Magnus POV

I hear the door open and throw my best alpha glare and growl at whomever is interrupting this moment between us, and witnessing Alec sobbing in my lap, never more vulnerable.

"I'm Isabelle Lightwood", the interrupter says, "And we need to talk."

She convinces me to leave him momentarily and step out of the room.

"So you know what my mother is like", she starts.

"Good. Honesty. Because I'm about ready to just carry him out of here and let the chips fall where they may", I growl.

"You care about him already...don't you?", she asks, narrowing her eyes.

"He's my soul mate, I'm positive. Yes, I know it that fast."

"Good", she answers, "He deserves that. I'm on your side. I wasn't before, I mean, we all know who and what you are, Mr. Bane..."

I've never been embarrassed of who I am before, but to think I'm not worthy of him...they're right.

"Alpha to alpha, I know you're an enforcer for your father, that you've killed, that half your businesses are illegal, and that the Clave would love to get their hands on you", she continues, "Certainly not the sort worthy of Shadowhunter royalty."

"I haven't had any desire to work for my father in years. In a century. The club is my own", I say.

"For now, until he decides to take it", she hisses.

"It's MINE I said", I comment back.

"Sure. I don't like you, Mr. Bane, but the look on my brother's face when he saw you, smelled you...I think he NEEDS you. My brother would never admit it, but he needs a protector, and neither I nor Jace can do it, it's not fair to him or Lydia to make them marry, and he will do nothing but suffer every day that he's here under my mother's thumb."

"What are you saying?", I ask, clearing my throat. Her words have gotten through every defense I have.

"I'll support your claim on him", she offers, and I feel my shoulders drop with relief. "If you hurt him, Mr. Bain..." She looks directly into my eyes. "I'll kill you. I'll drink your blood out of the Lightwood stemware, the ones with an "L" engraved in 24 karat gold, it's a promise."

I'd love to say 'yeah, you'd try, lady', but the truth is, I believe she would. She loves him as much as I do.

"Understood", I say.

"Good", she answers, "You should know he attempted suicide last night."

I take a deep breath, agony shooting through me. So that's it, that's the source of the incredible pain and terror I feel radiating off him. It felt fresh. "How far did he get?", I ask.

"He was there. Standing on the ledge, about to fall off, a half of a second from it..."

"You LET IT GET THAT FAR?!", I howl. Calm down, calm down, I repeat to myself. "Was no one watching him?" How close I came to losing him before I even knew him.

"Among Shadowhunters, Mr. Bain, we're not each other's babysitters", she hisses back at me. "I had no idea he was going to do that. I didn't know."

"You know he hates himself because you fucking taught him too!", I explode, then drop my head into my hands.

"* I * didn't teach him to. I love him. My mother, the Institute, our friends...I, I don't know what they said to him", she answers.

"Yes you do and so do I", I tell her.

A tear rolls down her cheek. "I don't think...there's no healing for him here."

"For once, we agree", I growl. "I don't feel comfortable leaving him here even one more night."

"Mr. Bain, you can't be serious. He's not yours, not yet. He belongs with his family", she insists.

"I was close to walking out of here with him an hour ago and now I'm there", I insist. "I witnessed your lovely mother slap him so hard I can't believe there's skin left on his cheek."

She weeps, but recovers fast. "Let's go talk to my mother."

"This is ridiculous", the she-devil shouts. "My son is a Lightwood. He needs to be married into another original family, into power. He'll change his mind about Lydia, or I'll find some...man. Whatever it takes. He'll get over you."

"Your son is my soul mate, Mrs. Lightwood, and I am his. He's not going to 'get over me.'"

She chuckles, then the soft chuckle grows into a guttural laugh. "Sure", she says.

"You're an alpha, you never claimed an omega? You never felt...THIS?", I ask. Isabelle puts her hand on my arm to shut me up. Caution.

"No, Mr. Bain, I didn't. I found love with a beta; we don't invent magical stories about destiny and fairytales. You want to fuck my son, I get it."

Isabelle gasps sharply. "Mother!"

"He's not a demon or a warlock or some vampire who sleeps in a dumpster. He's a Lightwood, and he'll be treated as such", she says. "Male omegas are rare. He's our ruby, and we don't part with him lightly, especially to someone like you."

I don't react except to give her an ugly smile. Finally. We're getting down to business.

"Your son is not a conquest to me. I want to claim him, mate him, and marry him. I promise he'll be happy. What will it take to make that happen?", I ask, now that we're negotiating.

"My son is to be properly wedded before he's bedded, are we speaking the same language, Mr. Bain?", she asks.

"Indeed we are", I answer. "I want to wed him with all the pomp and ceremony you require. I'm prepared to wait for a wedding to be arranged, weeks, months..."

"Not that long", she says, raising a finger. "Give us a week or two. A donation to the Institute would be a nice way to speed things up."

"Certainly, and I'd also like to pay for the wedding, however extravagant", I add.

"Wow, generous", his mother says, nodding her head in agreement.

"I have one condition", I add.

She rolls her eyes as if she's been waiting for the other shoe to drop. "And what's that? That you can pay for all this with Monopoly money?"

"That you never see him again after the wedding", I say, "You're out of his life forever. It will be painful for him, but like ripping off a bandaid, sometimes it has to be done all at once."

She REALLY didn't expect me to say that. "You think you know me, Mr. Bain."

"Oh I know I know you. I've known thousands of people in hundreds of years, and you're as complicated and deep as Formica. He's imperfect, so you want him to disappear, but not before you find out what he's worth. Don't worry, I'll make that happen and fund your Institute for a year too."

She's gotten everything she could possibly want, but she's furious. She knows I see through her.

"I love my son, Mr. Bain, everything I do is for him, his ultimate wellbeing", she says.

"Mrs. Lightwood, please. I thought you weren't interested in fairy tales. And one more thing...the next time you raise a hand to him, you'll wake up without hands. As you said, you know who I am." I turn and leave.