67

“My kingdom is in the North, on the other side of the Veil,” I explain.

“I’m not allowed to go near the Veil.”

“That’s good,” I tell him. “It’s not safe. But our—my home is beyond there.”

“Can I see it?”

I stare at him, struggling to keep my promise to him not to make his mother cry. But my own heart cracks as I answer, slowly, “Perhaps one day.” Leanna’s eyes swivel toward me, but I don’t meet her gaze. “And I wasn’t able to come before because I was fighting the monsters in the North. But I’m here now.”

“Wait.” Finn looks at his mother, suddenly wary. “Does this mean we have to leave here and go to the North?”

Before she can say anything, I interject, “No. You’re—I think you’re safer here.” Another crack in my heart. He’s safer away from me and my world. Happier. “But I’ll come see you, and when you’re grown up, you can decide for yourself.” Leanna’s eyes are still on me. Everything feels strange. My chest is heavy with a different sort of grief. “I should go now. You two should rest.”

Leanna gets to her feet. “Ced—”

But I’m already out the door. I head to the park across the road. I’m almost to the bench when I hear her voice again.

“Cedric!”

I come to a halt.

My mate sounds frazzled, and when I don’t turn around to face her, she moves to stand in front of me. “What was that?”

“What?”

“That! Inside! You said—” She searches my eyes. “You said he doesn’t have to go to the North. And—”

I cut her off. “It’s been a long night. We can talk later. Go to bed.”

“But—”

“Not right now.” I shake my head. “You were right. Too many things have happened today. I also need time to think.”

“Then do it inside,” she says abruptly. “In the house, not out here.”

I cast a cautious look toward her small home. “I’m comfortable keeping vigil out here.”

“I’m not, Cedric. I want you to come inside and be with your family.”

“My family?” I stare at her. “You’re not making any sense, Leanna. You say one thing, and then you say something else. You do one thing—”

“And then I do something else, I know,” she mutters, grabbing my hand and pulling me back toward the house. “I’m well aware of how I’m acting. Just cut me some slack for a while till my brain starts functioning properly. And in the meantime, come inside.”

I let her drag me into her home, wondering when things will start making sense to both of us.

I understand her inner conflict. One of us will ultimately have to make a sacrifice.

And she has made too many sacrifices to count.

 

  

Leanna has to be at the palace in the morning, so I accompany her and Finn there. My son is still distrustful of me, but I can see the curiosity in his eyes whenever he looks at me. I didn’t sleep last night. Leanna set up another bedroom for me, but I spent the night in the hallway outside her door. I wanted to be as close to her as possible because, soon enough, I may have to leave her here.

I catch my mate stealing a glance at me as we leave the house. Since I don’t fit in her small car, we decide to make our way to the woods, where we’ll shift and run to the palace. When she shifts into her wolf form, I can’t help but admire her. She was always beautiful, but her wolf has also matured over the years. Its fur is silkier and healthier, its body fuller.

She sniffs me all over, her wolf more open about its feelings than its human counterpart. She licks my nose before turning around and sniffing the young wolf pup who is prancing between her legs. My wolf rumbles happily at the sight of them. It wants to play, and it wants to herd our small family to show off.

I nudge my son, who is more interested in running around in circles. Reluctantly, he follows his mother. But when Leanna breaks into a run, he howls in excitement and gives chase. I observe for a while, noting his strength. Even in my wolf form, I am a critical thinker. Finn is just a few years shy of puberty. In another year, he’s going to start growing even more, especially in his wolf form. It’s going to be an explosive growth. He has a lot of pent-up energy. I see him snap at his mother’s tail, and I give him a warning growl.

Leanna shoots me a sharp look over her shoulder, but I ignore her. Eager to test me, Finn tries to bite me. I immediately slam my paw down on him, pinning him to the ground. Leanna moves toward us, but one look from me has her backing off. Finn isn’t scared; he’s wriggling under my paw, still trying to bite my leg. When I growl at him, he looks at his mother for help. Even now, there is defiance in his eyes. He doesn’t want to accept me as alpha of our small pack. It’s not surprising. I haven’t been around, and he has been growing up without me.

In her wolf form, Leanna is more in touch with her instincts. She comes over and licks his head to offer comfort, but she doesn’t try to warn me away.

When Finn realizes his mother is not going to help him, he gets more aggressive in trying to escape. One more growl from me and he realizes there’s no way out. I can sense my mate’s tension. When she doesn’t intervene, I look over to see her watching me.

My attention turns back to Finn, and when he makes one final attempt, I snap my teeth inches from his nose. That makes him stop. He stares up at me, and then his ears finally go flat in submission. Having made my point, I release him. He rubs against me once before trotting off to his mother, who licks him lovingly. But when Leanna meets my gaze, I see a reluctant understanding. She finally knows what I meant when I told her that he needs a more dominant wolf in his life.

As we reach the woods surrounding the palace, we are met by Erik’s soldiers. They patrol the trees to prevent both humans and wolves from entering the palace grounds or accessing the area where the Veil is. We shift back to our human forms, and it doesn’t take us much longer to get to the palace, where an office space has been set up for my mate.

“Can I go play outside?” Finn asks eagerly.

“Sure,” Leanna agrees. “But stick to the grounds, and don’t cross the lake. I want you to stay within earshot. If I call, you’d better answer.”

Finn nods, bouncing around the room that overlooks the lavish palace gardens.

“Derrick will watch him. He’s outside.”

Leanna jerks at my words. “Derrick? But—”

“He won’t let anything happen to our son,” I say gruffly. “Unless he wants to lose his ability to produce his own children at some point.” Finn is already climbing out the window, and I grab him by the back of the shirt without so much as a look. “Are you okay with that?”

My eyes are on Leanna.