Chapter 142
Chapter 142
Claire’s POV
55
1315 vouchers
I had some feelings as Ivan called me his in front of Gideon, but I held down those feelings, needing to focus on Nova right now. She had been through a trauma and was still shaking.
Even after we arrived to the pack house, and I took Nova into her bedroom, she was still scared. She rushed to her bed and hid under the covers. I sat down on the bed beside her, soothingly rubbing her back through the blankets.
When she eventually stopped crying, I asked softly, “What happened, Nova?”
As softly, her voice barely audible under her blankets, she told me all that occurred after our split. How the warrior with her was killed, how she was taken and brought to that old farmhouse, and how she had been confronted by Daphne.
I hadn’t seen Daphne, and she wasn’t among the carnage Gideon and I had wrought. She must have fled when she knew she was going to lose the fight.
Toward the end of her story, she poked her head out from under the covers. Her eyes were red from crying, and my heart broke, seeing her in such a state.
As she looked up at me, she said in a broken little voice, “I’m sorry I said I hate you, Mommy. I don’t hate you.”
My chest ached and healed at the same time.
“I know you don’t,” I promised, hoping to soothe her.
“I love you,” she said.
All the previous hurt from her harsh words faded away.
“I love you too,” I said. “I knew all along, Nova. Sometimes we say things we don’t mean when we are upset, but I never doubted your love for me.”
She nodded, but a few more tears fell from her eyes.
I scooched closer, allowing her to curl against my side as she cried into my leg.
“It’s okay,” I promised, soothing her as best I could. “Everything is okay now.”
Eventually, surrounded by the comfort of her blankets and with my calming voice, she cried herself to sleep. Her breathing evened out, and she hugged her pillow and plush animals tightly.
My heart ached for her and all that she had gone through. Quietly, to her sleeping form, I promised her, “You will never suffer like that again. Not as long as I live to protect you.”
Watching over her, I reflected on the things she told me, as well as how I saw the rescue from my side.
Gideon had fought so desperately at my side. We had moved together like a unit. In those few moments, I had thought we shared a connection, or at least some common ground, for the sake of our children.
To save Nova, we had come together, putting all questions and differences to the side.
I had foolishly hoped that this might have lasted. I should have known that Gideon’s Alpha desire to claim what he saw as his would win out over any sense of comradery.
After the rescue, he had said he just wanted answers. But I knew things wouldn’t stop there. If he knew the truth, he would then want parental rights over Nova.
16:13 Sat, Jan 31
Chapter 142
K55
55 Vouchers
Watching my little girl sleep, I knew I would never give her up. Especially to a man who had cast us out and abandoned us.
Carefully, I rose from the bed. I moved slowly, not wanting to wake up Nova. Then I made my way to the doorway. In the hallway, I closed the door behind me so gently, it didn’t make more than a slight clink as the door latched.
After stepping away from Nova’s door, I only made it a few steps before I met Ivan.
“Claire, I hope that we can talk,” he said.
Ivan had saved me many times in the past, and again today, as he carried me away from Gideon and his probing questions.
What he said, Claire is mine now, stayed in my mind. I had prioritized Nova, but now that she was sleeping in her bed, I had time to think about this moment.
It wasn’t like Ivan to be possessive, especially when we had been just friends. Likely, he had only said that to get Gideon to back off, and it had proved effective.
But… I wasn’t so sure.
In that moment, he had seemed so serious that even I had wondered if he had meant it.
Claire is mine now.
Did he really believe it? Or had he been hoping it was true?
“Of course,” I told Ivan. I owed him so much, and a conversation was nothing. Even with my questions, I fully trusted him. Maybe in this conversation, he was going to explain himself and his words.
Ivan led me down the hallway and out onto the deck. This was one of my favorite places to think, especially at this time of night, where the stars were starting to show in the sky.
We stood there together for a time, side by side, appreciating the beauty of nature in silence. Eventually, Ian turned to look
at me.
“I have something I want to talk to you about,” he said.
Out of respect, I turned to look at him too, ready to address whatever he had to say with my full attention and respect.
“What is it?”
“I was hoping that you would consider becoming my Luna,” he said.
I froze. This wasn’t the first time he had suggested this, but where the proposals had been easy to brush off in the past, something felt different this time.
Maybe it was because of what he had said earlier, or what the King had told me at the banquet.
In the past, I had assumed Ivan had just wanted to be good friends. Now, I wasn’t as sure.
The stars were bright, and the night was otherwise quiet. This was something of a romantic mood, though Ivan and I were standing two feet apart. He was speaking more like he was discussing a transaction than a romantic proposal.
“When you are my Luna, I will be able to help more fully protect Nova,” he said. “And I can also help your case against Gideon, to fight for Leo’s custody.”
He was being very practical about all of this, which put me somewhat at ease. This seemed less of a romantic confession and more a desire to help me keep my children.
“I can offer you
and the kids stability and safety,” Ivan said. “I can deal with Gideon so that you never have to face him
Chapter 142
again.”
<3 55 355
others
He was speaking the truth. If he was my husband, he could shield me from much of what I currently had to face alone. And as a couple, we would have a stronger case to win custody of Leo, while maintaining custody of Nova.
Gideon would have to fight tooth and nail to try to win against us. I wasn’t sure he would be able to.
Gods, to have both of my children safe and sound under one roof, would be a dream. My children would be safer here than they ever would in Gideon’s pack. Here, the members were loyal to their Alpha. Though the pack was somewhat isolated, it was also protected.
Daphne would have a much harder time trying to commit evil deeds here than she could in Gideon’s pack.
There were many positives in binding with Ivan.
For the first time, I was seriously considering it…
