Chapter 52: Of Promises and Sacrifices

(LOCKE)

Sigrid once told me that one needs not to hear but to listen.

I never understood the difference. Hearing is the same thing as listening, isn’t it?

But as my mate looks at me, her voice ragged, her eyes devastated and filled with tears, I finally understand.

I’ve been hearing her ever since I found her again, but not once have I tried to listen to what she has been saying. My stomach churns.

A slave.

That’s how she viewed herself? Even when she was with me? Did I make her feel that way?

For the second time in my life, I feel helpless. I don’t know what to say to her. My mate, this is my fault. Of course it’s my fault.

I’m almost glad when our son interrupts us. Corrine is shocked, and she turns around quickly. “Finn. I—Did we wake you?”

The boy steps down from the stairs, looking upset. “Why’re you crying?”

My mate instantly wipes away her tears. “I’m not. Why aren’t you in bed?”

“Is it because of him?” There’s a wealth of anger in his voice. He comes to stand in front of his mother protectively, and his tone turns a little rude. “Why are you here? Go home! We don’t want you here!”

“Finn!” Corrine quickly slaps her hand over his mouth, muffling his next words. “You can’t speak to him like that!”

He pulls her hand away. “Why not? Because he’s my dad?”

I freeze at his words, and Corrine pales. “Who—who told you that?”

“I’m not stupid, Mom. He looks like me, and I heard you talking.” Finn glares at me. “I don’t need a dad who makes my mom cry. Go away!”

I’m torn between feeling hurt and proud. He’s protecting her. Our son is shielding his mother, even if it is from me.

Right now, though, both of them are upset. I know I should leave. Corrine needs to handle this situation, and I, well, I don’t have a place in her life. Maybe that’s something I should accept.

It’s amusing to think that I have spent my life seizing what I want by force, but the one thing I need, I can’t take. Because if I drag this woman back with me, it’ll kill her spirit.

A slave. A prisoner.

“Go!” Finn yells at me, clutching his mother’s hand. “We don’t need you.”

“Finn!”

“I’m going,” I say calmly. My wolf slumps within me, aching, miserable.

“No, you’re not!” Corrine says fiercely. “You’re not going anywhere. Finn, you don’t talk to your father like that.”

“But he made you cry!” Finn’s face is red with anger. “We don’t need —”

“He is your father. And he didn’t make me cry. We were having a discussion. Which we”—her voice softens—”which we shouldn’t have been having here. You shouldn’t have heard any of that. I’m sorry.”

“Mom—”

Corrine crouches before him and cups his face. “He’s a good man, Finn.

And it’s high time you two had a proper introduction. Locke?”

She looks at me, and the previous anger and frustration in her eyes have disappeared. Instead, she looks nervous. It would have been so easy for her to use this opportunity to turn my son against me. The easiest thing in the world. And given her conflicted feelings toward me, that would have been the route I expected her to take.

Why does she keep defying my expectations? Where do I stand in this woman’s eyes?

When I don’t move, Corrine propels Finn toward me. “Finn, this is your father, King Barret Locke.”

“King?” Finn’s eyes widen, and he studies me. However, he doesn’t seem too pleased. “I don’t care if you’re a king. I don’t care if you’re my dad. You made my mom cry!”

“It wasn’t his fault,” Corrine lightly chastises him. “Look, he came all this way to see you. And—” she pauses before continuing, “he’s going to take you out every night so that you can run and play in your wolf form. He’s going to teach you a lot of things, so I want you to behave.”

“But Mom—”

She shakes her head. “No. Whatever happens between your father and me does not concern you. He’s your dad, and he wants to get to know you. And,” another struggling breath,”I know you want to get to know him. That’s what I want, too.”

Finn crosses his arms over his chest, his lower lip jutting out in a petulant manner. “If he makes you cry again—”

“I won’t,” I finally say. “I won’t hurt your mother again. You have my word. And a man’s word is his bond.”

Finn looks doubtful, and when he steals a glance at his mother, she nods. “He’s right. And he didn’t do anything to hurt me before.”

My son holds on to his mother for a few seconds before asking her quietly, “So, why is he here now? Why not before? And what’s he king of? Where’s his crown?”

“My kingdom is in the North, on the other side of the Veil,” I explain. “I’m not allowed to go near the Veil.”

“That’s good,” I tell him. “It’s not safe. But our—my—home is beyond there.”

“Can I see it?”

I stare at him, struggling to keep my promise to him not to make his mother cry. But my own heart cracks as I answer, slowly, “Perhaps one day.” Corrine’s eyes swivel toward me, but I don’t meet her gaze. “And I wasn’t able to come before because I was fighting the monsters in the North. But I’m here now.”

“Wait.” Finn looks at his mother, suddenly wary. “Does this mean we have to leave here and go to the North?”

Before she can say anything, I interject, “No. You’re—I think you’re safer here.” Another crack in my heart. He’s safer away from me and my world. Happier. “But I’ll come see you, and when you’re grown up, you can decide for yourself.” Corrine’s eyes are still on me. Everything feels strange. My chest is heavy with a different sort of grief. “I should go now. You two should rest.”

Corrine gets to her feet. “Loc—”

But I’m already out the door. I head to the park across the road. I’m almost to the bench when I hear her voice again.

“Locke!”

I come to a halt.

My mate sounds frazzled, and when I don’t turn around to face her, she moves to stand in front of me. “What was that?”

“What?”

“That! Inside! You said—” She searches my eyes. “You said he doesn’t have to go to the North. And—”

I cut her off. “It’s been a long night. We can talk later. Go to bed.”

“But—”

“Not right now.” I shake my head. “You were right. Too many things have happened today. I also need time to think.”

“Then do it inside,” she says abruptly. “In the house, not out here.”

I cast a cautious look toward her small home. “I’m comfortable keeping vigil out here.”

“I’m not, Locke. I want you to come inside and be with your family.”

“My family?” I stare at her. “You’re not making any sense, Corrine. You say one thing, and then you say something else. You do one thing—”

“And then I do something else, I know,” she mutters, grabbing my hand and pulling me back toward the house. “I’m well aware of how I’m acting. Just cut me some slack for a while till my brain starts functioning properly. And in the meantime, come inside.”

I let her drag me into her home, wondering when things will start making sense to both of us.

I understand her inner conflict. One of us will ultimately have to make a sacrifice.

And she has made too many sacrifices to count.

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