“No. You add while you’re still the Luna of the Pack. Not before or after your reign.” He answered in a calm voice. He was standing behind me, his hands on my shoulders, massaging them gently.
I nodded my head before I turned around to face him.
“Riley, I know this is hard for you. And you’re probably just saying yes to this because of me…”
I didn’t get to finish what I wanted to say because he turned around and slumped his body down on the couch, leaning his head back and staring at the ceiling.
I went to him and sat on his lap, straddling him as my hands reached for his temple, massaging it. “Riley… I’m sorry.”
He closed his eyes as his hands went to my hips. “Hug me, Nadia.”
I coiled my arms around his neck and rested my face on his shoulder.
“I told you, I’d do everything for you. Even the impossible. But yes, I’m not happy.”
“I’m sorry. We don’t have to do it right away. We can let the idea sink in and then we can do it after that. She’s willing to wait until you’re ready.”
“I will never be,” he answered almost immediately. “But is this really what you want?”
“Yes.”
“Do you like her? Was she nice to you?”
“Yes, she’s very nice to me. Even when we first met, she didn’t know I knew you, and she was already lovely. If you saw me that day, like what Beta Dominic told me, she was one of the females I was with. The one with blonde hair.”
“Hmmm…”
“She drove me around town because I didn’t have a car and we spent my free days together. She was easy to be with.”
“Does she have a family? Did you meet her mate?”
I nodded my head, scooting my face against his neck. “Leandro. His name is Leandro.”
“Do they have kids?”
I nodded again, and I felt Riley’s emotions surging in. Sadness and hatred at the same time.
“Are they happy?” His voice broke as pain crushed my heart, but it wasn’t mine.
I withdrew my head from his neck and looked at my mate’s face. His eyes were closed, but tears slipped past them.
“Riley...” I bit my bottom lip to stop my lips from quivering as tears streamed down my cheeks. I could only imagine what was going through his mind at the thought of his mother being happy with her family without him. “I’m sorry...”
He opened his eyes and smiled warmly at me. His fingers brushed the tears off my face. “It’s not your fault.”
“You’re hurting.”
“I am. The pain never goes away. I always wonder if she hadn’t left me if the emptiness would even exist.”
“If she took you with her, then maybe we would never meet. Maybe, I’m married off to Elliot now or to someone else.”
“Do you think so?” He asked, smiling despite the tears on his face.
I nodded my head. I couldn’t keep my own tears from falling. “Everything that happened in the past, bad or good, led us to where we are. So, even if it hurts, even if the truth hurts us, we must accept it. Because in the end, we found each other.”
He nodded his head and cupped my jaws, peppering my face with kisses. “You’re worth all the pain and the emptiness I felt, Nadia. Just having you here is enough. I will try. For you. For our pup. Just don’t leave me.”
I shook my head. “I will never leave you again, even if you didn’t agree to meet her. I’m sorry I said I would. I’m just being selfish. I just want you to know you’re important to your mother, Riley. She loves you.” I pressed my lips against his.
