Chapter 186

Alaric’s POV

I should have known when Aidan told me where to find Cara, that he would be setting me up for disaster. Yet my foolish heart had longed to see her regardless and went along with what Aidan directed, hoping to catch sight of her.

And I had. Through the window of the fancy restaurant, I saw her sitting across from Noel, smiling and laughing. They clinked their wine glasses together as if in a toast.

I should have went in, maybe. That had been my plan when I arrived here. I was going to go in and speak with Cara, tell her everything about my feelings, how much I missed her, and how dedicated I was to treating her the way she wanted to be treated, as if everything was normal.

Instead, seeing her so happy, I had lost my nerve.

I was so unworthy of her in a way that Noel could never be. Noel had never hurt her in the past like I had, leading to her accident and the loss of her wolf, which was no causing so much physical strain on her.

All I had ever truly done was brought pain to Cara’s life.

As her mate, I should have been a source of comfort and joy, but I’d misjudged her from the start and made her pay the price for my own misconceptions.

I’d tried to do right by then, to prove my love and devotion in a way I hadn’t been able to in the past, but it had never truly felt like enough.

And now, with her diagnosis, the true depths of the pain I had caused her were finally revealed. It seemed there was no end to my treachery from the past.

Noel was here now, ready to love her so openly in a way that I had never been in the past.

What right did I have now to march in there and interfere in her new budding romance?

All this time I had been inserting myself. Maybe she just wanted to forget me. And she had every right to.

Perhaps it was time I canceled those flower deliveries.

As I walked away, I thought about simply returning to the airport and taking the soonest flight back to DuskWood, but I couldn’t be this close and not see my children. So I headed back to Aidan and Ryan’s house and prepared myself for another confrontation.

Whatever. I could put up with Aidan’s distrust if it meant spending some time with my kids.

I knocked on the door, and Aidan opened it, a smirk on his face. “Guess you found them?”

“My kids here?” I asked, not wanting to play whatever game he had in mind.

Fortunately, Aidan took some pity on me. He hitched his thumb over his shoulder. “They’re out back.”

Even if we couldn’t agree on anything else, the brothers and I had reached an understanding regarding the children. As I was Ethan and Mia’s father, I was always given the right to see them, and see them I did, as much as I was able.

In this, the Auburns and I agreed. They never stood in my way.

Stepping out back, Ryan, Colin, Ethan, and Mia were sitting around a fire pit. The brothers were helping their niece and nephew cook marshmallows on a stick over the campfire.

When the kids spotted me, they nearly abandoned their sticks, but I rushed forward to stop them. “Don’t waste the marshmallows! I’ll come to you.”

Ryan and Colin took over the cooking as Mia and Ethan hurried to me anyway. I gave them hugs and we sat on the ground as their uncles finished making s’mores.

“You didn’t say you were coming,” Mia said.

“No. I wanted it to be a surprise,” I said.

“I’m surprised,” Ethan said.

“Me too,” Mia agreed.

“Good surprised?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Ethan said.

“Yes,” Mia said, and hugged me. I’d noticed, since getting well, that she’d had more energy, which helped her to be more outgoing. In the past, she’d been meeker and a little quiet. Now she was a bustling ball of energy, always ready for the next adventure.

It was amazing to see her thrive so well now that she was feeling better.

“Does Cara know you are here?” Colin asked, after the kids became more focused on their s’mores than the conversation.

“I don’t know,” I said. I’d only seen Aidan earlier, when I asked about Cara. I guessed he didn’t tell Colin that I’d been here. “I thought we saw each other through the window, but I can’t be sure. I almost rather she didn’t.”

“Through the window…?” Colin asked.

“At the restaurant downtown,” Aidan said as he finally joined us in the backyard. “Where she and Noel went to celebrate.”

Colin gave Aidan a withering look, perhaps in my defense. Aidan seemed entirely immune to it.

I just sighed. “Let’s just forget it. I didn’t bother them and came back here instead.”

“Are they on a date?” Ryan asked.

“Ryan,” Colin scolded and nodded his head to me.

“It’s fine,” I said, even though it wasn’t. “I just want her to be happy.”

“Mom likes the flowers you send, Dad,” Ethan said. “She waits by the door sometimes when they are supposed to come.”

I… didn’t know how to process that news. It gave me a bit of hope, but I didn’t feel like I was worthy of hope anymore right now. I still felt too guilty for how I treated Cara in the past.

Flowers weren’t enough to fix things.

“It might not be a date,” Colin said. “As far as I can tell, she doesn’t have those kinds of feelings for Noel.”

“They’ve spent a lot of time together,” Aidan said. “Who can say how those feelings grow?”

“Aidan, now you are just being a dick,” Ryan said.

“Language in front of the kids,” Colin said.

Ethan ducked his head, pretending like he hadn’t heard. Mia was actually oblivious, looking at the fireflies.

“Well, I shouldn’t stick around, just in case,” I said. “Cara probably won’t want to see me…”

“You’re leaving?” Mia asked, turning those doe eyes on me. “But you just got here.”

“It was only a short visit,” I said.

“Too short,” Ethan muttered.

Some guilt swelled up within me. Maybe it was too short. Should I stay longer, just for the kids sake?

“I’ll be back on the weekend,” I said. “We’ll plan something properly so your mother knows about it.”

That seemed like a good compromise. I still wanted to get out of here before Cara showed up. With some luck, she wouldn’t learn at all that I had been here.

Deciding, I hugged the kids goodbye, said goodbye to Colin and Ryan and then headed back through the house to the front door. Colin came with me.

“I’m sure it’s not what it looked like,” Colin said. “Cara likes Noel, but it’s never been romantic.”

“She deserves to be happy,” I told him. “All I’ve ever done is make her miserable.”

“That’s not true,” Colin said.

I didn’t want to argue. I just wanted to leave.

Yet, as I pulled open the door, I stopped, surprised to find Cara there, arm lifted to ring the doorbell.