Page 18 of Alpha Scorned

My son slid his little hand into Zander’s big one. As soon as they connected my son’s eyes widened and he gasped. “You’re an ab..in..i..mation, too.” It was a statement not a question. My heart lurched. My son had always seemed intuitive, sometimes spookily so. He even told me things would happen before they did, or waited for people he told me were coming when there was no way he could know. Like when he resisted going to daycare as if he was waiting for Owen to arrive. He held Zander’s gaze and his eyes glowed a deep red.

“Mother Wolf,” I breathed, squatting next to them. “Did you see that?” I whispered to Zander.

“Yes, I did,” he answered. His face tightened as he searched my son’s eyes before he smiled a little and leaned forward. “Hey, Iamjust like you Devon.” And his eyes changed from the deepest brown, almost black, to a dark garnet red. Devon gasped, his eyes widening before he grinned.

“You are!” He jumped up and down and clapped his hands. “Look, Momma, Zanner, is a ab..ination, too.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. If I found out who’d said that, I’d throat punch them. It seemed Zander felt the same. His jaw tightened, his eyes remaining a deep dangerous red.

“Devon, you are not an abomination, you are special. And just like me you have a demon side that will make you brave and fearless.”

“Kay,” said Devon, looking at Owen, hero worship plain on his face. And I hated it, not because my son loved Owen, but because I was the one who’d sent Owen away from him. “I brave and strong like O-wen.” His careful pronunciation of Owen’s name was so cute it broke my heart.

Zander smiled softly. “You sure are, kid.” He stood and ruffled Devon’s hair. “You look after your mum, okay?”

Devon puffed out his little chest proudly. “I do.”

Zander and Stone both grinned.

“Good man.” Zander looked at me and then back at Devon. “Maybe we could get to know each other a bit better, Devon, and I can teach you about what’s in here?” He tapped Devon’s chest right over his heart. Devon nodded and grinned up at Zander, excitement plain on his gorgeous little face.

My pulse kicked up at the thought of my son learning about the side of his nature that was inherited from the monsters who’d tortured me and my wolf. Zander met my gaze, and his expression softened.

“Not all demons are bad, Selina. Your son isn’t. My demon side is different from my fae. His will be different from his wolf’s. One maybe more dominant than the other, it’s difficult to know, but either way, he has to learn to live with both of them. I’m not saying I know exactly what his demon strengths will be, but maybe I can help you both work them out.”

I smiled weakly, and nodded. I knew my son needed to learn about his demon side, just as I wanted him to learn about his wolf spirit, but I couldn’t help but be apprehensive about it. “Thank you, Zander.” My voice was quiet but I really did mean it.

Zander nodded. “See you soon, Devon.” Zander ruffled my son’s hair and walked back towards Owen who watched us all, a look of anxiety, if not fury, on his face. Zander leaned in and spoke in his ear, giving him a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder. What he was reassuring him about, I had no clue, but Owen’s shoulders relaxed and his gaze snagged mine. My heart rate kicked up as heat smoldered in his dark and stormy eyes. I forced myself to look away, dragging air into my lungs as I was released from the sensation of being ensnared by a predator.

Rawson leaned on the back wall watching us all. He smiled a little but didn’t move to say hi. I wasn’t bothered. I’d never really gotten to know him that well. After catching Rawson’s eye, Stone lingered beside me, and despite him being kind to my son, the vibes rolling off him towards me were anything but friendly. I hid my nerves, an old hand at appearing fearless in the face of a male far more powerful than me. Stone was a moody, scary fucker, with his long silver hair and silver grey eyes that glowed with purple when his fae side was near the surface. But there was no way I’d let him see how much he disturbed me. He wouldn’t hurt me. Ember would take his nuts if he did. At least, I hoped that was enough of a deterrent, the fact that Owen was my potential mate made no difference, not since I’d given up any right to his protection.

“You need to stay away from him, Selina.” Stone’s eyes held that telltale purple glow, which told me he was pissed off.

I tensed. Too many times in my life I’d had my choices removed. And I was not about to let any of Owen’s brothers start in on me, no matter how much they loved him. “Becca? Would you take Devon to say hello to George for a minute?”

Devon’s eyes widened as he stared between Stone and me. His little hand slipped into mine and he squeezed. “Momma? ‘Kay?” He asked, his eyes not moving from Stone. He even shuffled in front of me protectively.

Mother Wolf, my son really was the bravest of us all. He sensed Stone’s anger with me, and he wanted to protect me even though he was so young and so small. I didn’t drop Stone’s gaze. Yeah, he was an alpha, but so was I. He might be scary, but I was done with all those motherfuckers who thought they could dominate or intimidate me, no matter what the reason, or who they were.

Becca’s eyes narrowed on Stone, too. She was a beta, but that didn’t mean she was a pushover. “You sure?” she asked.

“Yes.” I didn’t drop my gaze, I didn’t give a shit if Stone saw it as a challenge. As soon as Becca had dragged a reluctant Devon away, I let my anger show. “Really, Stone? You’re going to warn me away from Owen? Aren’t you forgetting I rejected him? I stayed away. It was you fuckers that came here, not the other way around.”

“So you’re not seeking him out?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Anger bloomed in my belly. “No, Stone, I’m not.”

“Then why have you pushed to the front of this gathering? You could hear what he has to say from the speakers at the back.”

I didn’t have an answer for that. I hadn't deliberately sought Owen out, but Stone was right. I could have stayed further back.

“Thought so.” His lips pressed into a flat line. “Listen, you’ve already fucked up his mind and his life, Selina. If you don’t leave him alone, if you let him get attached to that little boy, then rip him away again, the repercussions won’t be something you can ever come back from. Either of you.”

Ice slithered through my veins. “What do you mean?”

He leaned forward. “He’s been fucking, fighting and drinking his way through London, and every other damned city we’ve been to since you rejected him. He’s turning rogue, and you know what happens to rogue alpha males.”

I swear my heart tried to leap through my chest wall. What. The. Fuck? They were going to kill him?

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