Chapter 229

Iris

I sit on the edge of our bed, watching in stunned silence as Arthur hurries around our bedroom like a man who has just become possessed. He yanks open drawers, grabbing handfuls of clothes and stuffing them haphazardly into the open suitcase on the bed. It’s so unlike his usual methodical nature that I’m almost more disturbed by this than by everything else that has happened tonight.

“Arthur,” I say hesitantly, “you can’t be serious about leaving Ordan for good.”

He doesn’t pause his frantic packing, doesn’t even look at me as he moves to the closet and pulls out another haphazard armful of clothes. “I’m completely serious, Iris.”

“Look, I understand your fear, but… leaving Ordan forever? Just like that?” I shake my head. “There has to be another way. You could stay and fight. Run in the election anyway. Caleb will help you find some legal loophole to challenge Silas—”

“No.” Arthur turns to me with a pair of his shoes dangling from one hand. “You heard what Caleb said. The Alpha Swap is binding. Silas is the legitimate Alpha President now, as far as werewolf law is concerned.”

“But human law—”

“Doesn’t matter in this context.” Arthur tosses the shoes into the suitcase. “The wolves will follow him, and the wolves make up seventy percent of Ordan’s population anyway. Besides, given our history over the past year, not to mention Silas’ recent smear campaign, who would vote for me now? I’d have no support. No standing. We’re fucked.”

I watch him move around the room, this man who just hours ago was the most powerful person in Ordan, now reduced to frantically packing a suitcase like a fugitive. Is that what we are, now? Fugitives? We’re not rogues, thankfully, not with Miles still alive, but now it seems we’re not even allowed to remain in our own home.

He’s being unreasonable. He’s afraid.

“Arthur, please,” I say slowly, deliberately, the same way I do when I’m trying to calm Miles down from one of his tantrums. “Just… slow down for a minute, and take a deep breath, and think about what you’re doing. Silas could destroy everything you’ve built. All the progress you’ve made for Ordan—”

“I don’t give a flying fuck about Ordan right now, Iris!” Arthur snaps, finally stopping to look at me. His eyes are wild, almost feverish. I’ve never seen him like this before, not even once. “Don’t you get it? Silas took our son. He drugged him and threatened to kill him. And he did it so easily, so casually, like it was nothing.”

I flinch at the reminder, at the memory of Miles’ sleepy face as we carried him home. The doctor we called earlier to check him over assured us that the sedative would wear off with no lasting effects, but still—the thought of someone putting a needle in my child’s arm makes me want to claw someone’s eyes out.

“And that’s exactly why we need to stay and fight,” I argue. “He’s a monster, Arthur. He threatened a child using an archaic law, all so he could gain power. Your father might be behind this, too. We can’t let either of them get away with this.”

Arthur shakes his head and resumes his packing. “That’s exactly the thing, Iris. Something doesn’t add up here. If Leonard and Silas know about Miles’ abilities—and now I’m convinced they do—then why would they just hand him back so easily? Assuming they’re working together, then they must have something else planned.”

A chill runs through me at the thought. “Like what?”

“I don’t know,” Arthur admits, and the uncertainty in his voice scares me more than anything. Normally, he’s so calm and controlled, always prepared to take any challenge head-on. This is so much unlike that it hurts. “But I’m not going to wait around to find out. I’m not going to give them another chance to take our happiness from us. Especially not now that you’re going to have another baby, another little life that could be in danger.”

He zips the suitcase closed with finality. The man I’m looking at now is so different from the Arthur I met six years ago. That Arthur was ambitious and driven, with political aspirations that even outweighed our relationship. That Arthur would never have walked away from the presidency, not for anything. Not even for me or Miles.

But this Arthur… this Arthur looks at me and sees something far more valuable than power.

“The ranch is in the independent territories,” Arthur goes on, opening the safe in the closet now and rifling through the papers, jewels, and cash we keep stashed there. “Silas’ authority doesn’t extend there. We’ll be safe there, at least for the time being. I’ll make an appeal to the Alpha of the region and ensure we receive protection. If not, then we’ll go further north.”

“For how long, though? Are we just going to hide out there forever? Run forever? What about Miles’ education? What about our jobs, our lives here?”

“I know it sucks, but we have no choice. We’ll homeschool Miles until we’re certain we can settle down again. And we’ve got more than enough money put away to not have to worry about work.”

“Arthur.” I stand up and cross the room to grab his hands, forcing him to stop moving. “I know you’re scared. I’m scared too. But running away in the middle of the night isn’t the answer.”

“I’m being smart. We’re not safe here. Miles isn’t safe here.”

“So we’ll increase security. We’ll move to a more secure building. We’ll take precautions. But we can’t just abandon everything and everyone.”

Arthur pulls his hands from mine. “I’m not having this argument. We’re leaving tonight.”

“And what about Ordan? Are you really okay with leaving an entire country in the hands of a man like Silas? A man who would kidnap and drug a child to get what he wants?”

“Of course I’m not okay with it!” Arthur explodes. “But what the fuck am I supposed to do, Iris? He had our son! He had a needle in his arm! What choice did I have?”

I don’t reply to that. Arthur looks at me for a long moment, and something shifts in his eyes. Finally, he says, “You never really wanted this life anyway, Iris. You never wanted the spotlight, the politics, the danger. For a while maybe you thought you did, but you’ve said so many times since then how much you regret it. How you wish you could just paint and raise our son in peace. And now you’re fighting to stay in the middle of all this?”

“I never wanted either of us to give up on Ordan,” I reply. “I never wanted you to leave your office behind when we were broken up, and not during all of the recent trouble, and certainly not now. This city is our home. My family is here, Arthur. My mother, my father, my brother. The gallery, my art program for the children. My friends. Our whole lives are here.”

Arthur blinks at me, opening his mouth to respond. But before he can, a small cry from down the hall makes us both freeze. We lock eyes for a split second before we’re both moving, rushing toward Miles’ room. I get there first, throwing open the door to find Miles sitting up in bed with tears streaming down his face.

“Miles?” I kneel beside his bed, heart pounding. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“I had a bad dream,” he sobs, launching himself into my arms. “A really, really bad dream.”

“It’s okay,” I soothe, holding him tight. “It was just a dream. You’re safe now.”

“No, it wasn’t just a dream,” Miles insists, pulling back to look at me with terrified eyes. “It was like my other dreams. The ones that come true.”

Arthur steps closer, sitting on the edge of the bed. “What did you dream about, buddy?”

Miles looks around as if fearing he might be overheard, then leans closer, whispering in my ear, “I dreamed that they’re hiding in the walls. And I dreamed that Grandpa came and killed you and Daddy… And then he took me away forever.”