When did she become so feisty?
The Yvonne I knew back then was a timid creature whose pale cheeks turned a bright shade of color whenever I walked in.
The she-wolf standing in front of me now is different, haughtier as she scoffs under her breath.
“If you’re here to check up on me, then you should know I’m on my best behavior.”
“That’s not…” My voice tapers off into a heavy-hearted sigh. I know why I’m here, but I highly doubt that it will matter to Yvonne that I no longer have an old hag bearing me down with his rules and regulations and blackmail. She doesn’t know thatI’m a capable alpha who will not stand for any form of abuse, especially against her.
But why do I feel like I need to prove myself to her?
Where will it get me?
No.
I don’t have any ulterior motives.
I’m just doing what any of my fellow alphas would do in this situation.
“That’s not why I’m here, Yvonne,” I say, my voice stern and measured this time. “I’m only here to check up on you and your son. Are you guys settling in well? Has anyone bothered you?”
Yvonne’s eyes narrow at me, a terse silence stretching around us before she responds.
“We’re fine,” she says coldly, and I notice the way her shoulders are tensed as she keeps her frame rigid and uptight.
It’s not the only thing I notice, the next bout of deafening silence allowing me to see her fully while the moon sends rays of silver light filtering through the doorway.
Her eyes—radiant pools of silver—glow with an inner sovereignty that I only briefly glimpsed almost six years ago when passion ignited those depths and set them aflame. Like polished blades of a freshly-chiseled dagger, the intensity of her eyes seems to slice through my soul until I’m bleeding where I’m frozen to the spot. It takes every ounce of strength I can muster to tear my gaze away, letting my eyes rake over the rest of her face and gather every intricate detail as if it’s for research.
What I discover is that every intrinsic detail seems to draw me in the way it did in the past. Now that she no longerwears spectacles that cover most of the top half of her face, I’m able to trace the bridge of her nose more closely, and it reminds me of the time I’d gently pulled her eyeglasses off, then explored her nose like a nomad on a hike with the tip of my finger coasting—
“Super hero dude!” a breathy, cheery voice rings out from behind Yvonne, followed by a stampede of tiny pattering feet as the boy emerges from the corridor and comes rushing forward with open, flailing little arms.
“Champion!” I grin bemusedly as I lean down and catch the boy just as he comes hurtling toward me. I lift him off his feet and spin him in the air to the rhythm of his gurgling giggles.
When I’m done spinning him around, I meet Yvonne’s speculative gaze.
Chuckling, I let the sprightly youngling explain to his mother why he’s glad to see me.
“He save me from hole in floor!” the young man proclaims, giving me a high-five. “He’s my hero!”
“Oh, I see,” Yvonne chuckles dryly as she avidly averts her eyes from mine. “But your hero was just on his way out.”
The boy pouts in response, but there’s an inherent need to obey his mother when she nods, gesturing for him to get down from my arms. When he’s on his feet, he stands at attention as Yvonne instructs him to go back to the bedroom and wait for her to tuck him into bed.
“G’bye!” he sulks, throwing up a reluctant hand before he drags his feet back inside.
I look up again, only to find Yvonne staring at me with an expectantly lifted brow.
“You’re on your way out, right?”
“Y-yes…” I hesitate, my bottom lip trembling with hesitation to say something more. But before the words can come, Yvonne shuts the door in my face.
Well, that didn’t go as I expected, even though I didn’t have a plan.
Perhaps that’s something I need to work on the next time I come to check up on them.
A Day Later
