Chapter 31: Say You Won't Let Go

I can hardly wait.

It has only been a few days since I decided to complete the bond with my mate but I am feeling butterflies rumbling around in my stomach as if I were a virgin.

It's not so much that I have any hang ups about having sex with Stephano. It will be neither of our first times, which is not the issue.

The truth of the matter is: that it isn't about the sexual component that I am most anxious about. Not at all.

What is making my stomach rumble is completing the bond. I know that the completion involves sex, but my point is I am nervous about what actually means to complete the bond with him. What will mean for me, that is.

Not to say that I have any reservations about Stephano, for Goddess' sake, no! He could not be any more perfect for me even if I had hand-picked him myself.

He is far too good for me. Again, that is not the issue.

A hot, handsome, amazing, caring, and rich man who has been bending over backward to accommodate me and my son in his life? Wow, what a tough decision... *snicker*

The truth is that I would have completed the bond with him on the first weekend of our mating had it not been for my particular situation. Here lies the real issue:

I am afraid.

I feel like I dropped my guard because my mate makes me feel so good and well taken care of that any moment now I'll be forced to handle an unforeseeable danger and I am going to crash and burn.

When I say crash and burn, I mean it's gonna hurt like a motherfucker! And then what? What am I going to do in this situation?

Hell if I know!

What I do know however is that I cannot keep my life on hold forever. Stephano was already hit by a terrible case of rut. I feel like I am a ticking time bomb ready to go off at any moment now... *widens my eyes*

I am an Omega. We are not meant to hold off on bond completion. My kind is meant to bond with a strong werewolf who will love and protect us while we give them pups in return. That is the root of our entire existence, dating back to indigenous tribes in pre colonization era.

Let me be clear: I do NOT regret the decision to accept my mate and complete the bond with him next Saturday. I want him and I deserve a good man in my life. But the issue that drove me here to Regency Falls in the first place still remains.

How long am I still going to be safe from Richard's grasp? How long do I have with my son until he attempts to kidnap him and take my son away from me?

I tremble at the possibility. I love my mate, that is not in question. But I can not live without my son, my bundle of joy, my baby. It is not fair that I am stuck having to fear for our lives, but here I am. Frightful every single day.

It's Friday.

After Stephano fell ill with a rut fever, I had to rush him to the hospital so he could be medicated properly. It was definitely scary for my mate to have been struck by such an unforgiving - but avoidable - disease that is rut. However, it only reinforced my purpose to complete the freaking bond with him.

There is no more time to waste and tomorrow is my day off from work, so I am good to go.

Also, let's be real for just a second here, guys.

Have you seen my mate?

Who wouldn't want to complete the bond with that? Doesn't he have the most adorable smile ever?

Honestly, I could spend hours just gushing about his qualities as a man. My mouth waters just thinking about it... I cannot wait to top the Beta... *winks at the audience*

Stephano has been sleeping in my bedroom lately to make it easier for me to do things in the morning. I have a kid to watch though to be fair, Charlie already does pretty much everything alone except for waking up for school. I still have to do that, the rest is up to him.

By now, we have a pretty good system between him and me, all I have to do is stop by his room to wake him up and then we'll meet later for breakfast. Occasionally, my boy likes to sleep in but that is when I bring down the hammer.

I have a great son who barely gives me any trouble, so if he wants to believe he found his mate at 11, who am I to tell him otherwise? It is a little weird that they share a birthday but not impossible. It's a strange coincidence, not much more.

I have arranged for Luna Linda to watch over Charlie on Saturday because I have an important appointment with my mate. I'd like to keep him busy for several hours.

My job as a mall security officer is pretty simple. Mostly I just stay on guard and eventually scare off some teenagers. It is the weekends when I need to be most vigilant because the mall is packed. This is why I don't get many weekends off and when I do, it's usually either a Saturday or a Sunday, never the two.

I am fine with that, I am an adult. Work sucks, but the bills must be paid and I have a kid to raise. It could be worse, I could not have found work at all. Another thing I have my mate to thank him for. The Cortez family have deep connections all over town. Maybe even more so than the Alpha family with all that money...

It's sometime past noon. I was stationed in the food court of the mall - where my mate and I first met each other - when I received a rather distressed mind link from Stephano, who sounded troubled.

"You need to come home. Tell your boss there has been a family emergency and you'll explain better later. There is a situation." He spoke in a grim tone.

"Is everything alright with Charlie? Is he okay?" I asked him, worried about this. I don't think he would tell me to go home in the middle of a shift if it 'wasn't a serious thing.

"He is okay now, but there has been a situation. I'll explain better when you arrive here, but..." He paused too long before continuing the message via mind link. "Some men tried to take him from school today." He continued in a somber tone.

And there it was. I knew this would happen. And it did, just as predicted.

I stopped by my supervisor's office and told him of what happened and I said I would make this up to him somehow. He told me not to worry about it and go take care of my son.

When I arrived at the pack house sometime later, I found my son in shock. He was being tended to by Stephano who kept a firm watch over him and Linda was offering her support.

As soon as I appeared, my son jumped into my arms crying out for me. I could tell whatever it had happened it was traumatic for him, to say the least.

"What happened? You said some men tried to take him from school today..." I asked Stephano in a worried tone. Linda offered me something to eat or drink but right now all I care about is what happened to my son, who is shaking as I hold him close to me.

"Take a seat, mate. I'll tell you. The important thing is that they weren't successful. And I already told Charlie that I will never let anybody take him away from his father." He spoke, looking at my son who was on my lap as I comforted him.

Linda left us alone to talk in the living room and as soon as I started listening to Stephano talk, I gasped in shock. The sheer horror of having my son at gunpoint. Words cannot describe how revolting this is...

Calmly, my mate told me all about the scary situation that he had to deal with. I cannot imagine being cool in the face of something like that, but nobody can see clearly when their own family is involved, especially a child.

Panic flashed before my eyes at the harrowing situation. How could that have come to pass? Men with guns terrorizing children? All this just to take a son from his father?

It's like I wasn't Charlie's legitimate parent or something... I mean, come on!

"Wait, you were shot? How come you're not in the hospital right now?" I asked Stephano in a desperate tone, looking at him worriedly.

"I was wearing a bulletproof vest underneath my shirt. I keep one in my car for protection in case things go sour. I'd imagine something like this could happen." He explained to me in a surprisingly serene tone for someone who had just been shot.

"The only thing that mattered to me was to keep Charlie safe from harm. And to keep him here by your side." He assured me with a soft smile to tranquilize me.

"So... when did you have time to plant snipers in the school?" I questioned him, utterly baffled by this. The fact that he planned this is both scary and admiring at the same time.

"I didn't. I would never bring a gun into a school." He declared in a rather 'duh' tone.

"When I returned from my vacation to work, I had enough time to consider the odds and I knew planting one warrior at the school wouldn't be enough to stop an incursion. Any warrior would be spotted half a mile away and therefore they would plan accordingly." He explained, looking at me and Charlie, who was still shocked by all this.

"Knowing this could happen, I initiated a shadow program. I deployed rookie warriors to disguise themselves as volunteers inside the school and keep an eye out for Charlie in case anybody neutralized the warrior present. Because they are young, they could blend in easily." He continued, surprising me with each word.

"But that was not enough for me. I needed to have a vantage point from outside. I needed to have a resource at my disposal in case things went sour. So, I arranged for two experienced warriors who were certified gun snipers to keep an eye out from outside of the school. They were my shadows. In case the men inside were ever compromised, their order was to neutralize the threat and keep Charlie safe at all costs." He informed me and I gasped in utter shock.

Oh, my Goddess!

"How many warriors did you dispatch to his school?" I gaped at him, completely taken aback by this revelation, but of course, relieved that my mate is a military mastermind.

"At total, 5 warriors. Not enough to compromise our force or any of the operations safeguarding the pack, if that is your concern. I will not be impeached because I kept a boy safe." He smirked.

I am gasping so hard that this happened, but mostly that he planned ahead so perfectly. I would never have thought of putting snipers outside a school... Gobsmacked!

"Thank you for not letting those men take me, Stephano." Charlie smiled at him while he was still comfortably sitting on my lap.

"It was my pleasure, kid. I promised your father I would keep you both safe and I keep my promises. I would never let them take you, even if I had to snatch you from their hands myself. I don't care, I love you kid." Stephano told him and tears filled my eyes.

"You have no idea what this means to me... I love you, mate. Thank you for keeping your word. Even in the face of tremendous adversity!" I thanked him, tears silently falling from my face.

"I will stop at nothing to keep you both safe, I promised you that. And I meant it." He pledged, wholeheartedly.

I took my son back to his bedroom to rest. With all this commotion, none of us had lunch so I brought a tray of food to his room. I am sure he needed to rest after that traumatic event. I stayed with him all afternoon and into the evening until it was time to go downstairs to have dinner in the guest dining room.

Even though he looks older for his age, Charles is only eleven years old. This would be a lot for an adult, imagine a child. I don't know what I am going to do to keep my son safe from that bastard who wants to kidnap him.

For fuck's sake, leave us alone! He is just a child, he doesn't want to live with strangers he has never met in his life. If this was about keeping him with Richard's parents, at least my son is familiar with them. But no, it isn't. It's just an ego trip!

This is about a megalomaniac who has never lost anything in his life and is now fearful of losing his grip on the succession. By all means, dude, who is keeping Charles from succeeding you? I am not sequestering him, I just want to raise my son in peace. When he becomes an adult, you're welcome to teach him whatever the hell you want...

I am so tired of this, but now I am just really pissed off!

I woke up on Saturday morning after spending the night watching over Charlie. He kept tossing and turning, sometimes he woke up crying in terror so I comforted him. I knew this would take a huge toll on him. He should definitely see a therapist after this. My poor baby!

I had so many plans for this Saturday, but right now all I can focus on is my son and his needs. We walked downstairs for breakfast when all the boarders asked him about how he was doing and how he was recuperating from yesterday.

My son politely replied to them all that he was doing fine, they didn't harm him physically. Thank Goddess for that! When I think about my mate taking a bullet, my mind spirals...

After breakfast, Stephano met us as we left the guest dining hall. He asked Charlie about how he was doing this morning and he reassured him of his commitment to keep him safe, no matter what.

While my son went to the playroom for some innocent fun, I walked to the living room for a heart to heart with my mate.

"I know we had plans for today, but–" I started, but my mate didn't let me finish.

"Stop! Did you seriously expect me to have come here today looking for that? After what happened yesterday?" He interrupted me, irritated.

"Of course not, I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I am just not doing very well today. I stayed up all night watching over Charlie." I explained to him, a bit embarrassed.

"It is completely understandable, mate. I barely got any sleep last night. You should go to sleep now, I can watch Charlie." He stretched out his hand to touch mine in a comforting way, tenderly.

"You are such a heaven sent in my life." I swooned at him, who was so understanding.

"It is absolutely my pleasure, mate. You deserve a good man in your life." He replied, smiling casually and causing my heart to skip a beat in the process.

"Which is why this is so difficult for me." I spoke in a grim tone, looking at him with a heavy heart.

"What? NO!" He stuttered, already in anticipation of what I was about to say.

"Yes, I need to leave Regency Falls. I am so sorry, my son is not safe here." I announced, breaking his heart.

"This is the safest place he will ever be! I can protect him here!" He countered, sounding hurt.

"Richard will never let us be at peace. I can't risk my son's safety." I affirmed, sounding convinced.

"Please don't go, mate! I beg you! Please don't leave me..." His heart broke as he spoke, tears already threatening to fall from his face.

"I have no other choice, I have to think about what 's best for my son." I stood my ground firmly, though my heart was breaking for being forced to say this to him.

Stephano moved from the couch to kneel at my feet, putting his arms around my legs and laying his head on my lap as he did that.

"Please, mate. Don't leave me! I'll do anything you want me to! I can't stay away from you! I promise to protect you and Charlie..." He begged me, sounding completely broken, tears flowing in utter desperation. *sobs*

A|N: BOOM!

You are not going to believe the storm that comes next!

Twist?

That's just a Monday for me.

This shit is about to get real! It's unmissable!

PS: I wrote this chapter specifically with this song in mind. So beautiful.

Next is "When Love Takes Over".

Love,

Léo.