Page 18 of The CEO Alpha’s Substitute Mate

“Why this woman?” I mutter to my animal. “What’s so special about her?”

She’s nothing like Elena, nothing like the soft-natured woman who had been loved by the pack and respected in social circles. Elena had been raised to be a wife and hostess, and in our years together, she was flawless, the perfect wife. Ariela is… She’s reckless, and there’s a fire in her that burns whenever those brown eyes land on me.

I walk over to the window and look outside.

The lawn runs down from the terrace to the tree line, and my son is out on it at a dead sprint with his arms held out to the sides. He goes twenty yards, turns, comes back, and does it again, shouting something at nobody the whole time. There’s grass on both his knees already.

A minute later, Ariela comes down the terrace steps, still pulling a coat over her sweater. Luca sees her and changes direction mid-stride, hitting her at full speed. She takes it, gets both arms under him, and swings him up off his feet in a full circle with her hair coming loose all over her face. I can hear the noise he makes through two panes of glass.

My brows draw down. Neither of my parents ever did that, not once. At my mother’s funeral, my father put his hand on the back of my neck for about four seconds. That was the only physical affection he ever showed me in my whole life.

I believed that all familial relationships were like that. I intend—or intended—to raise my own son like that. However, it’s obvious to me he would not react well, not after he has been raised with so much affection. That apartment on Garrick Street may have been two rooms with a water stain in the ceiling, but the place was filled with a warmth I’ve never felt before. Compared to this estate of thirty bedrooms with gleaming marble and chandeliers that cast a thousand reflections of light, this place is positively sterile. Until yesterday, nobody in it had ever laughed above a murmur.

My eyes linger on the human woman, who just told me in so many words what her opinion of me was, laugh brightly at my son. I didn’t need to keep her. A nanny would have done it, one of ours, somebody who could raise him as the shifter child he is. Luca would have screamed for a month and then stopped screaming because children ultimately do. If he hadn’t settled, it would have been the nanny’s problem instead of mine.

But he stepped in front of her.

He’s six years old. Ten minutes off the worst night of his life, he put his body between his mother and a man whom his instincts recognized as dangerous. His wolf has claimed her. Young wolves do that with whoever raised them, and taking her away from him now would leave him unstable for years. However, being an alpha, I might have been able to find a way around them. Every consequence could have been handled. So I have no explanation for why she’s on my lawn.

There’s a knock on my door, and Damien lets himself in without waiting for me.

“I heard she arrived.” He crosses to the window with his hands in his pockets, stopping at my shoulder to watch the two of them for a while. Luca has got hold of her hand now and is towing her toward the trees. “Are you sure about keeping her?”

“Yes.”

“That’s it?”

I keep my eyes on the lawn. “Get Reid for me,” I tell him.

Damien opens the door and passes the summons to somebody in the corridor. The butler is in the room within minutes with his hands behind his back.

“Master Vance.”

“From this morning, Miss Reyes is the boy’s mother in this house.” I go back around the desk. “Every decision regarding Luca is hers. You don’t interfere unless something requires interference, and if it does, you come to me. You are not to confront her directly.”

Reid has worked for this family since before I could reach the banisters. He goes very still. Before he answers, he takes a breath, and he has never once needed one before answering me.

“Sir, she’s human.”

“What’s your point?”

He opens his mouth. Nothing comes out of it.

“She’s my child’s mother.” I pick up my pen. “She gave you instructions. What were they?” The pause runs long enough that Damien turns around from the window to enjoy it.

“She wished the game consoles removed from the young master’s room,” Reid answers reluctantly. “And the tablet.”

“Then remove them.”

“Yes, sir.”

I sign the top sheet and push it aside. “One more. Ease his schedule. When the tutors finish at six, he has two hours that belong to him, and his mother decides what happens in them.”

Reid’s chin comes up. “The schedule was drawn up by Mrs. Halloway and myself. She’s coordinated the development of pack children for nineteen years.”

“Since when do you question me?” My eyes snap toward him.

“I’m not questioning you.” His mouth opens and closes. “That schedule was built so Master Luca could catch up on what he’s missed. I just thought—”