The Swan Who Flew After a Wolf (14 page)

very affectionate, and his upbringing had given him a perspective few

people in the shifter world had, especially at this age. Paris’s shy need

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for warmth and kindness had called out to Reed, and they’d become

fast friends. True enough, Reed still wanted a child of his own, but

they both agreed that it had to wait until they settled into a more

balanced family dynamic.

Reed took Anson’s hand, then Paris’s, and pulled them both

toward the gathering. Brody and Carson were left with the more

unpleasant task of welcoming Aria. While Anson felt bad for them, he

couldn’t bring himself to offer help. He just knew that if he did, she’d

be all over him again. For some reason, she had it in her head that

Anson belonged to her, not Reed.

In spite of the pain in the ass that was Aria, the party went quite

well. Paris was shy at first, but gradually, he started to relax. When

Soren, Daniel, Morgan, and Alexis returned, they received Paris with

open arms, something which pleased Anson to no end. Aria wasn’t so

popular, and soon, even those pack members who had listened to her

gossip found other more interesting things to do.

Throughout the entire party, Anson did his best to stick with Reed

and Paris. At one point, though, Alexis pulled him aside, gesturing

toward Paris. “Hey, did you notice?”

“Notice what?” Anson inquired, curious.

“I’m not sure I should say this…” The incubus hesitated. “You

know I generally don’t get involved in the love affairs of others, but I

try to help out when I can. My senses are simply screaming that

there’s a great chemistry between Jace and Paris. Now, they might be

mates, or they might not be. I’m just telling you so that you can be

ready. Right now, Paris is very emotionally fragile, and he can easily

have his heart broken.”

Anson really didn’t know what to think about that. He watched

the two young men, and soon, he spotted what Alexis was talking

about. On occasion, both Paris and Jace looked toward one another,

barely there glimpses that could be easily missed had Anson not been

looking for them. No wonder Jace had volunteered to show Paris

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around. Clearly, Alexis was right about the werewolf’s chemistry with

Paris.

“Jace is a great guy,”
Reed comforted him through their bond.
“I

don’t think we should be too worried.”

“He’s also very temperamental,”
Anson replied.
“But I’ll wait

and see how it goes. Paris will come to us if he needs us.”

After thanking Alexis, Anson returned to mingling with the

crowd. In fact, he was making his way back to his mate and son. The

duo had decided to take a brief break from all the hustle and bustle

and were sitting together next to the buffet table. He reached them just

in time to watch Aria appear next to them.

“So, it seems you have everyone fooled,” she told Reed. “And

you, Paris…I knew you blamed me for what happened in our pack,

but I never thought you’d be on the enemy’s side.”

“Huh?” Paris arched a brow. “How is my dad an enemy? Meeting

up with him was what we came here for in the first place.”

“I don’t mean Anson,” she replied. “You hanging around this

swan is what bothers me.”

She had kept her voice low, so until now, not many of the guests

of the party heard the exchange, but she was getting louder.

Apparently, she hadn’t appreciated the reception she’d received from

members of the pack. Daniel and Soren must have sensed something

was wrong, as they steered the people who were closer away from the

buffet table.

It only seemed to make Aria angrier. “Look at them. Do you

really think they’d ever see us as anything else except outsiders?”

“Paris is not an outsider,” Reed jumped in. “He’s one of us. You,

however, are not.”

“You little shit. I was fucking your mate when you were in

diapers,” Aria said mockingly. “Do you really think you can fight

me?”

Anson immediately cut in, not willing to allow this fiasco to go

any further. “Aria, please control yourself.” He grabbed her arm,

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squeezing it harder than he’d have liked. “We can have this

conversation a different time, in private.”

Under normal circumstances, Anson was not a violent man. He

didn’t enjoy hurting people, and when it came to his hunting instincts,

he unleashed them as peacefully as a wolf could, in nature. But when

someone threatened his mate and his son, well, that was a whole

different story. Anson had no qualms about kicking Aria around a

little to give her a lesson.

In the human world, women, supposedly the fairer sex, were many

times regarded as fragile creatures. Anson knew the truth. Women

were strong, far stronger than they were given credit for. It was the

reason why Melanie was pissed at the overprotective males in her

families. It was also why Aria could become very dangerous. She’d

been an Alpha female once, and people like her didn’t appreciate not

getting what they wanted.

“Look,” he told her in a low whisper. “You and I both know I’m

not your mate. What we had was a one-night stand. We were lucky

because we ended up with a lovely boy as result. Let’s just leave it at

that, shall we?”

Paris joined them and gave his mom a pleading look. “We can

start a new life here, Mom,” he said. “Dad has another mate, and you

have to get used to the thought. But your mate is still out there

somewhere. It’s never too late to find him or her. After this whole

debacle is over, we can—”

“No!” Aria shouted. This time, everyone at the party grew quiet

and turned to see what the excitement was all about. “I will not be

pushed aside like yesterday’s news.”

She glared at Anson, Paris, and finally, at Reed. Then she turned

toward the rest of the onlookers. Sneering, she hit the buffet table,

sending all the dishes and glasses clattering to the floor.

Anson made a move to stop her, but she was already heading out.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “If I have my way, I won’t have to

see you ever again. Have a nice life, or better yet, a horrid one.”

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And just like that, she took off, heading down the pathway toward

the large gates of the Alpha mansion. The dramatic exit was

somewhat ruined by the fact that she didn’t have a car, so she had to

run all the way there.

When she was finally gone, several people approached Anson,

Reed, and Paris. “Oh, wow,” Preston said. “You weren’t kidding

when you said she’s bad. No offense to you, Paris, of course.”

“None taken.” Paris looked visibly upset. “I’m just sorry she

spoiled the party.”

“Hey, now.” Reed punched Paris’s shoulder in a friendly gesture.

“It’s not your fault.”

“She’ll probably come back,” Soren added. “All her stuff is here,

and she can’t leave pack lands without me knowing. Besides, it’s still

not safe for her out there.”

“You’re right.” Paris took a deep breath. “Am I an evil person for

regretting the fact that she can’t just go away?”

“Nonsense,” Daniel offered. “You’re just upset. Would you like to

lie down for a bit while we clean up?”

Paris shook his head. “I really don’t want her to win this battle.”

He straightened his shoulders and looked out into the crowd. “I’m

here to know the pack, right? Well, that’s what I plan to do.”

“Excellent.” Soren and Daniel started to lead him away. “Come

along. There’re still a lot of people to meet.”

Anson watched Paris go, pride glowing inside him. He was so

focused on the sight that he was shocked when Liam spoke up behind

him. “He really is a great kid.”

With some surprise, Anson turned toward Liam. Even if Liam and

Shiloh had accepted Reed’s bond to Anson, there was still a lingering

degree of tension between them. The dynamics of Anson’s long-

established friendship with Liam had changed.

“He is,” Anson replied. “I’m very lucky.”

“I think maybe it’s about time you had a little luck,” Liam replied.

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Anson stole a look at his mate, who stood within earshot of them.

“A lot of luck,” he amended.

Obviously sensing the scrutiny, Reed looked at them, his hands on

his hips. “Don’t you two have anything better to do than to analyze

me? Get a move on. Paris needs our support.”

“I’m going, geez.” Liam threw his hands up. “I swear, he’s just as

bad as his dad.”

“But we wouldn’t have it any other way,” Anson said with a

smile.

Liam beamed back, the clear picture of a besotted, happily mated

man. “Nah. It would be too boring. They’re perfect just the way they

are.”

As they all returned to the party, Anson naturally gravitated

toward Reed. They danced and laughed, and generally had a good

time. At the bottom of Anson’s mind, a small trickle of doubt

lingered, but with his mate there, in his arms, he let it fade away. Aria

might be angry now, but, after all, what could she do against an entire

pack? What could possibly go wrong?

* * * *

Aria walked through the undergrowth, her angry steps leading her

farther and farther away from the buildings inhabited by Soren

Wade’s pack. She’d never been so humiliated in her entire life. Her

own son had belittled and scorned her. Oh, it wasn’t that she was hurt

by his betrayal or anything like that. She’d known something like this

would happen. She had just made one serious miscalculation. She

hadn’t been expecting Reed. That stupid swan had ruined everything.

When she’d come here, she had planned to mate Anson

immediately. It wasn’t ideal, but at least she wouldn’t be a lone

female wolf, a pariah among her kind, hunted by her former husband.

Anson had slept with her once, and since he didn’t have a family, he

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was ripe for picking. But she’d been late by a couple of weeks, it

seemed, and she’d missed her chance.

The work she’d tried to do to sabotage Anson’s mating with the

whore swan had showed some results, but it wasn’t enough. No, Aria

didn’t have a chance to make a real future here. She had one last shot,

though, one attempt to get her former life back.

During her impromptu tour with Jace Wade, she had paid

attention to where exactly in the area phones worked best. As she

reached one of those spots, she dropped onto a large tree root and

retrieved her phone.

She stared at the screen of the phone for the longest time. Was she

really going to do this? She didn’t love Paris, but still…It was risky.

So very risky.

Then again, upon leaving Paris, she’d been forced to leave behind

the rest of her boys. Were they judging her now? Were they ashamed

of her? If only Paris hadn’t existed, she, Hal, and their children would

have been the perfect family.

It was this thought that made her dial the number at last.

“Marrow,” her former mate replied at last.

“Hi, Hal,” Aria greeted him. Now that she’d made the decision,

she felt strangely calm. She was filled with the absolute idea that she

was doing the right thing. The only mistake in this whole situation

wasn’t that she had relied on Anson. She should have put a stop to

this a long time ago, and now, with Hal’s help, she would do so.

“Aria,” her mate said, a bit more alertly. “This is a surprise. I

didn’t expect to hear from you. From what I’ve been told, you have a

new pack now.”

It didn’t come as a surprise that Hal knew about Aria being in

Soren Wade’s lands. “Well, I had to go somewhere, didn’t I?”

“Indeed.” Hal cleared his throat. “How’s Paris?”

“Why do you care? You’ve always hated him.” When he didn’t

answer, she sighed and added, “He’s fine. Celebrating with his real

father.”

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“That’s nice,” Hal replied coldly. “So what was it that you wanted

to discuss with me in the first place? I believe we said everything that

needed to be said last time.”

Aria grimaced, remembering their last exchange. He had been so

angry, and she’d stood up for herself. It had all started from a

ridiculous argument regarding one of their other kids, Tucker. Aria

had made arrangements for Tucker’s mating with a powerful female