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

Chapter 44

A few minutes later, John cleared his throat and shifted on his feet, gesturing somewhere, and I looked toward him and slowly blinked. "Now, why don't we all go into the dining room and eat?" he asked. "Or have you all eaten yet?"

My group hesitated and looked at me before they looked at him. They didn't say a word while they stared at him, and their eyes grew wide and became filled with pain and hope.

"I do not think that they have eaten," I said with a shake of my head, grabbing my staff tighter. "I also do not think they want to feel as if they are being a burden to you and your wife, so that is why they are not saying anything, John."

John frowned while he slowly nodded. He didn't say a word while he looked at the girls, and I could tell that he was wanting them to either confirm or deny what I had said.

"We haven't eaten yet and would like to eat something, if that is ok with you," Bethany said, her voice barely above a whisper. She hesitated and took a step toward me while keeping her eyes on John. "A slice of bread is fine. It doesn't have to be toasted or have anything on it."

"You are having more than bread," John said with something in his voice that I didn't like, and I couldn't help but instinctively move toward my girls while I kept my gaze on him with my jaw set and narrowed eyes.

I flicked my staff just a tad until I was holding it across my body while I stared at him, grabbing it tighter in my hands.

John turned to look at me as if he caught my movement and slowly tried to relax while he took a step away from me and my girls. "I am not going to harm anyone, Carley," he said and raised his hands just a tad. "I am sorry if something in my tone made you protective of your girls. I was mad at the thought of you all eating only a piece of bread to get by. That is not right, and that is not enough."

"None of what we had been through is right, John," I said coldly and with a shake of my head, and I couldn't help but relax ever so slightly, even though I was tense. "However it had happened, and we had to learn how to live with the results."

"We also had to learn how to let the past stay in the past and not..." Mandy trailed off and glanced at me from the corner of her eye, and I had a feeling that she wanted me to continue with that sentence with a blush on her cheeks.

I bit back a small sigh and closed my eyes just a tad while I tucked my head closer to my chest. "We have to learn to let the past stay in the past and not let it define our future," I said and opened my eyes while I looked at her. "It's the only thing that I keep telling my girls because a part of me hoped that they would get adopted if we could escape..."

John nodded and pressed his lips into a thin line while he cleared his throat and shifted on my feet. "And we would like to help make sure that it does stay in the past," he said and bowed. "That is why I do think that you all should talk to someone about what has happened to you. I want you all to know that it is not your fault that all of this has happened to you. It wasn't because of something you did."

But why did it feel like it did..?

My heart ached and became filled with pain when that thought crossed my mind, and I couldn't help but grab my staff tighter while I set my jaw and looked away from them.

"Carely?" John asked as if he knew what I was thinking. He raised an eyebrow in question while he stared at me, and I sighed and shook my head, not wanting to say anything in front of them.

"It's nothing, John," I said with a small sigh and shook my head again. "You don't have to worry about it."

I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet, feeling very exposed for some reason, even though there was nothing that had happened to make me feel this way. "Can we go ahead and get the girls fed, please?" I asked, praying that he would get the hint and change the subject.