Surrender -Under Re-Write

45

When I woke up again, it was 7am. I could hear shuffling in the kitchen and soft mumbled voices. I got out of bed, and carefully made my way towards the door. When I rounded the corner and peeked into the kitchen I saw Tara and Lilith side by side at the table with their backs to me.

"What am I gonna do Tara?" Lilith cries. "She's lost her entire family. In the most gruesome ways. What do I say to her?"

Tara rubs Lilith's back, her side profile expressed a frown and when she speaks I can tell she had been crying too.

"Just be there for her Lil. You're wrong about her losing her entire family. She has you, the leaders in Colorado love her just as much as we all do. Whatever happens she'll be in good hands." Tara says.

"They're already discussing who she should stay with, and they don't want her with me."

"Why not?"

"Because of this shit with Daniel's dad, because of the shit with mine."

"They're not seriously blaming you for that." Tara asks incredulously.

"No, not blaming. I can just tell when they speak to me. It's like they think the leadership of Texas has so much baggage, and they don't want her around it because she's been through enough."

"But none of it is anyones fault, not yours not Daniel's. Honestly, they should let Leah decide. She's 19 isn't she?" Tara asks.

"Yeah, I think that's what they want to do but." Lilith sighs and shrugs. "I don't know if Leah will want to stay with me anyway."

I felt bad eavesdropping, but my heart was breaking for Lilith. Leah was the last living family member from her birth fathers side of the family. Leah leaving, or not wanting to stay, would destroy her. Whether Lilith admitted it or not.

I snuck back into my bedroom to get dressed and ready for the day, although I wasn't sure what the day would bring. Something tells me I could stay in this room all day and hardly anyone would notice. The energy here had shifted. I don't think any of us wanted to be here anymore. I missed my family, my own home. But home wasn't safe, and now, neither was this place.

~

Noon rolled around fast, and Leah was still in bed. Maya, Jason and I were doing our best to keep Anna distracted while Lilith was on the phone making flight plans for her and Leah.

Obviously no one anticipated what had happened, so her, Tyler, and Tara have been on phone calls all day about what to do next.

From what I could tell, Kai would still be bringing Daniel back on Monday, but he'd be flying to Colorado from here to help Lilith with funeral plans for Arthur. Anna would be staying with us, and the search for Daniel's psychotic father would still be going on without us.

I was starting to get stir crazy. I feel like I've been living in a fantasy world while everyone else helps with the search. I hated that I couldn't be of any help to Lilith. She's had this vacant look about her all morning, and Tyler and Tara have both been watching her like she would explode any moment.

When 2 came around, I went into Leah's room with a sandwich and some water. She was still laying in the same position she was in when I walked out of the room early this morning. I tried to convince myself it was just coincidence. She probably had moved and just ended up in that spot, but when I walked to the side of the bed to see her face, and I saw her hand in the exact spot it was in when I let her hand go, I knew it couldn't have been. She really hadn't moved.

She was awake though, but her eyes looked just like Lilith's. Vacant and unbothered.

"Hey I brought you some food. Can't remember the last time you ate." I say carefully.

Leah's eyes shift up to mine for the first time since I stepped in front of her, and my heart broke for her all over again.

"No thanks." She mutters.

I sigh and set the plate down on the bedside table and sit beside her. Her eyes still remain on me the whole time.

"Leah... I can't even begin to comprehend what you're feeling." I start. "But you can't shut down. I cant let you do this to yourself."

"What the fuck do you care?" She spits.

I flinch at her outburst, but do my best to keep calm.

"Because you're my family and I lo-" Leah sits up quickly, making me stop mid sentence.

"You're not my fucking family. I don't have any because they're all fucking dead. So stop tiptoeing around me and just leave me alone."

"No" I fight back.

She stares at me with a shocked expression.

"What do you mean no?" She says raising her voice.

"I mean no." I say strongly. "You're not gonna push me away, I won't let you."

"I don't fucking need you!" She screams.

"Well I need you! And I'm not gonna sit here and let you starve yourself!"

"I'm warning you Angie. Go. Away." She says standing up from the bed.

"Not until you at least eat."

She huffs and rakes a hand through her messy hair. "Angelique. I met you like two fucking weeks ago. And before then I've only met you a handful of times. You have no obligation to "be there for me" so just please. Please go." Her voice falters at the end. Her angry tone from before completely gone. Her eyes were brimming with tears, and I'm not sure what possessed me to stand up and hug her.

She was angry only seconds ago, and hugging a pissed off werewolf isn't exactly recommended, but I knew she wouldn't hurt me. The second my arms circled around her she let out a sob. She didn't hug me back, in fact, I felt her body stiffen against mine. But she didn't push me away. She just cried in my arms.

"I know you said not to, but I'm so sorry Lee" I say rubbing circles on her back.

She sniffles, then hesitantly hugs me back and says "Shut up."

Wussup y'all! I had a rush of inspiration yesterday and wrote 4 new chapters!!! At this point we are nearing the end, and I think I'll do what I did with YMIP and write all the chapters before publishing and then publish the book as a whole. I hope to have it done within the next two weeks! Thank you everyone who has been reading my books and keeps coming back for more even when I don't update often enough.

I hope you're enjoying this book and stick around for Leah's story 💕

As always don't forget to vote and comment!

Thanks! -Zeri