“Our son, and no I didn’t assault you, I didn’t even touch you.”

I stare at him blankly wondering what the hell was happening, if this was a dream I wanted to wake up.

“It is not a dream,” he huffs in frustration.

I just blink at him, he moves closer grabbing my hands in his and I’m too out of it to even yank them back, this man was Blue’s father?

“After Sybil, your mother trapped us; Rhys and I, she used him to do some of her dirty work, it was some sort of emotional blackmail, before that she cursed Rhys to suppress his inner beast, which is me and she stole our sword cursing it too so that we wouldn’t be able to escape.”

“I always wondered why she took us when Dar was the one she always wanted, always jealous of her sister that one. So one time, Rhys was sent to the human world to kill someone, he arrived and was about to kill his target when it hit him who she was; Sybil had sent Rhys to kill his own mate as some sort of cruel joke. Rhys tried to fight the compulsion because it goes against everyone’s nature to harm their mate.”

Rhysand had been sent to kill me?

“Trying to break the curse and compulsion almost broke Rhys, and somehow, we got separated, the energy it took him to fight the compulsion cleaved him in two, and for the first time ever, man and beast were separate.”

“Rhys collapsed after that, and I was left with you, I knew Sybil would find out we hadn’t killed you, and would send someone else or even do it herself, you were so weak, so dirty and fragile, it broke me to see you like that, and to know that we couldn’t take you with us to take care of you, to pamper you as you deserved. You were also still very young, so I decided to share some of my essence with you.”

He shakes me a bit and I jolt glancing up at him, I had been lost in the story, taking me back to that fateful day on the streets, “What happened next?” I asked my voice clogged with emotions.

“As High Royal Fae, I have the ability to manifest every Mage ability, so I used my most soothing one, the affinity of water and I tried to clean you, and comfort you, but instead, you absorbed it, all of it.”

“It took close to the whole night and we had to leave at some point, satisfied with the changes that had occurred when you took in my energy, I marked you as protection, to protect you from everyone like us and most especially your mother until I could find you again when we were all ready, then I took Rhys back to Bright and buried myself in my sub-conscious which later manifested into an entirely new realm.”

He takes a deep breath as if preparing to say something overwhelming, I stare into his eyes, surprised by the amount of emotion I glimpsed there.

“But she found you, she found you again and manipulated my mark into a curse, that would kill you slowly and hide you from us,” his eyes glisten but he closes them, when he opens them again they are clear, sombre but clear. “My guess is my energy had somewhat changed and transformed inside you, your mother had an affinity for creation and so do you and maybe that’s how Blue came to be, that would also explain his array of abilities.”

A tear drops on our joined hands and I’m surprised to realise that I had been crying, with a rumble Rhian picks me up and deposits me in his lap, I snuggle closer needing the comfort he offered as he brushed my hair.

I hear a whimper and glance next to us to find the hell hounds there, only they were now smaller, still looked like big dogs but a downgrade from the mammoths of terror they were before.

“I used to feel so guilty, during the pregnancy, when things got hard, especially since I was still in the streets, I’d curse at my baby, wishing someone would attack me and hurt me so bad I’d lose him, I wanted him gone. When he’d keep me up at night crying and screaming, I hated him. I wanted my precious baby gone and it wasn’t even his fault.”

“My parents took me to therapy, but I denied having any issues claiming I didn’t remember the night it happened, which was true, but in the real sense, I wanted to punish myself, for being so evil, so heartless.”

“Rhian, I wanted him gone and he was the one keeping me alive, Nona said Blue’s essence was countering the spell, he loved me and for a small while I hated him enough to want him dead.”

“Don’t beat yourself up Oisin, parenthood isn’t easy, but you did a fantastic job despite the circumstances. You were barely able to take care of yourself and were saddled with another life depending on you, you also thought you had been violated, that would be tough on most people, but you pushed through, and now your child, our child is healthy and happy, and you love him unconditionally, it is clear for anyone to see. We won’t leave again, despite what Rhysand thinks, from now on we’re in this together, no matter what, OK?”

I nod, wiping my remaining tears, I had never told anyone any of that, and releasing it felt freeing. I wiggled more on Rhian’s lap trying to get comfortable.

“Do they have names?”

“The hounds? Yeah they do, the white one is Silas,” he barks in answer rubbing himself along my extended feet, “and the broody dark one is Kain,” with a K, not a C. Kain lets a low growl in acknowledgement.

We sit in comfortable silence before I remember something, “Wait, so back then in…where were we?”

“In the dream realm, a manifestation of my subconscious,” he answers moving to lie down and pulling me on top of him.

“Right, in there, you didn’t recognise me?”

“No she cursed you and hid your energy, but in your fear, it somehow unravelled so when I could smell your essence it was so similar to hers that I almost killed you right there and then.”

“Yeah, I remember,” I reply with a shudder.

“But then you were yanked back and you took me with you, I had been trapped in there unable to leave but I followed you back and snapped back into Rhysand, I told him everything that had happened, and somehow, his conclusion was to stay away from you to keep your safe, that had obviously not worked the first time, idiot.”

“Wait, so Rhysand knew all this the whole time?” I ask irritated with the man.

“Yeah, but don’t hate him for it, he thought he was protecting you.”

“I don’t hate him,” I mumble, but he hears me and goes still.

“What about me, do you hate me for all that has happened to you because of me?”

I cross my arms on his chest laying my head on them as I stare at him, “If you’d have asked me all this before, the answer would have been different, I mean you made me run and gave me a child I wasn’t ready for, but now, I’d say I don’t hate you, I don’t know what I feel but it’s the farthest thing from hate,” I add on boldly and heat flashes in his eyes.

“Thank you, mate.”

“No, at the time I didn’t know it, but you gave me the most precious thing in my life, and you taught him how to burn someone’s eyebrows off, so thank you,” I lean up smacking a kiss on his lips then lean back to watch his reaction.