Aiden’s gaze tracked his every action before shifting to Brianna’s once the boy disappeared from view. She huffed in annoyance; she had eloped with his son, repudiated them and their pack, yet bore him a son, the heir to the pack. Gazed intently at her, then extended his hand to touch her, only for her to retreat a step.
Ryder exhaled in irritation, aware that his wolf merely desired to make contact with her, to ascertain her physical presence, and to determine whether she remained his Mate.
Withdrew his hand and retreated, ceding control to Ryder once again.
“That was intriguing,” he remarked quietly. “We need to have a discussion, Brianna.”
“No,” she replied, shaking her head.
“Do you believe my wolf will permit his own son to remain a rogue, exposed and unprotected?””
“Depart.” “Please leave us alone,” she asserted.
Nolan’s hand rested on her arm; she was visibly distressed and acknowledged it. “I cannot do that, Brianna.” Your son is my son. He is the prospective heir to the pack.
Observed her shake her head, contemplating whether it was denial or a reluctance to wish that for her child; her existence within his pack had been arduous. He understood that persuading her to return home would be challenging.
Brianna, it is acceptable. “I am not angry with you,” Ryder stated, and he genuinely was not. “I am merely concerned for your safety and his.” Kindly engage in a discussion regarding my return home.
“I possess a life.” Return to your origin and maintain your distance from me.
“Brianna, I am unable to comply with that request.” We must engage in a conversation that extends beyond the subject of our son. There are additional urgent issues as well.
“I desire nothing from you; depart.” She declared bluntly and shut the door, which he permitted this time. She required a moment to comprehend the present circumstances.
He required a moment. Her words had genuinely inflicted pain upon him, indicating that their Mate Bond remained intact. Otherwise, those words would have merely elicited annoyance from him.
Nolan remarked softly through the mental connection, “She is frightened.”
Our bond remains intact. Her words inflicted pain upon me. “You truly wounded me.” He sighed in response; she was his Mate. He telepathically communicated with Luca and Enzo to position themselves as sentinels at either end of the sixth-floor hotel corridor.
Ascended to his suite via the lift to allow her time to compose herself, leaving Nolan in the lift. Exiting that floor without his awareness would be impossible. It also ensured the protection of her and the boy, in the event of any further incidents.
Nonetheless, she had resided here unprotected and solitary all this time, remaining safe to his knowledge, and sighed heavily. This did not imply that she had been unscathed by others.
Aiden internally expressed frustration, noting, “Layla did not reveal herself.”
“It may require some time, Aiden; they experienced significant trauma within our pack.”
“I did not do that,” his wolf retorted, sounding quite exasperated with him. I was not acquainted with Aiden, as you are aware.
“It is still your fault,” his wolf growled at him before retreating to the recesses of his mind. Indeed, his wolf had never once gazed upon a she-wolf. Ryder was entirely responsible. His wolf was agitated with him, as their Bond remained intact, and his Mate had neither emerged to claim him nor even to acknowledge his presence; she would be aware and could still detect his scent.
Ryder would need to make another attempt, as Rowan had withdrawn upon Aiden’s assertion of possession, which intrigued him. He may have sensed the connection too; Ryder noted that Logan had positioned himself directly behind his mother, seemingly frightened.
At this moment, Ryder was convinced that the boy had never experienced any positive encounters with wolves, probably none whatsoever, until Alpha Nathan and that man had solely resorted to threatening both of them. He needed to demonstrate to Logan that not all wolves posed a danger to him and his mother.
Although the content of her discourse was uncertain, he was confident that the boy would perceive them as his parents. His wolf could corroborate that, even if Brianna did not, although she had not refuted his assertion of ‘our son’; likely, she would not deceive the boy, which he considered a positive beginning.
He contemplated whether he could persuade her to come here and elucidate matters regarding Nolan to Stella. He contemplated that approach, believing it necessary to establish any form of interaction with her. She was refuting their connection.
Presumably for self-preservation. He sighed as he paced in his suite, contemplating how much time to allow her to compose herself and accept that he was now aware of the boy.
She probably believed that he remained unaware of her significance to him. That would be more challenging to resolve. She was aware that he could not detect her scent, likely comprehending that no one could, having been devoid of scent since the age of ten.
