Page 22

Alina shrugs. “When the bus dropped him off about fifteen minutes ago, he informed me that he would, in fact, like to meet you.”

Relief rushes through me. “That’s—okay. Great.”

She frowns up at me, almost like she wants to start a newargument. I brace myself, prepared to weather it like any other storm, but then she blows out a long exhale and rolls her shoulders, as if she’s pushing off the force of some terrible current.

“I guess I’ll just…let’s go.” She turns on her heel abruptly and starts walking over to Noah’s booth.

Nearly every eye in The Diner is glued to us, but at least the attention doesn’t feel malicious. This is probably the most exciting thing that’s happened in Whiterose territory in recent years, other than the new trouble with the Blackburns. They’re curious.

Still, I really wish all of this didn’t have to happen in public.

Nerves flutter in the pit of my stomach as we come to stand beside the booth.

“Noah, honey,” Alina murmurs.

Noah twitches in surprise, then looks up. His blue-eyed gaze—a mirror to mine—goes first to his mother, then flicks over to me. His eyes widen, and he stiffens. Then, with impressive composure for a child, he sets down his comic on the table and twists on the bench to let his legs dangle beneath the table.

“Noah,” Alina repeats, her tone soft and gentle in a way that I’ve never heard before. Even when we were younger, she never spoke so tenderly. “This is your father. His name is Rowan Greenbriar.”

He continues to stare at me, eyes flitting left and right and up and down as he takes in my full presence. Can he feel it already? Does he know that he’s an Alpha’s son? Can he sense the honorable future that waits for him?

Or am I scaring the shit out of him?

“And Rowan,” Alina continues, her tone hardening as she turns to address me. “This is…your son.”

“Hi, Noah,” I say to him, trying to sound as unthreatening as possible. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hi,” he breathes.

“Do you mind if I sit down here with you?”

He shakes his head.

Alina watches like a hawk as I take a seat on the other side of the booth. Then, her voice dripping with sarcasm, she asks me, “Can I get you anything?”

I lock eyes with her. She really despises me. Honestly, it pisses me off that she can’t even give me the benefit of doubt, but I also can’t fault her for that. She believes that I rejected her and then abandoned her when she disappeared.

She doesn’t know the full truth, but now is not the time to tell it. It probably wouldn’t do any good.

“I’m fine,” I tell her. “Thank you.”

“Mom, can I have some chocolate milk?” Noah chimes in.

“Of course, sweetheart.”

With one last glare tossed in my direction, Alina drifts away to finish her shift.

Noah is still staring at me like he’s waiting for me to growl or bark at him. I haven’t exactly made the best first impression on him. As far as he knows, I’m the man who never gave a damn about his mother, then showed up out of the blue yesterday to chase them down.

In an effort to befriend my own son, I gesture to the comic he set down. It’s an old Marvel issue. One of the Black Panther books.

“So, you like comics.”

Noah nods wordlessly.

“Just superheroes or…?”

He shrugs.