Page 7 of Nick (The Moonstone Pack #4)
THE SUN HAD BEGUN its descent as Nick approached the weathered trailer that evening. He hesitated at the door, his hand hovering over the metal handle, warmed from the day’s heat.
With a deep breath that did little to ease the tightness in his chest, he rapped his knuckles against the door, the sound echoing hollowly in the still evening air. He braced himself, prepared for the surge of old anger and betrayal that never seemed to ebb completely.
Before Sarah could answer, the door burst open and out tumbled Javier, his tousled dark blond hair catching the last rays of daylight.
“Nick!” the boy called out, his bright brown eyes locking onto him with an unguarded joy that struck straight through Nick’s carefully constructed defenses.
“Hey, Javi,” Nick said, his voice softening despite himself as he crouched to meet the child at eye level. The tension that had coiled like a spring inside him loosened just a fraction at the sight of those dimpled cheeks.
“Did you come to see me?” Javier asked, tilting his head to one side.
“Of course, buddy,” Nick said, ruffling the boy’s hair. The simple action sent an unfamiliar warmth spreading through his chest. He let himself revel in it for a moment, allowing the sensation to push aside the doubt and hurt that clung stubbornly to his heart.
Javier grabbed his hand, pulling him into the trailer with surprising strength.
Nick followed Javier inside, feeling a pang of anxiety twist in his gut. He had missed so much of his son’s life, and he wasn’t sure how he could make up for it.
Would Javier even want to get to know him? Or would he be too angry and hurt by Nick’s absence?
“Come on.” Javier tugged at Nick’s hand, pulling him toward the small table where Sarah was clearing away plates and utensils.
“Hey,” Sarah said, her voice a little too bright as she looked up at him. “How was your day?”
“Fine,” Nick said, keeping his tone neutral. He still couldn’t bring himself to look at her directly, not without feeling a surge of anger. But he refused to let those feelings overshadow his time with Javier.
“Can I help?” Nick asked, gesturing toward the food.
“Thanks, but we’re almost done,” Sarah said, shooting him a quick smile before turning back to the dishes.
Nick watched her for a moment, taking in the way her long brown hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders. She was still beautiful, still the only woman who made his heart race with just a glance.
But he couldn’t forget the past, no matter how much he wanted to.
“Javi, do you want to go outside and play?” Nick asked, hoping to spend more time with his son.
“No. Want to see my room?”
Nick grinned. “Sure.”
Maybe they could make this work. For Javier’s sake, if nothing else.
Fifteen minutes later, Sarah followed them into Javier’s tiny bedroom.
“Are you ready?” Sarah’s voice was tentative.
“Let’s go,” Nick said curtly, without turning to face her.
His eyes lingered on Javier, who was now preoccupied with lacing up his tiny shoes. Nick’s heart clenched, a painful reminder of all the moments he’d missed, all the milestones he hadn’t witnessed.
“Thanks for watching him, Una,” Sarah said to her cousin as they left.
As they stepped outside, the air was cool against Nick’s skin, the smell of sagebrush strong in the desert evening. The silence between them stretched, taut as a bowstring.
Sarah walked a step behind him, her pace steady. Normally, the hike would be an opportunity to appreciate the way the horizon smudged into purples and blues as night approached. But tonight, Nick could feel Sarah’s gaze on him, seeking connection, so he kept his focus forward.
Each time Nick thought about looking at her, the image of Javier’s face—those early years without him—flashed before his eyes, and his jaw tightened.
She had stolen something irreplaceable, and though part of him thought he understood her reasons, the other part felt the betrayal like a fresh wound.
“Nick,” she said quietly, almost lost to the whispering wind. “I’m sor—”
“Save it for later,” he cut her off.
There would be time for apologies, for explanations, but not now. Not when every instinct screamed at him to turn away from her deceit.
As the mesa came into view, its silhouette stark against the darkening sky, Nick hardened himself for what was coming. The pack meeting was a necessary step, a bridge he had to cross to save his son from a bad alpha.
For Javier, he would walk through fire, face down any challenge, even if it meant enduring this proximity to Sarah, who still pulled at his soul.
The climb steepened, and Nick’s muscles tensed, his shifter nature coiling beneath his skin, ready for whatever might come. The scent of pine mingled with the earthy tones of the desert, a familiar comfort that did little to ease his turmoil.
His inner wolf whined and scratched at his mind, wanting to run free.
But Nick needed his human side to be in charge tonight.
“Almost there,” Sarah murmured behind him, but Nick didn’t need the reassurance. He knew the paths of Sunburst Mesa as well as he knew the scars that marked his body—each one a reminder of his past within the pack.
He led the way to the flat, open space atop the mesa where the meeting would be held. Here, the pack would gather under the rising moon, and here, he would face what he had left behind.
There was no turning back now.
Nick stepped into the firelight, his presence a sudden ripple in the otherwise tranquil space.
The sun had dipped below the horizon now, and the first stars began to prick the velvet sky.
The air was alive with the murmur of voices, almost enough to drown out the undercurrent of tension that thrummed through him.
“Nick,” a voice called out—a familiar tone that tugged at the corners of his memory. Heads turned, and one by one, members of the Sunburst Pack emerged from the paths onto the tabletop mesa, their expressions a blend of curiosity and cautious warmth.
“Reagan?” another echoed, disbelief lacing the single word.
He nodded, his throat tight with words unsaid, muscles coiled like springs beneath his skin.
The pack closed around him, a sea of faces he had once known as well as his own—fewer faces than there had been back then, lined with a few more years, marked by time, but still unmistakably themselves.
They clapped him on the back, murmured welcomes. It was surreal, stepping back into this fold, feeling the pull of old bonds he’d thought severed beyond repair.
“Welcome home, Nick,” Larissa said, playing her role of surprised pack member with aplomb.
“Thanks,” he managed, his voice rough as sandstone. He didn’t trust himself to say more, not when every instinct screamed at him to remain wary.
Then silence descended, and the crowd parted like the Red Sea, revealing Vincent, the alpha, standing at the center of the circle. His cold blue eyes fixed on Nick with all the warmth of a winter’s frost.
“Nick Reagan,” Vincent’s voice boomed, filling the space between them with an edge that could cut glass. “You’ve been gone a long time. Why come back now?”
The question hung between them, and Nick felt the scrutiny of the pack. He met Vincent’s gaze head-on.
“Sometimes,” Nick said, his tone even but threaded with an undercurrent of steel, “you have to face the past to build a future.”
Vincent’s lips twisted into something that might have been a smile on a less cruel face. But there was no kindness in it, just the sharp glint of challenge.
“Indeed,” Vincent said, the single word echoing with his disbelief.
For Javier, for the chance to be the father he hadn’t been allowed to be, Nick would endure Vincent’s scrutiny, the pack’s suspicion.
He was no longer just a lone wolf cast out into the wilderness—he was a father, a protector. A member of the Moonstone Pack. And in order to keep Javier safe, he would reclaim his place among the Sunburst Pack, too, whatever the cost.
Nick shifted his weight, a muscle twitching in his jaw as he prepared to voice the lie that might grant him passage back into a life he had once known.
“I couldn’t stay away from Sarah…or our son,” Nick said, giving away none of the seething anger boiling inside him. The words felt like stones in his mouth, but he forced them out anyway.
Sarah’s eyes, wide and glistening with a sheen of unshed tears, met his. Nick extended his hands toward her. The rough pads of his fingers brushed against the softness of hers, a contrast that sent an unwelcome shiver up through his arms and straight down to his cock.
He forced his gaze to soften as he pulled her toward him, the warmth he willed into that look a mask he hoped would convince the watching pack of his sincerity.
Her hands trembled slightly within his grasp, but whether from fear, hope, or something else, he couldn’t tell.
He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand, a gesture so familiar it threatened to unravel the tight coil of fury within him.
But he held fast to his anger, using it as an anchor to keep the painful memories at bay.
The pack watched on, their presence oppressive against the backdrop of the encroaching night. Nick’s grip on Sarah’s hands tightened imperceptibly. It was a performance for them all, and he was the reluctant actor upon this rugged stage.
In his mind’s eye, he saw the boy—Javier, his son—whose existence had become the fulcrum upon which Nick’s world now teetered.
For Javier, Nick would wear this mask of tender reunion. For Javier, he’d swallow the bile of old wounds and offer a smile instead.
But beneath the surface, where his wolf’s spirit simmered, Nick’s true feelings churned. Every second spent playing the prodigal mate was a test, a reminder of the years stolen from him, the touch of a woman he could never fully forgive.
Still holding Sarah’s hand, Nick turned back toward Vincent, meeting the alpha’s icy gaze.