Page 3

I can’t do this!

The thought blares through my head like an alarm, getting louder with every beat of my heart. Reality bleeds away from me, leaving me stranded in a turbulent ocean of terrible memories. Galen’s kind words and calm manner just seem to make it worse, as if I’ve stumbled into a horrible nightmare that’s dressed up as my dearest dreams.

As I tear out of the parking lot, my little car’s poor tires screeching in the loose gravel, I try to pull myself together. Just putting distance between myself and Galen has helped a lot, but my heart is still beating wildly up into my throat, making my vision blurry.

Get it together!

A line of traffic appears before me, and I settle in behind the next car, waiting for my chance to turn. Familiar movements soothe me, and my breathing slows down a little.

I’m okay, I’m okay, everything is okay.

Why did Iris just leave me there?

I feel horribly betrayed and set up, but how could Iris have known she was matching me with my long-lost baby daddy? She couldn’t have.

Could she?

I know I’ll have to call her eventually and explain all of this, but I’m in no hurry to do it. Apparently, I’ve signed a binding contract, and now I’ll have to navigate my way out of it.

Surely Iris will understand when I explain. This has all been just a horrible mistake. I’ll find another way to help Nico.

My guts twist as I contemplate this idea. The whole reason I contacted the agency was because there were no other options to get him the help he needed. I’m worse off than when I started, and left with nowhere else to go.

I’ll think of something. Anything is better than getting trapped with Galen.

As I head back into West Glacier, the traffic thins a little, and my heart finally catches up to my head.

It was so good to see him again...

Don’t do this, you fool!

I can’t help it. Just seeing him has brought the memories roaring back to me. All those long afternoons walking in the forest, long nights wrapped in each other’s arms, the power of his touch and the heat of his kiss.

He looks the same… but so different. The features of his face have been sharpened by time, tempered by wisdom. He’s even hotter now than he was before.

Heat throbs all over me, and I have to press my thighs together and swallow hard. My passion for him never wavered. Even when I was crying myself to sleep and moaning into the pillow, my body was still raging with intense arousal, a volcano of attraction I couldn’t be free of, no matter how hard I tried.

As I pull into my driveway, I sit in the car for a few seconds, savoring the new images of Galen.

He looks taller somehow. And his shoulders are definitely broader. His cheekbones are more defined than they once were, and there’s still that delicious curl to his lips.

I close my eyes, running my tongue across my lips to remember the taste of him. I can feel his silky blond hair running through my fingertips, and I can see the deep, glittering green in his eyes that is only visible when you’re very close to him.

Nose to nose… cheek to cheek. His body pressed against mine, every hard inch of him touching me, pleasuring me, obliterating me with his strength—

Stop it!

I get out of the car, slamming the door as I stride towards the house. I can hear Galen’s words in my mind, begging me to give him another chance, telling me it wasn’t his fault.

But it was your fault, Galen. You betrayed me. It didn’t stop me from loving you, but I have to protect my heart, and my son’s.

“Hello?” I call, opening the door.

Nico and his babysitter, Gwen, are sitting on the couch watching cartoons and eating pizza. My son jumps up straight away to give me a hug.

“How was your meeting, Mommy?” he asks.

“It was fine. Nothing too stressful. I’m guessing you won’t need any dinner?”

“I hope you don’t mind,” Gwen says, gesturing to the pizza. “I didn’t know how long you’d be, so I thought I’d make it a bit of a party.”

“That’s fine, hon,” I say. “Thanks for watching him. I’m good now, so you can head off.”

“Thanks,” Gwen says, grabbing her stuff and heading out the door. “Call me if you need me again.”

“Will do,” I answer, waving goodbye as I shut the door. Nico leads me over to the couch, and I sit down beside him, taking a slice of pizza.

“Did you have a good time with Gwen?” I ask him.

“Yeah, I like her much better than Mrs. Florence.”

I chuckle a little. “Mrs. Florence is eighty, and she doesn’t believe in pizza for dinner.”

“You made my point for me,” Nico says, grinning.

For a few minutes, we just watch TV and eat, but I can sense a rising energy in Nico, and my own anxiety rises in response.

Now I’m back here again, struggling with the same problem, not knowing how to help my son.

What am I going to do?

“Did you do your homework?” I ask.

Nico glances at me, a flash of fury in his eyes. “I didn’t. It’s a stupid assignment.”

“Well, it doesn’t really matter what you think about it. You need to give it a try.”

“School is boring,” he mutters. “Nothing interests me.” He sighs and groans. “I just feel like there is something else I’m supposed to be doing.”

“We talked about this, Nico,” I say, feeling irritated. “Just because school isn’t interesting, it’s no excuse to give up. If you can apply yourself, that’s all I’m asking.”

“You wouldn’t understand, Mom!” Nico says with a bit too much force. “I have so much trouble concentrating, and now I can hardly ever sleep. You don’t know what it’s like for me.”

My heart screams in my chest. The jumble of emotions inside me feels like it’s tearing me apart.

I have to help my son, but how?

Even though I can’t shift myself, I know that if a shifter is not guided through their first time, terrible things can happen. Nico could hurt others or himself. And there would be nothing I could do about it.

I have to figure this out.

A knock at the door startles me, and I jump up off the couch.

“Who do you think it could be?” Nico asks.

“Probably just Gwen,” I say. “Maybe she forgot something.”

I hurry to the door, trying to calm my teeming thoughts. I’m not paying attention at all as I open the door, and when I look up and see who it is, a wave of shock hits me so hard that I almost collapse.

Galen?!

“Clara,” Galen says in a low voice. “We need to talk.”

I can’t move, let alone speak. My hand grips the doorknob, and it’s the only thing keeping me from falling down. While I struggle to organize a coherent thought, I hear Nico’s light footsteps coming up behind me.

Oh no!

Galen looks over my shoulder and sees Nico. I watch the color drain out of his face as he stares at his son, who is his spitting image. His mouth goes slack with shock, and his dark eyes glimmer with spots of vibrant green.

Those beautiful, deep eyes flicker up to my face, and I can feel the impact of this moment slamming into Galen like a freight train. He looks wounded, as if I just shot him straight through the heart.

While I’m still reeling with shock, Galen turns his gaze back to Nico, his expression an equal mixture of awe and infinite pain.

Turning slowly, I look at Nico and find him staring at Galen the exact same way. He looks so much like his father—high cheekbones, delicate mouth, broad shoulders—but his bright golden eyes are all me.

“I know you,” Nico says quietly. “How do I know you?”

Galen steps forward through the open doorway. I’m still standing frozen, with my hand on the knob, paralyzed like a statue frozen in time.

Just come right in, Galen.

“I know you, too,” Galen says, crouching down to look into his son’s eyes. “I’m your father.”

Nico’s eyes widen, and his face goes white. He looks up at me, shaking his head in shock.

“It’s true, Nico,” I croak, my voice stuck in my throat.

“You never told me, Mom!” Nico cries. “How could you not tell me?”

“You never asked!”

“Because from the way you talked about him, I thought he must be dead!” Nico’s eyes turn from mine to his father’s, the amber depths burning with molten gold.

“You never came for me,” Nico chokes out. “Why didn’t you come for me?”

“I didn’t know about you,” Galen says. “I swear, I would have come if I knew.”

“Why did you do this?” Nico asks me, glaring up at me.

I can’t do anything except stare back at him, my fingers trembling as I try to hold on to the door. I shake my head hopelessly, holding back tears.

“Now, now, Nico—that’s your name, right?” Galen asks.

“Yes,” Nico answers.

“Don’t blame your mom. She’s had a hard time raising you by herself, I’m sure, and she would have done what she thought best. I’m here now, and that’s all that matters.”

Nico looks up at me, then back at Galen. He sighs, and I watch the tension drain out of him.

“Okay… Dad. I can call you Dad, can’t I?”

“You sure can,” Galen answers, smiling. “Call me that as much as you want.”

“Cool!” Nico says, grinning. “Do you want to hang out and watch cartoons? There’s still some pizza left.”

“That sounds great!” Galen replies, taking his son’s hand and following him to the living room. I watch them go, then I realize I’m still standing in the hall with the door open. I slam it shut so I can go after the boys.

“What’s your favorite cartoon?” Galen asks. “How are you doing at school? Do you have any friends?”

“Slow down, Dad,” Nico laughs. “I can’t catch you up on seven years of news in one afternoon.”

“I suppose that’s true, but you could try.”

They laugh together, and I’m struck by the almost identical expressions of glee on their faces.

Was I wrong to keep Nico from his father?

But I thought I had no choice! Galen rejected me!

By the time I realized I was pregnant, I was already far from Quartz Key, and it seemed impossible to return. The only option I had was to raise my son alone.

After watching the boys talk for a while, I go into the kitchen and stand by the counter. I feel hollow. Numb, like I’m disconnected from the world.

I don’t know what to do.

“Clara,” Galen speaks behind me, his voice soft but so sudden it makes me jump with fear.

“I thought you were hanging out with Nico,” I mutter, turning around.

“He was obviously getting tired, so I helped him upstairs and get him settled in for a nap. Meeting me seems to have taken it out of him.”

I nod helplessly. I can’t speak. I’m so full of desperation and desire I can practically feel it emanating from my skin. We stare at each other for a few seconds, and Galen’s deep green eyes get colder and harder by the second.

“I’m sorry—” I blurt out, but Galen won’t let me speak.

“You’re sorry?” he hisses. “You think sorry is going to cut it after hiding my son from me?”

“Galen—”

“No! Clara, no. I came here to plead my case, to beg you to give this marriage a try. All I wanted was to make it up to you. But now I don’t even know what I want to say.”

“How could I tell you?” I ask, a pleading note in my voice. “Tell me, what was I supposed to do? You dumped me. By the time I knew I was pregnant, it was too late to call you, even if I wanted to!”

“I never expected you to leave town!” Galen snaps. “I did what I had to at the time. I was always going to explain myself to you and make a plan for us to be together. You’re the one who left!”

“Don’t act like you don’t know!” I cry, trying desperately to keep my voice down. “I was teased every day of my life—treated like a disease, worse than an outcast. You made me feel valued and special. When you rejected me, it didn’t just break my heart—it broke my spirit. I couldn’t stand the stares and the laughter anymore. Not without you by my side.”

Galen’s fury falters slightly, and the rage dies out of his eyes.

“Imagine if Nico was like me,” I plead with him. “Imagine he had no shifter gene. I’d just be taking my son back to the key to be ridiculed like I was, and completely rejected by his father. Would you even have claimed him as yours?”

“Of course I would have!” Galen snaps in a fervent whisper. “He’s my son—the scent is undeniable. I would have raised him proudly as my own.”

“Even after rejecting me?” I say, my voice low as my anger is replaced by a dull, permeating helplessness. “After telling me you couldn’t be with me, you want me to believe you still would have raised Nico as your own. And what if he wasn’t a shifter, Galen? What then?”

“I’d still love him just the same,” Galen states firmly.

“I guess we’ll never know,” I murmur, wiping a tear from my cheek.

Galen turns away and walks back to the living room, and I let him go. I feel completely exhausted by the conversation and can’t think of anything else to say.

“Clara!” Galen’s panicked voice cracks through me with a shock like a cutting whip.

“What is it?” I ask, hurrying out to the lounge room.

“Nico’s gone.”

“He might have just gone to the bathroom,” I say, hurrying through the house. Galen looks, too. My house isn’t that big, so seconds later, we meet again in the living room, both of us barely holding back our fear.

“I don’t think he’s here,” Galen says, confused. “Where would he go?”

I shake my head helplessly, feeling the tears start. “I don’t know!” I wail. “He’s just gone!”