Luthor shrugged. "Long road trip."
The man behind the counter smiled, "Yeah. Your kid is gonna be bouncing off the roof of that car, family man."
Luthor ignored him, paid and retrieved his obscenely weighted bag back to the vehicle. He hoped he'd left the two of them long enough to talk, but if not, Sharon was just going to have to manage. Letting her explain on her own was the one courtesy he was going to extend to her for now.
He was pleased to see Alexander staring out of the car window with a big, goofy grin on his face. Something in Luthor's chest tightened when Alexander opened the back door and leaped out of the car, stretching out Luthor's hand in the same manner Luthor had done to him earlier.
Luthor's son was taller than he had expected, and that made the tug in Luthor's chest worse. Still, he shook his hand, man to man, and was able to remain calm when the handshake turned into a brief, shy hug from the boy before he bounced back.
"It's nice to meet you, Papa."
The tug in Luthor's chest intensified, and his poker face cracked, but only for a moment. He felt his mouth move into a genuine smile as Alexander bounced in his seat once more. "You too, kid."
Sharon was silent in the front seat, but hers was far less friendly silence.
Luthor handed the bags to both of them before he took a moment to call ahead and have them start preparing everything for their arrival. When he returned to the driver's side, he found Alexander waiting for him, a smile on his face and a chocolate bar in his hands.
"Only one," Sharon said, more forcefully than Luthor think she meant, "Or you won't sleep for the rest of the ride."
Luthor was not so certain—Alexander was crunching along on his candy between yawns, and looked more than happy to return to sleep now that the journey and the mystery of Luthor's identity had been revealed. He was smiling and looking well cared for. His smile made the bitter, resentful feeling in Luthor's chest worse, so he gazed at Sharon and the frozen distance in her eyes instead.
"How was it?"
"Well, enough. There's no use talking about it." Her gaze was still on Alexander, not Luthor. "He has a million questions, but I've instructed him to save them until we were settled wherever it is you're taking us."
Backed out onto the road, Luthor could already see Alexander rolling back into his blanket cocoon to sleep. Whatever they needed to discuss could wait until he was out again.
The car ride home was pretty quiet. Alexander quickly fell back asleep, and the only sounds were the purr of the car engine and the wind. Sharon was quiet to the extent that Luthor wasn't sure if she was asleep at certain points, but then she would move just slightly, or her perfume would reach him. Then he could feel her eyes on him, and he knew she was staring.
"What?" Luthor responded, not turning away from the road, "Do you wish to yell at me further?"
Her silence continued, and for a moment, Luthor thought that was the end of it, but then her voice came, soft and cautious, "How did you track me down, Luthor?"
The question caught him off guard. It had never occurred to him that she would ask, much less sound so worried. "What does it matter how I found you?" he snapped, his anger returning with a vengeance, "The point is I did, and you can't run anymore."
She seethed in her seat, and when she said nothing, Luthor continued, glancing in the rearview mirror at his sleeping son. "Should I worry that he sleeps so much?"
Sharon seemed surprised but did relax a little more. "He's a heavy sleeper anyway, and he's going through a growth spurt, so it's even worse. Some days I feel like he's always starving and always sleepy." She smiled reminiscently, her expression softening. "Don't worry. It's normal."
It should have reassured Luthor, but instead, it only helped to bring the angry bitterness flooding back. He attempted to shut up, to at least wait until they were home in Crystal Creek before continuing a full-blown argument, but his mouth had other ideas. "Ah, well, good to bloody well know. If I'd known my son these last seven years, maybe I'd know more about him."
Sharon bristled, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms as best she could with one handcuffed. "What's your problem with me?" she demanded in a voice so cold Luthor half expected the windows to frost over.
"What's wrong with me? You're what's wrong with me. You left, and you didn't have the fucking courage to tell me about my child, and now you're back, and you're denying me my rightful place in my pack as my wife."
Sharon made a strangled noise. "Rightful place?"
"Yeah, you heard me," Luthor growled. "It's your obligation, Sharon, your destiny, to stand beside me as my wife. My mate."
Sharon gazed at him as if she thought he had lost his mind.
"I bloody well can't believe this. I knew you were obstinate, Luthor, but I had no idea you were stupid and arrogant too." She scorned. "You have no hold on me! I am not part of your pack. I do not bow and scrape at your behest simply because you order it so! I do not care one whit what the hierarchy has to say about our status!"
"Our status is Alpha and his mate! Can't you get it? There's no other status for an Omega other than the one who's mated to her Alpha!" Luthor's voice rose, and his eyes burned in a way they hadn't since he was a teenager. Damn, she made him angry.
She turned to her window once more. "You don't get to boss me around," Sharon told him, and it was almost like she was in pain, "Not after what you've done."
"What I've done?" Luthor growled.
Sharon didn't respond. Luthor wanted to reach out and grab her, pull her around to face him, and make her speak, but he kept his hands on the wheel, his eyes ahead. He knew exactly what she was talking about, and it infuriated him that she had the audacity to even bring it up. Denying her when he had no idea she was pregnant was nothing compared to her taking off and hiding Alexander from him. Nothing.
"Don't," she whispered, "I'm not talking about it, Luthor. Don't push it."
It was not anger Luthor was feeling now, but the cold bite of loss and regret, and he did not wish to confront that. It was too close to admitting he'd been wrong, and he would rather have eaten dirt than have admitted that to her. "Fine," Luthor bit the word out. "But this conversation isn't over, mate. That I can promise you."