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“That’s complete and utter bullshit, and you know it, Alexa Kay Hart,” she snaps. “What happened in your past doesn’t mean you need to stay in this limbo you’ve put yourselfin for the rest of your life. If Miles makes you feel something, then see where it goes.”
“What if—”
“What if tomorrow aliens land and life as we know it shifts to where we become slaves on another planet?” Her randomness stops my plaguing thoughts. “Exactly. You can think of all the what-ifs in the world, but nothing will happen until you make it.” It’s her turn to sigh, and I can just see her run a hand through her long blond hair. “Listen, Alexa, I’ve held my tongue because both your father and I agreed you would heal on your own, but I’m done biting it. I think you need to talk to someone.”
“Like a therapist?”
“Yes, someone who can give you the insight to what you’ve been through and help you move on once and for all. You were abused and went through so much because of that evil man. You were raped, became pregnant, and then forced to give up the child you slowly fell in love with, and then you had to run some more. Time does heal some wounds, but this is something deeper. I see that now you have tried to date again. Find someone to talk to.”
“I don’t want them to commit me after I tell them about the whole werewolf part of my tale,” I admit. It’s true. I would have gotten myself help years ago if not for that.
“Then don’t say anything about it,” she states it, plain and simple. “Leave that out. Grant being abusive is enough to help you figure it out.”
“I … don’t know.”
“You do know, sweetheart.” The power behind her statement injects hope into my soul. “Promise me you’ll find someone to help.”
“Mom—”
“Promise me, Alexa. I don’t ask much from you.” She doesn’t, and neither does my dad. “Promise me.”
“I’ll start looking up local therapists, Mom,” I promise.
“Thank you, Alexa. I love you so much.”
My lower lip wobbles as I tell her, “I love you, too, Mom.”
Chapter Nine
Miles
This fucking sucks.
Makes you feel like a jackass now for how you’ve treated Derek, doesn’t it?
Fuck off.
With a lazy flip of my wrist, I tilt the beer to my mouth until the bottle is upside down.
“It isn’t that fun, is it?” Dragging my gaze up from the bar top I placed myself at four hours ago after failing countless times to reach out to Alexa and wallow in misery, I find Derek rather than pity giving Macy on the other side.
I would have expected to see a self-satisfied smirk plastered on his face as he stands across from me, bar towel draped over his shoulder and massive arms crossed. The expression he wears is far worse. It matches Macy’s, filled with just as much pity.
“Leave me alone.” I groan.
“I’m cutting you off.” The now empty bottle thumps to the bar top.
“You know as well as I do our bodies burn this shit up the moment it settles in our gut. I could drink the whole damn bar dry, walk a straight line, do the fucking roadside circuit,andblow nothing,” I bite back.
“It’s the whole you drinking the bar dry that has me concerned.” He isn’t budging. In the time that my love life began to crumble around me, Derek’s has seemingly come back from the dead and found him. And though he’s still a grumpy ass, hehas an air of determination that has been lost for a long-ass time, thanks to Annabelle being back in town.
“I couldn’t do it even if I really wanted to try,” I admit.
“Considering you are on your fifth bottle of Coors and you’ve already polished off a bottle and a half of Jack, I’d say you’re well on your way,” he quips.
“Really?” Picking up the empty, I tilt it, regarding the fact I was so lost in my head I didn’t even realize I had drank that much.
“Drinking isn’t the answer to your problems, Miles.” Leaning closer, Derek braces himself against the bar top like he’s about to entrust me with important wizardly knowledge. “Go after her. Don’t give up until she talks to you, and you get the answer you need to make everything better for the both of you.”
