Gideon’s POV
Only when I had brought Leo home from the hospital did I take the time to entertain a phone call from Ivan and Claire. When they’d coined it a ‘negotiation‘, I knew it was something that could wait. Leo’s health was more important than whatever they had to say.
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As much as it hurt to have to keep Claire and Leo apart for a bit longer, I didn’t like how Ivan was being so formal about this. I would have expected Claire would want to return right away to see her son, and that she wanted to have some kind of formal discussion first didn’t sit right with me.
I didn’t know whose idea this was, whether Claire’s or Ivan’s, but I was willing to suspect Ivan, which made me even more annoyed at the pair.
Claire had always been a strong werewolf, independent and bright. If she was bending the knee to all of Ivan’s ideas, their relationship might have been changing her for the worst, which wasn’t something I would forgive him for.
She had been perfect as she was.
When I finally sat in my office with Ivan and Claire on speakerphone, I was already feeling annoyed and combative. I could make forgiveness and allowances for Claire, given what I suspected she suffered through after my having rejected her. But I wasn’t going to give Ivan those same allowances.
This distance between Claire and me felt like his fault.
“You wanted to negotiate,” I said, directing the call.
“Yes,” Ivan said first. “We believe it is best, for the good of the children, for Leo to spend one week of every month here in my pack to be with his mother.” my
Hearing Ivan broach this issue annoyed the hell out of me. Ivan might have been Claire’s Alpha and her lover, but he was nothing to Leo. He was not a part of Leo’s life and therefore should have had nothing to do with the decisions regarding
Leo’s care.
“Do you agree with this, Claire?” I asked, not wanting to deal with Ivan at all. I was somewhat bitter that he was even on this call.
“I do,” Claire said. “I want to be able to form a bond with my son. Nova should be able to, as well.”
“You could just come here again,” I suggested. “You could stay here. I wouldn’t –”
“Her place is here,” Ivan said gruffly, cutting me off. I bit back my grumble, not wanting to start a fight. But I was very close to not caring.
“I have to stay here,” Claire said. “Leo should become familiar with his second home.”
This time, my growl did emerge. I tried to cover it with a cough. “You could visit if you wanted to,” I insisted. I hated the idea of Ivan making her decisions for her. It was fine if she didn’t want to come, but I would hear it from her own mouth.
“No,” she said. “I believe that recent events have proven your pack is not safe for Nova and me. And I worry even for Leo’s safety. There is a safety here that your pack currently lacks.”
I hated that she was right. Both kidnappings had occurred within the borders of my pack. This was something I was eager to fix, but at the moment, the corruption still ran deep in my house.
With what happened to Nova… I supposed I couldn’t blame her for being cautious.
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“I want Leo and Nova to have a true friendship,” Claire continued. “But I cannot risk bringing her there. I hope you understand.”
“I do,” I said, even as I resented it. It was my own fault that things were this way. I had allowed Daphne to pull the wool over my eyes for so long that the roots of her influence ran deep.
I had a choice to make here. I could deny their request, and I would be within my rights to do so. But that would deny Leo the chance to know and spend time with his mother and his half–sister. It would keep him from the friendship with Nova that he had already been cultivating, if the messages on their phones were any indication.
For Leo’s sake… I couldn’t be petty here, even though I really, really wanted to be.
“Very well,” I said. “One week a month. But I get to select which week, and it cannot interfere with his studies.”
“We have tutors here,” Ivan said.
“I have one more condition,” I said suddenly, in a moment of inspiration, ignoring Ivan entirely.
“What is it?” Claire asked me.
“I will deal only with you, Claire, from now on. Any communication that needs to be done will be done through only us two.”
“That is unnecessary,” Ivan said.
“Ivan, please,” Claire hushed him.
“Those are my conditions,” I said. “Take them or leave them.”
I half–expected Claire to say no, under Ivan’s influence. But she surprised me by saying, “Very well. I accept your terms.”
After ending the call, I went to check on Leo. Xavier was in my usual spot in Leo’s shadow, as Leo sat on the floor of his bedroom, idly playing with toys. His heart didn’t seem to be in it today, as his gaze was somewhat distant, like he was very far away from here.
I nodded to Xavier, who saw himself out. Then I moved to my son, kneeling beside him. He didn’t seem to notice I was even in the room with him, not until I placed my hand on Leo’s shoulder.
Leo jumped, startled. He gasped as he looked at me. After blinking a few times, he relaxed again.
“You okay?” I asked him.
He nodded. “Sorry, I just… I was thinking about that day…”
He didn’t have to say what day. I already knew he was talking about the day he had been taken and then attacked. When he had fallen into the coma…
The worst day of my life.
He had been remembering things slowly the past couple of days, so it wasn’t odd for him to bring it up.
“Are you okay?” I asked him. “Did you remember more?”
He nodded again, slower. “I remember Raven being there… But then she took off her mask, and she looked like Mom. I think… I think she told me she was my mother… I don’t know…”
Leo should know the truth, especially if he was going to go and spend time with Claire.
“Leo,” I said. “I just found out as well.” I squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “Raven is your mother. She has been in disguise
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all this time. She’s been protecting you.”
Leo’s eyes went wide, and a hint of a smile curved his lip. “So I was right? Raven is really my mom?”
“Yes,” I told him.
His good humor lasted the length of three heartbeats, then his smile began to fall. “But then, where is she now? Why isn’t she here?”
“I’m sure she wants to be here,” I said, “But there are reasons she doesn’t want to leave Ivan’s pack.”
Leo’s brow pulled together, confused.
“Your mother, Claire, is bonded with Ivan. They are a couple,” I said.
Leo’s face shattered, tears forming in his eyes. He looked like I had just told him the worst news he had ever heard.
“But… you two are supposed to be together…” he said in a small voice.
I looked away. “I’m sorry, Leo. That’s never going to happen.”
