All I want to do is sink away from all the attention, and I mentally crawl into a space in the far recesses of my mind.
Tyler just put me under the spotlight of his pack, and I was blindsided. I didn't see this coming, and I have no idea what to make of it.
As my heart pounds, I blur out my hearing, only turning slowly to Brynta, who still appears pleasantly surprised by the news.
“C—can you do me a favor?” I ask Brynta, my fists curling with determination. “Can you pick Noah up from daycare? I'll be home in a bit.”
“Sure,” Brynta says, frowning when she notices my expression hardening. “I take it you're as shocked as everyone in this room.”
“You have no idea,” I lament as I turn my eyes to Tyler, noticing how calm he is as he speaks to his parents and the council on the stage.
The meeting is dismissed, and the pack members begin leaving the hall, and I wait to confront Tyler about what justhappened. He seems to sense that I want to speak with him, and hangs back until it's just the two of us left in the vast, open expanse of the hall.
As he turns to me slowly, my heart skips a beat when our eyes meet, reminding me of the intensity of our true mate bond and affirming everything he announced tonight. But I can't just accept it when he's hurt me more than once—when he rejected me in the past, and turned cold on me after reigniting the blazing fire between us the other night, as if I don't have feelings.
“What the hell was that, Tyler?!”
Chapter 24 - Tyler
Arianna's question echoes through the expanse of the hall, bouncing back to my ears as I stare at the fire in her eyes.
She's clearly confused, her eyes wide with bewilderment as she frowns. It's not that I wasn't expecting a confrontation, especially after the surprises I've had myself today.
My parents returned from their vacation in Greece. I'd been nervous about telling them that I'm already a father, I've already sired an heir to the alpha title, and I found my true mate—a discovery I made years ago, and one I've been hiding in my attempt to achieve the things my older brother couldn't.
It was nerve-wracking opening up and being honest with my parents, but it was something that needed to be done, especially after last night when realization knocked on my walls of denial.
Saving Noah made me realize that I had to step up and be a man, be the father he needs, and be there to protect him.
Apart from Noah, there was Arianna, too, who'd been spinning my world on its axis at rapid speeds since she returned to Portland and reminded me that I was always destined to be mated to her.
Since that night when I found her at the border with Noah, I've only been discovering how wrong I was about the way I wanted my life to play out. I wanted her as my mate, and with every obstacle she faced and handled gracefully, I discovered that she was special in ways that made me feel unworthy of her.
I had to do it, as frightened as I was, only to discover that my parents took the news better than I'd expected. It made me realize that I'd been hanging on so tightly to upholdingappearances and trying to be the perfect son that I'd been denying my own happiness.
“We only want you to be happy, Tyler,”my mother had told me.
“And no werewolf, especially an alpha, can ever be truly fulfilled without having a mate,”my father added. “Especially if you're blessed with a true mate, that is something no one can question.”
It was shocking, hearing them say those words when Father had been adamant that true mates didn’t exist. But hearing me recount my experience must have changed his mind, the rare occurrence becoming a blessing in their eyes. They were so understanding about the situation, and consoled me with the reassurance that their pressure only ever stemmed from a good place—that they didn't want their younger son to grow up alone without a family of his own.
And they thought that what I needed to feel complete, to feel whole, was a high-ranking she-wolf as my mate, someone who would be my equal as we led the Moonshine Pack together. They had no idea that an unexpected she-wolf would turn out to be my true mate—the most sacred bond between werewolves—and emerge as a powerful witch descended from a bloodline of powerful high priestesses.
They were elated to hear the news about Noah and promised to meet him once this meeting was over and Arianna and I had ironed out our differences.
Standing before her now, I can see how wildly disbelieving her eyes are as she stares at me, full of questions, too stunned to speak.
“It's true, Arianna,” I admit, letting every ounce of my ego slip to stand before her with humility, void of my alpha dignitythat usually comes across as imposing and cold. “I would like to claim you as my mate.”
Arianna stares at me dubiously, batting her eyelids in disbelief. Her lips part as if she's about to say something, but she snaps her mouth shut and gulps. “Y-you don't have to do this, Tyler. Just because you're Noah's father doesn't mean you—”
Frowning, I begin to stalk forward, and Arianna tenses.
“I'm not doing this because of Noah,” I admit, hesitating as I keep a bit of distance between us, not wanting to frighten her.
I think I've done enough of that for one night.
“I mean…I am doing this partly because he's my son, but it's so much more than that, Arianna. You're my true mate, and it's time I stopped running from that.”
