Filed To Story: Their Bullied and Broken Mate by Teri Petry
“Although I can’t fully say yes or no on the aspect of whether they truly loved you or not, I will say this, I believe with all my heart she loved you the best she knew how. I think the misguided decisions she made were greatly influenced by your biological dad. I wish I had better answers for you on this, son,” I finished. I knew in my heart my answers weren’t good enough, but I told him that I knew of one person who could answer them much better. His uncle, Jason, and I encouraged him to talk to him.
I could tell he was disappointed, but unfortunately, I gave him the answers the best I could. What he asked next broke my heart, but I definitely had the answer for him.
“Mom, do you regret becoming my mom instead of being just my aunt?” he asked. I leaned forward and cupped his face and quickly replied.
“Maddix, light of my world, I have zero regrets. None. If I had to do it over and over again, I would still make that same choice. You were destined to be mine. Do you hear me? Your dads and I never hesitated when we had to make the decision to either let Jason and Rebecca raise you, or take you in as our own. Liam had built a bond with you before your parents’ death. He would always say that he wished you were his, and eventually, you were. You have always been Loki’s best buddy, and your siblings have never thought of you as their cousin. Always their brother. Never doubt your place among us, son. You are and always will be a Young,” I replied.
He leaned into me and I wrapped my arms around him. We sat in silence and only spoke when he had another question pop up. It was probably over an hour before I got the link letting me know grandma was here, and we both walked down to greet her.
Luke and Ginger helped her from the car, and Luke helped keep her steady up the steps. My heart shattered seeing her frail state, and I could feel Maddix’s roller coaster of emotion. I gripped his arm tightly, and he placed his hand on mine. Grandma gave us both a disapproving look and stopped walking.
“You both look as if I have already left this world to be with the goddess. How about you two sour pusses suck it up and enjoy me while I’m here, and take me to where I can give lots of love to my beautiful new grandson,” she said. She pushed past us and continued to the common room.
We both looked at each other and started to laugh. Even close to her end, grandma Gretchen was still full of life.
*Maddix POV*
This week has been so crazy, between the situation with Riley and her having the baby, and grandma’s situation, I totally forgot that I was supposed to leave with my dad, Liam and brother Phoenix for Northern Sun in the morning. I can’t back out now, it’s important to both my dad and brother.
Sterling is still in the NICU, and Riley was discharged this morning. However, she just asked me to bring her some clean clothes and her toiletries, so she could shower. She refused to leave the hospital until he was released, but I did get her to agree to leave him long enough to eat and get some rest. She won’t be any good to either of them if she doesn’t.
I had just finished up some work I needed to get caught up on, when River called me. I answered his call just to find out that he wanted to know if I was with our dads. I told him that I wasn’t and asked how he was settling in at Spirit Mountain.
He explained that he was settling in fine, but he was having a hard time dealing with the fact that he had to give up his position as Blood Moon’s pack curator and archivist. He had studied hard to learn all there was to know about werewolf history, and the history of all the packs near us. He was still studying to learn more about packs around the world, but being a Gamma’s mate was a little more of a challenge than he thought it would be.
I asked him if he had talked to Damian about possibly taking on the same responsibility there as he would have had here, and he told me he hadn’t. He said that Damian had been extremely busy trying to smooth over things with surrounding packs that had pledged their allegiance to his father. They weren’t happy with the fact he was now Alpha, and that his father’s ‘business’ dealings were no longer a thing in Spirit Mountain. Their sources of income would strictly be shipping of commodities, and of actual items, not people. Everything his dad had a hand in was now null and void.
The same holds true for alliances. As of right now, the only alliances that Spirit Mountain had were those with Blood Moon and Starry Moon. One was in the works with Northern Sun, but we all still had concerns about Alpha Kernshaw. We just knew nothing about him, and he was in no way giving us any information about him without feeling like we were prying.
Ending the call with River, I decided to go find Phoenix and get the details about tomorrow before heading over to the hospital.
At Phoenix’s house, Lindy informed me that he had just left for the hospital. He had a client coming in, and it was urgent they see him. I thanked her for the information, and she asked if it was alright to go see the baby. I encouraged her to because I wanted her to realize she was family, not just my brother’s mate.
I texted Phoenix and told him that I was going to be in Sterling’s room at the hospital, and once he was done with his client, for him to come find me. All I got was a thumbs up, and I shook my head.
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.