Chapter 72

Theodore

I didn’t know what to say as it all clicked into place for me.

“Violet...”

She shook her head, forcing a wry smile. “Look back, the Goddess had to have been protecting me probably for the best, right? A child with him...”

Her voice cracked, and I swallowed hard.

I pulled her closer, not saying anything. I just held her. She melted into my arms. The moment hung between us, raw and unspoken. I couldn’t imagine what she was thinking, what she was feeling, knowing the notoriety of her parents. I ran a hand down her back, my fingers tracing absent patterns against her skin as I tried to sort through my thoughts.

“So, what was wrong with him?” I asked, my voice steady.

She laughed a sharp, unexpected sound that made my lips twitch despite myself.

“Clearly nothing, given Nora’s current state.”

“Could be someone else’s kid.”

She looked up at him. “That’s… such a diabolic point of view.”

I grinned down at her. “Makes you feel good, doesn’t it?”

She chuckled. “Yeah, a bit. But no, trust me. I checked.”

That got my attention. “Checked?”

She sat up slightly, propping herself against the pillows. “I didn’t check him, but I did check myself.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “The doctors of this country?”

Violet waved her hand as if brushing off the question. “Yes, and beyond. They all came back with the same answer.” Her voice dropped into a mock-serious tone. “It’s the will of the Goddess, child.”

Her laugh this time was quieter, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

I frowned. The words felt wrong. It was more like an instinct that was saying that’s not true, but I couldn’t say how. My wolf stirred uneasily, an instinctive growl simmering at the edges of my thoughts. My wolf had never acted that way before. I’d never felt it moving that way or so energized or something.

Lie.

Not that Violet was lying to me, but the whole idea was a lie. Which meant… a part of me, if not all of me, knew that even though Violet didn’t get pregnant with Lucas, she could get pregnant with me.

“The will of the Goddess,” I repeated, my tone flat. “That’s convenient.”

She chuckled. “It’s the easiest way to say they don’t know. You’d be surprised how often the doctors of this country use it, but I got checked on back home, too, and it was the same thing.”

I nodded. “I agree with that, but that also means there’s room for possibility.”

I kissed her head. “And since you can never be too careful, I’ll remember it going forward.”

Violet

I shivered a little, and a part of me relaxed and felt healed in a way I didn’t know was possible. I pulled back and studied Theodore, searching his face. There was some sort of disbelief that was coming through the bond. Alongside that disbelief, there was something else, an uneasy feeling that I couldn’t describe.

“Do you not want children?” I asked, trying to keep my voice neutral, as if his answer didn’t matter to me as much as it did.

As much as I needed to know what he was thinking, I couldn’t let myself be that vulnerable. Not right now Theodore glanced at me, and for a moment, I thought he might laugh it off, make some sarcastic quip to deflect. But he didn’t. He just looked at me, the weight of his silence filling the space between us.

“It’s not that simple,” he said finally, his voice low and heavy, weighed by some thought that had turned his eyes dark.

I blinked. “What’s not simple about it? You either want them, or you don’t.”

His lips pressed into a thin line, and I could see the tension in his jaw. “It’s not something I’ve spent much time thinking about,” he admitted. “Not seriously.”

That caught me off guard. “Really?”

“Really,” he said, leaning back against the pillows. His gaze flicked to the ceiling as if it might offer him clarity. “I’ve been more concerned with making it to the next day without my pack falling apart or someone else trying to kill me.”

I frowned. “That’s fair, but...surely you’ve thought about it at least once?”

“I have,” he said, his tone measured. “But...I don’t think my answer would do you any favors right now.”

I stiffened, my chest tightening. “So, you don’t want them.”

“That’s not what I said,” he replied quickly, his hand reaching for mine. “I just—” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Violet, this isn’t a ‘yes or no’ thing for me. It’s not about wanting or not wanting.”

“Then what is it?”

His thumb brushed over my knuckles, and his gaze softened. “It’s about what’s right. For us. For our lives. I don’t want to give you an answer that’ll make you question yourself more than you already do.”

I swallowed, my throat tight. He was trying to protect me—of course, he was—but the lack of a clear answer still stung.

“I’m not made of glass, Theo’,” I said quietly, pulling my hand from his. “I can handle the truth.”

“I know.”

He sighed again, his frustration evident, though not directed at me. “I know you can. But the truth is, I don’t have a perfect answer for you right now. And I don’t want to give you the wrong one.”

I nodded, hearing the wall in his voice, and I decided not to push.

“Okay.”

I took a deep breath and squeezed him close. I lifted up and kissed him. But as I lay back down beside him, his arm draped around me protectively, I couldn’t shake the feeling that his hesitation meant more than he was letting on.

The ride back to Midnight's house was quiet, save for the occasional remark from Theodore. He seemed lost in thought, though he kept his hand resting on my knee as if to reassure himself I was still there. I couldn’t feel him reaching for me through the bond, so I wasn’t sure either way. Still, I took his hand and squeezed back, and that seemed to relax him a bit, and I felt just a trickle of gratitude come through.

Was he still thinking about our conversation?

“... I’m sorry.”

“What?” Theodore asked, looking at me.

“For pushing…” I said, looking at him. “I… It’s all like a whirlwind and sometimes I forget that we actually don’t know each other all that well.”

My lips twitched. “I suppose I’m taking for granted how close I feel to you because the bond.”

“... you feel close to me?”

I looked up at him and nodded. “You… don’t?”

He smiled. his eyes warmed and the rush of emotion that swept through the bond stole my breath for a moment. I could barely breathe around it, then it was gone, and I was panting.

He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it, but he said nothing, and I supposed that was really all the answer I needed.

When we arrived, the familiar sight of the sprawling estate made me take a deep breath and relax a little. As we walked up the steps to the front door, raised voices met my ears.

“What the hell is your problem, Dahlia?” Kincaid’s sharp tone echoed from inside.

“My problem?” Dahlia shot back. “You’re the one who thinks you can just bulldoze over everything like it’s your right!”

I glanced at Theodore, who raised a brow but said nothing. He pushed open the door, and we followed the sound of the argument and found them near the staircase. Dahlia’s face was flushed with anger, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Kincaid looked equally riled, his stance aggressive but not threatening, but they were so far away from each other that it seemed suspicious.

Kincaid was leaning forward. His nostrils flaring. Dahlia looked like she was about to run, but it didn’t seem like they were about to get into a fight. I frowned, looking at Kincaid. His hands were clenching and unclenching his hands at his side. Kincaid snarled. His whole body was shaking.

“I’m not trying to bulldoze you, Dahlia.”

Everything in me sat up at the change in his tone. I looked at Theodore. Theodore’s head snapped toward me and we looked back at them together. His tone was softer than anything that I had ever heard.

A smile started to break across my face.

“You’re so damn stubborn!” Dahlia snapped, arms crossed and eyes blazing.

“Stubborn?” Kincaid barked back. “You’re the one who refuses to listen to reason!”

“Are we interrupting something?” Theodore drawled as we walked toward them.

Both of them froze, their heads snapping toward us.

“Alpha,” Kincaid said quickly, straightening as though he hadn’t just been shouting.

“Luna,” Dahlia added, her tone sharp but respectful.

“What’s going on here?” Theodore asked, his tone deceptively calm.

“It’s nothing,” Dahlia said, though Kincaid’s glare at Dahlia suggested otherwise.

“It’s not nothing,” Kincaid snapped. “We’re not nothing!”