Filed to story: Reclaimed Book by Roxie Ray
He spat the word like it was bile. “I’ll drain every drop of life from your body, and I’ll make sure it hurts. I’ll show you all what a true alpha is, and prove once and for all that our idiot father was wrong.”
“Are you challenging me?” I growled.
“If you want a challenge,” Sean snarled, “I’ll give you a fucking challenge.”
The line went dead.
I set Forrest’s phone down and powered it off. Then I leaned back in my office chair, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath to settle my dragon.
I’d gotten what I wanted. I’d pushed him to the brink.
Sean was going to challenge me.
No sneak attacks. No kidnapping. An honest, honorable challenge, where I’d be forced to kill him to put this all behind me. For my clan, my son, and my mate.
There was no relief. I only felt grief. Grief for the brother I’d never had.
HARLEY
Iwoke up before my alarm. The sun was streaming in through the half-opened curtains, falling in golden stripes across the bed.
The bed, which I was currently occupying alone.
I sighed. That’s probably what had woken me up. I was getting too used to rousing into Steph’s arms and nuzzling his chest. Exchanging lazy morning kisses before we went downstairs to make coffee. Without him, the bed was too big and too cold. I rolled over with a huff, wanting to press my face into his pillow to capture a hint of the musky scent of his skin, which was when I spotted the note. I grabbed it and sat up.
Went okay, the note read in Steph’s tall, slightly messy handwriting.
Couldn’t sleep. Meeting at the clubhouse this morning. See you later.
He’d signed it
S, with a little heart with a rectangle around it. I blinked at the illustration for a moment, then realized it was an ace of hearts.
Smiling, I brushed my thumb over the signature. Too cute. I’d have to keep this one in my wallet.
I didn’t like waking up without Steph, but at least he’d let me know he was okay.
My alarm was due to go off in just a few minutes, so I went ahead and cut it off, then climbed out of bed. I stretched my arms over my head, pulled on one of Steph’s shirts, and then padded out into the hall. I drummed my fingertips against Dylan’s door, then pushed it open.
“Dyl,” I said quietly. “Time to get up.”
He groaned. “Already?”
“Yup,” I said. “If you want to make it in time for soccer practice, you better get up. I’m gonna start breakfast.”
Dylan pulled the covers over his head. “Five more minutes!”
“Don’t fall asleep,” I said with a laugh. I left the door open and went back downstairs. I put on the coffee, then heated the skillet and tossed a few slices of bacon in. Just as I had planned, the scent of the bacon lured Dylan out of bed and downstairs.
“Is Auntie Mia coming over?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.
“Yes, she’s going to drive you there. With Uncle Hawk, too.”
“Yay,” Dylan said around a yawn.
The soccer outing had been Mia’s idea. She’d played in college, and now she coached a team, but she also did more casual, smaller lessons with kids of all ages. She’d invited Dylan to join one of these sessions so he could get some playtime with kids his age. He enjoyed playing with his baby cousin, but I knew he was longing to talk to some kids who could actually form sentences.
“I’m sorry you’ve had to be cooped up in this house for so long,” I said.
“VR helps,” Dylan said, rubbing his eyes again. “It’s okay, Mom. I know you grownups didn’t want to tell me the bad guys are still out there, but it’s pretty obvious.”
I tugged him to my side and ruffled his hair. “You’re too smart for your own good, kid.”
“Duh.”
“This’ll all be over soon,” I said. “Your dad’s got it all under control.”
“I know, ’cause Dad’s a badass.”
“Hey! Language!”
The door swung open, and Steph stepped into the living room. “Language? Who’s cursing? Mmm, smells good in here.” He smiled as he sauntered into the kitchen. He looked good, but exhausted: a smile on his face, but deep, dark circles under his eyes. It was a look I was used to seeing, and it broke my heart a little.
“Not me,” Dylan said sheepishly.
“I hear Mia’s taking you to play soccer,” Steph said. He stole a sip of my coffee with a wink, then ruffled Dylan’s hair. “That’s good. I know it sucks to spend all summer in this house.”
“It hasn’t been that bad,” Dylan said. “We’ve got the whole lake. And I get to work on my shifting with Striker.”
“Well, the rest of our summers are going to be a lot more fun than this,” Steph said. “I promise.”
“Go get changed, Dylan,” I said. “Mia will be here soon. I’ll make you a breakfast sandwich.”
“Nice!” Dylan raced back upstairs, suddenly full of energy.
I pulled Steph into my arms. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He tipped his nose into the crown of my head and inhaled. I felt some of the tension leave his body.
“You okay?” I loved his scent: the familiar musk of his skin, the rich earth of the forest, and a little bit of campfire smoke. I wondered if he’d shifted the night before, or if he’d just spent the night outside, lost in his thoughts.
He nodded. “As well as I can be.”
“What happened?”
“Last night was harder than I expected.”
I pulled away to look into his eyes. “How is that even possible?”
“I learned something new about Sean,” he said. “About our childhood.”
“What do you mean?”
I held Steph close as he told me about their childhood-about Sean’s fantasies of suffocating him in his sleep, about pushing him into the freezing lake in the hope that he would drown.
