Denver turned to face him. “Don’t pull rank with me, William. You’re not in this pack. You don’t order me around.”
William stepped forward, slicing him with an intolerant glare. “Pack has nothing to do with it. When I hear a woman in distress—”
“Distress?” Denver laughed. “You mean being stubborn. She can’t walk up those stairs and everyone knows it.”
“Indeed, that may be so. But what satisfaction do you gain by humiliating a woman in front of the pack?”
Trevor sat erect, swallowing William up with his brown eyes.
Denver waved his hand. “You guys are a bag of nuts. I’m trying to do the right thing and help a girl out. Hell, I wish someone would carry me to bed.”
“That can be arranged,” William replied with a dark smirk.
“Denver, when I need help, I’ll ask for it,” I said. “I appreciate your intention, but… Please, let’s not make this more than it is.”
He lifted his plate off the floor and stalked out. “I’ve got to get ready for work. I don’t have time for this.” His voice trailed off into the kitchen.
William brushed the crumbs off the sofa and took a seat. “Not sure why he’s making a fuss of things. It’s nice down here. Cozy fire, blankets, won’t have to listen to Austin and his mate screwing upstairs…”
“Holy hell, ain’t that the truth,” Trevor said. “Twice today already.”
“It’s a natural reaction after winning a battle. Especially when the woman fights by his side,” I said, pulling the blanket over my legs and leaning back. “Alpha men are aroused by strong women.”
“You make it sound so scientific,” William said, pinching his chin.
Trevor hopped up and dusted off his pants. “If that’s the case, then no wonder Church ran home. He’s probably banging one of those girls in his harem right now. I’m going to bed. See you guys this afternoon.”
“You mean in the morning,” April said.
He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Sleeping Beauty needs his rest, so don’t wake me.”
“You don’t need more sleep, Trev. You’re already a beauty.”
“April showers,” he sang out, heading up the stairs. “Always showering me with love.”
Trevor’s words had pinched me in an unexpected way. My mother was a gentle soul, and in the excursions we had run into, she didn’t fight. Maybe it’s why my father had lost interest in having sex with her. I had inherited some of my gentleness from her. Shifter men loved outspoken women, so now I had another weakness plaguing my thoughts. I’d never held hope of settling with a mate, not until Lorenzo. For the first time, I realized how much I wanted to love and be loved. But I needed a man to love the woman I was, not the woman he wished me to be.
“Mustn’t let what he said get to you,” William said in a low voice. “I don’t think Trevor realizes how much you like Enzo. I was wrong when I tried to steer you away from him. He’s a good man, and if anyone can change his ways, I have no doubt it would be a woman like you.” William looked as if he wanted to say more, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
“Ivy, we need to talk.” Reno stood like a statue on our left. “Let’s go to Austin’s office.”
April looked up with concern.
I grabbed my walking stick and followed him down the dark hall by the kitchen. Reno closed the door and switched on a small lamp on Austin’s desk, taking a seat beside me instead of in Austin’s chair.
In his hands, he held a manila folder with edges of paper sticking out.
Our chairs were angled toward each other, but not all the way.
“What I’ve got in here is information on your son. The question is: do you want to see it?”
I swallowed a lump in my throat and took an audible breath. Reno grasped the cane from my hand and placed it on the desk, leaving me nothing to fidget with.
His fingers pressed against the edges of the folder. “I’m not sure how you feel about it, but one of my men sent me everything he could dig up. Fox never went after him; it would have taken him out of the state. There’s a little information and a few pictures in here about the boy. I can toss it in the fire and you can go on like before. I could also have Austin lock it up in his safe in case you want to look at it a few years down the line. Or you can know now.”
“Know what?” My heart raced at all the implications. Was he hurt? Was something wrong?
Reno swung his dark brown eyes up to mine. “Know who your son is. I don’t know what looking at this could mean. It could change your mind on things, and you’ll need to talk to Austin about those decisions. I’m just here to offer you what you might have been seeking all these years. An answer.”
I bent forward, elbows on my knees, and covered my mouth. My hands trembled and my emotions spun like a cyclone. All my love, all my fears, all tucked between the folds of thick, yellow paper.
The room became so quiet I could hear my heart racing.
“Give it to me.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, his thumbnails whitening as he pinched the folder even tighter.