Page 9

I can hear the screams echoing across the field, peals of terror and shock coming from the mouths of little kids. Some of it sounds like baying or howls, meaning that a few of them have shifted.

My baby’s there, and he’s all alone! How could I have left him?

A mother’s guilt is a fierce and relentless beast. Mistakes, even the smallest kind, are unforgivable. As I get closer to the sounds, they increase, and my mind treats me to a slideshow of horrific images as I try to predict what’s going on.

Galen is right beside me as we scale the small rise and run onto the field. There is a group of kids on the other side, right next to the woods, and a few other parents are charging towards the scene.

Getting closer to the group, I see some of the kids backing away, and a couple of them run towards their parents. Their scared cries and wails send panic shooting through my guts.

When we finally reach the edge of the circle, I see a dark brown wolf in the center of the crowd. He’s snapping and snarling, pushing the others away from him and diving into the underbrush just outside the field to tear up rabbits.

I look around the scene in confusion. Where is Nico?

“Nico,” Galen whispers, looking at the little wolf.

My heart constricts in my chest, sending pain flooding through me. It’s so powerful that my knees weaken, and I slip to the ground, my eyes locked on my son. A couple of the older kids are standing around, looking on in horror. I’m worried Nico is going to be judged for this.

I’m not even sure about shifter etiquette. How does any of this work?

Beside me, Galen strips and immediately shifts. Even though shifters rip their clothes off pretty regularly, the sight of Galen’s naked body does momentarily distract me. I don’t get to see much; he shifts so fast, but I can tell he’s even more solid and muscular than he was before.

Galen walks slowly towards Nico, making a low whine deep in his throat. Nico turns around and snarls, teeth bared. I’m having a hard time accepting that this is my baby. With blood splattered all over his muzzle, he looks incredibly violent and frightening.

There’s no way I could have dealt with this by myself.

The little wolf tenses up and bristles, fur standing up down his back as he plants his paws. Galen barks softly, cocking his head to the side. Nico yips back, confusion beginning to creep into his face.

Galen walks slowly up to him and sniffs around his ruff. Nico leans into his father, letting out a happy little sound. Galen backs up a few steps, and for a couple of minutes, they just stare at each other, communicating in a way I can’t understand.

Eventually, Nico shakes himself, and as he does, the fur disappears, and he becomes his human shape. I grab his jacket off the ground and wrap it around my son, who is shivering so hard that his teeth are chattering.

“Nico! Oh my God, baby, are you okay?” I hug him tightly, squeezing him against my chest.

“I’m okay, Mom,” he says in a tiny voice. “I’m glad you came, though. I was a bit scared.”

“It’s okay, son,” Galen says. “We’ve got you. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Nico says, looking up at his father. A look passes between them, an intimacy I can almost feel.

I have to make this work—for Nico. He needs his dad so much.

“Let’s get you home,” I say, rubbing Nico’s shoulders.

Galen reaches down and picks him up, hoisting him into his arms as if he weighs nothing at all. When we get back to the car, I sit in the back with Nico while Galen drives us home.

When we arrive, I settle Nico in for a nap, then take a shower and change. I can hear Galen moving around in the house, and I appreciate that he gives me some privacy by staying out of my way.

After, I go to the kitchen and hear the water start up as Galen showers. I can’t help imagining him standing under the water, his slick, soapy hands rubbing across his tight abs and broad chest. I have to press my thighs together and hold my breath to regain control.

I busy myself making some coffee, but the whole time the shower is running, I can’t think straight. When it finally stops, I breathe a sigh of relief, hoping that my fantasies will settle down, but when Galen comes into the room wearing snug jeans and a tight T-shirt, my body starts to tingle all over again.

“Making coffee?” Galen asks, leaning on the bench. I nod stupidly, watching him reach out and smooth his damp hair with one hand. He glances over at me, and I’m sure he doesn’t realize he’s giving me a sultry, sexy look.

He looks like every poster of a male celebrity on a high school girl’s bedroom wall.

“I’ll have one,” Galen says, and even though I’m literally holding the cups, I don’t know what he’s talking about.

I’ll have you. That’s what I really want.

Galen’s phone buzzes, snapping me back to reality and saving me from embarrassing myself—or worse, doing something I’ll regret.

I can’t forget how brutally he rejected me before, after I opened my body, heart, and soul to him. I let him all the way in, and he shredded me, right to the bone. It took years to rebuild myself and learn to trust again.

I just couldn’t survive if it happened again.

“It’s Winnie,” Galen says, reading the message on his phone. “Mother has demanded our presence at dinner.”

I let out an exasperated sound. “Now? Tonight?”

“Yes. She wants us there in half an hour.”

A lump forms in my throat as I try to protest, but I know there’s nothing I can do. It was only a matter of time until Macy called on us to officially meet Nico, and we have to go.

It must have been such a shock that Galen brought me back here. I’m not surprised she needed time to process it. Hopefully, she’s going to introduce herself to Nico properly this time.

I know the old wolf has never liked me, but I’m hoping she can make Nico feel welcome. He needs his family now more than ever, and having his pack around him is the only way to get him through this safely.

“We should get ready,” Galen says. “Do you want to get Nico?”

I nod, silently leaving the room and going to wake my son. Nico is feeling much better after his episode and is eager to meet more of his family.

When we arrive at the Ramses estate, Nico is awed. The house is an impressive two-story building made of stone, with a wide driveway and gardens surrounded by neat rings of rocks.

“This is where Grandma lives?” Nico asks.

“Yeah, kiddo,” Galen answers. “I grew up here.”

“It’s huge!”

Galen chuckles. “I know, but it’s pretty boring. Lots of libraries and artifacts. Not much to play with.”

“It’s still cool,” Nico says, taking my hand. “Am I going to get to meet Grandma this time?”

“Yes, you are,” I answer, trying to keep my tone even. I explained to him that Grandma was the lady he saw before, but because of pack politics, it wasn’t appropriate to greet her as family at the time.

So many old traditions, and I don’t even know them all. I had no shifter gene, so there was no point in learning it. I could never be part of the pack!

I’ve never felt even a hint of a wolf within me, but right now, there seems to be a keening deep in my soul—a desperate yearning for something I can’t even define. When Galen takes my hand and squeezes it, I jump a little, but I squeeze back.

It’s like he can feel it, whatever it is inside me, as if it’s calling to him.

We go down the main hallway to the parlor, where I can clearly hear Winnie’s voice.

“I told you, Jerry, don’t try to beat me at this! I’m too good at it.”

“You mean you cheat,” a child’s voice answers.

“That’s irrelevant!”

We come through the doorway to see Winnie playing cards with a young boy. She shrieks and jumps up to hug Nico straight away.

“Hey, kiddo!” she says. “How have you been?”

“Great, Aunt Winnie,” Nico answers just a bit shyly.

“Clara, this is Jerry. He’s the son of Mr. and Mrs. Underwood, who take care of the property for Mom,” Galen says, gesturing at the dark-haired boy.

“Nice to meet you,” I tell the boy, nodding. He waves sweetly.

“I better get back to Mom,” he says. “I was just keeping Winnie occupied until you guys got here.”

“Doing a poor job of it, too,” Winnie quips. “I was painfully bored.”

“So that’s why you laughed so hard, you snorted like a pig?”

“Get out, you little swine!” Winnie laughs, holding in her guts. “I’ve had enough of your cheek.”

Jerry wisely leaves before Winnie can get out another wisecrack, and Galen lets out a low sigh.

“She’s waiting for us?” he asks Winnie.

“Still on her way down, I think.”

Then, I hear the sharp click of heels on the tiled floor. I feel like there’s a balloon caught in my chest, and I can’t breathe around it. It doesn’t even feel like my heart is beating.

I turn around slowly with Galen, clutching Nico’s hand.

Galen’s mother never liked me. Since I’ve been back, she’s barely even looked at me. How is she going to react to my son?

I don’t have any more time to think, because Macy Ramses appears in the doorway. I remember her hair being dark, but it’s gray now, still pulled into a tight, elegant twist at the back of her head. She’s wearing a fitted black blouse and a long skirt of charcoal-gray that looks perfectly tailored to her tall, slender shape.

She looks positively regal… but something has changed in her since I left.

“Good evening, Mother,” Galen says.

Winnie repeats the phrase in a slightly less reverent tone.

“Good evening,” I mumble, not knowing if I’m supposed to say “Macy” or “Mrs. Ramses,” so I just clumsily stop talking instead of finishing the sentence.

“Good evening, everyone,” she replies, a slow smile breaking across her face. “Thank you for coming. This must be my grandson, Nico.”

To my surprise, Macy bends down to look at Nico at eye level. He smiles shyly and sticks out his hand.

“Pleased to meet you,” he says politely.

“And you,” Macy answers, shaking his hand. “What fine manners you have, young man. And growing up so strong and brave. You have a fierce wolf, I’m told.”

“I… I’m not sure,” Nico says, still sounding shy. “I don’t know much about that.”

“That’s why you’re here, to learn all about your wolf side! Come on, let’s go and sit down. I’m sure Gert will have the food ready by now.”

To my surprise, Macy takes Nico’s hand, and they walk together ahead of us, Macy asking lots of questions that Nico enthusiastically answers. I glance at Galen, and he just shrugs and gives me a wink.

Nico takes a seat right next to his grandmother, and as they talk with each other, a soft light comes into her eyes, and she becomes more animated than I’ve ever seen her.

I sit next to Nico, with Galen beside me. Winnie takes a spot on the opposite side of the table and immediately grabs a handful of blueberries from the bowl on the table and flicks one at Galen.

“Not this again,” he moans. “Last time, I was cleaning splotches off my jacket for weeks.”

“So it’s a good thing you’re wearing a black T-shirt,” Winnie giggles. “If I manage to get a good splat, it won’t even show.”

“Seriously, Winnie, must you?” Macy says in annoyance. “Can we not have one nice dinner without you acting like an utter clown?”

“Don’t challenge me like that, Mom,” Winnie warns. “I could start juggling.”

Nico laughs, trying to cover it but not succeeding. Macy smiles at him indulgently.

“Your nephew has better manners,” Macy tells Winnie. “When are you going to settle down?”

“Hopefully never,” Winnie says, laughing. “I’m not suckered into true love like my bro here,”

“Excuse me?” Galen asks indignantly. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on. My room wasn’t that far away from yours. I heard you playing those love songs over and over after Clara left town.”

“Winnie, stop,” Galen groans, putting his face in his hands.

“Don’t stop,” I tell Winnie. “What love songs?”

“I can’t remember exactly, but it was all swelling beats and ‘I’m gonna love you forever’ type stuff.”

“I knew it,” Nico says brightly. “Dad always loved us, he just couldn’t come because of wolf stuff. Isn’t that right, Grandma?”

The table falls silent. Macy smiles at Nico, brushing his hair from his forehead as she looks at him with her dark green eyes.

“Pack business can be complicated,” she says. “But you’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”

Nice dodge, Macy.

Even though his question wasn’t answered, Nico doesn’t seem to mind, and at that moment, Gert appears with plates of food. Nico’s sufficiently diverted, and we get away from the topic.

Macy stays fully engaged with Nico, wanting to know everything about him, and Nico glows under her attention. I’m surprised because she never approved of me, and after the way she acted when we first returned, I was worried her meeting with Nico wouldn’t go well.

Maybe she got the stick surgically removed from her butt.

“Clara,” Macy says in a warm tone. “You have done a fine job with this boy.”

I blink in surprise. “Thank you… uh…”

“You may call me Macy.”

“Thank you, Macy,” I answer, my heart pounding in my chest.

“I’m extremely proud of my grandson, but Galen, I must have a word with you about the incident.”

My heart sinks. Here we go.

“You heard about that?” Galen asks.

“It was all over town. I don’t blame the boy at all—he is going through a hard time, and he has been without support. But if it becomes widely known that you cannot manage your son, the other packs may see you as weak and create problems for us.”

“I understand, Mother,” Galen answers. “I appreciate you not laying any fault on Nico. I should have been with him, and this is all on me.”

Macy tilts her head, giving Galen a hard look. “It certainly is. Your actions leading up to this event, as well as the event itself.”

Galen looks away, and I feel a surge of concern for him.

He’s not even defending himself!

“Macy, Galen was there as quickly as he could be this afternoon,” I say. “He was attending an important meeting with me, doing his duty to the pack. We returned to Nico immediately when we heard something went wrong.”

Macy doesn’t react, except for a glimmer deep in her eyes. “Be that as it may, I want Galen to remember at all times that he is the alpha, and there has been far too much scandal around this situation already. He needs to step carefully to see it through with grace.”

“Yes, Mother,” Galen says, not looking up.

“I hope there’s a decent dessert coming,” Winnie mutters. “I need a sugar hit to calm my nerves.”

“Me too,” Nico answers, grinning at her. Even though the situation is still tense, I’m pleased to see that Nico seems to have fallen right into place with his family.