Chapter 28
Stacey's POV
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I didn't know for how long I was awake and looking at the sleeping figure beside me. There were two reasons for staying awake.
One, I didn't want him to leave me alone on the bed just like that.
And second, the fact that this was the last time we came this close was haunting me.
I didn't want this to be LAST.
But then, what should it be? Dating?
I didn't know whether I was sure that I might need to check my feelings for him. At the same time, did he want to be with me? I wouldn't have this doubt if I wouldn't have been barren. After all, I had everything a man could need.
"Stop staring, Stacey." I heard him speaking even though his eyes were closed.
How couldn't I figure out that he was awake?
'That's because you are too busy with your thoughts.', Alicia reminded.
I observed him turning his body in another direction, showing me his back. I smiled when an idea came to my mind. I bit my lips as I let my eyes trail his body. I knew he was naked under the sheet. So, I slowly started removing the sheet from his body, but he grabbed it with one hand and then flipped it onto his side and props upon his elbow.
"What is on your mind, Stacey?" he growled at me.
"I think you know the answer to that question, Derek.", I purred at him, running my fingers over his strong arms. I could see that his wolf was trying to take control of him because of the change in the color of his eyes. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again.
"This…this was never the plan which we discussed before."
"I know, but sometimes we have to change our plan as per the situation.", I countered back. "I want you, Derek. And I don't want to end whatever is going between us.", I confessed truthfully.
"I want you too, but… it's not a good idea, Stacey! You're Alpha's daughter, and I'm not someone who tries to get in someone like you into my bed to become Alpha."
I nodded my head when I heard his point. "Fine then! If this Beta and Luna thing is disturbing you, then I will release you from your duty."
"What?"
"Yes! You heard me, right!" I said. He glared at me; still, I continued. "I know you are thinking of being judged by others. To be honest, I don't give a damn about that fact but considering your point of view. I promised that I would release from your Beta duty when things will get serious on my end. Because I know there is beta blood in your vein, but you can take down a lot of Alphas. So, if our rank will be the problem, then you can at least challenge any Alphas for the duel and become an Alpha, right?"
He kept staring at me for an entire minute without saying a single word.
"Say something; that will be fine to you, right?" I asked. "You can do at least that for your Luna, can't you do that? Because that will end every problem.", I pointed out.
"I…I have never thought about things in that way.", he mumbled, trying to come out of the shock which I had given him.
"Okay then, from the next time whenever thoughts like 'this is not right and blah, blah blah' starts popping out in your mind, then think about my words.", I said, on which he nodded his head.
"So, you are not releasing me from my duty right now?"
"No. Not yet.", I admitted instead of giving any false hope like I was serious that I was serious about him just because I wanted him. I couldn't think about us being together until I came to know about his thoughts about my infertility. I saw him, thinking something hard. "Penny, of your thoughts?" I asked, bringing him back to reality.
"Just thinking about your suggestion and was discussing with Rex about the same.", he responded.
"And what did Rex say?" I asked because I felt Alicia was taking an interest in the conversation now.
"That there is no way we can keep our hands off from each other, so better to try this because there is no way we are going to stop even after saying LAST time again and again.", he said.
"And I believe he is right about that part. I have a feeling that it will happen again.", I added, reaching near his lips and grabbing it between my lips.
"Fuck! Stacey!!" he groaned against my lips before kissing me back.
Just like we both had thought, we ended up having sex again.
*****
"When are you leaving for your pack?" Laila asked when we came downstairs after a few hours. Most of the people were resting in the room except a few who were watching web series on Netflix.
"I haven't thought about that. I'm planning to stay with mom and dad for a while.", I responded. "Why did you ask that?"
"That's because I'm throwing a small party at my place on 27th May evening to reveal the gender of my pup.", Ruby said in a low tone. Not sure that how I would react to hearing the name of PUP. I agreed that the topic was touchy for me, but that didn't mean I wouldn't be happy for her.
"You were pregnant, and you didn't tell me about that?" I exclaimed, looking at my betrayer friend.
"You can't blame me for that, can you? You had shut everyone out of your life from the moment your mate walked in your life.", She pointed out, on which I gave her a guilty smile. I felt bad for pulling myself from anyone.
"Yeah! I'm sorry, Ruby. I changed a lot of things after his arrival, and then the things had not been great after he left. I was miserable and never wanted all of you to have to be around that.", I apologized.
"I know, sweetheart. But never mind, all that matter is that you're returning back to yourself.", She said with a smile. "So, you are coming on 27th May, right?"
"Absolutely. Is that even a question?" I grinned.
"And don't forget to bring Derek though I'm sure Owen might have invited him too."
"Sure. I will check his plans first before committing anything."
*****
On the way back home!!
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"Owen asked me to come to the party along with you. Do you know anything about it?", He asked while driving the car.
"Yeah! They are throwing the party to reveal the gender of their first pup.", I muttered, thinking that I would never get a chance to celebrate this moment.
"Hmm. He told me about that. Do you want me to join you?"
"Obviously. Otherwise, at the end of the day, I would end up getting bored when everyone will get busy with their mates."
"So, you want to take me with you just to as not to feel bored?" he asked, glancing at me a little.
"Don't try to dig the meaningless meaning of my words, Derek. I didn't mean that, and even you know about that part. It's just that… I'm feeling upset even though I know that I shouldn't be." I sighed after saying that and leaned on the seat by closing my eyes.
"Well, I know what can change your mood."
"No. I'm not thinking of sex right now.", I mumbled, still keeping my eyes close because I knew I couldn't get rid of this emptiness even after sex.
"I wasn't about to point out about that but something else."
I opened my eyes and looked at him before speaking, "What is it?"
"There is someone who can brighten your mood.", He responded with a smile.
"Who?" I asked, even though I was sure that no one could change my mood. He didn't answer but just gave me a sly smile instead of taking me to my home. He stopped the car at his place. Opening the door of the car from the other end, he forwarded his hand to come out.
"Not today, please. Will I come to your place for dinner tomorrow or some other day? Hmm?"
"I'm not inviting you for dinner. Now, come on."
Grabbing his hand, I hopped out of the car and followed him. I wondered why he had brought me here when he wasn't thinking of family dinner.
The moment Mrs. Randell, her eyes twinkled like a star. "Stacey…" she hugged me happily. "You should have informed me earlier, Derek. I would have prepared something nice for dinner.", She scolded her son after breaking the hug.
"We are not here for dinner, Mom.", he explained, and immediately a high-pitched voice of a baby could be heard by everyone.
"Daddy…Daddy…", Soon a toddler came running there, hearing Derek's voice by waiving her both hand in the air happily. That was her daughter. Her smile widened when she finally saw Derek and gave him a few teeth which were in her mouth. Spreading her hand wide, she started running in his direction as fast as she could.
While I couldn't stop myself from pulling my phone out and making the video of that incident, Derek couched down and hugged his daughter before placing a tender kiss on her cheek, "Hey Princess, how was your day today?"
"Fine. Th..thank you.", She responded not in a clear voice, surprising me. Derek stood up to carry his daughter. He was about to introduce us when she spoke up on her own. "Who is she?", She said, pointing her tiny finger toward me.
"She is L…"
"I'm Stacey. Your daddy's friend.", I introduced myself, cutting him in between. What was he going to say to her? Luna and Beta thing?. His daughter, Scarlett, looked at him for confirmation, on which he nodded his head. Once she got confirmation from her dad about me being his friend, her baby blue eyes looked back at me. She forwarded her hand toward me.
"Here. Take her.", Derek said, passing her to me.
"Me?"
"She wants to come near you." When these words came out of his mouth, I kept my phone inside my pocket and carefully took her in my arms. She wrapped her tiny hand around my neck and giggled for god knows why?
"How old is she?" I asked him, looking at her.
"I'm two years old.", She responded in a clear tone, widening my eyes. Knowing that she was smart to understand the things, I mind linked Derek.
'Are you sure that she is just two years old?'
'How can I be sure? I don't know her real date of birth, but the pack doctor said that she was near about half years old when dad found her. That's a completely different story about how smart she is.'
'So? When will you celebrate her birthday then?'
'Well, since I don't know her birthday, that's why I'm not planning to celebrate her birthday on fix date. Instead, I will be celebrating her birthday every father's day. That is next month in June.'
I was going to admire his idea when Scarlett's voice rang in my ear. "Will you play with me?"
"I would love to.", I happily agreed without having any idea which game she was going to play.
"Daddy?"
"Of course, princess!" he grinned. "I will count till ten, and you three can hide wherever in the hours.", he added, looking at his mom as well. We wanted to hide somewhere where he couldn't find us, but Scarlett wanted to hide behind the curtain where anyone could see our legs.
'That's her favorite hiding spot.', Mrs. Randell commented, joining her behind the curtain.
"Stacey, come.", Scarlett said, showing her hand while I gave in. It wasn't that it was tough for Derek to find us, but he kept acting like he was not aware of our hiding spot.
I made a mental note to learn all these tricks while playing with Scarlett in the future. I didn't check the time for how long I was there until dad mind linked me, asking about my whereabouts.
"I should leave now. Mom and Dad are waiting for me at home.", I said to Mrs. Rondell when Scarlett asked.
"Daddy, where is my mom?"
Derek's eyes widened in shock at her question. Certainly, he didn't see this question coming.
"You have MOM, and even Stacey has MOM. Then where is my MOM?", She asked again. Derek didn't know what to say to her because she was too young to understand things like adoption. Thankfully, Mrs. Randell came up as a savior.
"Scar!! Baby, you will have your mom when you will choose someone like your mom.", She cooked a fake story. "Just like you choose your own toys on your own. In the same way, you will have to choose your mom on your own."
She looked at her dad for confirmation. I observed her doing that a lot. No matter what others said to her, she looked up at her father first to confirm it. "Yes, princess. You will have to choose your mom on your own.", he said.
She then turned her head to look at me.
'Is she going to choose us as her mom?' Alicia asked nervously in her mind.
'I don't know. But why are you getting nervous?'
'Says the person who is getting nervous too.', She mocked. Well, that was true. The thought that she might choose us, her mother, was making me feel nervous.
After looking at me for a while, she turned her head toward her daddy again and ran near him. I released the breath which I was holding until now.
"I should be going now.", I said to Mrs. Randell.
"Sure!! Derek, drop Stacey at Alpha Asher's place.", She ordered.
"Okay, mom," Derek said and was about to move away from Scarlett when she spoke.
"You are leaving me again.", Scarlett said, holding his hand.
"It is not required. Mrs. Randell. And let Scar play with her daddy. Moreover, my house is barely at the distance of twenty minutes from here.", I said and looked at Derek for the car's key.
"Or I can drop you at home and take my princess for a ride. What do you say, sweetheart?" Derek asked.
"I love that idea."
*****
On the way back to my home, Scarlett chose to sit in the back seat comfortably. More than sitting, she was standing against the car's window and looking outside.
"Daddy"
"Yes, Princess!"
"Will you take me with you this time?"
"I'm not sure about that. But I will surely take with you me next time."
"You always say that.", She complained in a low tone. I read the expression on Derek's face. It seemed like he was feeling guilty for that part.
"Scarlett, come here, sweetheart," I called her, showing my hand once she was in reach of my hand. I grabbed her and pulled her to my seat on my lap. "I'm thinking of taking you to the amusement park tomorrow. Will you come with me?" I asked to change her mood.
"Amusement part? What is that?"
I opened my phone and showed her the pictures of it.
"This looks like so much fun!", She said, taking the phone from my hand and looking at the pictures one by one.
"So, will you come with me?"
"Will daddy join us too?"
"Not sure. But we can have a lot of fun together, you know.", I responded.
"I will come if daddy will allow.", She said and looked at her daddy again. I could now bet that she was not two because of the way she used to think and speak; she definitely didn't look like a baby girl of two years. But at the same time, the expectation was always there. Who knows if she could great grand grand grand grand granddaughter of Einstein or Newton?
"I don't have any problem with that, Princess."
"But I will love it when you also join us.", She requested.
"And I will be there, princess.", He replied, pinching her cheeks and focusing back on the road. I took my clue to leave when we pulled into my driveway. I hopped out of the car, taking Scarlett in my arms, and then made her seat on the front seat carefully.
"Good night, Scar.", I whispered, kissing her head.
"Good night, Stacey. Sweet dreams.", She responded cheerfully. I looked at Derek, whose eyes were on me.
'Don't tell Luna (your mother) or Alpha about Scar's behavior. No one knows much about her behavior, and grabbing unnecessary attention of others at her is the last thing in my mind.', he said through the mind link.
'You're hiding something about her, aren't you?' I asked, to which he didn't answer anything.
"Stacey, you can close the door.", Scarlett said, pointing her finger toward the door.
"Oh, yes! Silly me." I closed the door and saw a car moving from there.
'Do you want to dig about his daughter's little secret?' Alicia asked.
'No.', I shook my head. 'I believe Derek will tell me about her on its own when the right time will come.'
'Yeah! I agree with that. But I must say, she is such a cute and intelligent baby."
'Hmm. She is more intelligent than her age.', Pushing that thought away, I walked inside the home where mom was waiting for the theme for the dinner.
"Soooo?" Mom asked in excitement.
"So what?"
"Anything happened between you two?"
"Will you please stop that?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
"Okay! Okay! As you wish.", She acted to be sad.
"By the way, I will be spending my day with Derek and his daughter tomorrow. That little angel was really upset with her daddy for not taking her with him to my pack, so I propose the idea of taking her to the amusement park."
"I don't have any issues with that.", She said, grinning like an idiot. "In fact, I'm happy that you won't be here at home tomorrow."
"Why did you say so?"
"Adams had called me today. He wanted to talk with you and was saying that your number was switched off. That's why he was called me."
"Yeah! I broke my old sim card and my old phone yesterday.", I muttered.
"In another case, I would have scolded you but not now. You did a great job by destroying your old number. So, I was just tensed that he might come here in search of you tomorrow and would end up spoiling your mood by his presence."
"Don't worry about me, Mom. I'm not going back to that bastard ever again. Never again."
"I'm happy to hear that, and yes! Even your doctor had called me. I don't remember her name, but she was the same doctor who had confirmed your infertility. Since your number was switched off, so she called me at my number was given as an emergency contact detail."
"Did you ask the reason behind her sudden call?"
"Yes, I did. But she didn't tell me the reason.", She responded. I wondered what could be the reason behind her sudden call? Since she wasn't in my pack anymore. I couldn't mind link her. She left my pack a month before when she found her mate and then relocated to her mate's pack. So, I asked for my mother's phone to call her, but her number was switched off now. I left a message on her voicemail.
After dinner, I mind linked Derek to know what he was doing.
'Slept?'
'Not yet. Reading a story for Scar. I will talk you to later.'
'Sure.'
****
After half an hour,
'Still awake?'
"Yeah! I was waiting to talk with you.', I responded.
'About?'
'Nothing special. Do I need some reason to talk with you?'
'Of course not!' he teased.
'By the way, Scar slept so late today. Why is that?'
'That…. that's because she was noting down all the qualities which she wants in her mother so that she could choose the right mother for her.'
'Noting down? She is just two, and she was noting down?' I asked. This time I was not at all surprised about her intelligence.
'She just looks like two, but she is a lot older than that.'
'What do you mean, Derek?'
'We…Mom, dad, and I had asked witch Glinda to hide her outer appearance so that people around here won't freak out after finding out how quickly she was growing older.'
It didn't take me much time to realize what his daughter was, and I also could understand the reason why he was trying to hide this fact from the people around him because the moment anyone would find out what she was! They would kill her because a dhampir (They are creatures that are the result of a union between a vampire and a mortal human) didn't belong here.
'You should teach her to act like a baby, you know?' I suggested to him.
'I know. Mom has explained to her to just cry like a baby in front of others, but then…maybe she is growing quickly, but that won't the fact that her mind is somewhere like a child. I might sound like a cruel person, but I was thinking of keeping her hidden in my home until she is eighteen because a dhampir is neither accepted by vampires and talking about werewolves are out of the subject."
'You will keep her hidden in the house for sixteen years? Counting it from the next month.'
'I can't risk her life. If she again opens her mouth just like she did today, then people will definitely try to dig out her past. I can trust you with her truth, but not everyone is you, Stacey.'
'I don't know what to say on this. It's just I know how Scarlett will feel when she will realize that you have snatched sixteen years of her life by caging her inside the home, but then I can see that your intentions are good behind doing this. By the way, thank you for trusting me with Scarlett's truth.'
'Well, what can I say? You're not the only one who trusts in our….Ummm, friendship.'
I smiled after hearing him.
"I trust you are a better compliment than 'I love you because you may not always trust the person you love, but you can always love the person you trust.' I recalled my father's words.
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#TBC
