Chapter 17

#Chapter 17 – His Mate “So when will you get married?” Ian asks, digging into the huge pile of pancakes that Ian’s private chef places in front of him. The chef smiles at the boys, thrilled to be cooking something besides rare steak and salad.

I fall silent, looking between the boys, suspicious. Victor, less prepared, blushes.

“We,” he says, gesturing between the two of us, “are not going to be married. In fact, there’s someone very special I want you to meet – my mate. Her name is Amelia. I’m going to marry her.”

Alvin’s fork clatters to his plate of eggs and his eyes fill with tears, his little lip starting to tremble.

“No, no,” Victor says, and I can see his heart in his eyes, devastated to have made his son cry. “It’s a good thing – it’s all very good –“

“Silly rabbits,” I say, smiling warmly at my boys and trying to get them to laugh. “No one ever said daddy and I were going to be married – and it will be so fun to have an Amelia in your life! She is a Luna,” I say, trying to make the word sound exotic and special.

“What is a Luna,” Ian asks, his pancakes abandoned.

“Well, every wolf has a mate,” Victor explains, slowly and carefully. “But, not every wolf is lucky enough to meet them. If an Alpha finds his mate, she’s very special, so they call her his Luna, the moon to which he turns. They fall in love and are destined to get married.”

The boys stare at him, unimpressed. “You two have your own mates,” Victor says, trying to sweeten the deal, “and if you’re lucky enough, one day you will find…your own…Lunas…” He gives up.

Alvin’s eyes well further with tears. “Why isn’t mama your Luna, she should be your mate.”

Victor huffs a laugh, awkward, and looks to me for help. I casually pick at my own eggs, letting him handle this one.

“You don’t get to choose-“

“But you and mama had BABIES! You are MARRIED!” Ian shouts, not caring that his logic is not sound.

“No, you don’t have to be married to have babies, though it is preferable,” at this, he shoots me a bit of a dirty look. I shrug. Marriage didn’t work out so great for me, why should I back him up on that?

“You are bad! You have abandoned our mother!” Ian begins to cry then, and Alvin matches him, finally letting his tears flow.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Victor mumbles, amazed at the irony of the accusation. “Now, boys,”

he says sternly, but they ignore him. “BOYS.” He booms out, using his alpha tone. Remembering yesterday in the pool, the boys gather themselves.

“You boys are not being fair here,” Victor says. “I did not know you were born – you were an accident,”

“A gift,” I say, my voice low and just a tiny bit threatening on that one.

“A surprise,” Victor concedes, narrowing his eyes at me.

Ian pouts and stares down at his half-eaten breakfast. “If daddy marries this stupid Luna,” Victor opens his mouth at this, but I shake my head at him.

“Then they will probably have a baby,” Alvin finishes Ian’s thought seamlessly, mirroring his brother’s devastated expression. “And then he won’t just be our dad anymore.”

“We finally got our dad,” Ian says, desolate. “And now we’re gonna lose him. And they’ll probably have a GIRL!” He wails the last word, and both boys collapse again into tears.

I stand up, starting to clear plates. There’s no use talking to the boys while they’re like this – it’s best to wait until they get through the emotions, then we’ll talk.

“Boys…boys,” Victor tries to take control at the table. “Stop crying boys,” he bangs his fist on the table, forcefully but with no real violence. “You are Alphas, you can’t cry like this. You have to be men.”

I shake my head as I put the dishes in the sink.

“You can’t cry when you’re an Alpha?” Alvin asks, trying, and wiping his tears.

“No,” Victor says, and I deliberately drop a ladle into a pot so that it clangs. Victor looks at me and reads my meaning on my face, in every line of my body: don’t teach my boys that macho bullshit.

He ignores me, turning back to the boys. “No, Alphas don’t cry. They have a responsibility, and they have to keep themselves together so that they can lead their pack.”

“It is fine to cry,” I interject. “Crying is totally normal, and it’s good for you to cry.”

Victor has the audacity to roll his eyes at me.

“Okay!” I say, falsely cheerful, “that’s enough! Time to go home! Up boys, gather your things!”

The boys do as I say, quietly, overwrought and ready to let me take the lead. Victor stands up. “Evelyn, you said you wanted me to take them for the weekend –“

“I know, Victor,” I say, crossing to him and working to be as kind as I can. “But it’s been a lot for them.

You didn’t do anything wrong.” I put a reassuring hand on his arm, “You were great. Just…let them go to their home, let them return to normal for a minute so they can process all of this change.”

Victor stares at me a moment and then breaks my gaze, nodding. “Thank you,” I whisper, and move out of the kitchen to help the boys pack.

When we arrive home, the boys scatter to their room to play with their toys as if nothing has changed.

I’m grateful for that as I slip into my office, seeking my own sanctuary. I click on my computer and click through a few emails before a text lights up my phone’s screen.

Ty: Ev, are you free? That new client just called – he would like to move up tomorrows’ first call until today. Are you around?

I heave a big sigh and think for a moment, then respond.

Me: Yes, I’m around. Tell him to call anytime.

I eye the old-fashioned rotary phone hooked up to the system of boxes and wires. The green light is still on. I’m fairly certain it will still work, but…

Is it right? I can feel myself getting closer with Victor, with the boys. Hell, this morning I woke up in his arms. Am I tempting fate with this?

Suddenly the phone rings. Well. Now or never. I pick up.

“Hello?”

“Hello.” Victor’s voice is disguised again, but even through it I would know it was him, now. He’s starting to become familiar to me; his words, his voice.

“I’m glad to hear from you,” I say. “We were scheduled for a call tomorrow. Is there a reason why you bumped it up?” I lean back in my chair, letting myself slip into my counselor identity.

“Yeah…I’m having…well, a little bit of a crisis,” he says. I can hear him moving around, like he is cooking or working something as he talks. So Alpha, needing something physical to do while he deals with his emotions.

“Tell me more,” I murmur, letting him take the lead.

“Well, I learned recently, that I have…I have two children. They were a surprise. I met them by chance, with their mother, who confirmed that they are mine.”

“Interesting,” I say. “How do you feel about this turn of events?”

“Good, they’re wonderful boys. They’re just…it’s a big surprise. And I haven’t yet…found a way to…

tell…my mate.”

“That is, I imagine, going to be a shock for her,” I say calmly.

Victor huffs a laugh. “That’s an understatement. It makes it more complicated because we’ve had a lot of friction, lately, regarding children. I want to have children with her…well, yesterday. But she wants to concentrate on her career.”

“So is it fair to say,” I continue, “that she is going to have complicated feelings to this news?”

“Again, an understatement” Victor says, seeming unimpressed. I take note of this. “I’m worried that it will end it for us. We’re mated but…if it’s not the life she wants, I’m afraid she will leave me, no matter how much we love each other.”

I nod, understanding. “You know what you have to do,” I say, being more forceful with him than I would with other clients. But I sense that Victor is looking for someone to push him.

“I have to tell her.” He says, firm, decided.

“Soon. As soon as you see her again. When will that be?”

“Tonight,” he confirms, tense. “At the local Club – there’s an Alpha gathering that we’re slated to go to, I’ll just bring the kids and –“

“No,” I say, appalled. “That’s a terrible thing to do!”

“What? It will be like pulling off a band-aid – I’ll just get it over wit-“

“Think about what you’re doing here,” I say. “In confronting her in public, you do it fast. But you’re taking away any of her ability to react in a way that is honest for her. She won’t be able to yell at you, to leave you, because all eyes will be on her. But are you being fair?”

He is silent on the phone, but I can hear him grumble, unhappy. So, I continue. “Look, you’re having problems in your relationship already. Doing this only makes it worse. Cancel the party, tell her at home.” I am definitive, sure that this is the right path.

He says nothing for a moment, and I can almost hear him processing. “Then tonight it is,” he snaps, and the line goes dead.

Smiling, I return the phone to the cradle. Crisis averted. At least for now, it seems I’ve made the right choice.