Chapter 13
Rue
I stepped forward, pulling Reece to me. My father snarled. Reece looked up at me, confused, “Mom, didn’t grandma pass away? This lady is old but not dead.”
I laughed so hard that my stepmother broke down with embarrassment. It was an honest question from a five-year-old, but she couldn’t see past that. Reece stared at me in confusion as I doubled over laughing. It was so funny that the harder my stepmother tried to keep herself young, the older she looked. Amber seethed, “It’s not funny.”
Her protests only made everything more hilarious, but I was able to control my giggles. I leaned down so my face was level with Reece’s, “Although it was funny at this moment, you shouldn’t make fun of someone just because they are old.”
Reece’s eyes roamed my features as he thought through what I said,
“I’m sorry, mommy.”
I scruffed his hair, smiling, “Thank you for apologizing. It’s okay.”
My stepmother tsked her tongue repeatedly, then turned to my father, “Stevie? Are you not going to do something?”
“Like what?” My father demanded in an annoyed tone.
My stepmother stomped her foot, “Discipline him!”
“I’ll leave that up to his mother,” Dad said with a pointed look at me.
“But!” Amber scoffed, stopping when my dad’s cold, authoritative look snapped to her.
“Amber, Reece is my grandson, and he will be treated with respect. I will officially claim him at a later date, but for now, I think we should all take time to get reacquainted,” my father diplomatically announces.
I clear my throat, “We will discuss all of this at a later date. I’m not sure we want the same thing here.” I gently take Reece’s hand, “I think we should go for today.”
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Chapter 13
My father comes over and tightly hugs me. “No matter what is decided, we are family. We will be seeing more of each other.”
I nod, holding in my tears.
“I’ll leave this here, Grandpa,” Reece says, placing the model on Dad’s desk. My dad laughs, “No, you take that home. We will build one next time.”
I wave goodbye and guide my son back out with his model car tucked tightly against his chest. There isn’t a maid to escort us this time, but I know my way around, even if my stepmother has redecorated most of the home. The new decor gives the home a cold, lifeless feel. Before I can exit the front door, Cassie descends the staircase, “Ruetie-
tootie!”
I try to control my temper at the nickname. Cassie was the last person that I wanted to see. She took every step with grace and a mean Cheshire smile on her stylish cosmetics. I nearly laughed when I took in her golf outfit. Cassie hated golf so much and refused to learn how to actually play when we were younger. Obviously, she was still on the hunt for a husband if she was still golfing. My fingernails dug into my palm. This woman ruined my life, so I replied with a petty, “Gassy Cassie!”
Reece lets out an unrestrained laugh and repeats, “Gassy Cassie!”
Cassie’s face scrunches in fury, “Ha. Ha. Very funny. I couldn’t help but overhear some of the conversation just now. Do you really think that it’s proper to bring a child of unknown paternal origins into this house? For all you know, that sperm donor can come to claim his spot as the boy’s father one day.”
I glared at her. The fact I didn’t know Reece’s father was because she orcestrated the whole thing. A part of me wondered if Cassie knew the person whose room they had sent me to. Now Cassie stood there on her soap box preaching to me about the risks to my child. I was beyond pissed that she would try to have this discussion in front of Reece. He was five and understands much more than anyone gives him credit for. This was not a discussion to have in front of him. I turned toward my son, “Reece, baby, please go out to the car and get buckled.”
My son nodded before jogging over to the car, I stood in the open front doorway, watching to make sure he got into our car safely. I swung back toward Cassie, “My father is the only one who can make decisions regarding the pack, Reece’s father is a mystery, thanks to you and Jessica’s little plan.”
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Chapter 13
“You mean, when you slept with some random guy you didn’t know the name of?” Cassie taunted back. She crossed her arms and popped her hip, challenging me to say otherwise.
“Do you even know whose room you sent me to that night?” I seethed.
“Of course not! I don’t know whose room you went to. It was your hook-up, slut.” Cassie
ficked her loose hair back over her shoulder. I couldn’t tell if she was lying-my anger
toward her blocked out any option to calmly read her for deception.
I shook my head, “You haven’t changed one bit. Fuck you.”
“Are you going to try to make that bastard the Alpha? Because Father will never choose you to be the Heir again.” Her blatant lie is dripping with desperation.
“I will choose what is best for my son,” I stormed out. I threw open my car door and
climbed in, trying to find the words to open a dialogue with Reece. We had avoided the
conversation about his father for so long that I didn’t know how to explain the
circumstances of his conception.
“Mommy?” Reece’s voice wobbled, and I sniffled back tears.
“Reece, I’m sorry there were a lot of mean words said. If you have questions, we can work
through them, but I want to be clear that you have done nothing wrong.”
Reece looked at me, “Gassie Cassie is a bully. I won’t listen to her words. Mean words are said out of anger or jealousy, right, Mommy?” D
I let out a choked laugh, “Yeah, baby. Mommy won’t listen to her words either.”
There was a long pause of silence as I pulled out of the driveway and drove toward home.
Still holding his new model car tightly, Reece says, “I like Grandpa.”
I glance at him in the small mirror I use to see the backseat, taking in the wonder that is my son, “I do too sometimes.”
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Wolfless, Fateful Encounters
