“Mom, you don’t have to do this,” I said a little desperately. I had lived my whole life with half-truths and secrets. I would keep doing it if it meant she didn’t have to relive the most painful memories of her past.
Remy’s finger started tracing a lazy pattern on my back, and I could feel the tense muscles relax under his touch.
“Remy told me what you said,” I added quickly. “I know you didn’t have a choice. None of this is your fault.”
“Our daughter is right,” Nikolai said, finally lifting his head and looking at her. “She told me a bit of how your former pack worked. Had I known—”
“Had you know, you never would have let me go back there that morning,” Mom finished sadly.
“Of course not,” he replied heatedly, a bite in his voice. He frowned deeply, his brows pulling together.
“Had I known? I wouldn’t have gone,” Mom told him gently. “I never expected what happened next. I never thought that would set us on this path that we’re on now.”
“And none of that is your fault,” Mallory added firmly.
Mom gave her a fast, grateful smile and nodded. “I told Mallory what happened last night. After seeing you,” she said to Nikolai with a grimace, “I felt like I was drowning. We spent the night talking, and I realized it was time you both knew what happened.”
My heart twisted, aching for her. I leaned back against Remy more, letting him support me physically and emotionally.
“I never wanted that,” Nikolai told her sadly, shaking his head. “My coming here was never to cause you pain, Adalynne.”
“No, you came here to be a good father,” Mom responded kindly. “I can’t be upset that you’re here to help Skye. I’m glad you’re here. For her.”
“I’m here for both of you,” he said quietly.
Natasha exhaled hard beside him, her lips pulling into the start of a grin. Her blue eyes glittered with approval.
Mom cleared her throat, looking a little distressed. “Nik, I don’t want to come between you and your mate.”
“Wife,” Natasha jumped in quickly. “I’m his wife. Not his mate.”
Nikolai’s eyes closed, and I had the sense he was holding in a laugh.
“We’re not … It isn’t …” Natasha flustered was kind of hysterical. She looked comically out of her element.
Mom tilted her head to the side in confusion.
“It’s a long story, one I will happily tell you about one day,” Natasha finished lamely. “But Nik and I aren’t like that. We’ve never been like that.”
“Oh.” Mom’s eyes widened a bit. “But you have a son.”
“I had a mate,” Natasha explained. “A bonded mate. He died when I was pregnant. Nik adopted Dimitri when he was an infant.”
Nikolai scowled slightly. “He’s still my son.”
Mom’s eyes darted between them, her brows knitting together.
“Of course he is,” Natasha replied, laying a hand on his arm. “But I’m not. Yours, that is. I would never … I’m making a mess of this, aren’t I?”
A dimple appeared in Nikolai’s cheek. “You certainly aren’t helping things, love. But keep talking. Maybe you’ll bare all the sordid details of our marriage.”
Natasha’s eyes narrowed for a heartbeat. “Sordid my ass. I want a divorce.”
I choked on a laugh as Remy stilled under me in surprise.
Mom looked horrified. “I didn’t mean—”
“Please,” Natasha added emphatically, turning to Mom. “Take him off my hands. I don’t want him.”
I snorted as Nikolai looked affronted.
“Perhaps we can schedule our divorce talk at a later date?”
“I’m being honest.” Natasha waved a hand at Mom. “I can’t compete with that. She’s gorgeous. For fuck’s sake, Nik, I’m ready to kick your ass for not going back for her before now.”
Natasha meant it lightly, the way she meant most things, but that last barb landed like the blade of a guillotine, sucking all the air out of the room.
“Fuck,” she muttered, clearly realizing she had gone too far. She turned to Mom, her expression pleading. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Mom tried to shrug it off, but Nikolai was glowering at his soon-to-be-ex-wife.
“I should go,” Natasha said, getting up. She held up a hand when Mom tried to speak. “Adalynne, I don’t know everything that happened between the two of you all those years ago, but I’m on Mallory’s side. You are not to blame.” She looked down at Nikolai pointedly. “Neither of you are. And I appreciate you inviting me here as Nik’s wife, but I’m not his mate. Our marriage is in name only. He’s my dearest friend, but that’s all.”
Natasha touched his shoulder as she left the room.
“Maybe this should be between the three of you,” Mallory said quietly, her gaze flicking to her son.
Mom breathed in deeply and gave a slow nod. “Give us a moment?”
Mallory quickly got up, but I resisted letting Remy up for a second, not sure I was ready to let him go. I finally stood slowly.
He pressed a kiss to the side of my head, his hand squeezing around mine briefly before following Mallory out of the room. The door closing behind them was more ominous than I expected.
After a second of internal debate, I crossed the room and sat down beside Nikolai, across from Mom.
“I told him about the omega house,” I said softly, trying to spare her from having to relieve some of the details. “About what happened there.”
“I wish you would have just come to me,” Nikolai added, frustration plain in his tone. “I would have saved you both. I would have taken you far, far away.”
“I tried,” she whispered, blinking away tears. “I swear I tried.”
My head spun, trying to remember. “You mean that time when I was five? After we saw your mom? You took off that night. You said Linden threatened you.”
Nikolai tensed beside me.
“After that actually,” she admitted, looking down and her shoulders slumping. “You were seven. I had … someone had been in the house. A friend of Linden’s from another pack. I was the only omega then. I needed to clean up after, and I thought he left.”
The rumbling growl from Nikolai’s chest made me jump.
“I had put you to sleep in the room across from me,” she murmured, her fingers lightly, absently, tracing her lips. “I went to check on you and he was there. Standing in your room, watching you sleep. It scared the hell out of me.”
Shivers skittered up my spine. The low growl from my father turned into a full fledged snarl, his gunmetal eyes glinting like the barrel of a gun seconds from firing a lethal shot.
“He left,” she said quickly, her expression guilty, “but I realized that I might not be able to protect you all the time. I ran into Zara the next day. It was one of the few times Linden didn’t have her locked away in the house or being followed by one of his council. Probably because another pack was visiting and he didn’t want to seem like he had to lock his wife up to make her obey.”