[[OLD]] A Handful of Daffodils (Forgotten Series, #7)

Chapter Eleven

I scowled as I left Maeve’s nursery. She had been easy enough to put down but the little female had knocked on the door and asked if she could have a shower. I hadn’t appreciated that. She did her best to not be under foot but then she would go and ask me permission for something utterly ridiculous such as if she could have a shower. I hated that.

I moved towards her bedroom and pushed open the door. “Don’t bother me when I am with Maeve.” I couldn’t help how clipped the words were and she looked at me from her frozen position by the bed. Her curls were wet and as a result they hung nearly passed her hips and I scowled at her. “That is the time I have with my daughter. I don’t wan to be bothered with pointless shit or questions. Understood?” She was such a tiny looking thing, she seemed more hair than anything. Hair and eyes.

“Yes, sir.” She bowed her head and I grunted, not wanting to say anything else to her as I left the bedroom and closed the door. I also hated that her scent was starting to permeate certain spaces. She smelled like warmth and flowers and something that wasn’t shifter but held the edge that was. It was nothing like Chrissie’s honey and tea scent, the soft notes of it that had never failed to calm me down no matter my mood.

I was losing her scent, was losing her bit by bit. I knew that it would happen when I let that little not-shifter female into the house. I knew that is what Stenton wanted of me but I hated every single second of it. Chrissie was the only female I could ever love and want. I didn’t want her place in my life replaced by a waifish little female who was more timid than she had good sense for and whose scent was pervasive in how quickly it was building in my house.

It felt like she was chipping away at what little there was left that I had of Chrissie. It didn’t matter that she was careful of not moving anything of Chrissie’s and left things alone that I told her not to touch. It didn’t matter because she was taking Chrissie’s spot underneath the roof of my protection and I resented it. I knew that was what Stenton wanted, he wanted her to slip into the aching spot that Chrissie once resided in, he wanted her to be a stand in. He didn’t care about Chrissie, just that I wasn’t able to ‘get over it’, as if I could wake up one day and be okay that the other half of my soul was gone.

I stepped into the bathroom, ignoring the humidity before my gaze zeroed in on several bottles of product that definitely weren’t mine on the counter. “What the actual fuck?” The irritation and anger surged up inside me and I grabbed a bag from beneath the sink. “I don’t understand why you need all this bullshit!” I grabbed the bottles and threw them into the bag, my head starting to ache as I scowled. Just great. Just fucking great.

“I’m sorry. I was just coming to get-“

“Are you incapable of remembering to put your shit away?” I whirled around and she flinched, her shoulders pulled forward and that tugging sensation in my stomach appeared. It told me to ease up, to not be so rude, to hold my anger because it wasn’t her fault. “Why do you need all of this shit anyway?” I grabbed the rest of the bottles, tossing them into the bag. There was so much fucking shit it wasn’t even funny. She could deal with regular shampoo and conditions like everyone else.

“My hair gets damaged if I-“

“Do I look like I care? You don’t need this shit!” I barked it out, holding the last container shaking it slightly. “This is goddamned excessive and you know it! Fucking females and their pathetic and stupid vanity.” There had to be over a hundred dollars worth of stupid hair product in the bag and it was utterly useless. Even Chrissie didn’t need that much shit and she took meticulous care of herself.