Filed to story: Reclaimed Book by Roxie Ray
I stayed where I was. I felt like a stray cat he was trying to lure closer with treats. My heart wanted to trust him. I wanted to be closer, to lean against the strength of his chest and feel his arms wrap around me, to lose myself in his kiss and imagine that everything would be okay.
But that was a fantasy. It’d been a fantasy ten years ago, and it was a fantasy now.
“There’s nothing left to talk about,” I said. “I’m taking Dylan back to Atlanta tomorrow.”
Stephan’s face fell. “What? Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow morning. I already booked our flights.”
“Harley, please.” Gold flashed in his eyes, and his expression was shattered, like I’d reached into his chest and pulled out his heart. “Don’t leave. Not like this.”
“I have to.”
“You don’t have to.” There was a desperate edge to his voice. “We can figure this out. I’m handling it. I’ll handle Blakely?-“
“You’re always handling it,” I said. I wasn’t angry anymore, but there was a steeliness to my voice that made Stephan fall silent. “Blakely was a problem a decade ago, and she’s still a problem now. Sean’s still a problem. The cops are still a problem. And you’ve got this distillery business that looks like it could be a whole new problem. Nothing’s been handled, Stephan. It’s too much.” I pressed my fingertips to my temples, then closed my eyes to hold back the tears that threatened to start falling again. “It’s all too much. We got through Dylan’s first shift. That’s what he needed, that’s why we came here. And now we’re leaving.”
Stephan stared at me. His expression was still full of pain. I hated seeing him like that. My heart wanted to fix it. Wanted to give him another chance. But I couldn’t risk it. I couldn’t risk my son getting wrapped up into this mess. Sean had threatened us last time-what if he was planning something worse?
I couldn’t count on Stephan to protect us. Not anymore. Not after seeing him with Blakely.
“I’m not going to keep you out of Dylan’s life,” I continued. “You’re still his father. I still want him to have a relationship with you.”
“Harley-“
“Once things are settled down in Lakeview, and everything’s safe, you can have him in the summers. But only when everything’s safe.”
Stephan braced both hands on the counter and dropped his head. He took a few breaths, then looked up at me, his eyes burning gold with emotion. “I can’t force you to stay here. I’d never do that.”
“I know.”
“I want you to believe me when I say there was nothing with Blakely. But I know that’s not enough.”
“It’s not,” I agreed, even though my heart was breaking.
“But I want you to know… I love you, Harley.”
From a break to a shatter. Pain lanced through me.
“I love you with everything I have,” he continued. “Everything I am. That’s not going to change, no matter what. You’re my fated mate. You always will be. Even if you never forgive me, even if I never get to hold you again, there’s never going to be another woman for me. Ever.”
I couldn’t hold his gaze. The intensity was too much. I felt it in my bones. He meant it. He meant every word.
How could he say words like those, make me feel like this, and then get into bed with another woman?
It didn’t make sense. It was making me crazy. God, I wanted to believe him so badly.
“Mom? Dad?” Dylan stood on the stairs, in his pajamas with eyes wide and his hair a mess. “What’s happening? Where are we going?”
This wasn’t the way I wanted to break the news to him. But now I didn’t have a choice.
“We’re going back to Atlanta,” I said. “Tomorrow morning.”
“But the summer’s not even over.”
“I know, Dylan, but plans have changed.”
“What changed?” Dylan said in a raised voce. “What’s going on?”
“Dylan-“
He rushed downstairs and stood in the living room, looking between Stephan and me. “This isn’t fair! You promised it’d be the whole summer!”
“I’m sorry, Dylan, but I’m not budging on this,” I said.
“But I thought you were getting back together!” Dylan shouted. He balled his hands into fists at his sides. “We were gonna be a real family!”
My heart broke all over again. How was I supposed to tell my son that I’d thought the same thing? I’d thought we might have a real chance at being a family. I’d thought maybe Stephan could be more than a father to Dylan. I’d wanted him to be my partner.
Now that hope was extinguished.
“It’s not that simple, Dylan,” I said, my voice wavering.
“This is all your fault, Mom!” Dylan’s eyes flashed gold with anger, just like his father’s. “You ruined everything!”
“Dylan,” Stephan said firmly. He knelt to Dylan’s eye level and placed a hand on Dylan’s shoulder firmly. “You’re a Lakeview shifter now, son. You’re responsible for your dragon. And that means never, ever flashing your eyes at your mom.”
“But Dad?-“
“But nothing,” Stephan said. “I know you’re angry and sad, but that doesn’t mean you can lash out like that, okay?”
Dylan sniffed hard. Tears welled in his eyes. “We really have to leave?”
“You do,” Stephan said. “You need to go back to Atlanta. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m still your dad. You can call me whenever you want to, okay? And I’ll come see you as much as I can.”
Dylan flung his arms around Stephan’s neck. “I don’t want to leave.”
“I know.” Stephan’s gaze met mine over the top of Dylan’s head. “I know, kiddo.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and looked out the large glass windows. The sun glittered on the still surface of the water, and the mountains rose tall in the distance. I’d gotten used to this view. It wouldn’t be easy to go back to the endless asphalt of Atlanta. “Let’s start packing up, Dylan. We’ve got to get to Syracuse tonight.”
Dylan trudged up the stairs. I followed behind him, one hand on his upper back. I didn’t want to look down at Stephan behind me. I was already hurting enough.
We spent the day packing. I booked a hotel in Syracuse for the night. Throughout the day, I half-expected the clan to show up at the house to try to convince us to stay, but it was quiet. Stephan hadn’t told anyone we were leaving. For that, I was oddly grateful. It’d be easier to put this whole place behind me if I didn’t have to struggle with goodbyes.
I wanted to pretend this summer never happened. I didn’t want to think about Mia, Hawk, or Striker. I didn’t want to think about Bella and Zoey and Dylan all playing in the backyard together. I didn’t want to think about riding astride Stephan’s dragon’s back with Dylan asleep against me, completely at peace. I didn’t want to think about falling asleep in Stephan’s strong arms.
I wanted to forget it all. I had to go back to the woman I was before this. A successful career woman, a good friend, a strong single mother. Dylan had gotten through his first shift. That was all that mattered.
Everything else had been a fantasy.
The sun was low in the sky once we were packed up. I slid the last bag into the trunk of the black sedan. The white rental SUV had already been returned, so I’d leave the sedan at airport parking for some other clan member to pick up.
It’d be like we were never here.
