Sentinel: Reckless Desires (Wolf Shifter Romance) (Alpha Protectors Book 2) by Olivia Arran Page B
Authors: Olivia Arran
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done this to me. To us.
“I didn’t plan it,” she started, her voice an earnest plea. “I didn’t even know I was pregnant for a while. And I’d already left, told you the lie, and burned my bridges. Do you really think that you’d have believed me if I had come back and found you?”
I leaned closer, not giving her chance to escape. “I’d have listened.”
“I’d already told you I had a mate and a child. I’d made my decision.”
I shook my head, a low curse coloring the air. “That’s what I don’t understand. Why did you run away? If you’d have stayed then none of this would’ve happened.”
She threw her hands up in the air, her fiery hair flying as she shook her head in denial. “Don’t you think I know that? You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me. You haven’t given me the chance to try and understand, and I want to.” Wanted to more than anything in the world.
She blinked at me, her vivid green eyes glossy. “You should hate me. Why are you being so reasonable?”
Would she accept I didn’t have a fucking clue , for an answer? I considered her question, really thought about it. All I knew was I wanted to forgive her, because if I couldn’t then we didn’t have a future together. And I wanted a future with her. “Because I’m having a hard time believing that you really wanted this to happen. Deep down I think you know you made a mistake, and I want to know why. I want you to make me understand.”
A picture of dejection, she slid down the tree until she was sitting on the ground, her arms curling around her legs as she dragged them into her chest.
Taking a seat next to her, I nudged her with my shoulder. “Just tell me, Chloe.”
“My mom was the alpha of Moonridge, did you know that? It wasn’t my dad. My mom led the pack.” She laughed, a hollow sound that hurt my ears. “But that was before I was born. Growing up, people would tell me stories about how tough and fair my mom was as a leader. How powerful and decisive she was. That she was kind and generous and quick to defend those weaker than her.” Her head fell forward, a curtain of hair hiding her face from view.
“It sounds like she was a wonderful woman.” I reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear, stroking a finger down her cheek.
She unconsciously leaned into my hand, her lashes spiky with tears. “You’d think. But that wasn’t the woman I knew.” She stared at her hands as if seeing them for the first time, turning them over, then back again. “I have her hands, you know? I don’t look anything like her, but I have her hands.”
Her loss hit me square in the chest, a wrenching feeling akin to being shot. I forced the next question out, hating to ask but needing to know. Somehow this was all connected and if I was going to fix this… “What happened?”
“I don’t know. By the time I was old enough to understand what was happening around me my dad was the alpha and my mother… well, she kept to herself. I was a daddy’s girl. I followed him around everywhere, putting him up on a pedestal and wishing I could be like him.” Red stained her cheeks, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. She took a deep breath, as if bracing herself. “I was ashamed of my mom. I thought she was weak and I didn’t want to be like her. I hated the fact that all she did was stay at home and tend the house and look after me. She didn’t talk much, didn’t go anywhere or laugh or smile or do anything! She wasn’t sad—she was vacant. Not really there. And she didn’t have any ambition. It made me so angry that she didn’t want to make anything more of herself. And then when I found out what she’d been like before, I hated her even more.” Her hands curled into fists, the knuckles turning white as she squeezed. “The woman they talked about, where was she? That was the woman I wanted to know. I wanted to talk to her , not the sad shell of a woman who passed every day looking like she wished it were her
“I didn’t plan it,” she started, her voice an earnest plea. “I didn’t even know I was pregnant for a while. And I’d already left, told you the lie, and burned my bridges. Do you really think that you’d have believed me if I had come back and found you?”
I leaned closer, not giving her chance to escape. “I’d have listened.”
“I’d already told you I had a mate and a child. I’d made my decision.”
I shook my head, a low curse coloring the air. “That’s what I don’t understand. Why did you run away? If you’d have stayed then none of this would’ve happened.”
She threw her hands up in the air, her fiery hair flying as she shook her head in denial. “Don’t you think I know that? You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me. You haven’t given me the chance to try and understand, and I want to.” Wanted to more than anything in the world.
She blinked at me, her vivid green eyes glossy. “You should hate me. Why are you being so reasonable?”
Would she accept I didn’t have a fucking clue , for an answer? I considered her question, really thought about it. All I knew was I wanted to forgive her, because if I couldn’t then we didn’t have a future together. And I wanted a future with her. “Because I’m having a hard time believing that you really wanted this to happen. Deep down I think you know you made a mistake, and I want to know why. I want you to make me understand.”
A picture of dejection, she slid down the tree until she was sitting on the ground, her arms curling around her legs as she dragged them into her chest.
Taking a seat next to her, I nudged her with my shoulder. “Just tell me, Chloe.”
“My mom was the alpha of Moonridge, did you know that? It wasn’t my dad. My mom led the pack.” She laughed, a hollow sound that hurt my ears. “But that was before I was born. Growing up, people would tell me stories about how tough and fair my mom was as a leader. How powerful and decisive she was. That she was kind and generous and quick to defend those weaker than her.” Her head fell forward, a curtain of hair hiding her face from view.
“It sounds like she was a wonderful woman.” I reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear, stroking a finger down her cheek.
She unconsciously leaned into my hand, her lashes spiky with tears. “You’d think. But that wasn’t the woman I knew.” She stared at her hands as if seeing them for the first time, turning them over, then back again. “I have her hands, you know? I don’t look anything like her, but I have her hands.”
Her loss hit me square in the chest, a wrenching feeling akin to being shot. I forced the next question out, hating to ask but needing to know. Somehow this was all connected and if I was going to fix this… “What happened?”
“I don’t know. By the time I was old enough to understand what was happening around me my dad was the alpha and my mother… well, she kept to herself. I was a daddy’s girl. I followed him around everywhere, putting him up on a pedestal and wishing I could be like him.” Red stained her cheeks, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. She took a deep breath, as if bracing herself. “I was ashamed of my mom. I thought she was weak and I didn’t want to be like her. I hated the fact that all she did was stay at home and tend the house and look after me. She didn’t talk much, didn’t go anywhere or laugh or smile or do anything! She wasn’t sad—she was vacant. Not really there. And she didn’t have any ambition. It made me so angry that she didn’t want to make anything more of herself. And then when I found out what she’d been like before, I hated her even more.” Her hands curled into fists, the knuckles turning white as she squeezed. “The woman they talked about, where was she? That was the woman I wanted to know. I wanted to talk to her , not the sad shell of a woman who passed every day looking like she wished it were her
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