Unrejected Mates (Black Moon Book Two)

Chapter 39: "Conversation in the dark"

Celia POV

Sometimes when I can't sleep, I think about Terry; I wonder why he had my mother neckless. He said he knew what had happened to our parents, but why had he kept it a secret from me? How many more secrets could he still keep from me? I wish to know, too, I want to know what happened to them, but I'm still not strong enough to face Terry. Not after everything he put me through.

I was raised in believes that werewolves are monsters. My father might not be cruel, but he believed in it too. Because of what he endured, he wasn't eager to forgive or forget. He didn't want Terry and me in the future to become hunters, but it was because he wanted us to have an everyday life that wouldn't be full of danger and blood. It wasn't because he changed his judgment about werewolves in general.

My mother was in it somewhat anonymous; after all, my grandfather raised her, and he was always not a fan of women's intelligence and capability to make any decision. However, she loved my father very much and would always agree with him on everything.

Living in the clan was accessible in a way. You could have your everyday work, but you must pay something off your income for a family. Hunts were regular and brought good money, which was always divided between all the community; we were killing and robbing, but if you needed help with medical bills, the morgue or something else clan would help you in exchange for giving back the favor later. So you didn't have to think too much. The clan leaders would think for you.

The funny thing is, in a way, packs and clans are very much alike, with one person in charge, laws, and traditions that just have to be honored, and for outsiders, we can be seen as a closed community and nothing more.

And yet what I found here was different from what I was supposed to see. As an Alpha, Mikkeli can be seen as cold, but he cares about his pack in a way my grandfather had never cared about his clan or his family. I never felt loved by him, not like by Terry; there was a time when he loved and cared for me, and maybe that's why whenever I think about Terry, it still hurts so much.

"You can't sleep?" Hank asks, suddenly nuzzling his nose into my hair.

He's lying next to me, so he has no problem getting a little closer, and I'm happy with that; I put my hand on his, which is placed around my waist.

"When I finally left the hospital after the punishment, I barely was stepping a foot out from the apartment uncle David had found for me. I didn't die of starvation because he had paid my neighbor to bring my shopping and check on me from time to time. He had told her I had PTSD, which was probably true. However, I was focused at that time mostly on waiting for a delivery; I had no idea what I would or should do when... the child would appear."

I feel him hugging me stronger.

"When she was born, I cried for two days all the time, but after that, I focused on taking care of her. Some neighbors helped me a lot with that at the beginning. I guess they pitied me, a teenager getting knocked out without anybody close to her. But despite Kathy, despite loving her, it was hard, it was tough to live that way," I whisper.

"I'm so sorry, Celia... I'm so sorry you have to go through this."

"I don't try to guilt-trip you, but you once said you should know everything." I say in a sad voice, "Kathy was all I had, I don't regret her birth, and yet the feeling I recall the most from those years only with her was being constantly tired. I was alone with everything, with raising a child, bills, and constant worry about what would happen if my clan ever found me, what would happen if one day she would shift into the wolf in the middle of a street. Somehow I was sure you and your kind would never be a problem. And I definitely haven't expected you to appear in front of me ever again."