Chapter 92
Gideon’s POV
“Go on ahead, Raven,” Ivan said. “I’ll show Gideon the way myself.”
“Yes,” Raven said, then turned and hurried toward the house on her own.
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Something about this exchange really irked me. Logically, I knew that Ivan was Raven’s Alpha and she would naturally take orders from him, but why did she seem to be in such a hurry to get away from me? We had left on good terms, hadn’t we?
Perhaps she was simply embarrassed by what I had seen. Their love affair could have been a secret, and now I was a risk.
I braced myself for a threatening conversation with Ivan after Raven left, expecting him to tell me to keep things secret, or even to deny what I had seen outright. Instead, he waited a moment for Raven to disappear into the house, then turned and led me in silence.
He didn’t say one word to me the entire way to Leo’s room. Without prompting, I didn’t feel the need to say anything either. I was still burning with unnamable feelings, half wanting to punch Ivan straight in the face for simply daring to be so near to Raven. On the other hand, I knew that I had no right to do that.
Raven and I had only ever been just friends, and what she chose to do with her personal life wasn’t any of my concern.
Still, I didn’t like it, and it was difficult not to seethe when thinking about it.
O
I was still annoyed as we reached Leo’s room, but just before opening the door, I did take a moment to breathe deeply and calm down. Leo was my son, and I did miss him. He was likely already on pins and needles with all the danger he was facing. I wasn’t going to be another source of anxiety for him.
As I entered the room, Leo immediately sat upright on the bed, holding his blankets up to his chin in a tight grip. When he saw it was me, he relaxed a bit.
“Dad?”
“Hi, Leo.”
Those two little words were enough to send Leo shooting out of bed and across the room. He plowed into me, his arms going around my waist. At once, I returned the hug, relief making my entire body sag. My son was here. He was okay. So many people wanted to hurt him, but they would never be able to with me so near.
My Alpha protectiveness, which had been making my nerves itch, soothed somewhat, and I exhaled a deep breath.
We stayed like this for a while. Then when we broke, we both sat down on the edge of Leo’s bed.
“You should have been asleep,” I told him.
Leo hung his head a little. “It’s hard to sleep. It takes me a while.”
“Have people been mean to you?”
“Nothing like that,” Leo said. “It’s just… not home.”
I nodded.
“And I’ve been thinking about Raven maybe being… my mom…” Leo added carefully, peeking up at me from the corner of
his eye.
I didn’t want to break my son’s heart, and I had wanted to believe it could be possible myself at one point. But now, I was
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Chapter 92
starting to see some serious issues with that idea.
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The very existence and age of Nova proved that Raven couldn’t be my Claire. She was around Leo’s age, but born here. With how close Ivan and Raven seemed to be, I imagined Ivan was Nova’s father. Maybe they had to keep it secret for whatever the reason.
Although that thought made a jolt of anger surge through me. Why would he want to keep someone like Raven a secret? Why not make her his mate, if he was the father of her child?
It wasn’t my business, but my friendship with Raven made me angry on her behalf. She deserved better than to be strung along… if that was what was really happening here.
I tried once more to tell myself that it wasn’t my business, but my anger was simmering just under the surface. I pushed it down as I told Leo, “I’m sorry, son. I know Raven, and I can’t see the connection. You have to let this idea of her being your mother go.”
Leo looked up at me with wide, vulnerable eyes. He wanted me to take it back, and with that sad–eyed look, I wanted to do that for him. But I couldn’t lie to him.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Raven is important to us, as we are to her. But she has her own life and her own family.” I thought of her, Ivan, and Nova. Perhaps they were dysfunctional, but what family was perfect?
Leo dropped his gaze. From the slump of his shoulders, I could see he was upset. I placed my hand on his back, hoping to reassure him.
“You will always have me Leo, no matter what.”
I hoped that would be enough.
I stayed with Leo for a while. We talked about this and that, nothing more about Raven being his mother. When he was too tired to keep his eyes open, I tucked him into bed, and left the room.
In the hallway, I saw a light on in a sitting room and walked there. Ivan was alone inside, drinking from a glass of wine. He was reading from a book, but lowered it as I entered the room. He placed it and the wine aside as I came closer.
I knew I probably should have left well enough alone. Whatever was going on with Raven and Ivan wasn’t my business. Yet, I still cared about Raven, even if it was only as a friend. And that friendship made me protective, as it did for everything and everyone I cared about.
Ivan looked up at me from his chair. He didn’t say a word but just waited.
“I don’t know what’s going on between you and Raven, and I don’t really want to know,” I said. “But I will say… don’t hurt her. She is a good person and she’s clearly been through a lot. If you are roping her along somehow… if you are just playing with her and don’t actually want to be her mate, and she gets hurt… You have to answer to me.”
Ivan blinked as he looked at me. His brow pulled together ever so slightly for only a second before smoothing out again.
“Whatever is between Raven and myself is only for the two of us to decide,” Ivan said. “It has nothing to do with you.”
“She is my friend,” I said firmly. His words were only confirming my suspicions. The two were having an affair. My blood started to boil once more.
“That doesn’t give you the right to -”
“It gives me every right,” I snapped. “If you hurt her, I won’t stand for it.”
Ivan looked at me again for a long moment, but then he turned and glanced at the door.
“Good evening, Raven. Please, come in,” he said.
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Chapter 92
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I froze. Turning, I looked just as Raven entered. I’d hoped to finally see her face in the light this time, but I was disappointed.
Her mask was firmly back in place.
