Hi guys! I'm sorry that it's been a very long time since I've updated. I started my senior year last week and it's just been busy busy busy. I'll be honest, updates will be coming a lot slower than how it was over the summer. But this is a short chapter. Sorry if you don't like it. But I needed an update so there ya go. Ill try and get one up by the end of the week! (: Read, review, and enjoy!
"No," I growled. "No!" I shoved myself away from the table. I whipped around, almost running to the door as my blood boiled furiously. From the corner of my eye I saw the little girl jump at my sudden temper. I threw the front door open with full force, jumped down the porch steps and stumbled away from the house into the forest, ending up on my hands and knees as I panted. My entire body shook as my heart beat faster – I knew what was happening. I was losing control.
But just when the beast inside almost took over, something stopped me. It was her. "Where did Dewik go, Miss Lis?" I heard her little voice speak back at the house.
"Stay here, Kayleigh," the woman replied. A moment later, I picked myself off of the ground as I heard footsteps rustling through the leaves behind me.
"She has nowhere else to go, Derek," the woman said suddenly. I didn't turn around. "I love that little girl with all my heart. But I cannot care for her anymore. My health has left me to the point where I do not have the strength to feed or clean her. I cannot walk her to the park. I can't even carry her to bed. I feel like I'm neglecting her more and more each day."
"But why me? You don't even know who I am, yet you're trusting me to take her from you?" I turned suddenly questioning her. Her eyebrows suddenly pulled together as she leaned forward towards me.
"Have you not been listening to what I just said?" her tone surprised me. She shook her head and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have taken care of children who are just given up by their mothers. And when Kate showed up at my door, my heart broke for the little girl in her arms because I thought it was just going to be the same story." She opened her eyes again. "But when she asked me to find you, I had hope for Kayleigh. The girl had a chance and I wanted to help her."
"Derek," The woman gently laid her hand on top of mine at the table. I scowled down at her hand though she didn't budge. "The bond between and mother and her child is something words cannot even describe." My heart began to throb painfully at her words. She continued, "I know Kate cared for that baby over there," she nodded towards the little girl. "Those tears weren't fake. And no mother would choose to leave their baby with someone unless they had a damn good reason." She squeezed my hand. "I don't know what happened between the two of you, Derek, but obviously she trusts you enough to leave her own daughter in your hands."
I was quiet for a long time as I processed her words. I had never felt so overwhelmed in my life. It was coming at me too fast.
My mother's face flashed through my head as I thought about what the woman just said to me. I remembered how protective she was of Laura and I to the point where she only trust my father and uncle to care for us when needed.
To think of Kate in the same position of being a mother… was difficult. She was my enemy. A liar. A traitor. A murderer. She was not a mother. Especially not to my…
My thoughts trailed off. My daughter. The little girl. Kayleigh. My heart throbbed in a way that I had never felt before as her innocent face washed over my thoughts. How did something as fragile as the girl come from such a cruel, heartless person like her.
To think that I had a child was mind-boggling enough. But to think that the little girl was half of Kate was utterly out of this world.
"If you do not want her, Derek, then I am sorry that I came here. I will figure something else out," the woman spoke. Her eyes were somber as she turned away from me, heading back towards the house.
"No," I stated. The woman turned back towards me, about thirty feet away, her expression holding confusion. Kayleigh was my daughter, however she was also Kate's – chills ran down my spine as I thought about the girl in Kate's arms, in her care. I was a werewolf – the girl was half of me, and Kate knew that. I didn't know what exactly the little girl would turn out to be, but I knew that she was not fully human, and that's when fear shook through my body as I pictured the girl's mother. Would she come back? Was she trying to find the girl? How could she abandon her baby? Did she care for her? If she gave her up so easily, then what else would Kate do if the girl were placed back in her care? Would she hurt her if the girl turned out to be like me? My blood boiled violently as I thought about Kate.
"No," I repeated. "The girl is mine. She will stay with me."A slight smile washed over the women's features.
I continued, "The girl is vulnerable and her mother is a threat. If you leave her in the hands of someone who cannot take care of her," the woman's smile twisted into a frown as she listened to my words, "who knows what could happen." My eyes darkened and for some reason, my body shook as I thought about the little girl in someone else's care – leaving her free for anything to happen, anyone to take her.
Kayleigh was mine and I would do everything in my power to keep Kate away.