The Luna That I Replaced (Book 2 of Witfall Pack)

Chapter 19

Avery's face grew pale and became filled with sadness and grief, and she blinked and blinked again. She didn't say a word and looked around the room as if she wanted to see her mom but couldn't.

A small frown appeared on her face, and a look of hurt and pain flashed through her eyes. She wanted to see her; I could tell, and it broke my heart that she wasn't able to.

"You're... kidding. Right?" Michael asked and raised an eyebrow in question. He looked around before he looked at me with wide eyes. "How? Why?"

I shrugged and grimaced because I didn't know. "Magic, I think," I replied before I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet. "I don't know why, but she is."

"Why don't you all sit," Blue said when Michael opened his mouth to ask something else. He scowled and narrowed his eyes at Michael because he kept his mouth open, and Michael slowly closed it, hesitating. "There is no need for you to keep standing like that while we are going to talk, Michael."

I pressed my lips into a thin line but did what Blue said and walked over to the table with Dia following after me.

I bit back a tired sigh and sat down before I pulled my daughter onto my lap and placed a kiss on her cheek, earning a happy squeal from the little girl.

Avery walked over to the other side of the table and sat down while Michael took the extra seat beside me. She didn't say a word while she looked at me, and I made sure to keep my features schooled while I looked at her.

I didn't want her to see the pain that I felt...

Isen shifted in his seat and scowled while he looked at Avery, catching my thoughts and how I felt. "N-"

"Isen," I warned, interrupting him, and he instantly looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes?" he asked and raised the eyebrow higher. "What can I do for you?"

"You can stop," I said and raised both eyebrows in unison while I gave him a little look, pressing my lips into a thin line. "That is what you can do."

Isen furrowed his brows and cocked his head while he studied me, feigning ignorance. "I don't know what you are talking about, Anastasia," he said innocently. "I am not doing anything."

I pressed my lips into a thinner line while I narrowed my eyes. "You are trying to make her feel bad, so stop," I warned and narrowed my eyes further while I set my jaw. "You do not need to do that."

He scoffed a laugh and rolled his eyes while he scowled and narrowed his eyes. "But she is making you feel bad, Anastasia," he said. "I think that it is only fair th-"

"It isn't," I said with a quick shake of my head while I set my jaw tighter. "She is a child and learned that her mother is back from the dead. She needs time to process her emotions and everything like that."

Isen's scowl grew deeper and annoyance flashed through his eyes because he knew that I was going to keep arguing with him. "But her mother is right beside me," he said, and I had a feeling that he was talking about me. "She is living and breathing and had e-"

"I have earned nothing, Isen," I said, interrupting him with my heart aching. "I have not earned that title, not yet at least."

Isen scoffed and rolled his eyes while he set his jaw. "She literally called you "Mom" before Alexia came back as a ghost, Anastasia," he said. "Are you seriously going to say that you still do not deserve that title?"

Yes...

I bit the inside of my lip while I looked at him, not saying a word. My heart ached and became filled with pain while self-doubt entered my brain again.