Luna. Chapter 64

(Lyra's POV)

"Magnus." I stood up quickly, my chair scraping against the floor. "What are you doing here?"

His eyes moved from me to Kael, and I could practically see him putting pieces together. The intimate way we'd been sitting. The emotional conversation he'd clearly interrupted.

"Asher's nurse said you'd gone to get coffee. I thought I'd join you." Magnus's voice was carefully controlled, but I knew him well enough to hear the tension underneath.

"I was just—"

"Having a private conversation with your ex-husband," Magnus finished. "I can see that."

Kael stood up slowly, and I held my breath as the two alphas faced each other. The last thing Asher needed was his father and stepfather having a dominance fight in a hospital cafeteria.

"Magnus," Kael said with a slight nod.

"Kael."

The silence stretched until I couldn't stand it anymore.

"Sit down, both of you. This doesn't have to be weird."

"Doesn't it?" Magnus asked, taking the chair farthest from Kael. "Because it feels pretty weird to me."

"We were talking about Asher," I said, which wasn't entirely a lie.

"Among other things," Kael added unhelpfully.

I shot him a warning look. "We were discussing co-parenting arrangements."

"Is that what we're calling it?" Magnus's tone was getting sharper.

"Magnus, please."

"Please what, Lyra? Please pretend I don't notice that you've been crying? Please pretend I don't see the way you're looking at him?"

Heat flooded my cheeks. "I'm not looking at him any particular way."

"You're looking at him the way you used to look at me. Before."

"Before what?"

"Before you still loved him."

The words hung in the air like an accusation. I wanted to deny it, but the truth was, I didn't know how I felt about Kael anymore. The anger was fading, replaced by something more complicated.

"This isn't the place for this conversation," I said quietly.

"Then where is?" Magnus demanded. "When were you planning to tell me you've been meeting with him secretly?"

"It's not secret. And this is the first time we've really talked since—"

"Since he saved our son's life," Kael interrupted.

"Our son?" Magnus turned on him. "He's my son. I've been raising him for four years while you were playing secret agent."

"He's genetically mine."

"Genetics don't make you a father."

"Neither does timing."

"Stop." I stood up, my voice sharp enough to cut through their posturing. "Both of you, stop. Asher is sick upstairs, and you're down here having a pissing contest."

They both looked ashamed, which was something at least.

"Magnus, I should have told you I was talking to Kael. That was wrong of me."

"Yes, it was."

"But Kael, you don't get to claim parental rights just because you donated DNA. Parenting is about showing up every day."

"I know that."

"Do you? Because you've had four years to figure out how to be part of Asher's life without disrupting the stability Magnus gave him."

Kael flinched. "I was trying to protect—"

"I know what you were trying to do. We just talked about it. But protection and parenting aren't the same thing."

I looked between them, these two men who both loved Asher in their own ways, and felt exhausted.

"I need some air," I said.

"Lyra, wait—" Magnus started.

But I was already walking away. Some conversations were too big for hospital cafeterias, and I wasn't ready to have them yet.