Rejected and Pregnant I Fled The Pack novel Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Damon pov

I found Evelyn in the small kitchen, just settling down to a plate of reheated dinner, her movements slow and heavy with an exhaustion that had clearly built up over the past several days-Marissa’s crisis, my mother’s arrival, Willow’s unpredictable sleep schedule, all of it accumulating into something visible in the dark circles under her eyes and the tired slump of her shoulders.

“You look like you’re about to fall asleep in your soup,” I said, crossing the room toward her.

“I might,” she admitted, managing a tired smile despite the exhaustion evident in every line of her face. “Willow decided two in the morning was an excellent time to be wide awake and chatty. I don’t think either of us actually slept properly.”

“Go rest, my love.” The endearment slipped out easily, naturally, and I registered it only after I’d already said it, some part of me pleased that it had come without hesitation or careful deliberation. “I’ll clean up down here. You need actual sleep more than you need to sit here forcing yourself through dinner.”

She stopped mid-motion, fork halfway to her plate, something shifting in her expression that I couldn’t immediately read. For a moment I worried I’d overstepped, used a term of affection she wasn’t ready to hear yet, especially given how carefully measured her response had been the night before when I’d told her I loved her.

But instead of pulling back, she set the fork down slowly, stood, and crossed the small space between us before I could fully react, wrapping her arms around me in a hug that caught me completely off guard.

I stood frozen for a moment, processing the unexpected warmth of it, before wrapping my own arms around her carefully, mindful of my still-healing side, and held her close, feeling the exhausted weight of her lean into me.

“Sorry,” she said quietly, her voice muffled slightly against my shoulder. “I don’t know what came over me. That just-it caught me off guard, in a good way.”

“Don’t apologize,” I said, my voice rougher than I intended, something in my chest aching with how much this simple, unexpected gesture meant after everything. “You can hug me anytime you want. Please don’t ever apologize for that.”

She pulled back slightly, enough to look up at me, something soft and vulnerable in her tired eyes. “It’s just-you calling me that. My love. It’s the first time since everything happened that it didn’t feel like something from before, something tainted by what came after. It just felt like you, right now, meaning it simply.”

Something in my chest tightened at that, understanding the significance of what she was actually describing-not forgiveness, not full trust restored, but something quietly, genuinely healing all the same.

“I do mean it,” I said softly. “Every time I say it now, I mean it completely. Not the careless way I might have said it before any of this happened, when I still thought loving you meant something less demanding than it actually does.”

She studied me for a long moment, something working behind her tired eyes, before she leaned in and pressed a soft, brief kiss to my cheek-nothing more than that, careful and measured, but the first genuinely affectionate gesture she’d initiated since everything fell apart eight months ago.

“Go sit,” she said, stepping back, though warmth still lingered in her expression. “I’ll finish eating properly, and then I actually will go rest. But let me finish dinner first. I’m hungrier than I realized.”

I laughed softly, some of the tension from the past several days finally easing in my chest, and settled into the chair across from her while she resumed eating, watching her with quiet, grateful attention.

1/2

+15 Bonus

“How’s Willow doing today, besides the two a.m. wakefulness,” I asked, genuinely curious despite having seen her myself only a few hours earlier.

“Good, otherwise. Starting to actually track things with her eyes more, follow movement across the room. ‘The healer who checked on her yesterday said she’s developing right on schedule, maybe even a little ahead.” Evelyn’s expression softened with obvious pride and affection, exhaustion momentarily forgotten in favor of talking about their daughter. “She smiled at me this morning. A real one, not just gas, the healer confirmed.”

“I’m sorry I missed that,” I said, genuine regret in my voice. “I hate that I’m gone so often lately, with everything happening with my father and Marissa and my mother.”

“You’re doing what needs doing,” Evelyn said, waving off the apology gently. “I’d rather you handle those things properly than resent missing small moments you couldn’t have controlled anyway. There’ll be plenty more smiles to catch.”

I appreciated the grace in that, the practical understanding she extended so readily despite every reasonable excuse she had to hold tighter to old resentments instead.

“How’s your mother settling in,” Evelyn asked, finishing the last of her dinner.

COIN BUNDLE: get more free bonus

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify