The Blind Werewolf Princess (1st book of Werewolf Series)

Chapter 34

Henry cleared his throat and gestured to the seats somewhere in the room. "Why don't we sit down in those seats," he said nervously as if he thought we would reject, "and get comfortable. I promise that I will not keep you long." He looked at me.

I didn't respond and shrugged. I didn't care if I was here for a long time or not because I knew that this was for Mandy's sake and not mine.

"Ok," Mandy said, hesitating. She cleared her throat and took my hand before she led us over to a seat. She sat down and pulled me to sit down beside her, indicating where the chair was.

Silently, I sat down while I kept staring at Henry and waited for him to say or do something, not knowing what to expect.

I hated not seeing anything, not liking the fact that I couldn't see his reaction or know how he was feeling being in the same room as his daughter.

Was he nervous? Was he afraid of losing his daughter before he got the chance to know her? Or did he even want to know her?

Mandy's heart pounded hard in her chest, and I knew that she was afraid of the future now that she knew her father was in front of her.

She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat, waiting for him to say something, anything to calm the fears that she had picked up after many years apart and no contact with the man that was supposed to be her father but hadn't been there at all.

"You are so beautiful," Henry said softly, his voice cracking slightly before he cleared his throat. "You have grown into a beautiful woman, inside and out "

Mandy hesitated before she shook her head. She looked down and grew tense by my side while she started to play with my fingers. Her hand shook with nervousness and fear, and my heart couldn't help but break for her. "Not on the inside," she replied softly. "I am not so beautiful on the inside."

Henry shook his head. "You are," he said, disagreeing with her. "You are beautiful on the inside too."

Mandy smiled bitterly before she shook her head and blinked back tears that wanted to fall. "I am not," she repeated, and her voice cracked. She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. "I am sorry, but I am not able to believe that I am. I have done some horrible things that I am not able to forgive myself, and you shouldn't call me beautiful because of it."

Henry didn't say a word before he shook his head and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you, Mandy. You are beautiful. One day you will understand why I say that you are beautiful."

"He's right," I said when Mandy hesitated and didn't respond. "Whatever you have been through, whatever you have done, doesn't matter. You were also being abused and harmed, and you are learning from your mistakes."

Mandy scowled and narrowed her eyes at me, and I stared blankly back at her. She didn't say a word because she knew what I would say and what I would point out, which would be opposite to what she had to say.

She was scared of being abused worse than she was, which was why she bullied me and my group in the first place. She didn't know any different...

Henry cleared his throat and leaned back in his seat when he looked at me. "I do want to apologize for my ex-'s behavior and for not stepping in when I should have, Carely," he said, changing the subject, and I could tell that he silently prayed that I forgave him.

I shrugged and pressed my lips into a thin line. "You aren't the only one that had failed," I replied coldly and ignored the flinch from in front of him. "However, you are trying to make it up. It's a bit late, but it's not too late for you to make things right."