Chapter 41 Theon #2
Closing the door behind them, they followed their escort back down the hall.
Tessa had fallen back with Corbin and Lange, speaking softly with them, but everyone fell silent when they were led into the meeting room.
The Alpha and Beta were in their usual seats.
Kylian was eyeing them with disapproval, while Giselle had a sharp smile on her full lips.
“Thank you for giving them a place to stay,” Theon said, stopping before them.
“Of course,” Giselle said, her light grey eyes skimming over their company and pausing.
Theon didn’t need to know why. Corbin had taken a tonic to mask his scent for a time.
They would have known right away who he was otherwise, but a Shifter’s instincts were still there. They knew there was something.
“We hope it has provided an understanding of where our loyalties lie,” Kylian said, his brow pinched as he also honed in on Corbin. “Introduce us to your company.”
“You know Luka,” Theon said. “But you have yet to meet our wife, Tessa Ausra, the newly crowned Arius Lady.”
“Our wife?” Giselle asked, sitting up straighter. “Both of you?”
Theon nodded. “Correct.”
Her smile widened. “Congratulations on your unions, my Lady.”
“Thank you,” Tessa said tightly. The bands of light at her wrists were pulsing, and she was tense beside him.
“How refreshing to have a female on that seat rather than…” Her eyes slid to Theon. “Well, you understand.”
Tessa huffed a small laugh, some of the tension lifting. “I do, your grace.”
Giselle arched a brow. “Your grace? How thoughtful, but you can simply call me Giselle, and my mate, Kylian.”
Tessa gave a small nod. “I understand you have a sister, Kylian.”
The male straightened, his eyes narrowing. “I have a few.”
She glanced at Corbin, the male’s hand holding tightly onto Lange’s. “Khari,” Tessa said. “She should be here for this.”
Kylian and Giselle both lurched to their feet, Corbin stumbling backwards.
“You found him?” Giselle asked, her steps quick as she approached, but Tessa stepped in front of her, blocking the path.
“Please summon Khari,” she said.
“I will not,” Kylian said. “Not until we are sure. I will not get her hopes up and fail her once more. Why can’t I scent him?”
“Because we didn’t want you to know until he was ready,” Tessa answered, lifting her chin in challenge. “It is his choice to be here.”
“He belongs here,” Kylian snarled.
Tessa’s lip curled up. “You will find I am not one to pander to what others believe is someone’s duty and purpose. Corbin will decide where he belongs.”
“Corbin,” Giselle said softly. She stepped forward again, and Corbin eyed her warily. “That is your name?”
He nodded, gesturing to his right. “This is Lange.”
“Your mate?”
Corbin didn’t miss a beat when he said, “Yes.”
“What is your Shifted form?” Kylian demanded.
“Summon Khari,” Tessa interjected. “I will not ask you again.”
Her power was snaking out, tendrils creeping and winding, and the Shifters stepped back.
“You protect him as if he is your own,” Giselle observed.
“Because he is. Bring me his mother,” she snapped. “Or I will find her myself.”
She held Kylian’s stare for a long moment before the Alpha dipped his head, motioning to someone nearby to do just that.
As they waited, Giselle said, “Thank you, my Lady.”
“For what?” Tessa gritted out, clearly annoyed.
“For protecting him as your own.”
Tessa blinked, some of the irritation banking. “Thank you for doing the same for Axel and Katya.”
“While we wait,” Theon cut in. “I fulfilled my end of this bargain.”
“We can’t know that—” Kylian started, but he cut off when Theon twisted. Unbuttoning his shirt just enough, he showed them the back of his shoulder where their Bargain Mark had once been. Now there was nothing.
“My father’s holdings,” Theon asked, re-buttoning his shirt. “Tell me again where they are suspected to be?”
“On the border,” Kylian said tightly. “Between our territory and the Charter District.”
“You will take us there when we are ready,” Theon replied.
Kylian nodded. “Of course.”
They all turned at the sound of the doors opening, watching a female enter. She was beautiful with her brown skin and brown hair, olive eyes that matched her brother’s scanning over them all in confusion.
“Kylian?” she asked, coming to a stop beside him. “I was told my presence was required?”
His smile was warm and genuine, something Theon had never seen from the male. He took his sister’s hand, squeezing her fingers. “Today I fulfill an oath to you,” he said, and her eyes went wide. “A lost prince has been found.”
She turned towards them slowly, her eyes immediately finding Corbin, and he gave a weak smile, pulling on the back of his neck.
“Meet Corbin, Khari,” Kylian said gently. “Your son.”
Tears were already streaming down her face as she clutched her hands to her chest, clearly wanting to reach for him and unsure if she should.
“You look like your father,” Khari whispered.
Corbin swallowed thickly, glancing at Lange, who gave him a reassuring smile. Then he turned back to Khari as he said, “I’d like to hear about him.”
“When’s the last time Tessa had her contraceptive shot?” Luka asked, entering the living room.
Theon looked up from his laptop. “What?”
“You heard me,” Luka said, crossing his arms. “When was it?”
Theon sat back on the sofa, sorting through things in his mind. It couldn’t have been her assessment last fall, right? Because that was…
He reached up and slowly closed his laptop, setting it aside.
They’d come back to Arius House after making sure none of his father’s staff remained.
With his father hiding in the Underground, they were safe to come back here, although they’d come back to Theon’s suite.
None of them were ready to brave the private wing his father had resided in for decades.
“She can’t be…right?” Theon said.
“I sure as fuck haven’t been doing anything to prevent it,” Luka said, dragging a hand down his face. “Things have been so fucked lately.”
They used to. Both of them used to take their own precautions simply because of who they were.
Neither of them wanted a random fuck to end with a child, not to mention females like Felicity who would have gladly used that against him.
But ever since it had only been Tessa, he hadn’t even thought of it.
“Do you think it’s why she was so weird with Maddox?” Theon asked.
Luka shrugged. “It would make sense, but we would scent that, right?”
“Kat hid her pregnancy for months.”
They stared at each other, and then they stared at her when she came into the room with her empty mug. She’d been sitting outside on the balcony, soaking in the fresh air. The last he’d looked, Roan had been curled at her feet.
She paused at their attention, her eyes narrowing. “What?”
“You didn’t hold Maddox today,” Theon blurted.
Her eyes went wide before she turned away from them and continued to the kitchen. “And?”
“And…why?”
The sink turned on, and she rinsed her cup.
“Are you pregnant, Tessa?” Luka asked bluntly.
The mug hit the sink, the sound of it breaking carrying to them. Turning the sink off, she turned to face them. “Why would you think that?”
“Because you were obviously uncomfortable today,” Luka said flatly.
“So you assume I am pregnant?”
“When was your last contraceptive shot?” Theon asked.
Irritation crossed her face as she folded her arms and pressed her lips together. “Rordan made sure I had one when Luka started staying in Faven,” she said tightly. “And I was grateful for that, but I also asked Tristyn to get me one a few weeks ago. When was yours?”
“We…haven’t been…” Theon started, trying to explain just how colossally they’d fucked this up. It should never have been all on her to make sure they were preventing this possibility.
“I know,” she drawled, her gaze bouncing between them. “Were you hoping my answer was going to be yes?”
“Neither of us are ready for a child,” Luka said carefully, clearly sensing just how much they’d pissed her off with this. “But with the way you acted today, we thought it might have been possible. There’s been a lot of fucking lately, baby girl.”
“You’re both idiots,” she deadpanned, before turning to rummage in the pantry for something to eat.
“But…then why were you so uncomfortable today?” Theon pushed.
She sighed, placing a bag of popcorn in the microwave. “You were both very excited about the babe,” she said. “I was just giving you the room to enjoy it.”
“You weren’t excited?”
“Of course I’m glad he made it here safe and sound. I’m happy for them,” she replied tightly.
“But?” Luka asked.
“You both seemed…enamored with him,” she said carefully.
“I don’t understand. He’s our nephew. Of course we are,” Theon said.
“If I had been pregnant, would you have been excited?”
His brows shot up. “It would have been unexpected, but we wouldn’t have been upset.”
“Luka just said neither of you are ready for a child,” she countered.
“We aren’t, but that doesn’t mean…” Theon stood, shoving a hand through his hair. “This conversation is confusing.”
“When neither of you were doing anything to prevent a pregnancy, a part of me thought maybe you wanted that,” she said. “And seeing you with the babe?”
“Tessa, children are a discussion the three of us will have when we’re ready. We would never try to trick you into that,” Luka said, sounding at a loss. “Surely you know that?”
“And what if I’m never ready?”
They all fell silent, staring at one another.
“This isn’t something that needs to be discussed or decided right now,” Theon finally said. “We’re all immortal and have scarcely lived.”
The microwave beeped, and Tessa turned away to retrieve her snack. Grabbing the bowl and a bottle of water from the fridge, she headed for the bedroom once more, not saying another word.
Theon and Luka stared after her, and Luka was rubbing at his jaw when he asked, “Did you ever discuss children with her, Theon?”
“No,” he answered, because it hadn’t even crossed his mind.
Sure, his father had pushed for it with Felicity, but even then, it had been more of an abstract idea.
The idea of a family was so far down the line, he’d never given it much thought.
Something he knew would eventually be required of him.
There was too much other shit going on right now.
“You?” he asked Luka.
Luka shook his head. “But I think our wife has thought about it quite a bit.”