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“ I s she being serious?” I whisper to Azalea behind me.

“Now she got him back. She won’t let him go. And if you make her choose, you won’t win,” she tells me, and my lips part. I glance down the corridor. She has already disappeared. Is this why she had been in a strange mood?

“What do you mean, now she has him back?” I ask, turning my attention to Azalea.

“Abbie was his primary carer. She raised him since he was newborn,” she tells me. Fuck! I never gave much thought to kids, but damn, this was abrupt. I sigh, and Kyson comes up the steps.

“What’s wrong?” Kyson asks, and I look at him.

“Looks like I have a son,” I say. I am not sure how to feel about this, but I won’t refuse her if this is what Abbie wants and needs. Without looking back, I turn on my heel and jog after her.

“Abbie is pregnant?” I hear the king ask Azalea behind me, and I roll my eyes.

That would require us mating, and that definitely hasn’t happened yet.

And I also don’t see it happening anytime in the near future.

It is only a couple of times that she has let me sleep next to her, and each time I woke to find her on the couch.

It upset me but I know she struggles with touch, scents, and everything in general when it comes to men.

However, having her in my room, I am thankful for.

It means she somewhat trusts me, despite what she has been through.

“No, Tyson!” Azalea tells him.

“Ah, wait. You both know we can’t keep them all, right? Clarice has the two boys already, and now Abbie has Tyson. You’re pregnant. I am not running a boarding school here!” Kyson tells her, just as I turn the corner to our quarters.

I rush to my room and open the door, but she isn’t here. I furrow my brows as I check the bathroom, wondering where she went when I hear a babbling noise from out in the hallway.

Turning around, I follow the noise to her old room. Knocking on the door, the room falls quiet, and I grip the handle pushing the door open to find her sitting on the bed.

Tyson is still attached to her hip and eating a candy cloud she has pinched between her fingers, his little lips sucking the sugar off while she holds it, watching him.

“I am keeping him. And I understand if you don’t want kids. And I know he is a special needs child, so if you aren’t comfortable with it, I understand. I will ask Azalea to move me elsewhere if it bothers you,” she says dismissively as if she thinks I will toss her away over him.

“It would have been nice to be asked,” I tell her.

“I’m done asking. I’m done begging. It gets me nothing, Gannon. I won’t lose him, and I won’t give him up,” she tells me, hugging him tighter. She sniffs his hair and kisses his cheek.

“What do you mean? I’ve never denied you anything, Abbie, nor would I,” I tell her, and she looks up at me before peering down at him.

“Kade promised. He promised, so I stayed. I stayed quiet. I stayed on the promise I would get Tyson back. Everything was going to be okay when I got him back,” Abbie says before whispering, “Only he never kept that promise.” Tears slip down her face and her lips quiver, making me realize then a lot of what she was willing to endure was based on the promise of having this boy returned to her.

She held out hope the mate bond would not only make Kade love her but also return her to the boy she raised.

Tyson is why she never said anything, why she remained.

It wasn’t just the bond, she wanted Tyson, and Kade dangled him on a string in front of her.

“Tyson you get no say over, just like Azzy, Gannon, I would die for both. Don’t make me choose. You won’t like the answer,” she whispers.

“Like Azzy?” I ask her, and she nods, her eyes softening as she stares at him through her tears.

“More than my life,” she whispers. Tyson babbles, leaning down to gnaw at the candy cloud between her fingers as I step into the room. I lean down, brushing his hair with my fingers.

“And you’re more than mine,” I whisper, and she lifts her head. “More than my life and if he is part of yours. Then he is now mine also,” I tell her, and she blinks at me before swallowing. Her lips part, and she stares at me as if wondering if she heard me right.

“Come on, he needs a bath, and he is clearly hungry,” I tell her, holding my hands out for him. She looks at my hands like she is wondering if it is some trick. I can see her hesitation written on her face.

“No one will ever take him from you, and I will kill anyone who dares try to take our son,” I tell her. She blinks back tears.

“You’re not leaving me,” she breathes out.

“Never!” I tell her, taking Tyson from her.

I set him on my hip, offering my other hand to her.

She slips hers in mine, and I pull her to her feet.

Tugging her closer, I press my lips to her temple before walking out of the room with her and Tyson when I spot Liam smirking as he stands near the door of his room as we pass.

“I hear I am an uncle, brother?” he says, and I smile down at Tyson.

“That would be correct.”

“I will go make him some food while you get him settled then,” Liam says, and I nod, watching as Abbie pushes our door open and walks to the bathroom to run him a bath.