Chapter 18
#Chapter 18 – Meet the Stepmom
Amelia uses her shoulder to push open the front door, wheeling her carry-on suitcase behind her and
pressing her phone to her ear. “The Balenciaga,” she says. “Yeah, listen, I’ve got to go.”
She tosses the phone aside, running thest few steps across the room to where Victor is standing,
jumping up into his arms and wrapping her legs around his waist.
Victor had intended to be stern, to break the news to her as soon as he could, but…almost
involuntarily, he wraps his arms around her, burying his face into the space between her neck and
shoulder. He growls softly.
“I missed you, baby,” Amelia says, taking his face in her hands and kissing him softly, licking the tip of
his nose andughing. “Did you miss me?”
Victor cups her ass with one hand and presses her tightly against him with the other. Sheughs and
wiggles, whispering “Do we have time? Before the party at the Club?”
At this, Victor takes a step back and wraps his hand around her wrist. “We’re not going to the party.”
Victor turns and heads into the kitchen, where a ss of whiskey and another of rose are waiting.
“What?” Amelia asks, shocked and a little breathless, following him into the kitchen.
“We’re not going to the party,” he says, lifting the whiskey to his lips and taking a sip. “We have to talk.”
Amelia looks him up and down, her attitude shifting from excitement to defense. She watches him,
alert, looking for any change in his movement. What is he up to?
Victor gestures towards the ss of pink wine. “You’re going to need it.”
Amelia moves forward and takes the ss. As he talks, she begins to sip.
Victor tells her everything. The surprise at seeing the boys at the quiz show – she was there too, for a
moment, does she remember them? Then seeing Evelyn again, their fight, his demands. Amelia
finishes the first ss of wine. She pours another.
He continues, telling about the boysing to stay for the night, Evelyning over to help. About
being pushed into the pool, breakfast in the morning, Evelyn leaving with two crying boys in tow…
As he finishes, Amelia watches Victor’s face, feeling her hackles start to rise, an instinctive desire to
bare her teeth. She shuts these instincts down, though, refusing to let them show.
“I’m going to keep them, Amelia,” Victor concludes, his hand on his ss, watching her carefully. “I’m
going to recognize them as my sons, as is my right. If you don’t…well, if this means you want to cancel
our mating ceremony…I will ept that.”
At this, Amelia drains her second ss of wine and studies the frosted ss that she holds between
her fingers. After a long pause she says, “So. If she says no, you’re going to turn heaven and earth to
get those boys.”
He nods.
“But if I say no,” she continues, just as slowly. “You’re going to let me walk away.”
Again, he nods. “So, no matter what anyone else wants, you’re keeping the boys in your life. Even if it
means losing me.”
Victor sighs and hangs his head, pressing two fingers to the bridge of his nose. But he doesn’t deny it.
Amelia takes a moment to watch him and then she nods. She turns slowly on the ball of her perfectly
manicured food and smashes her ss to the kitchen floor. Victor listens to her as she leaves the room
and makes her way up the curving staircase to the second floor, where so recently he yed with his
boys, his sons.
When she reaches the top of the stairs, Victor hears Amelia let out a low scream of rage – a primal
thing, a warning to anything that can hear it to stay the f**k out of her path. Rather than scaring him,
though Victor rises to this sound, feeling himself drawn to her despite her rage and his guilt.
That woman is his Luna, his match. But god, how were they going to survive this.
Two dayster, Amelia stands by the front door in a purple sundress and a hat with a wide straw brim,
a fake smile pasted on her face, All to impress two six-year-old boys.
Victor is standing at the bottom of the drive, helping the boys climb from the town car that picked them
up from their mother’s house. Amelia is struck by the sight of them, town between her emotions. Her
first instinct is to snarl at these boys, who havee with their sticky hands to destroy her life.
Her second, though, is…shock. Surprise at how much they look like Victor, mimic him in the way that
they smile, theyugh they move. The part of her that loves Victor moves towards these boys, wanting
to know them.
But her first instinct – therger one – keeps her in check. These pups – bastards, whether or not
Victor acknowledges it – are going to have no effect on her life. She can fake it, for awhile – pretend
she doesn’t mind, even likes them – but when she officially bes Luna? They’re off to boarding
school, or even as wards to another pack.
“They’ll never threaten your position,” Victor had promised her that night, “And Evelyn will fall in line.”
She’s already threatening my position, Amelia had thought, but she hadn’t said a word of it.
“Bring them over, let me meet them,” Amelia had said, after hours of fighting. “After all, if they’re going
to be yours, then they will be mine too.” At that, she had beamed up into Victor’s face and let him
believe she meant it.
Now, two dayster, here were the boys, running up her driveway.
“Alvin! Ian! Let me guess who is who,” Am says, bending down and giving them her best smile.
Property of N?)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
“I’m Ian!” says the first, waving and showing her a missing tooth with his big smile.
“I’m Alvin!” says the next, struggling up the drive with a big bag full of who-knows-what.
“Great!” Amelia says. “Come on in-“ but they bust past her, as if the house was theirs already. She
clenches her teeth behind her smile.
Victores up and puts a hand on her shoulder, staring at something on his phone. I have to go into
the office,” he says.
“What!?” her body goes rigid, horrified.
“For a couple of hours,” Victor says, already looking into the house and nning his exit. “A border
disturbance – nothing big – but they need me.”
“Victor, you can’t leave me with-“
“It must be done, Amelia,” he looks at her fiercely for a moment and then walks into the house, his
decision made. Amelia follows him in slowly, a little panicked.
Amelia feels something tug on your skirt. She looks down to see a twin; she doesn’t know which one.
“Do you have any snacks?”
Two hourster, the kitchen is a mess. The cook had gone a little overboard buying materials for an ice
cream sundae bar. Now, Amelia was pretty sure that every single ingredient was spread, smeared, or
sprinkled all over her granite counter tops.
Whatever, she thought, cook’s mess to clean up, not mine.
She watches the boys from across the kitchen ind, sipping an iced tea. She had to admit, they were
very handsome boys, clearly clever. If she had sons, she’d want them to have the same qualities.
Unfortunately, she didn’t want sons. At least, not anytime soon.
Amelia knows two things in this world: that she loves Victor, and that is going to live a good life.
When her mating bond snapped into ce with Victor, Amelia wasn’t surprised for a moment. She had
always known that she was destined for a mate like him. There were twists and turns, of course, but
Amelia was still dedicated. She loved him and more importantly, she can sway Victor to get what she
wants.
Just don’t tell Victor that.
“We have missed daddy these past few days,” Ian said, pouring chocte syrup directly into his hands
and interrupting Amelia’s thoughts. “He has been so busy.”
“He’s a busy guy,” Amelia says absently, pulling out her phone.
“We know he is busy,” Alvin says, fishing a red cherry from the bottom of the jar. “But he is not too busy
for mama, thank goodness.”
Amelia pauses at that. “What do you mean? Has he seen her?”
“No,” Ian says, “but they talk on the phone for hours.” He rolls his eyes “It is so boring.”
Amelia leans forward. “What are you talking about, they don’t talk on the phone. He’s been busy with
work.”
“Okay!” Ian says,ughing, his eyes sparking. “You’re probably right. You know better.”
“Hey,” Alvin says, hopping down from the counter anding close to her. Amelia flinches away from
him, not eager to get caramel sauce all over herself. “Daddy says when he gets married, we will be in
the wedding! Do you think that is true?”
“Um, probably,” Amelia says, considering. Right now, she can’t think of a way to keep them out.
“I will like that!” says Ian. “The only problem is, we don’t know what color to wear.”
“Huh?” asks Amelia.
“Well, daddy says the groomsmen wear colors to match the bride. We just don’t know if we should
wear blue suits, to match your eyes,”
Amelia preens a little, pleased that he’s noticed.
“Or brown, to match mama’s.”
At this, a snarl tears from Amelia’s lips – “Why you little –“
But then, Victor walks in the door, a pizza in his hands. “Daddy!” shouts one, and “Papa!” the other. The
boys rush to their dad, who blocks them with the pizza. “Whoa, whoa! You guys are covered in syrup –
did you have too much fun with Amelia?”
“Yes, Amelia is so great!”
“We just love Amelia!”
Victor beams at his boys. “Amazing.” Victores into the kitchen. “Thank you, Amelia,” he says,
giving her a kiss. “This means everything to me.”
Amelia grinds out a smile. “Anything for you, my love.”