The Quiet Giant's Mate Chapter 6 - Regina

Does he seriously believe that? That my cousin only let him live for Amelia? That he’s STILL under house arrest? My cousin and I will be having one hell of a conversation later about that. He led Ivan to believe he was being monitored for FIVE years and his movements were restricted.

That’s either malice on my cousin’s part or gross incompetence to never have told him that the terms were for TWO YEARS! Even I know that Ivan’s house arrest was for two years. As long as Ivan showed he was a loyal member of Madonie in those two years and held no ill will against André and his position as Alpha, his house arrest would be void.

And if André never told him, why wouldn’t Amelia? She should have known his sentence was for two years with good behavior. And while I didn’t spend much time in Madonie in those first two years after the war, I know Ivan never stepped a toe out of line. So somewhere, somehow, someone in the Madonie chain of command fucked up, and I’ll see them pay for it.

I can deal with Madonie’s leadership later. I first need to get it through my mate’s thick skull so that he is as free as any other member of Madonie. I don’t know if I will ever be able to get him to forgive himself. But he needs to see and understand that outside of Icky Iggy and Gastone, everyone that fought in that war did so against their wishes, himself included.

Convincing him of all this is going to be an uphill battle. At least it felt that way as he tried to pull away from me. His movement triggered a series of comical unfortunate, or fortunate, depending on your perspective, events that ended up with me in his lap and him kissing me. I found the whole situation funny until his lips pressed against mine.

‘Now that’s what I’m talking about!’ Gioia exclaimed as I wrapped my arms around Ivan’s neck and deepened the kiss.

I’ve only ever kissed Valter before this, and well Ivan already had Valter beat. Though that’s probably because of the mate bond as the kiss was closed mouth and tragically short. I was getting into it when he lifted me off his lap, used the probably two hundred-ish pounds of muscles he has on me, and set me back into the chair.

“My wolf acted out of turn.” He explained, or maybe that was also an apology.

I did my best not to sulk, but seriously he was blaming his wolf, and worse, he was APOLOGIZING for kissing me! What the hell! We’re mates. Kissing is part of the package. And I liked how his lips felt on mine. I wanted more. I wanted that kiss to go somewhere, and by somewhere, I don’t mean me back in the chair with a meter or so between us.

“Are you blaming your wolf and apologizing for him? If that kiss was because of your wolf, at least he took action.” I sighed.

“Cain acts without thinking.” Ivan tried to explain.

“Perhaps you are the one thinking too much, Ivan.” I frowned. “I like you, always have, and now that we are mates, it isn’t some unspoken crush,” I confessed.

“You… liked me?” Ivan frowned.

“Like. Liked would be past tense and imply I stopped.” I rolled my eyes.

“You were, and still are, this handsome towering giant.” I smiled as I gestured to his body.

“You didn’t speak much. Which made it even more important when you did, and your words hold more value. And you were so sweet and gentle in how you interacted with Suzie. You have a big heart, Ivan.” I explained with a soft sigh.

“You don’t know me to say that.” Ivan protested.

“Perhaps not. But I can have my own opinions and first impressions. And I want to know you. You’re the one that doesn’t seem to want to know me or give this a chance.” I pointed out.

“I’m not sure how to be clearer.” He sighed.

“It is nothing personal against you. I am not the sort of man anyone should be mated to. Add in all the other reasons the Goddess got this pairing wrong.” He sighed.

“First, the Goddess is never wrong,” I stated.

“She paired my sister with Ignazio.” Ivan countered.

“And Melania had twisted his mind before Amelia could have stood a chance to set him on a better path. And ultimately, it was because the Goddess made that pairing that your sister was led to Stephen.” I pointed out.

“To quote my cousin, The Goddess guides us on our paths. But we all have to put in the work to find our destinies.” I added.

“Everything we have lived has brought us to this point. To each other. Don’t you get it, Ivan? We were always meant to meet tonight. And it is now in our hands to accept this gift the Goddess has presented us and move forward….” I could only hope my words got through to him, as he didn’t stop me from taking his hand. “Together.”

“Regina…” He sighed as he slowly shook his head and took his hand from mine. “This is a bad idea for so many reasons.”

“I don’t see any, so why don’t you tell me your reasons, and I’ll tell you why you are full of shit.” I snorted, knowing there wasn’t a valid reason for us not being together on this planet.

He grumbled but sat up straighter and complied.

“I’m a disgraced Gamma, war criminal under house arrest.” He held his long thick index finger up.

‘All his fingers are long and thick. Just think how good it will be when we get past all this talking nonsense, and he’s touching you with those big fingers.’ Gioia snickered.

“Everywhere I go, I am sneered at or at the least looked at as an oddity.” Another finger went up.

He’s seriously going to count off all the reasons he thinks we shouldn’t be together. He is so frustrating. Yet it’s the sort of frustrating that makes me want to climb back into his lap and kiss him till he forgets all this nonsense.

“My people do not care for me, so I imagine Incubi holds a similar opinion.” Another finger went up.

Okay, so he may have a minor point about how people view him, but that’s their problem, not his. Anyone that has a problem with my mate will have a problem with me. And a Petridis with the DeLuca gift isn’t someone you want to have a problem with.

“You are the Incubi Beta heir.” He added, but I don’t see how that could be an issue.

“Your family hates me.” He raised the last finger on his left hand.

“That is not true.” I protested.

“Your brother does.” He stated with a shrug.

“I am, as you’ve put it, a giant. While you are a pixie, I’d break you.” He started counting on his right hand.

‘Oh, what a way to go.’ My wolf laughed.

“You would be subjected to the stares and gossip of the masses for being with me.” A seventh finger went up.

“Oh, and let’s not forget you have a boyfriend.” He concluded his list of eight with one of the most inaccurate items.

“Are you done?” I asked, ready to shoot down all his points.

“I believe so.” He nodded as he checked his eight raised fingers to ensure he didn’t miss a point.

“I HAD a boyfriend,” I stated as I put his right middle finger down.

“I broke up with him when I shifted, and we knew we weren’t mates. I wouldn’t consider a relationship with anyone but my mate.” I stated.

“If he doesn’t accept that reality, it is on him, and any behavior from him where he tries or will try to act like we are more than friends will end in pain for him,” I assured him with a small smile, thinking about Valter currently shut in a closet wrapped in poison ivy.

“I don’t care what anyone else says or thinks about me, including me being with you. If people stare, I’ll carry signed pictures of us to hand out so the memory of seeing us can last forever.” I smiled proudly as I made him snort-laugh as I put his right index finger down.

“You may be a giant, but I’m average size. I suppose I would be a pixie compared to you. But that doesn’t mean you’d break me. Don’t forget I was meant to be with you, and I’m tougher than I look.” I winked as I put his thumb back and lowered his right hand.

“My family doesn’t hate you, even Alexander. And if Alexander holds any ill will against you, he will keep it to himself or spend some time in marble time out.” I snorted as I put his pinky finger down.

“I’m only a Beta heir because my siblings moved on to be Betas of other packs. You’d come to Incubi with me and be a Beta when I take my father’s place.” I explained as I put his ring finger down.

“But….” He started to counter, and I placed my finger on his lips.

“No buts,” I stated.

“As stated before, I don’t care what other people think. That includes what they think of you. Let others have their opinion. They don’t know you. And anyone that gets too loud with their opinions about you will find out why you don’t mess with a Petridis.” I smiled as I put his middle finger down.

“Anyone that wants to sneer at you will learn the meaning behind the old saying ‘don’t make faces they could freeze that way’ when I put them in a stone time out.” I scoffed and put his index finger down.

“You are not a disgraced anything. You were the Gamma of Madonie in its darkest hours. You acted with courage and protected Amelia and your people from Icky Iggy the only way you could, by remaining in his inner circle and feeding that information to Gildo to get people to safety.” I hoped my words were sinking in.

“Some may call you a war criminal, but I don’t see you as a criminal. You are no more a criminal than anyone who participated in the war. Your hand was forced, and if you had refused, you’d have been put under Melania’s spell too, or worse, killed, and I’d never have found you.” I frowned, not liking that thought at all.

“And you are NOT under house arrest. I’m not even a ranked member of Madonie, and I know that. Your sentence was for two years.” I sighed as I finally put his thumb down.

“Someone from the ranked members should have told you. I don’t know who dropped the ball on that but trust me, all of them will pay for letting you live these last three years in exile when you didn’t have to.” I assured him.

The range of emotions in those brown eyes, wow. Did Ivan truly not know? Did someone tell him, and he didn’t believe them? The latter does sound feasible, as I cannot imagine Amelia would allow Ivan to think he was still under house arrest. Has he been stuck so deep in his self-doubt and mental prison that he couldn’t imagine being free?

The confusion, pain, and relief I saw in his eyes broke my heart. This sweet giant has punished himself for far too long. All I wanted at this moment was to hug and comfort him. I don’t know if he’ll want that but to hell with it. I was already leaning forward, so I wrapped my arms around him and, having caught him off guard, pulled him to me for a hug, our height differences working out with me in the chair and him on the floor.