AllFreeNovel
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“I’m sorry, Eli.” Looking over at her, I see that she means her words.
“I know you were just doing what you thought was best.”
“Since we are sharing about the past four years, how did you become Alpha?”
“The usual way. I challenged the old Alpha and won. He wasn’t making good decisions for the pack; someone needed to do something.” She didn’t need to know yet that it was because of her. I challenged the Alpha because he did not let me take her as my mate. He was a hot-headed Alpha anyway. Even the silly attempts to bring some sort of agreement between the Clearwater pack and the Twilight Meadows pack were ridiculous. He held on to the grudge just as much as Jake does. It needs to end; one way or another, it will end.
She hums as she focuses back out the front window.
“Maddie fell asleep.”
Looking in the rear-view mirror, I see my little girl content and safe in her car seat, eyes closed and calmness covering her features.
“Does she normally take two naps?”
“No, she hasn’t done that in a while, but packing and sorting through things has kept us pretty busy. She enjoyed playing in all the boxes, and I had to recycle some of the ones she played in because she stretched them all out. I couldn’t use them for packing.”
“She sounds like a really active pup.”
“She is.” Quinn smiles as she looks back at Maddie. She loves her; that is clear, and even if Quinn can never forgive me for rejecting her, I will protect both of them.
Halfway through our trip, we stop for gas and to grab some food for supper.
“Looks like they have a sub shop over there. What would you like?”
Quinn is unbuckling Maddie so she can get out and walk around.
“I’ll just have a ham with everything on it. I’ll share mine with Maddie. I have some applesauce in her bag, so she will likely eat some bread and meat and then be full. I need to take her to the washroom to change her. I didn’t want to risk her not telling me when she had to pee, so I put her in a pull-up.”
“Sure thing. There must be a bathroom in the sub shop. I’ll fill up, then head over to get the subs.”
With that, we set about our tasks. After I get all the food and Quinn cleans Maddie up, we find some grass surrounding the rest stop, so we set up there. I grab a blanket from the SUV and lay it on the ground. It’s always good to have a blanket in the vehicle the colder it gets, especially since we get a bit of snow each year. Quinn was right; Maddie eats a bit of meat and bread, sucks back the apple sauce, and goes to play in the grass. We are far enough out of the city that there are fewer and fewer buildings, but we are still at least two hours away from pack lands.
“She’s beautiful, Quinn.”
“She looks like you.”
I thought the same thing, too.
“She looks much like my mom, with the wavy dirty blonde hair.”
“I don’t think I met your mom.”
“Likely not, they didn’t come to the peace talks.” At that, I remind us both of that night, one of the best and worst nights of my life.
“Mommy! Mommy! Look!”
“What you got there, baby? Wow, what a big stick. Now, don’t wave it around; you can hurt yourself.”
Maddie puts the stick in her penguin’s hand and uses it to dig like a shovel.
“Quinn…when are you going to tell her?”
“I don’t know…”
“I’m not going anywhere, Quinn, and she’s my daughter. I have a right to help raise her.”
“I know. I know you do. Can we get settled? Maybe I can tell her tomorrow. She’s never really asked…about having a dad. It wasn’t until recently that she noticed she didn’t have one around like the other kids in daycare. But you’re right. She deserves to know. But Eli…please don’t leave her.” She isn't just afraid of me leaving. She's worried about me rejecting Maddie like I had rejected her.
