Mom and came after me. We pretended to play, lightly running around. Really, though, I knew Leo was dying to ask me what I had learned.
“You were quick,” he said. “What did Alpha Ivan say?”
I didn’t want to tell him the truth. It felt like the hurt might be too much. Instead, I just said, “I don’t think you are right. I don’t think my mom is your mom.”
“But –”
“Sorry,” I said.
“You won’t tell me why?”
“I just don’t think it’s true. I would know, wouldn’t I? Mom is my mom.”
Leo frowned, some disappointment filling his face. “Yeah…”
We continued to run around. Leo was moving a little slower than before.
“I’m not ready to give up,” Leo said. “If you don’t want to help anymore, that’s fine, but I’m going to keep looking.”
“You shouldn’t,” I said.
“I think I’m right,” Leo said. “I want proof either way.”
I closed my mouth. I didn’t have the proof he wanted, anyway, so I wouldn’t hurt him needlessly. He seemed so stubborn about this, I doubted he would believe me even if I told him what I suspected.
And maybe…
Well…
I kind of hoped I was wrong about what I saw.
If Leo could find the proof, I would be happy too.
“Good luck,” I told him. “I mean it.”
He nodded. His eyes gleamed a bit, filling with his determination. In that second, he looked just like his dad.
I just hoped he didn’t get hurt.
Gideon’s POV
I knew the days would be difficult, but I didn’t except that each hour that passed would feel like an eternity without my son, Nova, and Raven near me. It had only been a few days so far, and I missed them all so keenly, I could feel the holes within
- me.
Leo’s absence was the most noticeable, though I missed the others too.
Leo had been in my life every single day since his birth. Now that I was without him, I didn’t know what to do. The phone calls weren’t enough. I wanted to see him, to know that he was safe and happy.
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Chapter 90
I also couldn’t stop thinking about the things that he had asked me about Claire.
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I hadn’t lied to Leo or to myself. Claire wasn’t an uncommon name, so it could be just a coincidence that Raven and Claire had the same name. But the more I thought about it, the more the entire thing didn’t sit right with me.
If this was a coincidence, then why did Raven call herself Raven and not Claire? Why feel the need to hide her name as well as her face?
What did she have to hide?
It possibly didn’t have anything to do with me. It truly could be only a coincidence.
But what if it wasn’t.
What if there really was something to Leo’s stubborn suspicions, and Raven really was Claire? How could I allow that possibility to exist without fully exploring it?
Ivan and I had an agreement. I wasn’t supposed to show up on his pack lands without giving appropriate notice. But if Claire was hiding her identity, then maybe Ivan was helping her.
I didn’t want to give them enough time to hide the truth.
I also missed my son so much I ached.
So when I stepped out into the night and shifted, my wolf was already moving toward the Night Mountain pack without me even needing to direct it. We both knew where our heart was located, and that was deep within Ivan’s pack.
His warriors were well–known and strong, his borders very secure, but I guessed because I was Alpha and because of our alliance that I wouldn’t be stopped.
I raced through the unclaimed territories, growling, daring any rebellious rogue to try to get in the way of me and my family. Smartly, they all chose to stay far, far away.
When I crossed the pack boundary, I was sure I had been spotted. I sensed other wolves nearby, and I made no attempt to hide myself. If they knew who I was, they likely knew my purpose.
None of Ivan’s warriors got in my way either.
Soon, I reached the pack house, seeing the glowing lights in the windows and the torches burning near the deck.
I could see a figure there, her face half turned toward me, half away. With her dark hair and fit figure, that had to be Raven. Even the height was correct. But she wasn’t wearing her mask
I slowed to a walk, suddenly feeling the need to be quiet and stealthy.
Or maybe I was just surprised.
Her face… It looked so familiar…
But with the night’s shadows hugging her so tightly, I couldn’t be sure,
I needed to get closer. I needed to be sure before I allowed my heart to take the leap it was so desperate to make.
Already, it whispered, Claire. My true Luna. My mate.
Silent as the grave, I inched closer, desperate to see more of her face.
To know, once and for all, if Raven was my Claire.
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Chapter 90
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But then, someone opened the door to her house, pulling her attention away. Like this, I could now only see the back of her
head.
Disappointment bit at me with sharp fangs.
Ivan stepped out of the house holding two glasses of wine. As he moved closer to Raven, he passed her one.
“What’s this for?” Raven asked.
Straining my Alpha senses, I could hear.
“Don’t you remember what tonight is?” Ivan asked.
Raven was quiet a moment, and then she sighed. “The anniversary.”
“It’s good that you forgot,” Ivan said.
“No it isn’t,” she said. “I never want to forget.”
I didn’t really hear the rest. My mind had fully stopped at our anniversary.
My stomach dropped all the way down to the dirt, and I backed up a step, suddenly wanting to run away, to put as much distance between myself and this moment as I possibly could.
But, as much as I wanted to run away, I also forced myself to stay needing to see and confront these ugly feelings within me.
If Raven and Ivan were together as I suspected, then I needed to see that and know it.
I needed to squash the feelings for Raven that had been rising within me, that should have never happened.
And if she was Claire… and with Ivan now…
How could I blame anyone but myself?
“I don’t want to drink tonight,” Raven said, and set aside her glass
Ivan hummed and set aside his glass too. “How about a walk, then? The stars are out. We should enjoy them.”
Raven hesitated.
“We could say it’s a patrol, if that helps,” Ivan said.
Raven shook her head. “A walk would be wonderful.”
Ivan held out his arm and Raven took it.
I slipped backwards into the brush as they stepped down from the deck and turned to walk around the house.
I tried to see Raven’s face but the night’s darkness was her friend and my enemy tonight. She stayed in shadow.
And I stayed in the dark, my heart tearing itself apart.
I should be the one holding her arm, guiding her on a starlit walk
Instead, I was here in the dirt.
An outsider looking in. Unannounced.
Unwelcome.
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Chapter 90
And jealous.
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