Filed To Story: In the Shadow of the Past Luna (Lily & James)
(Nick POV)
I ended up sitting in that d&&n chair in the packhouse until three o’clock in the morning. It was only after the activity around me quieted down, leaving me by myself, that I finally I decided to drag myself home.
I
Jenny and I have a small cottage near the pack house. My grandparents used to live there until they died. My parents gave me the cottage when Jenny and I married. It is about a five minute walk.
To my surprise, despite the late hour, Jenny was waiting for me in the living room when I walked in. The first thing that I noticed -other than the fact that she was awake- was that she had a large suitcase
I sitting next to her.
“Jenny, what are you still doing up?”
I asked.
She stood up. “I have been waiting for you.”
“Why?”
“Don’t you think we need to talk?”
I sighed as I ran my fingers through my hair. “Now?”
She nodded. “Yes, now.”
“Can it wait until the morning? After we have slept a little?”
Jenny ignored my question. Instead, she asked one of her own.
“Will you cut off your family, denounce the pack, and leave with me?”
“What?”
Jenny’s question sounded oddly rehea rsed, and yet it was not at all what I expected her to say.
“Nick, they are not good people. What came out today does not even cover a fraction of the horrible things that they have done. It is not just Stephanie and Sheila. Your mother, your father, Alpha Randall, and Luna Jane have all done things. Bad things. All of them are to blame.”
I ran my hands down my face. “Can we please talk about this in the morning, Jenny? It has been a really long day. We both need some sleep.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No, Nick. We need to talk about this now. I need to know if you are willing to cut ties with your family.”
“How can you ask me to do that, Jenny?”
I asked in both exhaustion and disbelief. “They are my family!”
“I already told you. They are not good people,”
she responded sadly.
???
“I know that Stephanie did some bad things to us. Horrible things. But my parents are my family tool
Family stands by one another. Forgives each other for making mistakes.”
“You never felt that way when it had to do with Lily,”
she said bitterly.
I rubbed my neck. She was right. Goddess, she was right.
Even so… Two wrongs do not make a right. And Jenny was not just asking me to cut off Stephanie. She was asking me to cut off my entire family and my entire pack. That was a lot to ask. She had to know what a huge “ask”
that was.
“You are one to talk, Jenny. You were right there with us when half the stuff happened to Lily. And unlike all of us, you knew the truth.”
Jenny wiped a tear from her eye and shrugged her shoulders. “You are right. I guess you could say I am a bad person too.”
“Why?”
I asked. “Why did you keep it all to yourself? Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you let all of us suffer unnecessarily?”
Jenny started crying. Through her tears, she tried to explain.
“I was so hurt and so angry that all I could think about was revenge. I did not care who got hurt around me. I did not mean for Lily to get blamed for everything, but once she was, I chose not to do anything. about it. I told myself it was okay, because she had the same blood running through her veins that Stephanie and your parents had.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I asked again, trying to hold back my own tears.
“I didn’t want to lose you. If I did, they would win.”
“Wow. So that was what I was to you? A game? A pawn in your revenge scheme?”
I
“No. I wanted to be your mate, Nick. I really did. But every time we were together, all I could think about was what had happened before. And no matter how much I tried, I could never fully commit myself to you or make myself vulnerable. I wanted to, but I just couldn’t. Memories of the betrayal pains and the video just kept haunting me. As a result, I always held a part of myself back.”
I still did not understand what she was saying. Nor did I understand why any of this had happened or was
“You could have told me. We could have worked through it together.”
“Maybe,”
she replied, obviously unconvinced.
“What is with the suitcase?”
I asked, pointing beside her.
“I need a fresh start.”
I gulped.
“Without me?”
“If that is what it takes. I cannot spend another day here.”
“We are fully marked, Jenny. We can’t just reject each other now.”
“We can if our wolves agree.”
“Jasmine is okay with rejection?”
I asked in surprise.
“Yeah. She agrees that we cannot stay here, around Stephanie and Sheila and your family. If you were willing to cut them off and come with us, we would try. This time with a clean slate. But as long as you insist on sticking by them and this pack, Jasmine agrees. It is time to start over.”
I looked at her in disbelief. I felt my heart breaking, along with that of my wolf.
“How long have you been thinking about this?”
“Seven years.
“SEVEN YEARS?”
“In one form or another, yes. At least off and on. I did not want to end up here, but I was not sure if |
would ever be able to get past the pain. Or the hate and anger. I do not like what it has done to me. Who it has turned me into.”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?