Chapter 10 - Robyn

Mother didn't know when to shut up.

"It's a scandal," she said for the fourth time in a row, "about Cliff coming back and all. You heard the rumors, Dear. Can you believe he was planning on kidnapping you and Sydney? Can you imagine?"

She made a huffing sound like she was a puppy about to sneeze and then slurped her tea loudly.

"He didn't even propose to you. What a joke!"

I rolled my eyes and reached for my teacup. I was getting tired of hosting these little tea parties. "Did you say something about a date today?"

"No, Darling. I just thought it was important for us to catch up." She cast a polite grin over her shoulder at Sydney, who was playing quietly with a dollhouse. "Did you hear that, Dear? It's a family day!"

Sydney smiled, yawned, and returned her attention to her dolls. All those multicolored dresses, shiny marble eyes, and chrome-painted nails looked too lively for my daughter's countenance. She lifelessly bounced one doll along the edge of the dollhouse, a plastic model made of pastel, yellow, and pink that I had picked up in town. She had screamed bloody murder when she saw it. Now, she seemed like she was bored of it.

I sighed worriedly. "You know, I think this bachelor business is bothering Sydney. Can't we give it a rest for a while?"

Sluuurp. "Give what a rest?"

My lips tightened into a flat line. "Mother, you don't have to be obtuse."

"If only Alpha would approve a mate for you." Her exaggerated frown wrinkled her lips together. "He has such high standards. That's probably for the best."

"Mom, you don't have to speak so loud. I'm sitting right next to you."

She grinned performatively. "Why, I don't know what you mean, Darling."

"You sound drunk. Do I need to call your ex-husband?"

"If I wanted to have a bad time, I would call Donnie all on my own."

I tried to hide my knowing grin. "Dad hates that nickname."

"He hates anything that comes out of my mouth."

"Is that how you want me to be?"

She turned to me with a shocked glare. "What are you saying, Robyn Wade?"

"I'm saying that you and Dad were matched together—and you ended up divorced."

"Thank the great Gods around us that we were divorced before he decided to mark me with the mate bite."

I sent a concerned smile to my daughter, who was too occupied with her dolls to notice that we were having a troublesome discussion over here. That was for the best. She had enough things that were scaring her.

With the lightest touch, I reached for my bottom lip. "Hey, can you tell me about that? How big does the bite have to be?"

Mom plucked a silver flask from her breast pocket and dribbled liquor into her tea. It must be close to five if she's doing that now. "I don't know. Some people make giant marks that look like hickeys. Gross." She set the flask down and lifted her teacup. "Others do little nips or whatever. I don't know."

She slurped her tea, sending me into a mild spiral as I tried to figure out whether Cliff had possibly given me a mate bite or had just broken the skin on my lip by accident. I tapped the area again, flinching subtly at the soreness. The slightest touch sent a sting to my slit and made me reconsider touching my lip again.

I sighed as I reached for my cup once more. "Why did you two get a divorce?"

"We were fighting all the time." She avoided eye contact as she lifted her teacup like she was getting ready to make a toast. "You were complaining about it. We got divorced. Problem solved." Slurrrrp. "But that's nothing our Alpha can't solve by choosing the best mate for you, right?"

Irritated by her hypervigilant commentary, I turned back to Sydney, who was now holding her dolls to her chest and staring listlessly out the window. I wanted to pick her up and run as hard as my legs would allow. My poor, sweet girl was waiting in limbo for things to get better. I could tell she hoped for that funny man to come back soon.

I need to tell her that Cliff is her father , I thought. And I should tell Cliff that Sydney is his daughter, too .

My mother kept flapping her jaws, but I couldn't hear a word. I didn't care about that when I was more worried about what was to come. If it was five o'clock, then that meant Cliff would be here shortly. He said he would come by in the evening to challenge Bill. I checked my phone a few times. No texts.

I sighed.

"Robyn Wade, are you tuning me out again?"

I smiled sleepily at my mother. "No, I'm just trying to stay awake. I've been losing sleep."

"You need a good man here. That's why you're losing sleep. Sydney is too much for you."

I laughed while motioning toward my perfectly well-behaved daughter. "You must be mistaking your granddaughter for a changeling."

"Don't be na?ve, Robyn. You're not getting any younger. Why do you have to be so picky about a mate?"

"I'll marry Cliff if that's what you want."

She cackled. "If he were interested in you, then he would have proposed years ago."

"You know what? I'm tired of your half-baked opinions and fake smiles. It's gross." I stood up and tugged on my mother's arm. "Get up. Get out. I'm not doing this."

"I beg your pardon."

I smiled fiercely. "Beg as much as you want, then. Out ."

Mom gaped at me for several seconds before gathering her pocketbook and shuffling angrily to the door. Sydney stood up with Mr. Charles under her arm while watching her grandmother stomp onto the porch.

She glanced at me blankly. "Mommy, what's wrong?"

"Nothing at all, Princess." I smiled as I trailed after my mother. "Your grandmother just needs some space to herself."

Accepting as she was of my reply, she sank uncertainly to the ground and set Mr. Charles up with one of her bronze-brown dolls wearing a green plaid dress. I ignored the plaid in favor of giving my mother one last mental kick in the buns before shutting the door. I locked it promptly, leaning against the wood to catch my breath.

My heart was going a mile a minute. I never stood up to my mother like that. Every now and then, I got the urge to tell her off with some logic, but I never told her to get out like that. She was on my last nerve with everything. I didn't care that she was miserable without my dad. It wasn't my problem to solve by marrying the first guy she threw in my direction.

Apples tended to fall close to their trees. I didn't want to fall too close to mine and end up divorcing my mate after a few years of unhappy marriage. What a nightmare. I also didn't want to risk having a mate bite mark on my body if I did end up divorcing him.

I spun around to face my daughter. "Who said anything about marriage?"

Sydney lifted Mr. Charles and nuzzled him to her chest. "What, Mommy?"

"Nothing, sweetheart. Sorry." I grinned apologetically as I joined her on the ground. "Can I play with you?"

"Is that funny man coming back?"

I chuckled. "Yeah, I hope so."

"Mommy?"

"Yes, Baby?"

She sighed with longing. "Will I ever have a daddy?"

I rested my hand on her back. "Actually, Sydney, you already have a dad."

She looked at me with wide eyes. "Where is he?"

I swallowed my pride. This wasn't the time to get shy about telling my daughter the truth. She deserved to know. Her grandmother was just going to keep making up stories if I didn't set the record straight. It was time to be brave—for her, and for me.

"His name is—"

Crash!

I closed my eyes with a sense of defeat. "If that woman knocked over my peony pot again, I'm going to—"

"Mommy, there's a crowd outside."

I opened my eyes to find my daughter nosily poking her snout into the window. She was just tall enough to see over the sill and she was stubbing the tip of her forefinger on the glass.

I got up from the ground and joined her at the window—and then nearly lost my jaw when my mouth dropped open. "What in the world is he doing out there?"

Sydney stood on her toes. "Funny man!" She smacked the window. "Funny man, look!"

I took her hand and pulled her away from the window. "Don't hit the glass, Honey. It might break." I scooped her up and propped her on my hip. "Let's just make sure your grandmother hasn't done anything silly out there."

I was out of breath when I made it to the edge of the porch. I searched the street and the yard, noticing the crowd gathering around Cliff. He faced my house with an expressionless face, eyes sparking with recognition when they fell on me and Sydney. My daughter gasped and clapped her hands excitedly. "Funny man!"

Cliff flashed his most dashing smile, a dangerous combination with the way he was looking at me. Hungrily. Possessively .

He held up his hand to the members collecting near him. "My name is Clifton Spears and I seek audience with your Alpha, Bill Parks."

My neighbor, Sonya, a wolf woman who wore a purple headscarf and loose black robes, encouraged the crowd to part for Bill to make his way to the center. I watched with bated breath as I bounced Sydney on my hip. She kept wigging and trying to slide out of my grip, but I birthed this girl and knew exactly how to hold her firmly without hurting her. After a few seconds of her fighting, she stiffened and whined.

"Mommy, I want down," she complained. She pointed to Cliff. "I want to see the funny man."

"Honey, you can watch from here."

She groaned. "But Mommy—"

I took a deep breath and held Sydney in front of me so she couldn't see the crowd. "Honey, I need you to be good for me today, okay? This is important. I can't let you go to Cliff right now."

She inhaled uncertainly and then rubbed her eyes vigorously. I held her close again and cradled her head to my heart. "I know, sweetheart. You have a lot of big feelings for such a small body."

I returned my attention to the crowd while continuing to bounce Sydney gently. I didn't blame her for being restless. She was a sensitive kid who was under a lot of pressure without Cliff being around. Since he got here, things had gotten that much more complicated. I was sure she could sense that with the agitated crowd closing back in on their Alpha like they were preparing to protect him.

My heart skipped a beat.

What if Bill refused the challenge? Then what? With how this crowd looked, I worried about them getting out of control. Demons loved causing riots, and these were fine conditions for some kind of uprising. I rubbed the back of Sydney's head to keep her face on my chest, hoping that she might choose to suck her thumb and nap instead of being so darn curious.

Bill stopped a few feet away from Cliff. Both men stood inside a circle made by the audience around them. The way Sonya glanced at me like a timid puppy told me that things were about to get worse. I held my breath while hoping beyond hope that things would stay civil.

This has to work , I thought. Please, let it work .

Early evening birds sang in the trees. Wind whipped around the houses, blowing leaves and debris around the street. Everything was still for a moment, almost still enough to be its own painting in the waiting room of a medical office. Sydney was drooling on my shoulder, but I was afraid to stop moving.

Cliff stood with his chest puffed slightly, and his chin tilted to the skin. Tall. Proud . Like a protective mate.

"Clifton Spears," Bill greeted formally, "what brings you back when I forbade you to return?"

"Bill Parks, I challenge you for the title of Alpha."

Gasps reverberated between the neighboring houses. I covered my mouth as my bouncing ceased. I knew Cliff was going to do it, but I didn't realize the weight of his decision until he announced it.

Because if Cliff lost the challenge, then Sydney would lose her father the moment she found out about him. That wasn't fair. None of this was fair.

I gritted my teeth. I can't let him do this .

Bill smiled so hard that I thought his teeth might crack. But then I had to remind myself that it wasn't Bill smiling—it was that thing inside of him. "My Gods and Goddess, I must be hallucinating. Did you just challenge me, boy?"

"I sure did, Bill."

"I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into."

Cliff looked at me. Tears stung my eyes as my throat tightened up. My brows furrowed together as I tried to think of something to say.

But when Cliff smiled at me, I felt like I didn't need to say anything. He had that covered. All that was left for me to do was watch.

He turned back to Bill. "I will soon enough."

"Right you are, boy."

And then I watched helplessly as Bill's three lackeys descended upon Cliff.