Chapter 402
“Everyone’s here”. She smiled. “We’ve waited so long to finally meet you p>
“And my dad is he here?”. I asked.
She nodded. “He thought it best that I come and speak to you first. He did say you were your mother’s daughter after all p>
I didn’t get what she meant by that but shrugged it off. I couldn’t go down there and meet them all. I wasn’t ready for that. Yes, I had waited a lifetime to meet the other side of my family, but this wasn’t the way.
I wouldn’t be forced into it. And when the time came, I wanted Jake to be here with me. He was my comfort, my safe space. Stop reading the wrong and incomplete storyline; has the correct and complete book. I didn’t want to do this alone. I didn’t want to be put into a situation I felt I couldn’t get out of.
They may be my family by blood, but I didn’t know them, and I was so far out of my comfort zone right now.
“I need to speak with him”. I spoke.
“Sure”. She smiled. “Do you want to come with me p>
I shook my head no. “I’ll wait here p>
“Okay but I’m going to bring you back some lunch. You must be starving”. As she closed the door behind her I took a seat on the edge of the bed.
Jake must be going out of his mind wondering where I am or if someone has taken me. If I’m in trouble or worse hurt. I didn’t like the feeling that rose in the pit of my stomach.
I hated being away from him. But maybe, just maybe if I concentrate on him and our bond, he’ll be able to feel me and know I’m okay. It worked before, right? I had to let him know I was okay and that I was safe.
I wouldn’t like to think he was taking this well. To him I either ran off or I had been taken. It didn’t take much for Jake to lose control so I can only imagine what he’s going through right now.
The knock on the door had me on my feet. Was he waiting for me to let him in? When the door opened, I swallowed the lump in my throat. He was holding a plate which I assumed was something to eat for me. “Eat please”. As he walked further into the room I backed away. I watched as he placed the sandwich on the bed. “I hope turkey is okay p>
My mind was blown. I couldn’t think of what I wanted to say. He went about this all the wrong way.
“When can I go home?”. I asked.
“Ah, being away from Jake isn’t sitting well with your wolf I take it p>
I nodded. I was anxious, but I had good reason to be. It wasn’t just because I was away from Jake. They kidnapped me.
“You’re free to leave at any time Leah”. He spoke.
“Why am I here?”. I asked.
“I think it’s time we sorted through a few things. You have a whole other family that you don’t know and before you say anything yes, it’s my fault but maybe it’s time we bring everyone together p>
I stopped myself from saying anything by chewing the inside of my cheek. Why now? They had already missed most of my life. We were strangers, he was a stranger.
“Why do you have a picture of my mom in here?”. I nodded towards the photo.
He smiled. “Because she’s the love of my life. What a woman she was, and you are like her in every way p>
How could he know that?
My stomach growled and I felt the heat spread across my cheeks. I hadn’t eaten anything yet and I was starting to feel a little sick because of it.
“Eat the sandwich please p>
So, I did. I took a seat on the edge of the bed and began to eat the sandwich. We had met before, had conversations before but I felt weird. This whole situation was weird. “Why didn’t you just call me?”. I asked. “And why did you involve my friends p>
“Can I sit?”. He asked p>
I nodded.
“I may not be in your life Leah but don’t think for a second that I haven’t been watching over you p>
“You can’t seriously think how you’ve went about this is okay. You took me from my home and brought me to god knows where. I want to call Jake”. I got to my feet sandwich forgotten about. “I want to go home”. “Okay”. He nodded. “Just calm down you’re safe here p>
It wasn’t about being safe. I couldn’t wrap my head around this. They wanted to get to know me, wanted me to be in their lives. Fine, maybe we could work towards that, but it would be on my terms. “Come downstairs and use the phone”. He spoke. “When you call Jake tell him we mean no harm p>
I think it was too late for that.
I followed him down the stairs and into the sitting room. No one was around which was odd because I thought everyone wanted to meet me?
“I sent them away; told them you weren’t ready”. He spoke. “You can use the phone I’ll give you some privacy p>
“Why now?”. I asked.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this”. He took a seat in one of the armchairs while I still stood by the door. “We were meant to raise you, your mom and me. The night I lost her is the night I lost myself”. I swallowed the lump that appeared in my throat. Still to this day I struggled to talk about my mom.
“I wasn’t fit to look after a baby heck I could barely look after myself. I tried, I tried to be a good dad, but I couldn’t do it. So, I made the decision to let you go with your gran. To this day my mom still hasn’t forgiven me”. “So, you let me go and never looked back p>
“No”. He frowned. “I spiraled out of control, lost everything, cut off all contact with everyone but never did I forget about you. By the time I sorted myself out it was too late p>
“It was never too late, but just so you know I had a great childhood, I had a good life. My gran raised me right. She made me into the strong independent woman I am today”. “I have no doubts”. He smiled. “She’s one hell of a woman p>
We had our differences, but I would never bad mouth her. She may have made a few mistakes along the way, but she did right by me growing up. She was the only one I had.
“I have to call home”. I spoke. “Jake will be worried p>
“Right”. He got to his feet. “I’m sorry Leah I should have gone about this a different way. If you want nothing to do with me, with us then I’ll respect your decision p>
I felt the lump appear in my throat. I wanted to know him, I wanted to get to know my family, but it was going to take time especially after this. As soon as the door closed, I grabbed the phone dialing Jake’s number. He was not going to believe this.