19
REINER
Up until that day, I’d always thought the happiest day of my life was my wedding day: every time I thought of it, I saw Becky walking towards me, radiant and beautiful in the sunset light,
and felt my heart do triple flips.
But as Becks and I walked towards her house, the twins fast asleep in our arms, I realized that
day paled in comparison to the one we just had.
I still didn’t know how I managed to hold back my tears when I finally saw my children for the first time: they had appeared suddenly, holding their mom’s hand, bathed in the afternoon light, with identical excited and energetic smiles on their faces… and then they ran towards me, yelling “Dad.”
–
It was the first time in my life that someone had called me dad – and until I held them in my arms, it had been the most beautiful moment of my entire existence. Then, that had taken the
podium.
–
I still couldn’t grasp everything that had happened to process the flood of emotions that day had unleashed: every moment swirled in my mind like a confused tornado, but at the same time, it was crystal clear. I felt the kids‘ hugs imprinted on my skin, their scent, the feeling of their hair under my chin, their hearts beating against mine.
My pups. My children.
Violet and James.
I can’t believe it, I thought, looking at the little girl fast asleep in my arms, focusing on the feel of her arms around my neck. I can’t believe I have my daughter in my arms.
–
Just as I couldn’t believe the sight in front of me Becks with my son in her arms.
Within two weeks, my life had completely changed – and multiple times so. My family had taken away my inheritance and my pack, going against my father’s wishes: and for a few hours, that day, I’d really felt like my life was over. Between losing Becky and then the pack… what did I have left? Nothing worth living for.
Right after I had that horrible thought, I received Mark’s call: and from there… from there, a
chain reaction of events led me to that day.
It was as if fate, or the Goddess or whoever, had decided to give me a gift – in the form of my
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in Point
mate and two little pups who were absolutely obsessed with bacon.
Thinking of how much of it they had wolfed down at the diner made me laugh: if their appearance and the obvious bond I felt with them weren’t proof enough of their parentage, their love for bacon would be. I would never forget Becky’s half–terrified, half–resigned look watching them devour the bacon a look that said, “I’ll have two atherosclerotic kids in less than twenty years.”
–
Obesity, clearly, wasn’t a risk: considering they were the children of an Alpha and an extremely powerful she–wolf trapped in a city of concrete, those two had lots of energy to burn – so much so that Becks and I had spent the entire time at Central Park trying to keep up with
them.
“Okay,” Becks puffed as she retrieved the keys from her bag and, with some effort, opened the front door. “Let’s put these little devils to bed.”
I couldn’t disagree with her on that last adjective: she had, of course, said it affectionately, but there was no denying those two were real troublemakers.
Becks‘ house was… absolutely gorgeous: it was decorated with simplicity and taste – and, clearly, consideration for the children. The corners and edges of the furniture were all baby–proof, and even though the furniture was tasteful, it was clear it wasn’t custom–made.
A wise choice, considering that, at the end of the day, our kids weren’t simple human children: I’d lost count of how many pieces of furniture I’d had to replace in the pack house in the last six months because of rambunctious pups.
“Watch out for the cat,” Becky whispered. “He has a habit of getting between your feet.”
That made my eyes widen.
“The… what?” I asked.
“The cat,” Becks repeated, enunciating the letters. “You know, those little felines that go meow and destroy your couch.”
An offended meow echoed behind me, and I turned around: a gray cat with bright yellow eyes appeared behind me, looking at me with an expression that could only be described as
murderous.
Of course. I’m a male of another species trespassing in his territory.
“And they’re also very, very cute,” Becky quickly added. “As well as brave, elegant, and lethal.”
Those compliments were enough to turn the cat’s look from deadly to smug and, with his tail
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held high, he walked off towards the living room.
“You… talk to the cat?” I asked, bewildered.
“You have no idea how much they understand until you have one… and well, you’re a werewolf,
”
she added. “Being half–animal, we have a privileged communication channel. He’s Moses.”
As she said this, she nudged a half–closed door to open it: a dim light brightened the room, allowing me to understand we were in the children’s room.
“That’s Vi’s bed,” she whispered, nodding to the bed on the left side of the room: not that there was much need to tell me. The room was equally divided between the two- and if James’s side, the right, was full of dinosaurs and basketball–related things, Violet’s side looked like a little princess’s room with dolls, teddy bears, and even a canopy over the bed.
–
Being careful not to wake her, I tucked my little girl in, making sure she was comfortable and well–covered: a few minutes later, after wishing them goodnight, Becky and I tiptoed out of the
bedroom.
“Want something to drink?” she asked.
I nodded. “I wouldn’t say no to some wine.”
I had no doubt she had some: Becky could live without many things, but not without her
Lambrusco.
Also, we definitely had to celebrate: I’d just met our pups – the same pups that, until two weeks ago, I thought would forever remain nothing more than an unrealizable dream.
Becks nodded and I followed her into the spacious penthouse kitchen area: within thirty seconds, she had pulled out two glasses and a nice bottle of Pinot – my favorite wine.
She never liked it.
I kept my mouth shut, but I wrote down that detail in that mental notebook I’d titled “figuring out what the hell happened four years ago” – because nothing about that situation made sense. It didn’t make sense then, and it made even less sense now that I had found Rebecca again, because nothing about her behavior seemed to support what had happened.
Her kindness, her willingness to let me meet the twins (once assured I wasn’t a threat), her compassion… Goddess, I couldn’t believe the Rebecca who betrayed me and left me with a note was the Becks who had quietly asked me if I had money for food, or the Becks who got furious when she’d found out about my exile.
“How do you live here?” I asked her. “You and the kids… and Wayne and Ravi. I mean, you
don’t
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”
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+8 Point
“Don’t have a scrap of forest to shift in?” she smiled, finishing my question. “Well, there are quite a few wolves here… so, at first, I went with them on trips they organized to shift. But then,
with the kids, it became inconvenient… so, a few months ago, I bought a cabin in Shenandoah
National Park. The kids and I go there almost every other weekend.”
With the considerable fortune she had built with her business. It was natural that it had taken
off: organizing parties and events was one of the various tasks of a Luna, all of which she
performed perfectly and effortlessly – which meant her parties were unforgettable.
“I can lend it to you if you need it.”
If I needed it? Hell, I’d been in New York for two weeks and hadn’t had the slightest chance to
shift: I was on the verge of tearing my skin off.
“Don’t think I won’t take you up on that,” I sighed, savoring the wine. It was incredible: she
must have spent quite a bit on that bottle – another detail that went into my mental note.
Becks chuckled. “No problem. Just don’t get in trouble with the nearby pack. They already
don’t like me very much…”
I nodded: if she was referring to the pack I was thinking of, I could well imagine it. The
Crescent Moon were bigoted fundamentalists – they probably lost their minds seeing a Rogue
single mom buying a house right next to their land.
“Okay. I won’t argue with the cult.”
–
How many nights had we spent like that in the kitchen, chatting over a glass of wine?
Goddess, that moment felt so normal, so natural, that it felt strange, forced, not being close to
her, not being able to hug her, not feeling her near.
There was a wall of secrets, suspicions, and inconsistencies between us that was absolutely,
solidly real and it would remain there if we didn’t do something to get around it or tear it
down.
―
–
I’d take her back in a heartbeat, I thought and I was sure of it. She could have cheated on
me, left me, and hidden the kids from me, but if she wanted to come back to me… I wouldn’t
wait half a second before kissing her again. Because I knew that, beyond that wall, was my
Rebecca, the one I’d always known: I had seen her more and more that day.
Nonetheless, that would be a conversation for another day. I was conscious that even the
slightest allusion to discussing our relationship would cause her to become distant, hindering
any opportunity to mend our relationship.
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Small steps, I thought.
I finished my glass and put it in the dishwasher.
“So I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” I asked for confirmation. The kids had begged me to come for lunch tomorrow – and since Becky hadn’t objected, I had gladly accepted.
Becks nodded. “By the way, they always crash for a couple of hours after lunch. We could take the opportunity to… figure out how to manage the situation.”
That is, establish a co–parenting plan.
I nodded. “Maybe we should have Wayne and Ravi come too. Ravi still handles these kinds of things, right?”
She nodded – then covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a yawn.
“I guess I should go,” I said then. “I don’t think the cat will tolerate my presence much longer.”
Indeed, Moses hadn’t stopped giving me dirty looks: he kept his distance, but hadn’t lost sight of me for a moment.
Becks chuckled, walking me to the door. “At noon,” she reminded me.
“I’ll try to be on time,” I smiled.
When it was time for me to leave, though, I couldn’t do it: my mate, my Becky, was right in front of me
—
and although I knew my reasoning was twisted and wrong, I couldn’t help but
think that, in the end, that entire day was only thanks to her.
Yes – it was definitely a messed–up thought, but objectively, we weren’t any less messed up.
Emotion tightened my chest – and before reason could take over, I hugged her.
