Three Valentines, Ronan (The Legacy #7)

Chapter 1

About five years after Angelle and Boon…

Maverik sat at his breakfast table, his eyes narrowed and focused on his youngest son as he fought the urge to back him into a corner. “Say again,” Maverik said, his tone belying the sense of disbelief that was quickly engulfing him.

“I said, I’m not going back to school. I’m going to move home.”

Maverik closed his eyes as he digested Ronan’s words.

Pressing his lips into a flat line more representative of the irritation he felt than his previously calm tone, he gritted his teeth as he rose to his feet and shook his head slowly.

He opened his eyes and glared at his son.

“What the hell are you talking about?!” he bellowed.

“Do you have any idea what you’d be giving up?

You worked your ass off, all your life, to get to where you are, and less than two years before graduation, you want to just walk away?

The fuck is wrong with you?!” Maverik demanded.

“I didn’t say I was quitting school! I said I’m moving back home,” Ronan said defensively.

“Isn’t it the same fucking thing?” Maverik asked, his voice still loud and angry.

“No! I can transfer all my credits to Tulane. Tulane has an outstanding Biomedical Engineering program that I can apply to to finish my degree. I’ve got a little time before I have to be back in school and I’m going to see what it would take to get registered at Tulane.

Hopefully I can do it quickly. If not, I’ll ride out the next semester, then come back. ”

“What degree is it exactly that you’re talking about? Because the way I see it, you haven’t fucking finished the first one you said had to be from M.I.T.!”

“I finished the first one! I have the bachelor’s degree! Or did you forget the graduation you attended?” Ronan snapped.

Maverik’s head jerked back a little, exaggerating his reaction to his son’s words.

Then he stepped forward in slow measured steps while wearing a deceiving smile.

He stopped walking when his chest was actually pressed against Ronan’s.

“Never thought it would be your ass I’d have to kick to make you remember your place.

The rest of them? Yeah, could see it coming.

You? Naw, not in a million years. But that’s alright,” Maverik said, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s do this.”

Ronan immediately took a step back. “I don’t want to fight you. I’m standing here trying to discuss my future with you. If I didn’t care about your opinion, I wouldn’t have taken the time to discuss it with you. I’d have just done it.”

“The future you’re about to piss away, you mean?” Maverik asked, his voice still eerily calm.

“I’m not pissing away anything. I’m working on my master’s. I’ve got only about a year and a half left of that — even if I transfer to Tulane. Then I’ll go straight into a doctorate program, and get that degree, too. I’m not walking away from anything. I’m just changing locations.”

“You always, your entire life, wanted to go to M.I.T.. Why are you walking away?”

“I’m not walking away. I’m still working for the same things I was working on. I’m just going to be working from a different location. Same outcome, different zip code. That’s all.”

Maverik eyed him suspiciously, his arms now crossed over his chest.

“It’s just like Christian did. He finished his medical degree in New Orleans. He was still able to do what he needed to do and still be here from time to time, especially on the weekends — before his residency started, anyway.”

Maverik’s head canted to the right just a bit, as he eyed his son and tried to figure out what exactly it was that he wasn’t telling him. Then suddenly his head straightened and his expression morphed into an ‘I-should-have-known’ kind of look. “Who is she?”

“Who is who?”

“Whoever the girl is that’s rearranging your head.”

“There’s nobody rearranging anything.”

“You are!”

“Fine, I am. But nobody else.”

“Ronan, son, I’m old. I’m tired. I don’t even get irritated about half the shit I used to — it takes too much energy. But one thing I do know, is when somebody’s lying to me. And you’re lying. Who is she?”

Ronan shoved his hands in his pockets, let his eyes drop away from his father’s gaze and focused on the floor for a few seconds before he looked up and into his father’s eyes again.

“She doesn’t even know. Nobody does. And I will not give up my plans, not for anybody, not even her. But I can’t give her up either.”

“Who is she?” Maverik asked, his entire demeanor shifting into a supportive one, instead of a conflicting one.

“You can’t tell her. You can’t tell anybody. Not until I approach her,” Ronan said. “Nothing needs fixing, Dad!”

“I’m an asshole, but I’m not that much of an asshole. I’m not going to meddle in your business with your woman. If she is in fact, your woman. Is she?”

“She is. And you know you try to fix everything.”

“Who is she?” Maverik asked, sticking to his focus on the woman.

“Her name is Giada,” Ronan said, his entire face lighting up, his eyes sparkling as he began to ramble about her.

“I met her yesterday. She’s amazing. As strong as she is beautiful.

A backbone that reminds me of the females in our clan.

And I don’t know yet, but I kind of think she’s got a sharp tongue.

Like you. And her little boys — they’re so much fun, and so smart. ”

“The Giada working at the shelter?” Maverik asked doubtfully.

“Yes! I’m floored. I don’t just get a mate, I get a whole family. I love those babies already. I spent some time with them yesterday. I never in my life felt as right as I did when I was playing with them, and then when she walked in, it just completed the picture. Everything fell into place.”

“You met them at the shelter.”

“Yeah. Daniel was showing me around but he got called away for a few minutes. Matteo and Leo were in the playroom trying to figure out how to play their video game, so I showed them how to play. And I helped them fix the toy train that wouldn’t run, too.”

“And what did she say when she found you in the playroom with her kids?”

“Nothing really. I mean, she was suspicious. But any good mother would be — she didn’t know me.”

“Exactly — and still doesn’t know you. Suspicious.

She wasn’t at all affected like most humans are when they see a shifter.

Men hate us and women want to…” Maverik stopped speaking when Valerie walked into the kitchen.

He rethought his words, then finished his sentence.

“Spend some alone time with us. It occur to you she didn’t fall all over you like most human females do? ”

Ronan opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped. He considered his father’s question, then shook his head. “No, but she didn’t seem afraid of me, either.”

“She didn’t react because she’s lived a rough life. She sees a male being nice and all she is, is suspicious. What do they want from me. How is this one going to try to take advantage of me?” Maverik leaned forward to make a point. “What is this grown ass man doing playing with my kids?”

“It’s not like that. They’re great kids. But the reason I felt so at ease with them was because they’re part of her.”

“I get it. I do. But she’s not just a typical female.

That woman has had to fight to survive, and now she’s fighting even harder because she’s got littles to look after, too.

She’s just getting herself on her feet. She’s got safety, finally.

She’s got food. She’s got shelter. She’s not interested in any kind of relationship with any kind of man. ”

“I’m not a man. I’m a male!” Ronan insisted.

“She’s not interested in any kind of relationship with anything or with anybody. They’ve all taken too much from her already.”

“How do you know that? You don’t even know her,” Ronan said accusingly.

“Not well, no. But Daniel’s mentioned a few things. We’ve all been in and out of there in one capacity or another, me included. She’s not some starry eyed girl that will fall into your arms.”

“Good. Because I don’t want someone who just gets a whiff of my pheromones and follows me blindly to wherever I lead.

I want someone who can think for themselves.

Someone who’s lived life enough to be able to choose me — intentionally.

And whether you like it or not, she’s mine. They’re mine. All of them.”

“Have you heard a single word I’ve said, son? How do you know she’ll even consider having you?”

Ronan shrugged. “She might not. But if I don’t try, I’ll never know.

I’m transferring my credits to Tulane and I’ll finish out my degrees there.

A year and a half to finish my master’s, then I’ll go into the doctorate program.

I’ll be near home much more often. She’ll get to know me.

I’ll get to know her. And if I’m any kind of male of worth, she’ll choose me.

If not, it won’t be because I didn’t make every bit of effort that I can.

It’d be nice if I knew I had my parents’ support.

But if not, I can do it without, too.” Ronan calmly walked away from his father, took his keys off the pegboard by the door, and walked out, quietly closing the door behind himself.

Maverik turned his head toward Valerie and their eyes met as they listened to his truck start up, then drive away.

“The hell is he thinking?” Maverik asked.

“That he’s found what we have with each other,” Valerie answered.

“He’s just hoping that’s what he’s found.”

“I disagree. He’s never been one to discuss a mate, or when he gets mated. He’s never shown any interest at all. All he’s ever seen is his studies and his future.”

Maverik sighed and shook his head. “Fucking sucks. He’s gotten so far and now he’s redirecting because of a woman — that probably don’t even want nothing to do with him!”

“Do you really think she won’t want him?” Valerie asked.

“I don’t know,” Maverik said, running his hand through his freshly trimmed mohawk.

“Why are you so against it?”

“I’m not! It’s just, I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do. What’s the issue?”

“She’s older than he is. She’s got two kids. She’s had a rough life, been though some shit most females wouldn’t survive. He’s not even out of college yet.”

“He’s got his bachelor’s degree. He’s halfway through his master’s. It won’t take him long to finish the master’s. He loads himself up with almost double the class load the average student takes every semester.”

“I know that. It’s just that, he’s the steadiest of all of them. He’s talking about taking on a whole family and he’s not even ready to support himself yet.”

“It’s his choice, and he’s not a child anymore. So, if they’re his, or meant to be his, why are you against it?”

“I’m not, exactly. I just don’t want to see him walk away from his dreams to support somebody else.

And don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying Giada isn’t a good woman.

From the little bit I know and the way those kids are behaved — she’d done a hell of a job in some of the worst circumstances.

But that don’t mean I want my son to pick up her pieces. ”

Valerie turned back to the fridge and poured herself a glass of orange juice.

When she turned back to him, she leaned against the counter sipping her juice thoughtfully.

“Maybe she doesn’t want anyone to pick up her pieces either.

Maybe she wants to pick them up herself.

And maybe, it would be nice to just have someone stand beside her and have enough faith in her to let her do just that, on her own, as they watch proudly. ”

Maverik shook his head and sighed before he walked toward the door himself. “Going to see if Daniel is home.”

“You do that. And maybe on the walk over, be glad that somebody had enough faith in you to watch proudly as you picked up your pieces.”

Maverik swung around to face her just before he walked out of the door. “Had to go there, didn’t you?” he asked.

“Yep.”

He walked through the door and closed it behind himself. He was halfway across the front deck before he smirked and called out for Valerie to hear him. “ Love you!”

“Love you, too!” she shouted from inside their house.