“We just left him in the woods, him and Shawn,” Trip said, throwing his thumb over his shoulder.
“Why did you leave Shawn out there with Ryan?”Adam asked.
“Because they were fighting, and now Shawn’s in his panther form, Mother only knows how long he’ll be stuck like that.We don’t have the time to deal with it,” Trip told him.
“Well, let’s go find them and ask Ryan.”
Ryan and Shawn hadn’t moved an inch from where Trip and Marcus had just left them in the woods.They weren’t fighting, so that was a start.
“Ryan, do you remember where that cabin is that mom and dad used to take us to when we were little?Maybe worth a shot to check it out in case that’s where they have El?”Adam said.
Ryan’s ears perked up, and he raised his head.He stood up, which caused a rush of hope to shoot through Trip.Ryan turned and tossed his head in a gesture to follow him.Adam, Marcus, and Trip all quickly disrobed and shifted.They took off after Ryan, moving through the pride lands as a unit.Although they tried to stay to the far perimeters so no one would catch them all shifted and moving towards the border, they still ran into a couple of straggler males out hunting.Trip figured that wouldn’t help the overall morale of the pride, but if it meant they could find El, then it was worth it.
Chapter 32
El
Days continued to tick by,and El had at least fell into a comfortable silence with the women she was forced to share the cabin with.It was a peaceful place.Even though El wasn’t allowed to go outside, the creek that ran down the far side of it was serene.El spent most of her days locked up in the back room where she would talk to her unborn child.It had felt silly at first, but El felt the bond beginning to grow, and the more she talked, the less alone she felt.She also felt better about the fact that she was going to be leaving her daughter as soon as she brought her into the world.
El told her all of the things she wished her mother had told her.El told her how she knew her father would make sure she knew how loved she was; she wouldn’t go a day feeling the way El felt when she had been growing up.El was positive about that.Regardless of what Persia, Willow or Leilani thought, there was no way her mates would ever harm their child.
A knock on the door made El stop her one-sided conversation.
“Can I come in,” Persia asked.
“I guess,” El replied.
She hadn’t softened much to her mom over the course of their time together, and El wasn’t sure she ever would.She still felt betrayed, and she was still pretty pissed about how things had gone down, but now El was also upset that her mom was going to get to witness her daughter grow up when El wouldn’t.That made her angrier than anything else.Her mom hadn’t stuck around to raise her, so why should she get that opportunity!
“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation,” Persia said tentatively.
“I assume you can since I’m stuck here with you,” El replied snidely.
“El, I wish I could have been the one to teach you those things.I missed you, some days I wasn’t even sure I could make it through the day,” her mother told her.
El didn’t bother responding.It was always the same conversation with her, and El never felt the least bit sorry for the woman.
“If you don’t want me to be involved in your child’s life, I won’t be,” her mother said, surprising her.
El took in what her mother had said and tried to quickly analyze how she felt about it.A small part of her wanted to accept that her mother would actually do as El wished, but the trust wasn’t there.No matter what El said, she wouldn’t be there to ensure her mother carried it out, and since she didn’t even know the woman, it didn’t really matter how El responded.
“It’s whatever, Persia,” El said.
“It’s not whatever.I won’t lie and say that I’m not excited about the idea of being able to be there for your daughter, not that I like the reason why, but I missed everything with you.”
“It was your own fault you missed it all, and just because I’ll be dead doesn’t mean you get to swoop in and play mommy with my daughter.My mates will never let you near her.”
“If that’s your wish then fine.I won’t promise that I won’t keep watch from afar, but I won’t be involved with her.”
“Why would you even watch over her from afar?You don’t even know me.I mean, I get that you gave birth to me, but you don’t know me as a person, so why would you feel the need to protect my daughter.”
“Just because I didn’t raise you doesn’t mean that I don’t know you, El.”
“The things you learned pretending to be my friend don’t count,” El barked.
“When you around five years old, your older brother was trying to teach you to ride your bike with no training wheels, and you fell off it and scraped your knee so bad that it scarred.You wore a pink Hello Kitty band-aid on it for a week.When you were in the seventh grade, you went to a school dance and a boy kissed you for the first time, and then the next day kissed one of your friends, and you were devastated.You fell in love for the first time at seventeen, and then quickly learned it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.You were at the top of your class academically.When you walked across the podium to receive your diploma, you almost tripped going up on stage but caught yourself just in time.You looked so beautiful that day, too.I wanted to rip that woman you called a mother’s arms off when she gave you that shell of a hug.Every time she interacted with you when I was watching, I hated her a little more, your father even more.They had what I couldn’t have, and they took it for granted.They didn’t love you or care for you like you deserved.It wrecked me knowing that.So many times, I thought I’d just walk right up to that house and beat on the door and tell you who I was, and take you away, but then I’d be reminded of the damn prophecy.They were looking for me, which meant they’d find you if I claimed you as mine.If they found you, then you’d know.I never dreamed a stupid online dating service would be what beckoned you into the life I worked so hard to keep you away from.”
El felt the tears falling down her face.
