Chapter 30

Angie’s POV

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Stefan is standing like a statue just staring at this woman, and she keeps looking between him and her son as she shifts the little guy on her hip.

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“Do you like trucks?” The little boy blurts out and points at me. He is adorable.

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“I do like trucks,” I say and his eyes light up with a sweet grin. There is a deep dimple that shows, and although I haven’t seen Stefan smile much when he does he has the same feature.

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“Good, we can play together!”

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“Okay kiddo, time to go back to bed. Come on, follow me you two.” She gestures for us to go with her but Stefan hesitates.

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“I - I think I’ll head back tonight, I have things I need to do,” he says and I can hear the pain in his voice as he looks at the reflection of his own eyes in the little boy.

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“Nonsense. There is no way off the island tonight, and I’m sure getting here wasn’t easy. You look exhausted and you need a good night’s rest. It’s no trouble at all.” She places her hand on his arm and her eyes fly open and she can’t seem to stop looking at him.

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“Ben! Ben you little stinker!!!” It’s a young girl that breaks her trance. “I swear Ms. Nira, I thought he was asleep already. I- I’m so sorry.”

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“Katrina, it’s okay. We both know Ben can be an escape artist. Ben, what do you say for scaring poor Katrina half to death?”

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“I’m sorry ’Trina.” He says and he looks guilty.

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“I’ve got him now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

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“Ok. Be a good boy little man.” The girl rustles his hair and disappears, and Ben and his mother return their attention to us.

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“Come, I’m around the corner,” she says and we follow her out and down a narrow alleyway to a bright green door. “Just up here,” she says happily and we climb a steep staircase and enter a spacious room that smells like flowers. She flicks on a light and it is absolutely charming. There’s a small kitchen and living room that is decorated bright and cheery. A couch is beneath a window that is open and the warm evening air is blowing the light curtains around gracefully. The little boy hops on the couch and pats it for Stefan to sit next to him.

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“Angie, you will be in here,” she walks down a hall and shows me to my room. It has a bed and a dresser and a small desk.

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“Tomorrow after we get you settled in and we can talk about this wonderful place and I can show you around.”

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We go back into the living room and Ben has crawled up on Stefan’s lap and he has his little hands on his face and is making one of Stefan’s eyes open wide.

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“Momma, he has eyes like mine,” he says and there is no denying that they are identical. A slate gray with bright blue flecks. I bet this little guy’s wolf will look just like his daddy’s too.

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“Come on now, off to bed,” she says, but the little boy pouts and settles into Stefan’s arms.

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“I want to sleep here tonight,” he says in the cutest little defiant voice and Stefan looks like he is struggling to keep himself together.

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“I’m so sorry, come on sweetie,” she reaches for him but Stefan puts his arm around him.

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“It’s okay. He can stay,” he says and she shakes her head.

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“I don’t know what’s gotten into him, he never takes to strangers like this,” She looks a little confused as she stares at Stefan and reluctantly she turns from them and focuses again on me.

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“Let’s get you a shower and then you can rest. I have some clothes you can wear,” she follows me back to the bedroom and lets Stefan know she’ll be right back.

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I pull out a sweatshirt and set it on the bed and she picks it up. “Gosh, I used to have a shirt just like this.” She says and I remember that this is hers. Stefan gave it to me before we left. Hell, all the clothes I have with me are hers.

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She sets it down and pulls a t-shirt and shorts out of a drawer and they have a cute little strawberry pattern on them. “These should do. It gets hot in here.”

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She spends several more minutes with me, reassuring me that I will be happy and that whatever the reasons are that brought me here, they are behind me now, and that I’m safe. I’m dying to ask her questions but I decide to wait until morning.

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“Any requests for breakfast?” she asks and I nod. “Okay, well I’ll be sure to have coffee and something good for you.”

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She leaves the room and I take the most wonderful shower I have ever had. Once I’m changed and clean I sit on the bed, fully planning to return to the living room, but as soon as I let my head rest for a moment, the warm ocean breeze carries me away into a calm sleep.

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Nira (Sadia) POV

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I don’t know what brought that poor girl here, but I know that the only people who wind up on this Island are those that need help the most. Something, or someone, is looking for her, but they won’t find her here. I’ve been helping boys and girls of all ages as they are brought here. We only get two or three a year, but I wish that we wouldn’t get any. I wish that no child would need to suffer to the point where they need to be hidden for their own safety.

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I go back into the living room and find this man fast asleep with my son in his arms. Both of them completely conked out and my little man is lightly snoring. I look at both of them and something flashes, an image and a feeling combined. I can’t quite make out what it is, just that the feeling is a spark of joy that comes and goes quickly.

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The man’s jacket is partially stuck under his arm and I go to move it, in the process I gently brush against his skin and I feel it.

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Sparks.

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An electric feeling rushes through me. I hover my hand nervously over his skin, and finally get the courage to touch his arm again and the energy courses inside my veins while my chest swells with a feeling of desire and comfort at the same time. I gently take his coat and go to hang it on the chair and something falls out of the pocket. When I pick it up I can’t understand what I’m looking at.

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I stumble back and find the rocking chair and I just sit there, staring at a picture of myself with this man. I’m pregnant and on the back of the photo I read ‘Ben’.

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Flashes of memories begin to ping-pong around in my head. I look at this man and my son, and after years of not knowing who I am, or who Ben’s father is, it all comes back to me in a tsunami and tears just won’t stop coming. I sit like this for hours when finally he wakes up and looks at me; it’s as if he is looking into my soul and mending my heart all at the same time.

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“Stefan?” I ask and his eyes get wide and glassy, “What took you so long?” I ask, my heart swelling within me, afraid that maybe he didn’t want me, and that’s why he’s been gone. Why he left me here.

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He gently moves Ben over and stands up and comes to me. He kneels before me and places his hands on either side of the rocking chair.

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“You remember me?” He says, his voice cracking.

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I nod and he wraps his arms around my waist. I gently set my palm down on his back and I can feel him tremble beneath it.

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“I thought I lost you, I thought I lost you both,” He says as he holds onto me like a lifeline.

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“Where have you been? Why did you leave me here? What happened?” I ask but he looks up at me and stretches to kiss me and holds on to me as if he needs me to take his next breath. He starts crying harder when he looks at Ben, “I have been so lost without you,” he cries and it’s as if some damn within him has broken and I realize that he had no idea I was here. This was all just an accident, he was never supposed to find me.

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I grip onto him tight and I can feel our mate bond reconnect, the severed ends healing themselves and weaving back together even stronger than before.

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We both move to the couch and I crawl onto his lap, brushing the hair from his forehead and wiping the tears from his cheeks.

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“I don’t understand. I saw your body in the hospital. I buried you, both of you,” He runs his thumb over the scars on my face and neck. “You don’t remember anything?” He is searching my face for answers, but I don’t have any to give.

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“I woke up here, in the hospital, and I had no idea who or where I was. I didn’t even know I was pregnant until I saw my belly. I was put into a medically induced coma to help me heal from all the wounds I had. I delivered Ben almost seven weeks early and I was so scared. The people here told me that they didn’t have any information about me. A handler just brought me to the hospital and told the doctor that the baby’s name was Ben.”

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I look at my poor mate’s face and he looks so broken as he stares at Ben, fast asleep on the couch beside us.

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“I’ve missed so much,” he says in a whisper, “someone stole this from me. Someone stole you from me.”

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I cup his face with my palm and he leans into it.

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“Lilacs, how terribly I have missed your scent,” he inhales deeply. “Zion wants to know if Karina is okay.”

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“I don’t know. She hasn’t communicated with me in years. I still sense her, but I haven’t been able to shift or talk with her. She did everything to help heal me and to make sure that our pup survived, but I fear it came at a great toll. I sense her now and again, but since the birth of Ben, she’s retreated.”

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“Zion can feel her, she’s still there. He wants you to know that he will do whatever it takes to help heal her.”

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“Mommy?” Ben rubs the sleep from his eyes and looks up at us as he shifts closer.

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“Good morning baby,” I say reaching out for him to snuggle closer to us, and to my surprise, he picks up Stefan’s arm and plops himself on his chest, and cuddles in. He knows this is someone special, he’s just a child, but he feels the draw to a fellow pack member, and he can sense his own blood through the wolf bonds. I felt it as soon as I laid eyes on him.

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“You’re gonna crush him, Ben,” I say with a huge smile on my face and he giggles as he scoots up on him and puts both his hands on Stefan’s face squishing his cheeks together.

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“Mister, you hungry?” He says and pats his belly. “My momma makes the best pancakes ever.”

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He jumps off Stefan’s lap, runs to the kitchen, and drags a chair to the counter climbing up on it and waiting for me to get started.

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“Ben, hold on. Come back by Mommy for a second. I have something very important to tell you.” I look at Stefan for approval and he nods and smiles.

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“Ben, honey. Remember when you asked me if you had a daddy?” My little one is smart and before I say anything else he looks at Stefan.

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“Are you my daddy?” He asks, holding his breath. Stefan nods yes and Ben launches himself at him and wraps his little arms so tight around Stefan’s neck. “You promise you are? You swear it?” he cries and Stefan grips him tight.

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“I swear it. I swear it.” Stefan says over and over again as he runs his hand through Ben’s thick wavy hair. “I love you so much. I’m so sorry.” He looks up at me and his face looks exhausted and laden with an emotion that I can’t quite place. “I’m so so sorry, Sadia. I’m sorry.”