Chapter 63

[James’ POV]

James had been living in a rather melancholy state since his last real conversation with Mia before the conference.

In truth, the man was devastated that his own mate had been feeling this way the whole time since they first got together. What was truly terrible was that James knew Mia was right.

He was considerably closed off when it came to speaking about his feelings. He needed to be. Neither his mother nor his father ever really encouraged their children to openly express their emotions.

‘It was always considered to be a sign of weakness,’ he thought bitterly to himself.

But James quickly came to realize that this cold aspect of his personality was what was hurting his relationship with Mia.

‘Jesus Christ, it’s bad enough that you won’t tell her about being our fated mate,’ his wolf snapped. ‘But now you’ve gone ahead and made her convinced that we don’t even feel anything real for her! When are you going to get your head out of your ass!’

James was beginning to develop an awful headache by the end of his internal conversation between him and his wolf. Part of him was deeply grateful that Mia was mainly the one taking charge of speaking during the conference.

Better still, he was able to detect the pain and subtle anger that was in Mia’s voice as she spoke. James knew that none of what she was telling the press was easy. And it truly was unfortunate that there wasn’t any other viable way to alleviate their problem.

But, for what it was worth, James could tell that Mia really had the crowd absolutely captivated. Not a single person tried to interrupt her flow of the speech. Everything seemed to be going pretty well. For a brief flicker of a moment, James thoroughly believed that they were going to be able to undo a good portion of the damage Miller had done.

Well, that was until that very same bastard managed to find a way into the conference hall and disrupt Mia’s flow. The second, James locked his eyes on Peter. It had taken every last ounce of his self-control to not lunge over the table and tear the man to shreds.

How dare he?! How dare he show up and try to make a scene at their press conference?!

James felt his wolf thrash and snarl out of control whereas Mia maintained her cool composure as she got up from her chair and moved around the table.

Peter did his best to move through the crowd. James watched as the two came to stand just a few feet from each other.

‘Too close,’ his wolf growled. ‘He’s standing too close to our Mia.’

“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked Peter.

“Isn't it obvious?” Peter asked with an innocent look on his face. “I’m here to get you back so that we can all be together. As a family.”

Mia’s brows furrowed while James felt his heart sink. He knew Mia would never go back to someone like him. But merely hearing that sort of thing was enough to set his nerves on edge.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Mia fired back. “This isn’t about me. Or my child, Peter. You don’t care about us. This is about you wanting revenge for what James did.”

This time, James stood up from his chair and gradually made his way closer.

“That’s right,” he said tightly. “I fired you. I saw the way you treated Mia. You held her in such low regard and vicious contempt. I would be out of my mind if I were to allow someone so cruel and heinous to work at Crescent Moon.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Peter drawled.

“Oh, really?” James asked tauntingly. “You were with another woman that same night you so openly threw Mia away. I say you made quite the public spectacle of yourself if you can recall. Surely, it wouldn’t be that difficult to track that woman down and get her official statement, regarding the events that took place.”

Both James and Mia watched the flaunting amusement leave Peter’s face. The man went stiff with anxiousness.

Peter narrowed his eyes with skepticism. “You’re bluffing.”

James snarled and took a large step closer. “Try me!”

Mia hastily reached out her hand to grab James’ chest in the hopes of reeling him back in. The last thing they needed was another violent outbreak for the news to blow up.

“I will do whatever it takes to prove that you are the one who should be publicly shunned and ignored,” James hissed. “I will do whatever it takes to keep you as far away from Mia and this baby as possible.”

Everyone watched as Peter’s resolve cracked into a nasty sneer. “You had no right to fire me!”

“And you had no right to treat Mia the way that you did!” James shouted back.

“You don’t get to come in here, make a scene, and demand that I somehow forget about all the horrible things you said to me,” Mia said to Peter. “I will never go back to you.”

Peter gritted his teeth and spoke sharply. “It doesn’t change the fact that that’s my child growing inside of that bitch!”

“There isn’t a day that goes by where I wish it was James’ baby,” Mia admitted through a strained voice.

James lifted his brows in shock. He turned to look at Mia with total devotion, ignoring everyone else in the place, and placed a hand over her pregnant stomach.

“It doesn’t matter who’s the baby’s biological father, I intend to love them regardless. Just like you,” he said firmly.

Mia’s expression grew shocked. “What?”

“You’re right about what you said before about me. I don’t show my emotions easily and it’s something that I need to desperately work on.”

Her voice wavered with uncertainty. “James...”

There were many things in life that James was never certain of. But at that very moment, there was nothing more clear and definite in his mind than the three words that came rushing out with undeniable conviction.

“Mia...I love you.”