Chapter 121

Fiona

“Can I ask you something?” I start, a bit hesitant because I know from our previous conversation this will be a sensitive topic. I want to know more about Ethan, and I want to know more about his family. The only way that will happen is to talk to him about it.

We need to be open, and he said I could ask him anything. Hopefully, he’s still okay with that.

So, as I lean back against the back of the wooden swing, I turn slightly to him and balance against the back and side of the swing.

“You can ask anything, Fiona. I’ll be as honest and open as I can with you from here on out,” he tells me, and I nod. I think it’ll take me a bit longer to fully feel that, but we’re on a good path forward now that he’s denied the marriage outright.

“Can you tell me more about your relationships with your parents and brother?”

Ethan stiffens for a second before he sighs.

“There’s not much to say, but at the same time, there’s too much,” he answers. He rakes a hand through his hair with another sigh and leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “There was a lot of emotional neglect from both of them but definitely more so from my mother, especially once my brother came along.”

I sit up, curling into Ethan’s side and snaking an arm around his for support. Family topics aren’t always easy, so if I can offer any sort of support, I will.

“She’s always favored my younger brother, but even before he came around, I always felt a sort of distance between us. It started sometime after I shifted, and I’ve always thought it was because Zev took a liking to a human female in our pack more than my mother,” he explains, and I gasp. He glances at me but doesn’t really acknowledge it.

“Is that normal? I kind of figured he would see your mom as his own,” I whisper, though I’m not sure why. We’re at our bungalow where no one can hear us.

Ethan shakes his head and continues, “Usually our wolf half does attach to our families, but in some cases, they attach to someone else. In this case, Zev prefers Mrs. Denton. When my mother found out, after we’d snuck out to see Mrs. Denton instead of training, she was furious. I didn’t get food for the whole day, and after that, she began putting more distance between us.”

“She starved you?”

“She started feeding me again the next day, but there was no warmth in the interaction, and from then on, she treated me like any other pack member she had a duty to help,” he answers, but I can tell he’s still hurting by the way his brows pull down.

I can’t imagine a mother not loving their child. Did she not have the motherly, protective instinct or was she just ignoring it to spite his wolf?

My mind immediately goes to how my mother loved me and knowing Ethan didn’t get that makes my heart hurt for him. I slide my hand into his and squeeze it.

“My father,” Ethan starts, pulling my attention back to him. “The older I grew, the more I realized he’s always seen me as his key to the kingdom. Like I told you before, he trained me since I was young to be King, but it wasn’t only that. He had me listen in on elder meetings, council meetings, and even attend Alpha gatherings where they would report to the King.”

“Is that allowed?” I ask, curious. I can’t imagine a kid being allowed to go to important meetings, but I don’t know their customs.

“It is, if you’re an Alpha child,” he responds with a nod. “However, I was usually the only Alpha child there until high school when most of the other Alphas decided their children were ready to take part in the gatherings. So, I spent a lot of my childhood alone with my father who didn’t really like me other than for the simple fact that I would be a leader he created.”

“Did he think you would be a puppet forever? That he would be able to control you as you grew older?”

Ethan scoffs and drives his fingers through his hair with a sharp exhale. The frustration tightens his body, making him go stiff under my touch, so I reach my arm around and rub my hand up and down his back.

“Yes and no. He didn’t see me as a person anymore. I was a tool, a weapon, he could sharpen to help him reach a higher status. I’m not sure what he thought would happen when I took over, but I couldn’t blindly follow him anymore. There were things I wanted to do and people I wanted to help that he didn’t even look at,” Ethan says, sitting back. “He was too focused on power that it blinded him to the true need of Lycans and humans.”

The fact that he thought- and still thinks- about humans even when he had so much gone on is commendable. The more I learn about Ethan, the more I find that he’s an upstanding, strong, and understanding man.

He runs a company that helps people who are sick, which touches my heart in a special way because of my mom. Not only that, but he works extremely hard in everything he does to keep the medical business running so he can help more.

“Is that why you help people?” I question, peering up into his hazy green eyes.

“I wanted to be a leader people could trust, and following my father’s unfeeling, heartless, and power-hungry path wasn’t the way I’d gain their trust. Don’t get me wrong, my father was a good leader that our pack loved, but he wasn’t thinking of others,” Ethan tells me, turning our hands over on his thigh.

He studies my fingers for a moment before lifting them and kissing my knuckles. I watch him silently, waiting for him to continue.

“Now, he’s upset that I don’t follow his rules and the law he laid down when I was a kid, but I never had the intention to become his puppet- as you called it. There are too many people in this world to only care about ourselves, so I brush off his selfish nature and do the best I can.”

His resolve, the way he pushes himself to be better is amazing. Honestly, he’s the opposite of the cold, unfeeling billionaire that I thought he was the first few times we met. My heart aches for the little boy that was neglected by his parents, but it beats for the man sitting here in front of me.

Crawling into his lap, I curl my arms around his neck and kiss him.

He leans in, yanking me closer and deepens the kiss. I gasp when his tongue tangles with mine, and when I start going dizzy from lack of oxygen, I pull back.

“What was that for?” He asks, breathless.

I gulp down air and offer a smile.

“I’m sorry you had to go through all of that, but I’m glad it brought you to me,” I tell him honestly.

“I’m used to it, so—”

“You shouldn’t have to get used to something like that,” I tell him, cupping his cheeks and forcing him to look me in the eyes. He nods in understanding, his arms snaking fully around my waist.

“It doesn’t matter. All I want is to be with you forever.”