Rejected and Pregnant I Fled The Pack novel Chapter 29

Chapter 29

“So she’s-” Evelyn hesitated, some old, complicated loyalty still evidently threading through her voice despite everything. “Is she alright?”

The question surprised me, coming from her, after everything Marissa had put her through. But I supposed some friendships didn’t fully die even after they’d been irreparably broken.

“She left,” I said. “A few days ago. Took her things in the middle of the night, no warning.” I paused, watching Evelyn’s expression shift into genuine surprise now. “My mother left with her.”

“Your mother?” Evelyn sat up slightly straighter, wincing at the movement, her attention fully caught now. What do you mean, left with her?”

“I don’t know all of it yet,” I admitted. “There was a note. Not much explanation beyond that she needed to leave, that she was taking Marissa with her.” I felt old, complicated grief settle into my chest, thinking of my mother, of decades spent quietly enduring my father’s choices, of every companion I’d watched parade through our house while she grew smaller and quieter with each passing year. “I think—I think watching what happened between us broke something loose in her. Made her finally understand she didn’t have to keep enduring what my father put her through. I don’t know where they went. I haven’t tried to find out yet.

Evelyn was quiet for a long moment, processing everything, her hand coming up instinctively to brush against Willow’s small foot where it peeked out from the hospital blanket. “That’s a lot to carry all at once.”

“It is.” I looked down at our daughter again, at her tiny, sleeping face, feeling the weight of everything I still needed to say pressing against my chest. “Evelyn, I need you to know-I’m not here to demand anything from you. I’m not here to drag you back to the pack, or insist you fall back into some role you never wanted. I spent the whole drive here telling myself I needed both of you home, and somewhere along the way I realized that’s not actually what matters most.”

“Then what do you want,” she asked quietly, watching me with an exhaustion that went far deeper than just the physical toll of labor.

“I want to actually know her,” I said, nodding toward Willow, still sleeping soundly in my arms. “However that looks. Whatever you’re willing to allow. I don’t expect forgiveness, Evelyn. I know I don’t deserve it, not after everything, not after eight months of you having to do this completely alone because of choices I made.” I paused, forcing myself to hold her gaze despite how much easier it would have been to look away. “But I’m asking, if you’re willing, to let me be part of her life. Not because pack law says I’m entitled to it. Because I want to be the kind of father who actually shows up, instead of the kind who taught himself excuses were normal.”

Evelyn studied me for a long moment, something unreadable behind her tired eyes, and I braced myself for whatever answer she gave, understanding fully that I had no right to expect anything generous after everything I’d cost her.

“I need time,” she said finally. “I need to heal from this, physically and everything else. And I need to see, actually see, that you mean what you’re saying, before I trust it with her whole life, not just words in a hospital room.”

“That’s fair,” I said immediately, meaning it completely. “Whatever timeline you need. I’m not going anywhere, but I’m not going to push either. I’ll wait as long as it takes.”

She nodded slowly, some of the tension in her shoulders easing slightly, though the careful distance between us remained fully intact, exactly where she needed it to stay for now.

I looked back down at Willow, at the impossible, fragile weight of her sleeping against my chest, and understood that whatever came next-however long Evelyn needed, however much rebuilding stood between where we were

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Chapter 20

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