Chapter 8
Tane
When I returned from my flight, the house looked the same as always. Quiet. Huge. Empty. Except it wasn’t. There was someone else living here now. Kirion.
For two days I’d tried not to concern myself with him. He was a grown man. I’d given him permission to do as he pleased.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
In the garden, I dressed slowly, then went into the house. Taking my first breath, I noted the indoor scent had changed. I sniffed the air. Malin?
Elias approached. “Will you be requiring lunch alone again, sir?”
“Did my son return?”
“Yes, sir.”
All I could think about was Kirion. Did Malin come for him? “Did he bring home more friends?”
“No, sir. He was alone.”
I moved quickly past him, my heart pounding.
“Sir, about lunch….”
I waved my hand through the air as I hurried toward the stairs. “I’ll let you know later.”
“Very well.”
I rushed up to the second floor and turned into the hall. Voices drifted from Malin’s room. I couldn’t make out the words until I got closer. Malin’s door was ajar.
“You can't just wander about without a leash.”
“I had permission.”
“From who? Not me, that's for sure. And I'm your owner. What do you think you were doing nosing about?”
“I wasn't nosing about.”
“Well, you weren't supposed to be where I found you. Don't you have a cage or something?”
“I have rooms on the third floor.”
Soft laughter. “Rooms plural?”
“Yes, Tane gave them….”
“Nobody gave you anything. You're a slave. You can't own stuff. Were you going through my rooms looking for stuff to steal?”
“I have my own things. I've never stolen anything in my life.”
“Ohh yeah. Dad did say something about you being a pampered princeling or something.”
I'd had enough. Malin used to speak this way to servants when he was an adolescent. I’d had many words with him about it and he'd slowly corrected his ways. He still didn't treat them well, but he wasn't outright rude as he was being right now.
I pushed open the door. Malin stood in the center of the room looming over Kirion, his hands out in an aggressive manner. Kirion stood a few feet inside the door, hands crossed in front of him. At least his head wasn’t bowed. He had obviously taken on brats before.
“Malin. You’re home.”
Malin looked over at me. Kirion turned toward the door.
“Hey, Dad. Yeah, I got in about half an hour ago.”
I did not have to look at Kirion to know he was uncomfortable if not downright afraid.
“Why was your voice raised?”
He snickered. “I wasn’t yelling. But I just caught this one snooping around my stuff to steal it.”
I didn’t have to look at Kirion to know he was innocent of such a charge.
I let out a low hum. “I don’t think so.”
Out the corner of my vision, Kirion’s eyebrows rose.
Malin’s mouth turned ugly. “Excuse me. I was here. I saw him. You don’t believe me?”
“In fact, I don’t. He doesn’t need to steal. He has what he needs and whatever he wants he has access to.”
“Well, then, he was going to wreck everything!”
“And why would he have any motive to do that?”
“Because he’s nobody now. Maybe it makes him feel powerful.”
I took a step forward. I hoped it didn’t upset Kirion that I wasn’t asking his side of the story. But I knew fully well that Malin was extremely capable of digging his own hole.
“I’m going to have to ask you to leave him alone. And if you can’t speak civilly to him, don’t open your mouth.”
“Dad? What?”
“You heard me.”
“But he’s mine. You gave him to me. I don’t need you to tell me what to do with him. I know what he’s for. I know that’s all he’s good for now.”
I turned away from him. “Come along, Kirion. Elias has lunch ready.”
Kirion hesitated, then took a step toward the door.
“Don’t you move,” Malin hissed.
Kirion froze but did not look back.
I countered. “You heard me, Kirion. Go on downstairs.”
He took a couple more steps past me and to the door. Malin’s hands were fists.
“Dad, what are you doing?”
I turned away from my disappointment of a son. Before I closed the door, I said, “By the way, you said you didn’t want him. We never signed the papers. So, he’s not yours.”
“Does that mean he’s yours, then?”
“For now.”
I heard Malin huff and start to respond but I’d already closed the door. His words were muffled. Whatever he wanted me to hear was no longer my concern.
Kirion didn’t look at me. He waited for me to lead the way downstairs. He followed quietly, calmly. I was certain he was anything but calm.
I took the blame for Malin. After Rupert, Malin’s omega father died things changed.
Of the two of us, Rupert was the one Malin had bonded closest to.
Malin had been only ten. For those first years he had au pairs and Rupert at his beck and call.
He was home schooled and seemed to love everyone and everything.
Losing all that changed him. I tried to be there for him and everything he was going through, but my bond was injured.
I was in bad shape. A lot of those first couple years were a blur and an all-out focus on work. Some nights I never came home.
My young son pulled away. Then begged to be sent away to school.
Away from the house where the ghostly scents of his favorite father still remained.
I didn’t know how to show my empathy except by showering him with gifts and anything else he asked for.
He said he wanted to leave so I sent him away.
To the best schools. The most exotic locales.
I gave him endless expense accounts. Paid for lavish accommodations.
It was the only way to soften my guilt. And my own pain.
That had been years ago. My grief had since faded.
Sometimes I couldn’t remember what Rupert even looked like.
But I still had Malin. And though he was grown now, I felt obligated to him.
As a father, that feeling never went away.
I had been in that mindset when I’d applied for Rohan’s son and was quickly invited to the auction.
A mindset that did neither of us any favors.
Malin didn’t want to listen to anything I had to say. And I couldn’t fix it.
Over the last couple of days, I’d come to terms that nothing I tried would heal our father/son bond, and Kirion would never go to Malin.
I figured it wouldn’t be a problem since he showed no interest in the set.
I’d already decided Kirion could live here free and clear.
He needed respite from his fate and I had the space and the money to keep him with the lifestyle in which he was raised.
Not as a second son. No. But maybe a ward?
I didn’t know. He certainly gave me pause. My attraction to him, for one thing. But I could deal with that. Turn that part of myself off. Dare I think eventually we might be friends? Even nightly dinner companions?
I longed for that. Not another mate. That hadn’t been on my mind. But just someone around. Someone other than me and Elias and the two cooks and the three housekeepers.
At lunch, I sat across from Kirion. He remained silent.
As the meal was served, I said, “Don’t worry. Malin will leave again soon, I’m sure.”
Kirion looked up at me with big ocean blue eyes. “He’s pretty angry.”
“He’s always that way. Uncontrollable, in fact. But you don’t have to worry.”
“Don’t I?”
“He’s been in a few bar scuffles but he’s not violent.”
Kirion looked down at his food as if he didn’t believe me.
“He was pretty drunk when those scuffles happened. He’s more of a runner than a fighter.”
“He’s an alpha. And he’s big.”
I frowned. He was right, of course.
“I want you to feel safe here.”
Silence.
“Kirion. I mean that. Nothing will happen. I promise.”
“How can you promise?”
Good question. If I made an ultimatum to Malin, he would only argue. Maybe even go against me just because he could. He wanted to show me he didn’t ever agree with me. Or love me. Not anymore.
“I don’t know.” I cleared my throat, lightly scraping my fork back and forth across my plate. “I don’t know,” I repeated.
My mind moved fast when I was up against a wall. In business, that was good. For me it meant success. Great success. In my personal life, not so much.
I tapped my fork once more in a solid clink and said in a measured tone, “Maybe I’ll show him the paperwork.
That I signed and paid for you in full. That it was never declared to Rohan you would go anywhere else.
Maybe…. Maybe if I tell him I’ve claimed you, that will work.
Malin can’t go against that. It’s law. Devout alpha law. ”
Kirion dropped his utensils and stopped chewing.
I held up my hand. “I’ll say those words. That’s all. I never meant for you—” My voice betrayed me. I stayed silent as Elias walked in with our drink refills. When he left, I found part of my voice again, rough, gravelly.
“Kirion. Just know. I promise you’ll be safe no matter what.”