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

Chapter Fifteen

A few days later

I walk towards the craft hall, more than aware of the little female trailing behind me carrying Maeve. This was the third time we had taken this particular walk and it still made me feel uncomfortable. I was used to leading Chrissie, of her talking with me as we walked, letting me know what she was going to do, when to pick her up, and who she was expecting to be hanging out with. Menza walked silently behind me, like I had nothing but a ghost following in my footsteps. If I hadn't been overly aware of her location, the awkwardness of her following me, I knew I wouldn't have been able to tell she was following at all.

It was just all so strange for me. The last female who had followed me around was my Chrissie. It felt wrong to have another female follow me but I knew I had to accept it. Menza was doing something for me, something that I allowed her to do, gave her permission for. I couldn't rightly tell her no now. I knew she would simply accept my refusal without a word and that made my stomach twist slightly.

Unlike with Chrissie, Menza would accept any adjustment, actions, or anger I might have towards her. She would take it all and bow her head because she believed that was her place. Her father had given her that worth and I couldn't rectify it. If I told Chrissie no she would have questioned me, would have argued with me, demanded an explanation for why. Not Menza, she would meekly accept it and do what I said without a word otherwise. I didn't exactly like having that much power over another person. It felt wrong.

I cleared my throat slightly, hating the awkward silence between us. I understood why it was there, we didn't know each other, we had simply been tossed together and told to deal, but I didn't have to like it. "How far are are you into the project?" I had actually been really touched she had asked me to make a quilt with Chrissie's clothes. It hurt to think of the pieces of clothing cut up but it was far better than seeing them on another female or in the trash. It would be good for me to have the clothing in a different form, easier for me to let go and deal with her being gone.

"Not far. I don't want you to be disappointed in lack of progress but I had to spend a lot of time taking out the seams of the clothing. I worked on the outline of the main quilt yesterday but that's as far as I have gotten." She sounded uncertain and I could hear Maeve cooing slightly. I looked over my shoulder and she was running a finger down the curve of Maeve's little nose, smiling down at her. I found a smile twitching at my own mouth as I looked at my daughter. I loved her, so fucking much.

"I won't be disappointed." I tucked my hands into my pockets and looked forward. I didn't know enough about quilting to be disappointed. Chrissie had never gotten into it and was more inclined to do little DIY projects with old furniture, stripping and painting and choosing upholstery fabric, that sort of thing.

I glanced around and once again became aware of the predatory looks being sent Menza's way. It was enough to get my wolf to flash teeth with agitation. We might have been stuck with Menza and had to take her underneath our roof without a real want to, but we were still acting as her protector and seeing the looks grated on me. She didn't deserve them, especially the looks from some of the males. They were far too predatory in all the wrong ways.

I spotted Delta Regan with his arms crossed over his chest, his dark eyes settled intently on Menza, they were slightly narrowed and the expression of cold, predatory want was enough to make my stomach churn. I could remember William's words about how Regan had made it known he would want Menza and to toss her to him if I got sick of her and it set both my wolf and I's teeth on edge. He was a sadistic fucking bastard.

I could tell Menza became aware of him staring because she moved closer to my back, her entire form stiff as a faint scent of fear radiated off of her. I was glad she had that reaction, it was a fucking smart one. I made a mental note to let her know to tell me if he said or did anything to her while I wasn't around. I knew he wasn't allowed in the craft hall, no unmated males who had no relations to the females were allowed in, but I wanted to know if he was hanging around outside waiting for her.