Chapter 8

BRAUN

The moment the truck pulled into the parking lot, my wolf went on full alert.

I watched a man step out and hurry toward Solana with concern written all over his face.

He was tall, built like someone who spent time outdoors, with that casual confidence that qcame from not having to answer to anyone.

A rogue wolf. I could smell it on him even from here.

"Solana, I got here as fast as I could. Is Luna okay?" He reached her and put his hand on her shoulder.

That touch. That casual, familiar touch like he had every right to put his hands on my wife.

My wolf snarled inside me.

He finally noticed me standing there. His eyes narrowed. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm her husband." I growled back. "Who the hell are you?"

His hand dropped from Solana's shoulder. I watched him look between us and saw the exact moment he figured it out.

"You're Braun Julie." He said it like my name tasted bad in his mouth. "The Alpha she ran from."

"The Alpha whose child she stole." I took a step toward him. Every instinct screamed at me to make him submit, to show him exactly who he was dealing with. "And you are?"

"Kai Rivers. I'm the one who helped Solana escape. The one who gave her a new identity so she could get away from you."

Red clouded my vision. This was the man who'd helped her disappear. The one who'd given her false documents and helped her hide my daughter from me for five years.

"You helped her steal my daughter."

"I helped her protect herself and her baby from a man who didn't want them."

"I never said I didn't want them." My hands clenched into fists at my sides.

"You didn't have to say it. She could feel it every day she lived in that house with you." He moved to stand between me and Solana. "So yeah, I helped her. And I'd do it again."

My wolf pushed forward hard. I could feel my eyes changing, my canines lengthening. The shift was right there, clawing at my control.

"Kai, don't," Solana said behind him.

"He can't just show up and start making demands."

"He's Luna's father."

Those words should have made me feel better. But then Kai spoke again.

"And I've been her father for the past four years." He looked at me when he said it. "I've been there for every skinned knee, every nightmare, every milestone. Where were you?"

Each word was a knife sliding between my ribs.

"Looking for us," I growled. "Every single day for five years. I looked past him to Solana. "I never stopped looking."

Kai shook his head. "That doesn't give you rights to her now."

"She's my daughter. That gives me every right."

"Luna doesn't know you. Showing up now will just confuse her."

"Then help me not be a stranger." My voice came out quieter but I could hear the edge in it. The barely controlled fury. "I missed four years. I'm not missing another day."

He crossed his arms. The stance of someone who thought he had authority here. "That's not your decision to make."

"Actually it is. I'm her biological father and Solana is still legally my wife. Which means I have parental rights whether you like it or not."

"Solana's been doing fine without you."

"Solana's been lying to our daughter about who her father is." I looked at her. Watched her flinch. "What did you tell her? That I didn't want her? That I abandoned you both?"

She didn't answer or look me in the eye.

That was answer enough.

"That's what I thought." My jaw hurt from clenching it so hard. "You made me the villain in her story before I even had a chance."

"You made yourself the villain," Kai said. "By treating Solana like trash for seventeen months."

I moved without thinking. One moment I was standing five feet away, the next I had him pinned against his truck with my forearm across his throat.

"Say that again." My wolf was fully at the surface now. I could feel fur trying to break through my skin. "I dare you."

"Braun, stop!" Solana grabbed my arm and tried to pull me back. "He's not worth it."

"He helped you steal my daughter. He's absolutely worth it."

Kai struggled against my hold. "Get off me."

"Not until you understand something." I leaned in closer. Let him see exactly what I was. What I could do to him if I wanted. "Solana is my wife. Luna is my daughter. You are nothing. A rogue wolf who stuck his nose where it didn't belong." I dropped my voice to barely above a whisper. "Stay away from my family or I will make you regret it."

I released him and stepped back. 

He coughed and rubbed his throat.

Solana moved between us. "Both of you need to stop. Luna is in the car watching all of this and she's terrified."

I looked over at the car. Luna's little face was pressed against the window, tears streaming down her cheeks. Even from here I could feel her fear through the pack bond.

My daughter was afraid because of me.

The rage drained out of me all at once, replaced by something worse. Shame.

"I need to take her home," Solana said.

"We're not done talking." But even as I said it, I knew she was right. This wasn't the time or place.

"Yes we are. For today at least." She started walking toward her car. "Kai, you should go."

"I'm not leaving you alone with him." He glared at me.

"I'll be fine. Just go."

Kai looked at me one more time. I could see the calculation in his eyes, weighing whether to leave or stay. 

"Call me if you need anything," he finally said to her.

He got in his truck but before he pulled away, he rolled down the window.

"You want to know something?" His voice was calm now. "Luna calls me dad sometimes but not all the time. But when she's happy or excited or scared, that's the word that comes out." He paused. "She drew a picture of our family last week at preschool. Me, her, and Solana. Three people holding hands in front of a house. You're not in it because to her, you don't exist."

Kai must have seen something in my face because he kept going.

"I was there when she took her first steps. I taught her to ride a bike. I'm the one she comes to when she has bad dreams." He started the engine. "You might be her biological father but I'm the one she knows. I'm the one she trusts. And that's not going to change just because you decided to show up now."

He drove away.

I stood there in the parking lot feeling like I'd been gutted. Everything he said was true. I'd missed everything. Every important moment of my daughter's life had happened without me and I could never get those back.

My jaw clenched as I remembered whose fault this was.

"When can I see her?" I asked Solana. My voice sounded flat even to my own ears. "When can I meet my daughter properly?"

"I don't know."

"That's not an answer." I bared my teeth.

"It's the only answer I have right now." She opened her car door. "I need time to figure out how to explain this to her. She's four years old, Braun. I can't just tell her that the stranger who was yelling at her mama is actually her father."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"I don't know. I need to think."

I pulled out my phone. "While you're thinking, I'll be filing for custody. My lawyer can have papers ready by tomorrow."

Her face went pale. "You can't be serious."

"You kept her from me for five years. Yeah, I'm serious."

"Taking me to court won't help Luna. It'll just scare her more."

"Then don't make me take you to court. Let me see her. Let me be part of her life."

She looked at me for a long moment. I could see her weighing options.

"One week," she finally said. "Give me one week to prepare her and explain things in a way she can understand. Then we'll figure out a schedule."

"One week."

"And no custody papers. Not yet. Let's try to do this without lawyers and courts."

Every instinct told me not to agree. She'd already proven she couldn't be trusted. She'd already run once.

But looking at Luna's scared face in the car window, I knew Solana was right. Taking her to court would make everything worse. It w0ould make me look like the monster Solana had painted me as.

"Fine. One week. But if you run again, if you try to disappear with her, I will hunt you down and I will take her from you. Do you understand?"

"I understand." She got in the car. "I'm not running, not anymore."

I watched them drive away. 

Then I stood alone in that parking lot and let myself feel everything I'd been holding back.

Rage at Solana for lying, for stealing five years from me.

Rage at Kai for helping her and for being there when I couldn't be.

Rage at myself for not trying harder to find them. 

But underneath the rage was something worse. Fear.

Fear that Luna would never accept me. That I'd lost my chance before I even knew I had one. That another man had taken my place and I'd never get it back.

I pulled out my phone and called Ezekiel.

He answered on the first ring. "Alpha, what can I do for you?"

"I need you to draw up custody papers. Full custody if possible. Joint if that's all we can get."

"You found her then. Solana."

"I found her. And I found my daughter." I got in my car and started the engine. "Luna. She's four years old and she doesn't know who I am because Solana told her I wasn't in the picture."

"That's parental alienation. We can use that."

"I don't want to use anything yet. I'm giving Solana one week to tell Luna the truth and set up a visitation schedule. If she doesn't follow through, then we file."

"And if she runs again?"

"She won't." I pulled out of the parking lot. "She knows I'll find her. And this time I won't be so understanding."