Chapter 12 Eiden
Eiden's POV
“See you later, Liam.” I looked down at him, who was below me. For a five-year-old, he was pretty tall.
“Yeah. See you later.” Liam's eyes reflected annoyance, embarrassment, and nervousness towards me. He tried his best to stare at me for more than ten seconds.
He opened and closed his mouth and clutched his pants. I didn't know what he wanted to say, which made him hesitate.
The next second, Liam turned and ran towards Celeste and Levi, who were waiting near their car.
It happened so fast, and I didn't expect him to just run away, leaving me wondering what he really wanted to say to me.
Their car left the restaurant. I quickly got into Ricky's car, which had just arrived.
A smile spread across my face, and a feeling of joy welled up in my chest.
Liam agreed to stay at my house!
I'll show Liam my paintings. Who knew he had the same talent as me?
I used to feel unhappy about my painting hobby, but now I’m grateful for the positive thing I’ve passed on to Liam.
I didn't mind if he wanted me to teach him how to paint. We could spend time together in my painting room.
Imagining the things I would do with Liam and the feeling of being impatient to see him live in my house made time go by quickly.
I was at the Rogue Clan border office for an hour.
When I walked out, two cars were already waiting for me. I got into the front car, which had only one warrior. The car behind us carried four warriors who were protecting me.
The warrior handed me my work phone. I checked my messages, calls, and emails. My deep breath was the signal that I was about to start replying to all of them.
I deliberately left this phone with the warrior who had been my driver for seven years because I didn't want work to interfere with my time with Celeste, Liam, and Levi.
When we got home, I was relieved that no one stopped us on the way as we passed River Oval Pack.
I entered my office, took off my jacket, mask, and hat, threw them on the sofa, sat down in my office chair, and opened my laptop.
When I was already drowning in dozens of emails, an omega arrived with a cup of black coffee that wasn't sweet or hot. I thanked her.
Coffee was always served to me every time the sky turned orange to keep me from feeling sleepy.
I inhaled the calming aroma of the coffee with my eyes closed. My lungs filled with its fragrance. I hoped it wouldn't turn black.
Then I sipped my favorite coffee slowly, savoring it as if this were the last time I'd drink it.
'Hey, Eiden,' my wolf shouted. 'I want us to talk about Liam.' He stared at me intently.
'Okay. What do you want to say?' I leaned back with a cup of coffee in my hand and stared at the painting of a wolf’s head, baring its sharp fangs and red eyes, hanging near the door.
'I think I can guess what Liam wants to tell you, but a huge hesitation is holding him back. Liam wants to call you ‘dad.’' My wolf expressed his suspicions casually.
My heart skipped a beat, and a smile formed on my face as I imagined what it would be like if my wolf’s assumption was correct.
'You make me hope you're right, idiot.' I was annoyed with my wolf.
I wasn't sure Liam would want to call me dad so quickly. He was still grieving the death of his beloved stepfather.
I came into his life recently, and even then, we don't meet every day. I know what he's been up to from Celeste.
Thankfully, Celeste was willing to share her phone number and answer my messages. Someday, I'll ask her to let me call and video call Liam.
'Hey, hey, hey, why are you so insecure? You’re Eiden. The Playboy. All your exes were models.' My wolf grinned annoyingly.
'You’re the guy who rejected your mate because you loved your girlfriend so much and thought she loved you back, but you were wrong; she cheated on you.' My wolf laughed out loud, openly mocking me.
If I could, I would have loved to have my wolf out of my body. Let me tape its muzzle shut for the rest of the day.
'You’ve been really enjoying teasing me lately.'
'More precisely, since you met Celeste.' My wolf was so proud of bullying me. 'I want you to regret it even more and realize that the Moon Goddess never haphazardly creates fates.'
I nodded twice.
I realize I was wrong, but I'll never regret it because Celeste found a better second mate than me, even though they'd only been together for a few years.
I'm sure Celeste will soon find a new mate who can soothe her sorrow and is as good as Benedict.
I returned to work after asking my wolf to stop talking if he only wanted to mock me.
The gloomy atmosphere and the cold embraced me whenever I ate dinner alone in the dining room.
I could even see my parents eating in front of me. Perhaps they had become ghosts to watch over me.
I went to the warrior building to the right of my house.
The tens of thousands of warriors were divided into various areas: eating dinner in the cafeteria, listening to the head warrior read their training evaluation results in the hall, doing light exercise in the front yard, and patrolling their respective areas.
I visited the underground prison. These were the criminals who had severely disrupted my life several years ago. Every night, I watched them being whipped with a satisfied smile.
I wasn't in the mood to whip them. I actually prefer to slash their hands with a small, sharp knife because their screams, stares, and expressions are more painful.
Thirty minutes later, I returned home to find Beta Selena sitting in the living room, playing on her phone. She had a sullen face and glared at me, annoyed.
"If you can't sleep, just count sheep until you can. Or count stars, leaves, or grass." She was acting just like a mother. Even my late mother didn't care about me.
I sat on the sofa across from her and listened to her voice again.
"It's not that you can't sleep, but you're afraid to sleep. You don't want to dream." Yeah, she guessed right. I couldn't deny it.
"You'll get sick if you don’t sleep. Working like this is pointless—you won’t be able to focus. That coffee will only keep you awake, nothing more." She glared at me with a fierce expression. She was the only one I allowed to be so bold with me.
“Thanks for the scolding.” I smiled faintly at her, and she shot me a warning look that she had twice carried me to my second-floor room while I was drunk.
Beta Selena snorted. She was tired of admonishing me. She changed the subject. “You haven’t told me about your son today. Do you have good news or bad news?”
A bright smile returned to my face, and the happiness in my heart drove away the drowsiness threatening to overtake me.
“I bring good news. Liam has agreed to stay at my house. But, as I told you earlier, Celeste and Levi will also be staying here,” I said.
We’d already decided where Liam’s room would be and found a comfortable, livable house for Celeste and Levi.
I gazed at this ancient mansion. I am the sixth generation. This mansion holds many memories of its inhabitants.
“Whoa, I’m so happy to hear that. I’ll finally get to meet my future Alpha.” Beta Selena smiled broadly, her eyes sparkling, and then she scratched the back of her neck. “I’m not mistaken, am I? He’s your firstborn.”
I nodded. “But I don’t want Liam to think I approached him because of that. By the Moon Goddess, I never thought that way.”
"Trust me, he’ll feel your sincerity in wanting to be like any other father with a bond with his son." Beta Selena didn't let me overthink.
"I'll inform Gamma and Delta. They should plan now what security system they'll implement while the three of them stay in our pack," she said as she left my house. She didn't care if I was sleeping or not.
I would research online about what fathers do to their sons.