Reckless Regrets
Chapter 69

Luca

My brothers told me that having a mate wasn’t going to always be easy, but for some reason, I refused to believe them. What could be hard about having a beautiful woman love you and only you? What could be difficult about giving everything you have, just to see her smile? It just didn’t make any sense.

And when Gabby showed up at my place with Cameron in tow, I didn’t think anything of it. She’d been close to the little guy ever since he was born; I was sure that they probably always had days where it was just the two of them hanging out.

“Hey, you two, what are you doing here? Have you gotten your car delivered?” I asked Gabby at the door. Her dad was having someone deliver her car from Oregon, but they’d just made those arrangements earlier that morning, and I couldn’t believe that she’d already got it.

“No, it will be here tomorrow. Can we come in?” she replied.

I took a step back and got a little worried when I realized that she’d never been inside my place before. I’d brought her over a couple of times where I’d run up to grab something, but she never felt comfortable enough to come in, and now she was here with a kid. Maybe she was nervous about being alone here with me and figured that Cameron would be a good deterrent if I got too excited or carried away. But no matter how much I wanted her, I wouldn’t do anything until she was ready.

“Can you sit for a bit while I talk to Luca? You can watch videos on my phone if you want,” Gabby leaned down and asked Cameron, who hadn’t taken his eyes off me since I’d opened the door.

“You look like Genesis’ daddy. She’s still a baby, but she’s fun to play with. Do you know her?” He asked.

“Yes, I know Genesis, she’s my niece, and her daddy is my older brother,” I replied.

“Do you like him?” he immediately asked.

“Why?”

“Because my daddy says I’m going to have a new brother or sister soon and I’ve never had one before. But you have a brother, so do you like him? Is he fun to play with?”

“I love him very much, but we don’t always get along. Honestly, though, he’s the best big brother I could ask for, so yes, I like him. He’s very fun,” I honestly replied. It was strange being asked these questions by someone who barely came up to my waist, but while thinking of the answers, I realized how vital Matt was to me and how he was always there, even when I’d done my very best to piss him off. He was a good guy.

“Good. I want to be like that, the best big brother. I’m Cameron!”

He stuck out his hand and waited for me to take it before giving it a tight squeeze and shake. For a pipsqueak, it was an excellent little handshake.

“Luca, and it’s nice to officially meet you, Cameron.” Once introductions were done, he took Gabby’s phone and walked to the couch to begin watching his videos.

Gabby looked nervous, and I hoped that it wasn’t because of me.

“Are you alright, sweetheart? I didn’t know you were coming over; I would have come to you if you wanted to see me,” I softly said.

“Did I interrupt you? If you’ve got company or something, we can leave. I don’t want to disrupt your life or anything.”

“What are you talking about? Who do you think would be here? Another woman? Princess, I’ve already told you that I don’t speak to any of those girls anymore. You’re welcome at my place anytime you want to be here. I was just saying that I didn’t mind coming to you since you didn’t have a car. How did you get here?” I asked.

“We took an Uber. Are you hungry? I can cook dinner for you.”

I stepped forward and brushed her dark chocolate hair from her face and looked into her huge whiskey brown eyes. This woman was the sweetest thing I’d ever met, so her offer to cook for me didn’t seem too far fetched, but everything in me was saying that something was wrong, I just couldn’t figure out what.

“Please tell me you’re okay. You can talk to me about anything; I promise I won’t judge, I just want to help.”

“I know, and I appreciate it. When I’m ready to open up, you’ll be the first person to know.”

“That’s all I ask. So what are we cooking?”

The two of us began to rummage around in the fridge for a few minutes until we stumbled on some thick-cut bacon that inspired me.

“You ever had carbonara? My mom makes the best carbonara in the world, and I’ve seen it done too many times to count. How about you sit, and I cook for you?” I suggested.

Gabby smiled then sat on the outer edge of the peninsula, sipping a glass of water and watching both me and Cameron. It was oddly comfortable and home-like, but I guess anything I did with her would feel like this.

“Do you have a best friend? Someone who you tell all your secrets, and who knows every single detail about you?” she asked. I turned away from the massive pile of chopped bacon to look at her; I had a feeling this visit had to do with Marisol, especially since Gabby had Cameron with her, and I was happy we were finally going to discuss it.

“Yes. His name is Collin, we’ve been friends since we were pups. I don’t think there is anyone on this planet who knows me better than him, myself included,” I replied.

“Make sure he knows how much he means to you and that you’re thankful for all that’s he’s ever done. Marisol gave her body for me, Luca. She allowed herself to be used by countless men for days just so that I could come to you with my virginity, but it’s obvious that purity isn’t that important to you, so she made that sacrifice for nothing,” Gabby told me.

“Hey, that’s not true, so don’t ever say it. I gave my virginity away because it didn’t mean what it should have, but you were smarter than me, and Marisol knew that. She knew what it meant to you, so her sacrifice can never be seen as done for nothing. She did it for you, not me,” I replied.

“Maybe you’re right, but the only thing that meant as much to her as my purity does to me was her son. She loved that little boy so much, and I just want to make sure he’s alright. I know that I can raise him the way she would want. It’s just a small ‘thank you’ for everything she did.”

Her words were laced with sorrow and hurt, and I wished I could flip a switch and turn that off, but I couldn’t. And as I listened, I began to realize what was happening. I’d known that Cameron was staying with Kade and Morgan; he called Kade ‘dad’, and from what I’d heard from my parents, the two of them were going to adopt him. So Gabby now wanting to care for him as Marisol would have, wasn’t making any sense.

“Aren’t Kade and Morgan going to be raising him? I do not quite understand what you’re telling me, baby,” I said as I threw the bacon into a pan to fry.

“The Betas are awesome, and I know that their baby will be taken care of beautifully. But they don’t know Cameron the way I do; I’ve pretty much helped raise him since he was born. If anyone should have him now, it’s me.”

“I get that, but do they? Cameron just told me that he has a brother or sister on the way. It looks like the three of them are positioned to be together as a family, so do any of them know what your plan is?” I nervously asked.

She stared down into her glass for a few moments before she spoke.

“No one knows but you. I was hoping that you would help me; I just need to get somewhere safe while I work out the next steps.”

“Gabby? Did you take Cameron without anyone knowing about it? Please say you didn’t, because otherwise, you have no idea what you’ve started,” I begged.

“Yes, I took him; he needs me. I’m the last link to his mother and the only person who can fill that void for him.”

Holy s**t, this was not good, and when Matt and the rest of the team found out, they were going to have no mercy. Children were the greatest blessing in our pack, biological or not, and we protected them to the death. Gabby was in some deep s**t and didn’t even know it. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and shot Matt a quick text while I continued to try and reason with my mate.

“Baby, listen to me. I understand what you and Cameron mean to one another, but think about this. Kade and Morgan have taken him in as their own. All the love that Marisol had for him Morgan now feels. Kade has been obsessed with kids for as long as I can remember, so I know he’s fallen deep for the little guy too. And you’ve just taken him without saying anything to the people who are now, for all intents and purposes, his parents. Can you imagine how scared they are right now? And Morgan is pregnant; she’s terrified for her son and probably stressing out, putting her baby at risk,” I reasoned.

“I know, and I’m sorry about that, but I can’t win custody against them. They are the second in command; they have a home and money and reputations. I don’t have that; no judge would pick me over them,” Gabby said.

“Exactly. They are the second in command of the largest wolf pack in the country, and you took their child, baby. Do you know how much trouble you’re in right now?”

“I’m not in any trouble; no one besides you knows that we are here, and once we decide on the next move, I’m taking Cameron and leaving town. I know you have your family and your life here, but I really hope that you’ll come with us. It will be easier to raise him if I have help,” Gabby said.

My mind was spinning; this couldn’t be happening. I saw the notification pop up on my phone from Matt letting me know that they were on the way, so that gave me maybe an hour and a half to spend with my girl before all hell broke loose. I’d betrayed her trust, but what I’d really done was save her life. Taking Cameron from the packhouse to here wasn’t that big of a deal, I hoped, but I knew that if she’d successfully ran off with him, and the pack had to hunt her down, there wouldn’t be any mercy once she was found. And she would be found, without a doubt. She was my mate, and no matter how hard it was, it was my job to take care of her; this was my way of doing it.

We continued to talk as I finished putting the pasta together for the three of us. When everything was done, Cameron skipped over and happily sat before his bowl and dug in. I watched the two of them eat, talk, and laugh, but I couldn’t join in. It felt like my stomach was full of rocks, and I was overcome with dread. I’d just found her, it took twenty-two years, and I knew that in some way, I was about to lose her.

***

Kade

I hated that so many pack members opted to live in the city instead of on the territory in the village. It made it harder to keep them safe, to keep their identities as a shifter secret from the humans, and it took so much longer to either get to them or have them come to us when the need arose. The hour-long drive to Luca’s house was filled with me constantly asking for updates to the point where I was driving myself crazy. If I could have shifted, I would have gotten here in thirty minutes, but then how could I get Cameron back home safely? After this kidnapping bullshit, I wasn’t going to be able to let him out of my sight for days, so the car was the only option.

“He’s in the guest room asleep. Luca made our mom’s famous carbonara, and it put Cameron down for the count,” Matt told me as he looked at his phone.

“Thank you for this, and for keeping me calm. I know I’ve been hard to work with tonight, but I appreciate you helping me get my son back,” I told him.

“Don’t thank me for something like that. You’d do the same for me in a heartbeat, and no one, not even my brother’s mate, has the right to steal my nephew away from his parents.”

Once I knew that Cam was wholly safe and asleep, I relaxed a bit. If Gabby was letting him rest, she was probably not planning to make a move for at least a short while, giving us plenty of time to make it to where she was. I just needed to keep my cool when I got there. I thought back to the girl I met when I first got to Oregon, and the broken woman who Tyson broke out of prison, and I completely understood how and why she broke the way she did. I understood her but didn’t condone her actions, and that was an awkward position to be in.

Tyson tore up the road and got us to the city in record time. Matt then directed everyone to Luca’s ridiculously expensive condo, and soon we were in the elevator, heading up to his floor.

“How does Luc afford this place? He just finished school a few months ago; he can’t be making money like this already,” I thought as I looked around.

“I’ve always told you guys that Luca is spoiled, he’s the baby boy. My parents bought the condo for him as a graduation gift; I’m sure they never expected him to finish college.”

“Maybe I need to get a degree if it comes with a place like this.”

The elevator stopped on the twelfth floor, and Matt stepped aside to allow Xander and me to take the lead. It, at the very least, set the tone; this wasn’t a social call, when Gabby saw us, she would see her Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Not her mate’s brother and his friends.

“How are you holding up? Are you ready for this?” Xander asked as we stood outside the door.

“I’m good, but I’m ready to see Cam’s face,” I replied.

Xander nodded, then firmly knocked on the door and waited. It was Gabby who finally answered after a few minutes. As she laid her eyes on us, and the realization that Luca had given her up registered in her mind, all kinds of emotions flashed across her face. But the most prevalent was fear.

“Gabby, how about we all step inside and talk? You’ve got some explaining to do, and we’re more than happy to listen,” Xander stated.

“Yes, Alpha.”

She stepped aside, making room for us to come in, and as soon as the door closed, I was ready to hear her story. And it had better be good, or she was going to spend her foreseeable future locked away in the cells away from everyone she loved.