Asher
I watched as Audrey turned her back on me and walked away. Using my advanced vision, I could still see tear drops falling from her face as she got closer to the forest lines. I felt guilty for making her cry. I knew I was testing my luck just by coming here. Its no secret that Audrey's not my biggest fan at the moment. And I just made matters worse by yelling at her.
"Asher Joseph Reed!" a voice roared at me. Uh-oh. She used my full name. Cringing, I slowly turned around to face my mate. Her angry red face and clenched fists were signals that she obviously heard what happened. "What the hell is your problem?!" she screeched.
I winced at her voice. "I'm sorry" I mumbled. I didn't do it half-heartedly. I mumbled because I felt ashamed. I couldn't even look at my mate anymore. She looked so mad; and her anger was directed at one person. Me.
Eve walked closer to me and glared at my head. "That's all you have to say?!" she shouted. I looked down at the ground with a frown on my face. I honestly don't know what else I could say. I made a mistake; and I'm sorry for it. "A mistake?" she chuckled dryly. I guess I should attempt to keep my mental wall up. "You've made more than one mistake" she spat.
Okay. I'll admit. I've been screwing up big-time lately. "Audrey doesn't trust us" Eve continued. I bit my lip to stop myself from saying anything. "She would barely acknowledge us until two days ago-"
"She acknowledged you two days ago" I corrected her.
Eve narrowed her eyes at me. I sighed in defeat and let her continue talking. "We weren't there her whole life. It wasn't our fault that we weren't there. But the point is that we didn't raise her. She had Anthony. He took care of her. He raised her. And as much as I would hate to admit it; he did a damn good job at raising her"
But we could've done a better job. Eve shook her head as she read my thoughts. "You can't tell me with absolute certainty that we could've done a better job. That girl is headstrong. She stands up for what she believes in. And she's loyal as hell. He raised her right. I know he could've done a lot worse; but he treated Audrey like a daughter" she stated.
I get that Anthony wasn't a horrible father. But he never should've been her father in the first place. "But she is our daughter. Not his. Ours" I argued.
Eve sighed. "Not in Audrey's eyes. That man raised her, Asher. We didn't. That is her father; whether we like it or not. We can try to be her parents, but it will take a whole lot of work. And you killing Anthony in front of her and yelling at her like that, doesn't make any of this easier. You need to accept the fact that Anthony was her father, or she will never be your daughter" Eve announced before walking in the same direction as Audrey.
Pondering over her words, I sat on the porch. Its not completely my fault for killing Anthony in front of her. I didn't even know it was Audrey. I'd only seen her as a baby; sometimes, I even forgot what she looked like as a baby. I carried the only picture I had of her inside of my wallet.
After fishing my wallet out of my pocket, I pulled out Audrey's small picture. It was worn out from being 18 years old. There were fold marks and a piece of the corner was missing, but you could still see Audrey clearly in the photo. She had her small strands of dark-colored hair and her blue eyes. She was the only one that inherited my hair. But she definitely inherited Eve's height.
I smiled softly at the picture. I need to get over this whole Anthony thing. I want to get over it. But its hard not to hate him after everything he's put us through. We constantly looked for Audrey; only to find out that she was less than an hour long run away. He made our daughter hate us. He made us celebrate Gar's and Dave's birthday, knowing that it was Audrey's birthday; and we couldn't celebrate with her. Because of him, we missed out on her whole life.
Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I put the picture back in my wallet. I might as well enjoy the party while waiting for them to return. I walked into the pack house, and it became eerie silent. All eyes turned to me. Some eyes darkened in anger, while the others narrowed into slits.
I should've expected this. I deserve all of these people hating me. Slowly, I walked forward, so that I was in front of the crowd. "Hello, everyone" I said loudly, but slightly awkwardly. Its weird to talk in front of people who hate your guts. "For those of you who don't know; I'm Asher Reed, the King. And Audrey- or Bay as you all call her- is my daughter" I stated.
Most people rolled their eyes at my introduction. "I would like to formally apologize to everyone in this room. I have mistreated you all. And I am truly sorry. I wasn't thinking right. Like my son said; I wasn't thinking like an Alpha. All I thought about was revenge and getting my daughter back. None of you deserved what I have done. From what I've heard, you have all been wonderful to my daughter. She loves all of you. And I wanted to thank you guys" I announced.
A few eyes softened, and some looked confused. I would be confused if someone I hated was pouring their soul out to me. "I want to thank you for being apart of my daughter's life. All of you have made a positive impact on her life. I want to thank you all for trusting my son and for coming here today. But most of all. I want to thank you for being there for Audrey, when her mother and I couldn't" By the time I was done, everyone's glares were gone. "Enjoy the rest of your day. And I hope I get the chance to get to know you all" I said softly.
They all nodded and the crowd dispersed into their own little groups. David walked up to me with a little girl in his arms. She's been attached to his hip since everyone has gotten out of the cells, but I can never remember her name. "Hey, Dad" Dave greeted me. "I heard that whole thing with Mom" he said hesitantly.
Frowning, I nodded my head. "Yeah. She's right- just like usual" I admitted. Audrey will never let me into her life if I keep this up.
"Give Audrey time. She needs to ease into this. But its like we pushed her into a pool and expected her to swim" he stated. Well, if instincts kick in; then you should swim if you get pushed. "My point is-" Dave continued. "Audrey needs to mourn, then forgive us. After that, she can chose whether or not she wants us in her life" he informed me with a sad smile.
As you can tell, Dave inherited his mother's little pep talks. "David" a tiny voice interrupted our conversation. "I'm sleepy" the girl in his arms said while rubbing her eyes.
I smiled at her. When Dave and Gar were her age, they were so adorable. Looking a the little girl, I wished I got to see Audrey when she was like that. "Do you want me to get your mom, so she can put you to sleep?" I asked softly.
David shook his head with wide eyes before I finished my sentence. The little girl frowned and wiped the tears that spilled out of her eyes as she turned to face me. "My mommy lives in the sky with my daddy. But Bay said that they are here too" she said with her hand over her heart.
"I'll find a room for you to sleep in, Riley. Can you say bye to Asher?" he said softly. Riley gave me a small smile and quietly said a goodbye. "I'll be back. Then we can finish our conversation" Dave said before disappearing up the stairs.
Great. Now I'm alone. I awkwardly sat down at an empty couch as everyone had their own conversations. I didn't expect anyone to actually talk to me, so I just sat down and waited for Dave to come back. Surprisingly, it didn't take him long. Only about twenty minutes of me sitting my myself in silence. When we had to put Dave and Gar down for a nap, it took Eve and I at least an hour to get them to fall asleep; then we couldn't leave the room, or else they would wake up. Let's just say, nap-time wasn't the highlight of my days.
My son sat next to me at the opposite end of the couch. "So what's going on with the little girl? Is she your mate?" I inquired. She's practically glued to him. She doesn't like the rest of us.
Dave shrugged. "She's not my mate; I know that for sure. I don't know what she is. I just have this need to protect her. My wolf is even attached to her. But she's not a were" he informed me.
I nodded in understanding. "She's a smart girl. And she's really strong" I noted. "Do you know what happened to her parents?" I questioned.
He sighed and ran his hand down his face. "Her dad died before all of this happened. I don't know how. But her mom died not too long ago. It was when Audrey first got to Midnight Territory. At first, she was at her old house; and they were doing some spell to look into each other's memories. Jesse thought that Riley's mom was hurting Audrey, so he killed her" he explained quietly.
Well, Jesse's intentions were good. No one can blame him for attempting to save Audrey. Even though she didn't need saving. "Audrey told Riley about her mom" I guessed. Dave nodded in confirmation. "That's why she was upset" I mumbled. She was crying when she bumped into me. And I just made it worse.
I'm positive that I'm gonna have a shitload of apologizing to do.
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Hey people!
I'm writing another part of this chapter that will be in Eve's point of view. I have to finish writing it. Its like 5:30 a.m. and I just had coffee, so I'm not sleeping anytime soon. So, I'll update later today or tomorrow.
Mackenzie Foy as Riley Martin.
Kayyyyzzz Byeeezzz
~A.J.