26. MaiaThree （ish） weeks later…
26
MAIA
Three (ish) weeks later…
T he dreaded letter comes nearly a month after Dr Thomas was outed as a werewolf and ran with his tail between his legs back to his pack—back to Ryan’s old pack.
I’m sitting in the garden, drinking my tea, as Phoebe lays on her play mat in the warm spring sun when I hear a very loud knock on the front door.
I’m not sure when I’m going to stop flinching every time that happens. I’m not sure when the panic will stop emerging, when my heart won’t race. Every knock at the door, every car driving past, every person that peers through our windows, has sent me into a panic over the last few weeks.
I’ve been terrified I would see Ethan. Terrified that he’d be inside the house, touching our things. For the first week, I woke up every single night drenched in sweat, terrified someone was taking my daughter.
After the third night, the guys started a rotation. Phoebe and I were never left alone overnight. Topher and Alex slept on the arm chair. Ben on the bottom of the bed .
Seb ignored all of that and climbed into bed with me, cuddling close, holding me tight. He got up with me for every night feed, every bum change was handled by him whilst I went for a wee or had some juice.
And from the next night, his brothers did the same. They didn’t hesitate, didn’t let me push them away.
They’ve just been there. Offering comfort, safety, and protection. Help.
It’s only been this last week that they’ve started going back to work properly. They’ve been just as unwilling to leave me alone as I have been to be alone. One of them, each day, is on patrols in the morning, another does midday, and one does night time.
Ethan has never stepped foot on our lands.
So, right now, despite my panic, I’m the only one home, and I need to get the post.
I’m waiting for a few things to come for Phoebe, and I hope this is her new play mat. At nearly two months old, she’s starting to outgrow the one she has, so I’ve ordered her one that’s meant to be a lot more engaging for her. The guys are confident Phoebe is not only aware of the world, but she’s taking stock of every object, colour, and person that she encounters.
So now that she can see properly, she likes bits that she can try and reach and touch. She’s close to rolling over, I think, which is so exciting, and I think she’ll have a lot more fun with the new mat once she can change her viewpoint all on her own.
“I know you’re having fun out here,” I say, dropping down to gently scoop her up. “But it’s time for us to get the post.”
I swear I can feel her annoyance. But as the door knocks again, I have no choice other than to cut through the house and answer it.
We’ve had such nice weather this week, and I’ve been taking advantage of the fresh air with Phoebe. The guys say it helps her strengthen her connection with her wolf, and whilst I can’t feel what they can, she really does enjoy herself.
And, you know, it helps that the guys are walking around topless whilst we’re out here, too.
“Maia Blake?” the man asks as I wrench the door open. He’s wearing a black suit and has a camera strapped to his chest. His dark hair is long and braided around his head. I’ve never seen him before in my life, and I do not like that he’s recording me.
I frown and nod.
He reaches inside his coat, and I gasp, but he pulls out a large brown envelope and hands it over to me. “You’ve received a summons to Family Wolf Court. Your local courthouse is at Lunar Hall. You are not permitted to leave the Wolfe Pack with the infant, Phoebe Elise Blake, and will face prosecution if you do not attend your appointed court date. Do you understand what I have outlined?”
“Yes,” I whisper as tears fill my eyes. My hands are shaking as I take the envelope from him, and he nods once before clicking a button on his camera.
“My name is Michael,” the man says, and his tone has changed from being so… empty, to having some feeling within it. I just can’t detect what it is. “Are you home alone, Maia?”
“Um, no,” I say, shaking my head as fear fills me. Why does he want to know if I’m alone? “My mate is upstairs.”
Can he tell that I’m lying? Does my heart give me away? The scent of the house?
Oh, no.
He frowns, his nostrils flaring as he takes a whiff, but ultimately nods. “Can you call them down? You’re shaking, and I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone, right now. This is a huge shock, and I know you just want to look after your daughter, right?”
I flinch and drop the padded envelope by mistake as I cuddle Phoebe closer to me. He crouches down and picks it up with his slender fingers, giving me a strangely compassionate look. His eyes are a deep green, and he’s a good ten years older than me. He seems kind, despite his business for being here, but my brain can’t listen to my logic when we’re in such physical distress.
I can instinctively feel the presence of his wolf, and that’s the biggest issue for a human like me. He’s a werewolf, and that makes him dangerous. Dangerous to me and to Phoebe.
His eyes narrow, and he gives me a gentle smile. “I won’t physically hurt you, Maia. My job is done, but my mate would make me sleep in our dog house if I dared leave you alone right now.”
“Okay,” I whisper. I don’t know if he’s whispering, too or if my heart is beating that loudly that everything else pales in comparison.
“But we both know you’re lying about someone being home, so could you please call one of your mates to come back? I won’t come in or do anything else to hurt you,” he says softly. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.”
“I’ll call him.” My voice trembles, and I move into the house to set Phoebe down on the carpet in the passageway as I drop down onto the bottom of the stairs. I can still see Michael in the doorway, and I pull my phone out of my pocket to call for Topher.
Alex is in a bunch of meetings, and as much as he told me to contact him if I needed him, I know the last few weeks have likely wreaked havoc on their business. Ben’s working on a tough case and actually told me to not contact him.
Seb should be free, but he’s not the comfort I need right now.
I need pretty promises, and maybe even an ounce of tough love, which Topher is the best man for. I need him.
There’s only one dial tone before a crystal clear, “Princess, are you okay?” rings across the line.
“No,” I say, biting my lip so I don’t cry. “Can you come home, please? ”
“I’m on the way. I’ll be fifteen minutes, okay?” I nod, and I can hear his grin in his next words. “You need to tell me you’ll be okay, princess. Nodding doesn’t count.”
“I’ll be okay.” My voice is more confident, this time, and my legs have stopped shaking. Michael has a wide smile on his face as if he’s proud .
“Good girl. Will Phoebe be okay?”
“She’s perfect.”
“So are you,” he murmurs before the line goes dead.
I look over at Michael, who gives me a nod. “I’m sorry I had to do this.”
“It’s not your fault,” I say quietly. “I’ll be okay now.”
“Are you sure?” he asks. “I really do not mind staying here until your mate returns. I know that I’d want someone to do the same for my mate.”
“I’m sure you can smell, but I’m human.” I grimace a little when he nods. “Your presence doesn’t soothe me, it kind of sets me on edge, and I’m already a little wound up.”
“I understand. I’ll leave you to it then,” he says with another nod. “Once I’m gone, close your door and wait for your mate to come home.”
He places the sealed envelope on the doorstep and retreats to his car, leaving me alone with what feels like a death sentence hanging over my neck. Phoebe’s content just laying on the floor, since she’s never seen this angle of the passageway before. I wait until he drives away before I move to grab the padded letter.
My heart drops, reading my name sprawled across it in such a bland typography, and I hate this so fucking badly. I hate Ryan’s parents for doing this to me. I hate Ethan for playing the games that his brother avoided.
It’s taken a whole month for them to come calling, but it still feels like no time at all. We’re not prepared. I’m not prepared. We’ve had a meeting with three different solicitors and found the one we liked best... but their whole plan resides on the summons coming.
We can’t prepare a case until we know what their angle is.
Which has only added to our unease.
“Maia,” a familiar voice calls. My blood runs cold as I slowly look over at the man I now know is not Ryan.
I don’t know how I’ve missed it all these months.
He’s got a swagger, an arrogance, that Ryan never had. He’s wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a light grey hoodie. He’s clean shaven, with the same bright blue eyes I’m used to seeing.
But I know the truth, and I’ve come to terms with it over the last few weeks. This is not Ryan, and I don’t need to be nice.
“Fuck off,” I hiss. “We’re not playing this game any longer. I know exactly who you are. You don’t get to show up day after day and torment me. You don’t get to pretend like you are anything to her.”
“Showing up?” His eyes narrow, and he takes a step forward as if he’s genuinely concerned. “What do you mean showing up?”
I roll my eyes and allow myself to be angry. “You’re going to get caught one day, you know, and then you won’t be allowed to visit me, or the pack, and certainly not Phoebe. I know you, and trust me, Ethan ?—”
“Ethan?” He growls low in his throat, and I freeze. My eyes widen ever so slightly, and I pray my racing heart isn’t something that would entice him into acting. “How do you know that name?”
I stay frozen, just for a second, and slowly raise my eyes to look at the man in front of me. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Phoebe whines, and I turn to grab her, giving him the chance to come closer. I turn back around as he snatches the envelope from my hands. He drops it almost immediately, his face paling.
“Get off that. It’s not yours,” I warn, taking a step back, further into the house. His eyes track the movement, but I don’t know if he’s truly seeing it or if he’s in shock.
“What the fuck is this?” he snarls, glaring at me as if I’m the one at fault here.
“Your family—and you —are taking me to court to get access to my daughter,” I say, keeping my voice as pleasant as possible as I give him the dirtiest look I can. I don’t want to upset Phoebe with my scorn, but, fuck, do I feel it.
I’m terrified. His energy is so much worse than Michael’s was. There’s danger, and my brain is begging me to flee, to hide, to protect myself and my baby.
Being around him, knowing the way I’ve let him manipulate me over the last ten months… it makes me ill .
“So you’ll understand why you’re not welcome here, yes?”
“Maia, you can’t let them take her,” he says urgently. He steps closer again, and if I wanted, I could reach out and touch him.
But I don’t. Because this isn’t Ryan, and any touch from this imposter would be nothing short of repulsive. This is Ethan . The brother that lives in their pack, on their lands, playing nice as they all plot to steal my daughter.
I’m not playing this game. I can’t.
I won’t.
“Go away,” I cry, cuddling her in close. She begins to stir, and I know she’s feeling my distress.
“Go away? I’m here to help you, Maia.”
I bite my lip, tears welling up in my eyes, as I desperately try to calm myself down. Ethan’s on edge, and I don’t know what move he’s going to make, but I know I don’t want any part of it.
“I don’t want to play these mind games anymore.” My words are pitiful, my heart hammering. “Please, just leave me alone. I need…” My body shudders, and Phoebe whines softly. I look down at my daughter, whose face is scrunched up, and I use her to ground myself.
She’s the important thing right now. Only her. Always her .
I let out a small breath, calming myself. “My mate is going to be home soon,” I say, “and I need you to go before he gets here or there will be problems.”
There’s very little emotion in my words, and he flinches.
“This isn’t a mind game, Maia,” he says softly. I hate the hold that Ryan still has on my soul because in instances like this, it hurts . “I’m not here to hurt you. I… I just want to help you move on.”
“Move on?” I reach up to wipe my eyes, struggling to hold Phoebe with just one hand. I jerk away when he reaches over to wipe my tears for me, his hands so deathly cold as they brush across my cheek.
His touch is repulsive.
Nothing like my mate’s.
Nothing like Ryan’s .
“Do not touch me,” I snarl. “You have no right to lay your hands on me.”
“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, taking a step back. He seems confused, hurt, even.
“You come here claiming to help me move on, as if that is your goal?” I hiss. “How is this torment helping me move on?”
I adjust my arms so that my wriggly daughter can be more comfortable. She still can’t sit up alone, but she has been enjoying it when I support her into an upright position and let her face outwards. She loves the view, loves being able to look around properly. Even, apparently, if the person she sees is her psychotic uncle.
“How is seeing his face every single time you show up helping me move on? I see you, but I thought I saw your brother. All those times I let you touch Phoebe and say hi and connect… I thought you were Ryan . I clung to that. I thought I was special, that I had magic to see the dead so that he could still meet his child.
“You’ve made me into this pathetic woman. I was so pathetically desperate, clinging to the face of my dead fiancé, pretending that he could love our daughter. That he could meet her and love her, even though he’s not here.
“You have caused me so much pain, every single day, because every time you left, I remembered that Ryan was dead. It made those feelings of grief stronger and harder to ignore. I have a daughter. Mine and Ryan’s little girl. I can’t be this much of a mess when I need to be here for her.
“So, no, Ethan Grey, you’re not trying to help me move on. I don’t know your motives, but it is not that.”
He reaches up to brush my tears away but stops himself just in time. Smart man, because whilst he’s the one with the sharp teeth, I’m the one at risk of biting him.
“You live at home with the very people my fiancé left. The very people that want to take my child from me,” I whisper, my voice hoarse as tears drip down my face. “You’re not helping me, Ethan Grey. If you were trying… you could’ve saved her. You could’ve helped us. But you haven’t.”
“I think we’re in a misunder?—”
“Do not try to tell me I am wrong,” I snarl. Phoebe babbles something, and I press a gentle kiss to her head. “I have no idea how you are here, but trust me, you are not getting into my house ever again . No more pie to steal, no more journals that belong to your brother for you to take. I wish we knew what secrets were hidden in there that you’re so desperate to protect. But you’re just a coward. A spineless coward.”
I hear the familiar hum of Topher’s engine, and I know he’s not far. A minute maybe before we’ll see him. A minute for Ethan to run away.
He nods once, but his face is troubled. I can read him just as easily as I could Ryan, and something I’ve said has disturbed him.
I don’t know what, and it annoys me that I’m still lost.
But he gives me a pleasant smile. “Seeing Phoebe has been a gift I do not deserve, and I never meant to harm you. I won’t argue my innocence. If you need me, Maia, I’m only a call away. I stand by you, and her, for as long as I live.” He reaches up to touch me, but when I flinch, he sighs. He cocks his head as a frown settles on his face. “Goodbye for now, Maia Papaya.”
I frown at the nickname, not sure how he’s ever heard that. Only Ryan called me that.
He turns and jogs away, disappearing around the corner just as Topher’s car appears from the other side. Just missing each other, yet again, but this time, will hopefully be the last.
Tears are still dripping down my face as he pulls into the driveway. The worry and concern on Topher’s face as he pulls up to a stop outside the house makes my heart burn in all the best ways.
The car shuts off, and I relax as much as my body allows now that he’s home. He climbs out, and I don’t even hesitate in not keeping this newest visit a secret.
“Topher, Ethan was here,” I whisper, and his face is filled with anger. He sniffs the air, his eyes darting around, and confusion fills his face. “That way.”
I gesture to the corner he went through, and Topher nods. The fury pours off of him, his eyes flashing gold.
He’s furious for me. For Phoebe. For the battle we’re about to face.
“Seb’s on it,” he murmurs. “Let’s get you girls inside properly now, okay?”
“That’s not why I called you home,” I say, and his eyes narrow. I gesture to the envelope. He jogs over, picking it from the ground, and hands it over to me.
I grab the envelope once more and shred it open, balancing Phoebe on my hip so that I can read through it properly. It’s nothing I didn’t already know, but it doesn’t take the sting of the pain away.
The date for the custody hearing has been set, and it just doesn’t seem fair how close it is.
“When?” Topher asks softly.
I can’t speak, so I hand it over to him to read for himself. His jaw clenches, his fiery gold eyes meeting mine as he tucks the letter contents into his inside jacket pocket. I can feel the silent promise from Orion when he ducks to kiss my head, and I revel in the sparks that fly between us.
Two weeks from today, we’ll begin proceedings, and I have no idea what the fuck we’re going to do. I know we’ll be together, but that doesn’t mean we’ll remain together.
If they have their way… I choke back a sob, looking down at my curly-haired infant.
Phoebe excitedly kicks her legs as she coos at Topher. He doesn’t hesitate in scooping her out of my arms, a soft grin appearing on his face. It’s the one he only ever uses on her, one so indulgent and authentic.
My abdomen tightens as I take in the adorable scene in front of me. My big, hulking alpha male dressed in an expensive suit showing off his muscular, toned body gently holds the most precious little girl to ever exist.
He’s so enamoured with my child, and she is him.
There’s love in his eyes, pure adoration, as he grins at her. He switches his eyes from hazel to gold, entertaining her in her favourite way, and when she babbles, he replies back.
There’s an uncomfortable pressure in my chest, and I hate my hormones right now.
“Maia, princess,” Topher calls in his higher-pitched baby voice.
“Yes?” He doesn’t hear the shaking in my tone, does he? He doesn’t smell the affect he’s having on me?
“Go take a shower, and I’ll watch over our little one,” he says, looking away from Phoebe to grin at me. I frown, not sure why I need a shower. “I think you need to cool off.”
“Having you here has helped.” I shake my head, dropping a kiss to Phoebe’s forehead.
“Oh, I don’t doubt that,” Topher says, wrapping his arm around my waist as he guides me away from the front door. He kicks it shut behind him and smirks at me. “But you’re definitely a little… dirty. ”
I frown before groaning. Mortification fills me, and he laughs softly. “Breathe. It’s scary and hard, but we’re going to get through it. Together .”
“Toph,” I murmur, and he pauses, raising his eyebrow. “Didn’t you—can’t you…” I trail off, and he smirks.
“I wasn’t referring to your lack of orgasm, princess,” he says, dropping a gentle kiss to my cheek. “But since we’re the only ones home and there’s a baby that needs some attention, you’re on your own.”
I gape at him as he heads through to the living room, chatting back to Phoebe’s babbles.
And I suppose I should feel mad, but I don’t.
I’m relieved.
He’s home, he helped, he made me smile… and I trust everything will be okay.