Chapter 8
I stared in shock. Leah collapsed on the ground; her head was hurting. 2 Everyone from the house came running out and stood around her, but the woman from earlier glared at me. “See what you have done,” she yelled. I could hear someone ringing for an ambulance. Josh kept his arm around me, trying to keep me calm. He had to come over to me; he needed to calm my wolf. She wasn’t happy with what Leah said; she would have taken over and shifted. 1 How the hell did she place the two and two together about Josh and me? I thought, she was never with me when I was with him. There was the one time he turned up, but she couldn’t have remembered that far back. “You need to leave now,” yelled the woman again, pulling me from my thoughts. I stepped away and stood as sirens were heading our way. I felt numb as I watched slowly as the ambulance showed up and ran straight to my daughter. What the hell was happening to her? I wanted to know, but she hated me, and none of these people would tell me. They saw me as the bad guy. 1 A mind link opened up. “We will take her to the pack,” said Lucian. “The pack doctor can have a look at her there.” I tensed. I was curious to know if we should. I looked over my shoulder and stared at the house I once lived in with my family before my mate. “I need to go there,” I whispered, only for Lucian and Josh to hear. Lucian looked at where I was looking and nodded. He turned around and became the lawyer that he was born to be. “I want you to pack all of Leah’s things,” he said to Dani, but she walked up and slapped him across the face. “I won’t do anything for you,” she threw back at him angrily. Lucian stared at her, amused. “This human has balls; I give her that,” he said through the mind link. I could feel the humor come within the mate bond from Josh; he thought so too. I turned back and looked as Leah was being placed on a stretcher. She was being wheeled toward the ambulance. “Oh, I forgot,” said Lucian, who took a step closer to Dani, closing the gap between them. “Leah will be going to the hospital where we live; she will be transported there by an ambulance,” he said. The woman glared back. “You need to pack some things for her, and I mean it, or I will press charges on the slap you gave me.” Lucian handed her the document that we had made the judge. Lucian found out somehow that the woman and my daughter lied about school. Lucian came to me yesterday and told me. I wasn’t surprised. I thought Leah wanted to spend time with her friends before moving here. Lucian said her father knew she passed as she was smart and excelling in all her classes. She could easily graduate this year. 1 I felt so proud. 3 Lucian made calls, and we went to Alpha Carson to explain. We were having some trouble with a pack and rogues lately; he wanted Leah on the pack grounds as no pack member was to leave, not for anything. I shook my head, pulled myself back from the thoughts, and stared at the woman. The woman didn’t move, but she nodded. A younger woman ran up to her; she looked the same age as Leah and wrapped her arms around her. “Mum, please,” she pleaded. “Leah doesn’t want to go; she doesn’t want to go with her.” The woman looked at me, her glare was there, but she looked defeated. The woman looked down at the document and sighed. “There’s nothing I can do,” she whispered. She clearly loved my daughter. “We will be over at the house,” Lucian said. The woman looked startled and glared at me. “You mean she wants to go over there,” she said, her eyes never leaving mine, narrowing into slits. “It’s how you left all those years ago. Larry never changed a thing as all his time went into looking after Leah.” I could feel my heart clench at her words. My wolf was on all paws, but she let out a whine. The woman stared at me and placed her hand in her pocket. She pulled something out and threw it at me. “Here’s the key,” she said. Josh let me go and picked it up. “Let’s go,” he said, whispering in my ear. I nodded. I turned around and headed to the house, not looking back at the crowd. I couldn’t help but stop and stare at it when I came outside. “You okay, sweetheart,” Josh asked. I didn’t say anything. The house looked exactly the same on the outside. I walked toward the house, and as we got to the front door, Josh placed the key in the look and opened the door. Their scents hit me. Larry and Leah. I closed my eyes, and every memory of them came flooding back. I opened them as tears flowed down my cheeks. I could feel Josh’s arm on the lower part of my back as he guided me inside. The woman was right; the house looked the same inside too. It was how we decorated it when we moved in. I stood rooted to the spot as I looked around, taking in everything. The house was spotless, but a few things were out of place. I looked at the fireplace and noticed the photo frames. I walked over and stood in front. The photos were of after me; there was not one picture of me in sight. My heart broke, but I knew I had done them wrong. I stayed where I was, leaving Josh to look around with Lucian. “The documents for the house must be here,” Lucian said, which made me look over my shoulder at him. “No,” I said. Lucian and Josh looked at me. “Jen, she needs to get rid…” Lucian said, but I growled. “Don’t. Leave the house alone.” Lucian looked at me, but Josh stepped forward. “Sweetheart,” he said as I looked at him. I shook my head, which made him close his mouth. “I don’t want to take the one thing she has left of him,” I said. “I can’t do that.” I moved away and stared between the both of them. “I hurt her by leaving her behind,” I whimpered. “I hurt her to be with you.” I stared at Josh; his face softened. “I can’t…” I said, looking around the house and closing my eyes. “This might hurt you,” I said as I opened them and looked at Josh; his eyes were fixated on me. “This was once my home, and knowing Larry, everything he owes will be in her name when I left. I won’t get her to do anything she doesn’t want. We leave the house; we can place it up for rent or something. But this house is Leah’s,” I said and stepped closer to Josh as a tear escaped my eyes and placed my hand in his. “We only have her for a year, and then she will be old enough to leave,” I sighed. “She won’t be able to stay in the pack, so she will need a place to stay.” 1 Josh squeezed my hand and nodded. “That sounds more like a plan,” he said and looked at Lucian. “You must ensure everything is above board and it is up for rent for a year; this will be somewhere Leah can come back if she wants.” Lucian nodded, realization hitting him. “I never thought about it like that,” he said and looked at me. “Jen, it’s a good idea. I will get the judge and the others to help.” 1 After a few moments, there was a knock at the door, and Josh went to open it. It was the young girl from earlier. I stared at her. “Here,” she said, holding out a bag. “These are all my mum collected for Leah the other night to stay at ours.” I nodded as Josh took the bag. The young girl looked at me and bit her bottom lip. She wanted to say something; I knew that face all too well. I stepped closer and looked at her. Her eyes stayed on me, and she sighed. “You need to know, Leah hasn’t been sleeping really well since the accident; she has been screaming out and even had insomnia too,” she said. “I thought you better now.” I nodded and smiled at her. “Thanks for telling me,” I said. The girl looked back at me and gave me a small smile. But she glanced inside the house. “We used to have so much fun,” she said as a tear slid down her cheek. “Leah loved being here.” Her eyes came back to me. “I know you had your reasons for leaving,” she said. “Leah used to talk about you at the beginning, but as time passed, she never mentioned you. She told everyone that you died.” That cut deep, but I couldn’t blame Leah for thinking that. 1 The girl sighed. “I know she has to go,” she said. “But can she keep in touch? She was like a sister to me.” I nodded and smiled. “I will make sure she contacts you,” I said. She nodded and turned away. Josh closed the door behind her. “Nice girl,” said Lucian, leaning on the kitchen. “Shame her mother is a nut.” I turned around and glared at him. “Really,” I said. Lucian smirked, he went to speak but his phone rang out. Lucian grabbed his phone from his pocket and answered. After a few seconds, he closes it. He looks at me. “The ambulance is there,” he said. “They are taking Leah to the pack now. So we can go home.” I nodded. I looked around but noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I walked over and spotted a photo of Leah and the girl holding a trophy of some kind. I picked it up and looked back at Josh. “I want to collect more things for her. Can we leave in a few minutes?” I asked. Josh nodded. 1 “I will get the car,” he said. “Put whatever in a bag, and we will put it in the car.” I nodded and walked upstairs. Assuming that she never changed rooms, I went straight to hers. Leah’s room was still the same one she had when she was a baby. I walked in, and her scent hit me. My wolf purrs in my head as she takes in what she can see. “Pup was good,” she said, noticing all the trophies and ribbons around the room. I had to admit; she must have done every sport she could think of and won every competition for subjects and sports. I walked over and opened her closet. I pulled out a bag and started to place some clothes in it. Once the clothes were packed, I noticed a photo of her and her father when she was nine. I smiled, looking at it; she seemed so happy. I placed it on top of the bag. Her bed was made and had one teddy on it. I picked it up and smiled. It was a teddy that I gave her when she was born; she still had it. I placed it on top of the other things I grabbed. I could hear someone coming and knew it was Josh as his scent wafted into the room. “Is this all?” he asked. I looked over my shoulder at him, but his eyes scanned the room in amusement. “Wow,” he said. “The boys will love her, she can play sports, and it seems she was really good at it too.” I smiled. “I know,” I said. “The bag and the things on top are coming. Can we have someone here to place sheets over the furniture?” Josh nodded. 1 “Lucian is staying behind for a few days; he wants to sort out the house,” he said as a slow smirk itched his face. “But I think he likes getting under that woman’s skin more.” 3 I groaned. My brother never found his mate, but he liked to play the field with anything that moved. I hope he knows what he is doing. Josh and I walked out of Leah’s room, but as I closed the door, I couldn’t help but take in one last look. I closed the door, and we both headed downstairs. Lucian said he would stay at the house and ensure everything was ready. He was only staying for a few days but would be back as soon as he got everything sorted. I nodded and hugged him goodbye. Josh and I walked to the car and climbed in. I could feel eyes on me, but I knew everyone here was judging me, but I kept my head down. I didn’t want any more hassle; I didn’t think my wolf would like it. My wolf huffed in agreement. I leaned back in the seat. Realization set in; Leah was coming home with me. I needed to be her mother now. 2 I sighed as Josh drove away. We left the street and headed toward where the ambulance was waiting. I leaned back in my seat, knowing I had my family back. I hope Leah can forgive me for what I did, and we can slowly move forward with rebuilding what we can.