Filed To Story: Their Bullied and Broken Mate by Teri Petry
It is no secret that I have had a hard time over the years bonding with my daughters. It’s not that I don’t love them more than anything, but I have always been afraid of getting too close. Liam says that he thinks it’s a slight resentment that they got to grow up as normal little girls, where I didn’t.
Loki thinks that it’s a solid fear of getting too close to anyone other than my mates. That doesn’t make sense though, because I have a very strong bond with all the boys.
I think they are both wrong. No, I know they are both wrong. I know why. I feel inferior to my girls. I’m afraid of how they view me because of my past, when, in reality, they don’t even care about it. All my children know my story. I wanted to make sure of it. I wanted to make sure they heard it from me, and not someone in the pack. Especially in school. When they teach pack history in schools now, the story of the tribrid Luna and the demon alpha is now in the curriculum.
It’s not that I am ashamed, because I’m not. What happened to me wasn’t my fault. What happened to my mother wasn’t my fault. Even though they all deserved their sentences, what happened to my father and brothers, including Maddix, Riley and Regina’s parents, that was all me. I could have pleaded to save their lives and kept them jailed, but why? They did unspeakable and unfathomable things to me, and deserved everything they got. Maddix agrees with me.
Asteria and I ended our visit with Marion and Ginger so that I could get my things together. I have asked Asteria to ride along with us, but she refuses. She isn’t ready to return there just yet. She did, however, ask me to grab a few of the things she needed from her room. I agreed to get them, and she wrapped her arm around my waist as we walked.
“Mom?” she called to me. I looked over at her, and she said, “I’m OK. I want you to know that. I’m OK with Simon being dead, and I’m OK with all of this power stuff. In a small way, I’m excited about this adventure. As far as moving to Ruby Meadows, I’m alright with that too. I have always loved it there, and if I’m being truthful, I feel more at home there than I have ever felt anywhere.”
That revelation sent a little shock to my soul. “Really?” I asked. She nodded her head, and her face almost had a guilty look on it. “Sweetie, that is great. There is no reason to feel badly for feeling that way. Just because the former pack that stood there holds incredibly bad memories for me, doesn’t mean that the new place does. Ruby Meadows is special to me too. If it didn’t, we would have sold the land and bought something else for Gran and the family to live on,” I assured her.
“Thanks mom. I’m really looking forward to doing all of this with you,” she said. I pulled her close and kissed her temple. “Me, too, baby, me too,” I told her, and I meant it.
Once we got back to the pack house, we were greeted by my mates. Loki put his arm around me and Liam held his daughter’s hand as we walked to the dining hall to join our family.
While eating dinner, I noticed my daughter-in-law, Riley, picking at her food. I took her hand in mine, and she looked at me teary-eyed. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” I asked her. She sat her fork down and turned to face me. “I’m just going to miss everyone. When you are here, it’s like a taste of home here with me. I’ll be honest with you, I’m completely jealous of you all spending so much time at Ruby Meadows. I’m terribly homesick, and I don’t know how to deal with it,” she said.
That got Maddix’s attention, and he joined our conversation. “Baby, I have no problem with you going to Ruby Meadows whenever you want. Sure, I will miss you, but I would never keep you from visiting,” he said. She knew he was right, but I felt like there was more that she wanted.
“Yes, please come on the weekends when I am there. I would love that so much,” I told her. She just gave a small smile and said she would be there. I know it wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but it was a start to help her feel better. I know what it is to feel homesick, and to know that you are expected to live somewhere you aren’t comfortable with.
After that brief conversation with Riley, I sent a link to my son. “Maddix, she is depressed and homesick. It’s more than likely postpartum, and will pass. However, keep an eye on her. It may not be, and it’s not fair to make her be somewhere where she is miserable,” I told him.
What he said shook me to my core. I never expected my son to be so selfish, and for a brief second, I heard Eric’s voice in place of his. I knew he didn’t mean it the way it came out, but I couldn’t help the way I felt.
“Mom, I understand your concern. However, she is my mate and Luna. She took an oath to not only me but to this pack. She is going to have to live with it, or reject me. I can’t always cater to everyone’s needs like that, and I can’t abandon our pack to move to Ruby Meadows.”
*Riley POV*
I can’t say that I’m not jealous of Asteria, because I am. I haven’t told Maddix, but the thought of visiting Ruby Meadows more has been on my mind. Since Gretchen left, I have felt a strong pull to go back to the place I called home before moving to Blood Moon.
Don’t get me wrong, I love living here. However, it doesn’t feel like home most of the time. Not unless some of the people from Ruby Meadows are visiting. That doesn’t happen very often unless it’s winter. That’s when the men from Ruby Meadows come and hunt for game like elk or deer. They bring their families and stay at the Old Mill, and that’s usually when I get a lot of quality time with the people I love at Ruby Meadows.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.