I can only imagine that Tyler will reject it, the way he rejected our mate bond. It's why I fled Portland and the Moonshine Pack when I discovered I was pregnant with Tyler's child after that fateful night. I swore that my son would never face the rejection I did, and he'd never have his heart broken.
I know I need to figure out what's been haunting me, and why, while I'm here and protected from whatever upturned my cottage in Salem. No more distractions, even if Tyler is the biggest one.
Noah leads me to the kitchen, where the breakfast table is spread with the bacon I smelled cooking, scrambled eggs, toast, and pancakes. I can't help but frown when I notice how much effort Tyler put into setting three plates around the table, feeling as if his effort is a means to make up for the way he behaved in the past.
But I just can't let my walls down, even if he's trying. As I take a seat, I mentally turn icy cold and unaffected by his efforts, not wanting to give him the power to hurt me again.
It happened before, and I won't let it happen a second time.
“What would you like first, buddy?” Tyler asks Noah as he takes the seat at the head of the table and chuckles when he notices Noah's wondrous eyes raking over the breakfast spread.
“Pancakes!” Noah exclaims, wiggling in his chair when Tyler stacks three pancakes on his plate. He dives right in, taking a huge bite of a pancake and humming his delight.
“Want some?” Tyler asks as he turns to me, his arm stretched over the table toward the pancake stack.
“I can get my own, thanks,” I say bluntly as I reach for a single pancake, my appetite fizzling away when I remember to remain uptight. I can't let this kind gesture meddle with my head and make me forget what he did all those years ago.
It's the reason why he doesn't know that Noah is his son, and it needs to stay that way. But despite this, Tyler and Noah seem to be getting along, and they munch through breakfast, listing their likes and dislikes when it comes to food.
“My mother always makes pancakes for me for breakfast,” Tyler proudly boasts, to which Noah snorts.
“Me too,” he says, equally pridefully. “Mama make pancakes all time!”
Tyler chuckles, but I'm left with buzzing in my ears from the panic of the realization that they're more alike than I thought.
This is going to be hard, and Tyler is making it harder by putting in all this effort that seems to be forging a bond between him and our son.
Guilt rides up my spine and settles in my throat like bile that I have to force down with the freshly squeezed orange juice I pour out. Everything I can see in front of me screams that Tyler doesn't deserve to be kept from the truth, while a tiny voice in my head whispers that I can't ignore the way he hurt me in the past, and I need to protect myself and my son from his rejection.
I just can't stand watching them bond, riddled by guilt that makes the scene in front of me insufferable when Tyler stacks more pancakes on Noah's plate, then tops it with bacon and pours a generous helping of syrup over it.
“Have you ever had all of these together?”
“No…” Noah shakes his head as he frowns at his plate.
“Tell me what you think,” Tyler says as he leans back and watches Noah curiously inspect the pairing that appears strange to him. It's something he's never tasted before, but Noah appears to trust Tyler and takes a bite of the mixture of food, his eyes widening with shock and delight as he stares at Tyler.
“Is good!” he exclaims through his mouthful, and Tyler chuckles.
“I know, right?” he winks at Noah, about to go back to his own plate, when the doorbell rings and Tyler instantly gets to his feet.
When he leaves the kitchen, relief washes over me purely because I don't have to watch them bonding anymore. I offer Noah an encouraging smile to continue with his meal, hearing faint chatter from the front door and footsteps coming in.
Tyler is probably busy with his alpha tasks, and that works out better for me.
“Arianna Hart…?”
A shocked gasp prompts me to lift my eyes just in time to see a familiar face walking through the doorway. She comes directly toward me, giving me no time to stand up before her arms close around my shoulders.
“Brynta…” I giggle, lighthearted, as she steps back and takes a moment to rake her eyes over my face.
She reaches out and sweeps the ends of my hair, and chuckles. “You haven't changed a bit. Except for the haircut. It suits you.”
Shaking my head slowly in disbelief, my eyes flicker to Tyler leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed, his chuffed expression giving away the fact that he's behind Brynta's visit.
The redhead was my only friend in Moonshine growing up, and we'd been relatively close.Relatively,because I couldn't tell her about what happened between Tyler and me in the past. She'd been so busy working at the pack center, and after what happened, I didn't trust anyone enough to give away my secrets.
I'd left without telling her, and she's obviously surprised when she spots Noah at the table.
