Cedric
I stare at Rain in confusion, the moment she said "shadow is my father", time seemed to stop, I couldn't hear or comprehend her next words, she's talking and flailing her hands arounds as she continues to explain how she found out, something about a woman who used to stand up in front of a window , green eyes? Sorrow? I think she said something like that. I lift my finger and she stops talking as she stares at my finger then at my eyes, I scratch my chin and shake my head "wait, I don't understand" , she opens her mouth to answer me but I shake my still raised finger "no, let me process this, you're saying… Shadow, the wolf with green eyes, wild hair, and solemn expression" I make a face to imitate his , "is your father?" She sighs and nods with pressed lips "apparently", I take a breath and pinch the bridge of my nose "I see, and when exactly did you know that?",she looks down and fumbles with her fingers "when I was on my way to the quarters to get to you" I nodded "what exactly did he say? Shadow" She shook her head "we were talking about mates and I asked him if has one, he started talking about his dead mate, and I realised he was talking about my mom, and it's not just the quesnsidence that her name is Veronica- he even knew my dad… well, at least the one I grew up to know". I nodded again "how do you feel about it?" She raised her bead to look at me, then she shrugged "I don't know how to feel about this:" suddenly, big tears started rolling down her cheeks "I mean… how would you feel? When you're face to face with a stranger who turns out to be your real father? When your brother is actually your brother from a different dad" she sighs "but I guess it doesn't matter anymore… they're all dead" . I sigh as she starts sobbing, I grab her and pull her to my chest as she cries, I feel like my chest is being ripped and my heart is broken for her. Who knew that even I , the big bad black wolf, actually had those kinds of emotions inside of me? My whole life, I've kept them deep inside, never have I ever let them come out , even when Tyla died , I couldn't even shed a tear for her, I thought I was a dead man walking- until Rain came into my life. This little fragile, tiny, harmless, human , did things that brought out emotions I've never realised I had, out of me.
I caress her hair, until she falls asleep. I lay her back and cover her, then I head down to find Zevrus sitting on the couch, lost in thought, I sit next to him and we stay quiet for a while, until Zevrus speaks up "I couldn't go upstairs, I can't handle seeing her crying and hurt like that", I nod "it wasn't easy for me either. I need to speak to Shadow". Zevrus nodded "I'm heading out for a run anyway, I'll find him and send him to you". Zevrus stood up and walked out of the door, I lay back on the couch. For some reason, Rain's emotional moment exhausted me as much as it did to her. To think that the mate bond is that strong, is frightening. I close my eyes and doze off.
Zevrus
Wind brushes through my fur as I run across the woods. Shadow should be doing rounds tonight, I pick up his scent close by, so I slow down and throttle towards him where I see him standing by a small pond, his dark grey wolf looked ahead, staring at nothing, I approached him and spoke to him through our mind link "Shadow, how are you?" , his wolf blinks and looks at me "I'm fine", I sigh and sit "I know about you and Rain", he shakes his head "I shouldn't have said anything to her, she looked like she already had so much to handle", I shook my head "you did the right thing, it's her right to know the truth" he huffed "the moon goddess isn't being fair to me, I've been struggling with Veronica's death, I tried everything to forget her, but now-" I interrupt him "now you have someone to be in her place, a permanent memory of her close to you, and what makes it even more precious, is that she's your blood". Shadow stayed quiet for a moment then he made a huffing amused sound "I wanted son, but this strong, hard headed girl is just as good", I huffed a laugh "I wonder where she got that hard head from…".
We continue our conversation as we walk towards the main house, apart from the basic information that I have regarding Rain's connection to Shadow, I decide not to go too deep into the subject, because even if Rain is my mate, it felt that she should be the one to share any deeper info with me, whenever she's comfortable with it. Even Though I have accomplished a physical contact with her, and had a conversation with her for more than three hours, I still don't feel like I am her actual mate, because her words never left my mind "cedric was there for me", of course, Cedric is way ahead of me, he had longer time with my mate, protected her, understood her, calmed her, made her laugh , hell he even made her cry, and the whole time- I was dead. Right now, with everything we've been through, I still feel like a stranger around her, no matter how many times she smiled to me when I walked into her, her smile wasn't the same when she saw Cedric, her eyes never twinkled and sparkled when she saw me, but I could almost see her heart flipping and dancing when she spotted Cedric around. When Rain settles with the new fact about Shadow being her father, I need to work harder on gaining her trust and love, and I sure got a hell of a mission ahead of me, talk about covering months of being dead.
Rain
I opened my eyes, and raised my hand to my forehead. God, all that crying exhausted me, and I always get a huge headache after a good cry. When I remove my hand, my eyes fall on Shadow , who's sitting in a chair across my bed, he seemed distant as he looked straight ahead outside the window, it was dark already, and the moon was full and bright, casting strays of silver across the room and illuminating Shadow's face, I sit up slowly and lean back against the pillows "uh… hi", Shadow blinks and turns his head to look at me, he studies me for a brief moment then nods "hi", I smile slightly then look out the window "I've been looking for you since I got back here", he nods again "I know, but I couldn't see you in the state you were, I didn't think I would be able to handle it", I frowned "what were you told?" He shakes his head "I was told you were in a horrible state when you got back, skinny, weak, broken… I preferred keeping the image of the young strong woman I came to know as my daughter", I swallowed hard and tried to keep the tears inside as much as possible, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, I composed myself , then started to talk again "Shadow, how come you don't doubt me being your daughter?" He brushed back his hair puffed out a breath, I could see that this conversation was hard for him just as much as it was for me , "you remind me of your mother, your hair, your eyes, that dimple on the side of your mouth, even that crease that forms between your brows when your angry", I frown and he points out "exactly, that one", the mention of my mom warms my heart and I feel a bit relaxed, "did you… love her?" He smiles and stares into my eyes as if he's talking to her through me ," more than anything , more than life, more than my next breath, more than my free soul… I adored her", my heart broke for him, his words were so romantic, but then his face was back into it's serious stoic expression "I loved her so much, that I couldn't stand seeing her sad, and when Landon entered our life, I could see that she's happy around him, and sad around me, and that made my heart ache, because I would bring her the world just to her smile, and then i learn that I'm the cause of her sadness… do you know what it's like to lose your maye- Rain?", I nod as I remember Cedric's words about losing Tyla, Shadow nods and continues ," it feels like hell, it's like you're walking in a dessert, and you have a big bottle of water, but you can't touch it, though you're carrying it's heavy weight your back, and even when you know that it's a win-win situation, that if you drink you won't be thirsty and it would be lighter- you still don't touch it", I felt my tears run down my cheeks as he continued ,"it was a suicidele decision, but I had to leave, leave her life, leave her thoughts and heart, so that she would go on with the man she chose over me". I digest his words and close my eyes "so… she didn't leave you… you left her" he nodded and looked down "I left her life, but I always stayed in the shadows and watched her from afar, I wanted her to be happy, and I never blamed her for choosing a human over a monster like me, it was the right thing , the normal.life that she deserved", I nodded "now I know why she always stood in front of the window at night, she was searching for you, she missed you", he closed his eyes "and I still miss her, always will", I got up from the bed and walked towards him, kneeling beside him, I put my hands on his arm which rested on the armchair, his eyes moved to look at me, and I smiled to him "well, that makes the two of us", he smiled slightly at me as I sniffled and wiped my tears , "and we have all the time in the world to get to know each other right?", he thought about it for a second as he studied my face, then he gently booped my nose "right", I gave him my warmest smile and said "it might have been fate, and it might have been the moon Goddess, but I want you to know…" I grabbed his hand in both of my hands and stared into his eyes "I am happy to meet you… Dad", he stiffened and looked shocked for a moment , but then I saw a full smile form on his face and he said "me too
.. my girl".