Lord knows I need that now more than ever, when I've barely made any progress with Arianna. She's short and stubborn and doesn't care about a thing I say or do, and I feel like I'm failing.
It's my heart that threatens to fail altogether when I enter the graveyard through the small rolling gate and see Arianna standing in front of her mother's grave, with her son holding her hand beside her.
There's a part of me that wants to turn around and leave before I'm seen, but I accidentally step on a dry leaf, the crunching sound drawing Arianna's attention as she glances over her shoulder and spots me.
Like a deer caught in the headlights, I freeze, gulping hard when our eyes meet. She notices the bouquet in my hand, her brows furrowing when she lifts her eyes back to mine.
Despite expecting her to say something, I notice the way her eyes are glossed over with tears. She'd probably been telling her son about his grandparents, and it's evoked emotions that don’t let her appear as cold as she's been since she returned.
Seizing the opportunity to do something kind, I step forward as I pick out two lilies from the bouquet, nimbly dodging her hostility by passing the flowers to Noah instead.
“Here ya go, buddy,” I nudge gently, leaning down to whisper in his ear. “I know you've never met them, but I'm sure they'd be grateful for the gift.”
Noah nods, his eyes twinkling with appreciation as he takes the flowers and places one on each of the graves lying side by side. I straighten up and tilt the remaining flowers toward Arianna.
“I didn't do this on purpose, you know,” I whisper as we watch Noah gently tapping each of the flowers and having his own conversation with the graves. “I didn't know you'd be here.”
“Yeah, right,” Arianna scoffs before sniffing to audibly fight back her tears. I glance at her, noticing her throat working as she gulps as if swallowing her emotions and tilting her chin to regain her pride. “We're not your property, Alpha Tyler. You don't need to follow us around.”
I sigh defeatedly as I hang my head without a flicker of pride. “If you must know, I got the flowers as a gift from the pack I visited today. A token of amicability between two packs. I didn't go home ‘cause I didn't want you to see them and think I was being insensitive. I'm not trying to be.”
Arianna turns her face toward me, her eyes flickering with recognition as a frown passes her brows, letting me know she remembers how we first became friends many years ago.
Another opportunity I can seize that compels me to lift a single lily out from the bouquet, and I hold it out toward her as she frowns at it.
“Amicability between friends?” I suggest, but my offer is met with her indifferent shrug as she turns her face away.
“We're not friends, Alpha Tyler,” she grumbles just as Noah comes skipping back.
“I your friend!” he chirps as he snatches the flower from my hand and presses it to his nose.
“Of course, you are, buddy,” I chuckle to break the tension in the air, reaching forward and fluffing out the little boy's hair. But the tension is still ripe as Arianna remains cold, her walls coming up every time I'm around her. Sighing despondently as I straighten up, I clear my throat and say, “I'm gonna leave the rest with Tyson.”
“Tryson? Who that?” Noah quizzes as he frowns up at me.
“Tyson,” I correct him with a lighthearted chuckle. “He's my older brother, and just like your grandparents, he's one of the stars shining in the sky.”
Noah nods thoughtfully. “Mama tol’ me theybrightest stars.” He enunciated the words with emphasis, his chest puffing out proudly.
“Of course, they are,” I wink at Noah. “It's because you came to visit them tonight.”
“I visit Tyson, he shine bright also!” Noah proudly declares as he steps forward and grabs my hand.
A gasp escapes my lips when the warmth of Noah's fingers spreads through my arm like wildfire—something I've only ever experienced from holding Arianna's hand. Standing frozen on the spot, as I frown at the little boy in shock, I realize that I'm probably only feeling this way because it's a stark contrast to the coldness I've been receiving from his mother.
He's just a child, and children tend to be magical. That's how Mother used to describe me every time Tyson complained about me following him around when I was Noah's age. I snap out of my daze, chuckling when the memories resurface and tug at my heartstrings.
“Where Tyson?” Noah asks as he curiously scans the graveyard.
I point to two rows down where an extravagant tombstone marks my brother's resting place. “Over there.”
Noah nods firmly and pulls me toward Tyson's grave, then takes the bouquet from my hand and lays it on the heap of soil. Warm, fuzzy feelings of familiarity spread through me, and perhaps I just needed to feel the warmth I've been desperately craving from Arianna ever since she returned, but my heart swells as Noah takes my hand again.
There's something magical about him, unlike the other kids whom I usually surround myself with when I visit the pack's nursery school. Perhaps it's because Noah is my true mate's child, and the sincere smile I give him when he tugs my hand with his tiny one allows all the irritation I might have felt to subside. How could I possibly be upset with Arianna, when she birthed the most beautiful boy with the biggest heart?
A wave of protectiveness envelops me as the boy stares into my eyes so deeply as if he's seeing my soul, and I realize it's because he is, after all, a Moonshine wolf. There's no doubt in my mind that he'll grow up to be a spectacular werewolf, and if he continues to train in Moonshine, he might even have a chance of winning the trials I plan on holding to find my replacement when I retire.
There's a small flicker of regret between the warm and fuzzy feelings, but I push it aside. There's no point in hanging onto the past or the regret of not seeing my true mate bond through. Perhaps things could have been different, but Arianna must have been happy, and that's all that counts.
