Chapter 16 Cherry
As I hurried inside from the balcony, my heart raced. But while I left Dylan behind physically, the look of anguish on his handsome face wouldn't leave my bruised heart. I'd told him I couldn't be his mate, and I'd meant it. I'd meant it seven years ago, and I meant it now. I hadn't come back to Starsmoon for Dylan. I'd come here because pack rules had forced my hand.
Yet, the distress stamped across his strong features made me ache to go back and comfort him. But I couldn't. I didn't belong here. I had a whole life elsewhere. I had Fern.
The thought of my daughter finally had me quickening my pace across the reception room. I moved so quickly I barely noticed Lucy strutting towards me. But my wolf's quick reflexes rose within me. I ducked out of the way of Lucy's hand as she struck out at me—the long cream dress she wore and her wavy curls seemed to ripple with fury.
"You're a conniving little bitch!" Lucy shrieked.
I gawped at her, my body churning with too much feeling. Still reeling from the shock of Dylan's confession to me, I felt as if I was in a trance.
Lucy continued her tirade, her tall, slender form shaking. "I saw it yesterday. I knew you were back here just to seduce him, even though you rejected him."
"Dylan's Beta demanded I come back," I argued. "I came here because pack rules forced me to. Otherwise," I emphasized, "I've got nothing to do with Dylan."
The same unrelenting suspicion marred Lucy's face.
Exasperatedly, I exhaled and said, "In fact, I'm leaving. Right now." Turning on my heel, it was with breath-taking relief that fresh air hit my face as I left my old Luna and Alpha's home.
But the feeling was short-lived. The hubbub of gossip filled the gardens where the pack had emerged. A throng milled about the lawns under the marquees. I tried not to look, but I felt their eyes on me. I couldn't help bristling that these people, my old pack and friends, had been pleased to see me only an hour ago. But now my skin prickled with unease as I sensed them regarding me with censure and judgment. Did they, like Lucy, blame me for disturbing the peace? Guilt churned through me as I thought of how I had kissed Dylan back only minutes ago. My lips tingled with the memory of his hot, hungry mouth. But I quashed the thought. My body had responded to his before I could think. I hadn't meant to kiss him. It hadn't meant anything.
With balled fists, I willed myself not to worry about them. I had come back because of pack law. What I'd said to Lucy was the truth. And with every step I took, I resolved to damn well prove what I'd said by never setting foot on the Starsmoon compound. Ever again.
Trudging down the dirt path, I had a pit stop at Bert's house. Thankfully, he'd left the door unlocked. Even better was the fact he wasn't in. I didn't think I could take the same accusations from my oldest friend as Lucy. I
was almost certain that he'd take my side, but feeling shaken, I had no intention of waiting around to find out.
Packing my trolley bag, within minutes, I trundled away from Starsmoon on foot. There were too many people about the place for me to contemplate waiting here while I called a taxi, so I phoned for one as I trekked down the road. I knew my dad would be somewhere amidst the gaggle of onlookers, likely searching for me, but I couldn't face fighting my way through the crowd to find him. I was sure he'd head home when he couldn't find me and meet me there.
The other worry that twisted my insides was that if I lingered, Dylan might try to talk to me again. The idea had me practically running. My pink satin heels became ruined by mud, and the bottom of my dress grew speckled with dirt, but none of that mattered. All that mattered was getting out of here.
At the end of the road, I climbed into the taxi waiting for me and finally felt like I could catch my breath. Yet, even as the cab carried me closer to Horizon View, I felt skittish and couldn't help casting glances back out the rear of the car, worrying that I might still be pursued.
At my dad's house, I removed fished out the hidden key in the plant pot and let myself in. Shakily, I brewed a pot of coffee, every moment hoping that my dad would return home soon. Perching on the sofa in the living room, I clutched my warming drink in an attempt to comfort myself. But the quiet of the house grated on me, and with my nerves on edge, I jumped at every noise. The clank of the neighbor's bins and the cry of a cat had me leaping to my feet.
When my dad eventually returned, I almost leaped out of my skin. Yet as he rushed through the door and pulled me into a much-needed hug, I calmed down instantly. For a moment, I reveled in the fact that words were unnecessary. As part of the pack, he'd witnessed Dylan's outburst and must have watched as he'd found me in the crowd, then pulled me out to the balcony.
"I knew I shouldn't ever have come back," I murmured forlornly into my dad's chest.
He stepped away, taking a seat on the sofa opposite me, while I poured him a coffee from the pot into the other mug I'd already readied for him. My hands trembled, but doing something felt good.
"Thanks, love." My dad accepted the drink. He drank it black, and although it was too hot to drink yet, he brought it up to his mouth, savoring the aroma as he always did.
For a while, we were quiet. With my dad for company, I no longer felt so jumpy. As I sipped at my drink, it felt good to know that even if the worst happened and Dylan showed up here to talk to me again, I had someone in my corner who would fight for me if I refused to see him again. And with the tumble of my mind, I knew that if he did show up, I couldn't face talking to him again.
With my worries still gnawing at me, my dad was the first one to break the stillness. "Dylan and Lucy don't seem good together."
His words brought the echo of Dylan's unhappy voice back to me. "No," I agreed numbly. Tentatively, I shared, "Dylan said he only agreed to marry Lucy to secure a powerful heir."
My dad's lips dipped down beneath his bushy beard. "I knew they didn't seem like a couple in love. Anyone can see that."
My heart quickened at his reflection, and Dylan's words from the balcony tormented me: "You're my mate." The taste of his kiss fired through me. Again, I rebuked myself for having kissed him back. But my body had responded before my rational thoughts could catch up.
I shook away the memory, not wanting to think about Dylan anymore. This whole trip had been a mistake. I shouldn't have come back. I should have defied pack law. Wouldn't it have been better to have offended the new Alpha rather than mess up his ascension ceremony and the news of his betrothal?
"Cherry," my dad asked gently, "what about you? Is there someone special in your life?"
His careful but tender tone had me reeling. My mouth clammed up, and I struggled to sort my thoughts out. Carl's call came back to me, which I'd picked up just before Dylan's shocking announcement. My stomach knotted again at the thought of going to bed with Carl. But maybe it was what I needed. Maybe, when I got back to Berlin, it was the natural progression. He'd told me he loved me. Maybe, in time, I'd feel the same way. I made up my mind to give Carl a chance. I'd commit myself to him when I got back to Berlin.
A glimmer of concern strained his expression. "And what about Fern's father? Are you still in touch with him?"
My hands tightened around my mug into an iron grip. My dad's leading question made me suspect that he already knew the identity of Fern's father.
With a deep breath, I explained, "There is someone back in Berlin. I'm dating a human called Carl." I paused to gather my thoughts but owned up, "And Dylan is Fern's father."
I met my dad's serious gaze as he digested this information and observed his lack of surprise. After I'd asked both him and Bert to keep Fern's existence a secret, he'd already deduced the truth.
But I felt relief ripple through me, now with no secrets between my dad and me. I'd truly hoped that my dad could be a more significant part of my and my daughter's life, and now he knew everything that might actually prove possible.
"It's why I can't risk coming back to Seattle again, Dad." I confided. "You saw how Dylan was with me, and I've worked too hard to build the life I wanted in Berlin for him to drag me away from it." My hands curled even more tightly around my drink into a death grip as I added. "And I'm not going to risk Fern being claimed by Dylan and the pack.
"So, when I leave Seattle tomorrow, I'm never going to come back here." Hopefully, it could soon be as if this disastrous trip had never happened.
"Nothing is more important than you to me, Darling. And I can't wait to meet my granddaughter." He paused, looking thoughtful. "I'll come soon. They'll be business to wrap up with the pack, but I think time with you and Fern is very much overdue. I'm going to retire, and as long as you don't mind an old codger like me, I'll live with you until I get settled somewhere."
Setting down my mug, I threw myself at my dad, hugging him happily. Tears misted my gaze, and I said, "That you'll be living with us in a year
makes this whole disastrous trip worthwhile."
As my gaze flitted about the room, wistfulness stole through me. My gaze traveled along the stylized wallpaper and floral sofas that always reminded me of my mom's penchant for patterned décor. After tomorrow, I'd likely never see this place and a lot of these things again. My childhood home and the objects belonging to it might soon be gone. Part of me ached too to think that I'd never get to share with Fern the places around here that had been so special to me. But I reminded myself this plan was for the best. It gave Fern a life away from the control of the Pack, a life she could choose herself, just as I had chosen mine.