Chapter 15: Claire
1529 Words
The minute Draven kneels and whispers “Always,” the apartment goes quiet. Suspiciously quiet. Which means one thing: LJ is loading a verbal weapon. She stands up slowly, wipes her tears, adjusts her shirt…and stalks toward Draven like a small, furious lawyer about to ruin someone’s life in court. I clutch Carter a little tighter.
“Oh gods,” I whisper. “LJ, please—”
“No,” she says, holding up one finger like she’s about to deliver a sermon. “No Claire. I have questions. MANY questions. And I’m not dying with them unanswered.”
Draven looks…Terrified. Actually terrified. The Alpha who just ripped apart a ceiling demon. The half-shifted wolf who threw himself into danger without blinking. The man who practically hugged a moonbeam of pure toddler rage— backs away from LJ.
“Lilliana,” he says slowly, “this is not—”
“Oh, so we’re using government names?” LJ snaps. “GREAT. Then sit your supernatural ass DOWN.”
Draven sits.
“…Did you just—did he just obey you?”
LJ places her hands on her hips. “Fear is a powerful motivator, Claire.”
Draven mutters under his breath, “She reminds me of my pack’s beta… if the beta had rabies.”
“I HEARD THAT!” LJ shrieks.
“Sorry,” he lies.
She narrows her eyes. “Draven. We’re going to begin today’s session with a few simple questions.” He opens his mouth to object—She snaps her fingers in his face. “Uh-uh. No wolfing out at the therapist.”
My jaw drops. “LJ,” I groan, “you’re not a therapist.”
“I am TODAY.”
Draven looks at me for help. I shake my head. “You’re on your own.”
He sighs. “Fine. Ask.”
“FIRST QUESTION,” LJ says, pacing like Judge Judy. “What in the nine realms was THAT—”She points at the dead creature.
“—and HOW DID IT GET ON MY FRIEND’S ROOF?”
Draven rubs his temples. "I told you. It’s a Shadow Crawler.”
“THAT MEANS NOTHING TO ME.”
“It’s a demon scout—”
"AMBITIOUS SPIDER DEMON!” LJ screams.
“…Sure,” he mutters tiredly. “Yes. That.”
“SECOND QUESTION.” She leans in, inches from his face.“WHY,” she jabs his chest, “ARE YOU HALF-SHIFTING IN PEOPLE’S HOMES? PUT SOME CLOTHES ON. HAVE SOME RESPECT.”
“LJ!” I gasp, horrified.
Draven flushes—actual pink across his cheekbones. “I am wearing clothes!”
“NOT ENOUGH. NEXT—”
“LJ, enough,” I interrupt.
“No, Claire, this is IMPORTANT.”
But before she can continue—A chunk of ceiling plaster crumbles and falls directly onto Draven’s shoulder. He winces. LJ gasps.
“OH HELL NO—” She spins, pointing straight at him again. “Wolf boy, you are fixing this!”
Draven stares at her. Like she’s speaking a language he has never heard.“…Fix it?” he repeats slowly.
“Yes,” LJ says, gesturing wildly upward.“The roof. The hole. The NIGHT SKY currently visible from the LIVING ROOM.”
“I killed a demon,” Draven says, confused.
“AND?” LJ shrieks. “You BREAK it, you FIX it. Pack rule. Human rule. My rule!”
Draven looks at me.“LJ…”He sounds helplesss. “I don’t… build things.”
Carter lifts his sleepy head and adds quietly,“Woof fix house.”
Draven freezes and his shoulders sag “…I… fix house.”
LJ claps once. “SEE? The baby said it. It’s settled.”
Draven stands up immediately, very reluctantly. He walks over to the damage, inspects the beams, mutters something about structural integrity, and— Shifts just one arm to wolf form. Big. Powerful. Covered in fur.
LJ shrieks. “OH MY GOD. YOU HAVE A TRANSFORMER ARM.”
He ignores her, reaches up and starts gently, carefully moving broken wood aside with claws precise enough to carve runes.I stare.
“…he’s actually doing it,” I mumble.
Carter, still in my arms, pats my cheek. “Woof fix,” he says sleepily.
LJ squints at Draven. “Okay,” she says, folding her arms. “Points for responsibility. BUT—”
Draven’s head snaps up in irration. LJ leans in.
“That doesn’t get you out of the next question.”
He groans.“What question?”
LJ smirks. Oh no.
“WHEN,” she demands, “did you plan on telling us you’re basically imprinted on the baby?!”
He freezes.
I freeze.
Draven—face pale, claws still extended, literally standing on a ladder he fashioned out of debris— whispers: “…Should've known you were into Twilight. That isn't what happend.”
LJ circles him like a shark. Hands behind her back. Shoulders squared. Eyes narrowed with lethal levels of judgment. “Explain,” she demands.
Draven rolls his eyes. "What happened wasn't imprinting. It was-"
“WRONG,” LJ snaps. “Try again.”
He bristles. “I’m not a child being corrected—”
“Oh aren’t you?” she interrupts, poking his chest. “Because my toddler nephew sensed your FEELINGS and bonded with you like a magical emotional support animal—so YES, YOU DID IMPRINT ON HIM.”
“I didn’t imprint with him. God, why do you make it sound gross?,” Draven argues.
“FINE. HE BONDED WITH YOU!” LJ yells. “BIG DIFFERENCE!”
I bury my face in my hand.
Draven runs a hand through his hair, claws retracting. “Look. Moon-marked children sometimes—”
LJ gasps so loud Draven flinches. “M O O N - M A R K E D ?!”
“LJ—” I start.
“No no no,” she waves me off. “Let the wolf talk.”
Draven sighs heavily, defeated. “Carter’s magic reacted to mine. It… recognized something in me.”
“LIKE A DOG RECOGNIZING ITS OWNER?” LJ shrieks.
“What the hell? Why do you keep comparing me to a dog?! I’m not a dog!!!”
“WELL YOU’RE NOT A HOUSE CAT.”
Draven lets out a deep, exhausted growl. He closes his eyes. “Children with lunar magic—especially ones as powerful as Carter—respond to instinct. He reached for help.”
“He reached for YOU,” LJ points out, pacing dramatically. “Out of everyone here, he chose YOU. Claire’s bestie—” she gestures wildly at herself “—did he choose ME? NO!”
Draven’s mouth twitches. “Maybe because you yelled at him the whole time—”
LJ gasps as if struck with a holy revelation. “ARE YOU SAYING I SCARED THE BABY OUT OF BONDING WITH ME?!”
Draven takes a step back. “That is NOT what I—”
“He bonded with YOU,” LJ continues, spiraling, “because I am too SASSY to be a mystical werewolf soulmate!”
“I’m not his soulmate.”
“YOU COULD’VE FOOLED THE GLOWING TODDLER.”
Draven rakes a hand through his hair again.“Look,” he tries again, voice strained, “Carter reached for someone he felt could protect him. It was instinct. A magical response. A reflex.”
LJ stops pacing. Turns slowly and smiles like a demon ascending. “Ohhhhhhhh. A reflex, huh?”
“Ugh...Yeah,” Draven says slowly.
“So explain THIS—”She jabs a finger at Draven’s chest.“Why is HIS magic still in YOUR aura?”
Draven just stares at LJ. So do I. Carter snores against my shoulder, glowing faintly, and Draven’s eyes soften in a way that makes my chest ache. He looks down. And yes… there is still a faint silver shimmer in the air around him. LJ notices.
“AHA!”
Draven rubs his face, exhausted. “It’ll fade.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
LJ gasps. “You don’t KNOW?!”
Draven looks like he wants to walk into the remaining half of my roof and just stay there.
I step forward, finally intervening.“LJ, maybe we should—”
“No,” she says firmly, holding up one finger. “One more question.” She tilts her head and asks, very softly: “…why did you look like you were going to break apart when Carter cried for you to stay?”
Draven freezes. The air changes. My breath catches. Even LJ looks surprised at her own question. After a long, long moment, Draven whispers: “…because no one’s ever asked me before. Sure they asked for help when they need it, but no one, let alone a child, has ever asked me to STAY after a job is done.”
The words hit the room like lightning. LJ’s mouth falls open. Carter stirs in his sleep and Draven—the deadly alpha wolf—stands there with his hands trembling.
- Writer
