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“Hear me out…please.” The pain in Vivian’s tone surprised her. “I abused my power, but it wasn’t intended that way. The leader has appeal only to draw his people close, to nurture them, to protect them, and heal when necessary. In return, they also give him strength when he needs it. The power isn’t a sexual draw. I perverted it, and it broke my Marrin.”
“Marrin?”
“Toron’s father. He didn’t die of natural causes. He committed suicide.”
Again with the bluntness. Sienna’s mouth went dry. “I’m so sorry.”
The older woman nodded, eyes vacant as if she was remembering. “He loved me more than life because I was his mate. I loved him too, but I was young and stupid. Marrin was much older than me. The alpha blood came through my line, not his, and I had no brothers. No one at the time challenged my family for leadership, and so I came into the power. I know now it shouldn’t have been. If only… Well, I can’t live in regret.”
Sienna guessed she did regret what she’d done, driving her husband to end his life because she cheated and kept cheating. The entire story made her want to run and never come back, just as she did five years ago.
“I had to wait until Toron was old enough to lead after his father’s death, but I knew right from the start he could be different. He had a natural ability to control it and himself. The problem was, he didn’t want to. Not that Toron wanted to sleep around. He loved his father very much. It broke him when he lost Marrin, and so he decided he would never love someone like Marrin loved me. He would never accept a mate.”
Sienna shook her head and looked away. “That has nothing to do with me.”
“It has everything to do with you.” She squeezed Sienna’s hand. “You are Toron’s mate.”
“No, no, no. Hell no.”
Sienna tore her hand from Vivian’s and surged to her feet. She started off down the street, but Vivian’s next words brought her up short, and her heart raced.
“After he met you, there has been no one else.”
Sienna shook from head to toe. She couldn’t bring herself to turn around.
“Stella tries to pick up where they left off, but Toron has denied her. Before you say how would I know, remember this.”
Sienna had no choice. She spun slowly on her heel. Vivian stood beside the bench with a self-satisfied grin on her face, tapping her nose. “From the day he met you, the scent of any other woman on my son began to fade. If you learn more about our ways and about what you are, you will be able to pick up the truth for yourself. I hope you will, Sienna. And now, I’m going to visit with my grandbaby.”
She started off, but Sienna called out after her. “He’s at school.”
The woman waved her hand. “And I am the former alpha. Have a nice day.”
Sienna swore under breath only to hear an answering chuckle from Vivian as she continued down the street.
As the day wore on, Sienna didn’t know what she thought of Vivian. There really wasn’t anything to feel sorry for her about. She acknowledged her mistakes, but kept on making them, even after her husband killed himself. How shaming it must have been to the family, aside the hurt of losing him, to have the leader kill himself. But then, Marrin wasn’t the real leader. His wife was. Sienna had seen for herself how the women still respected Vivian.
When Sienna locked the door behind the last customer, she stretched against the aches in her muscles. Grateful she’d arranged for Toron to pick up Simeon, she straightened the shop and prepared to go get her son. A knock on the door stopped her from heading in the back, and she turned to see Toron standing at the glass and Simeon waving with too much energy at his side. Sienna caught her breath, and a wave of longing washed over her.
Without thinking, she parted her lips, and Toron’s gaze arrested on the movement. When she didn’t stir, he pointed to the knob, and she snapped out of it.
“I thought I was picking him up.”
“We’re going to dinner,” Simeon all but shouted. “I told you, Mommy.”
“Simeon,” Toron chided him. “I told you I would ask Mommy to dinner.”
Sienna suppressed a shiver of pleasure. “Why do I get the feeling Simi has the story right?”
Toron shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Well, I have a lot to do tonight. All the new dresses sold, and—”
“And you have to eat to keep up your energy for making new ones.”
She rolled her eyes at him. For some reason, the fire of her dislike had been stolen away, and she had trouble coming up with a reason not to go dinner. “I appreciate the offer and everything, but I can just order in.”
His hand snaked out, and he encircled her wrist with long fingers. Sienna’s heart stuttered. Toron stroked a thumb over her pulse, and her teeth chattered. She clamped them together.
