That’s my dad?
1419 Words
Beth POV
After watching Connor shift into a beautiful silver wolf and run off into the woods with his father and a few other pack members, I wandered around the garden looking for my mum.
I finally found her in the far corner of the marquee talking to a tall dark stranger. Concerned, I quickly walked towards them.
'Yes, Leon. She's yours. But you..... you found someone else.' I heard my mum say and my feet froze.
Leon! Alpha Leon! My father! This man is my father! I'm flabbergasted. This is the man who got my mother pregnant and then left her for another woman.
'Mum?' I said softly and two sets of eyes turned towards me.
My mum rushed over to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and pulling my head into her chest.
'Beth! I'm sorry! I won't let him hurt you, I promise.' She told me.
'Hurt her? Why would I want to hurt my daughter?' Leon asked.
'Because she is a half-breed and not a product of a mated Alpha wolf.' Mrs Baines said as she walked calmly towards us.
'I don't care about that! She is my daughter. I would never hurt her. Why would you think that?' Leon exclaimed, confused.
'She is your first born, but not your mate's child.' Mrs Baines said, c*****g her head to one side and raising her eyebrows.
Enlightenment dawned on my father's face as the realisation of what Mrs Baines had implied hit him. 'I wouldn't hurt her, but Stacey might because Lizzy is no longer my heir!' He said, running his hand through his hair.
My mum released me, as my father started pacing in front of us. 'f**k! f**k! f**k! Stacey and Lizzy can't know about Beth, it would put her life in danger.'
I looked at my mum and Mrs Baines but could only see worry in their faces, as if they agreed that my life could be in danger from my father's family. I turned back to find Leon standing right in front of me.
Before I could step back, he cupped my face in his hands. 'The love of my life has given me a beautiful daughter.' He said, tears glistening in his eyes.
'Love of your life?' My mother asks, shocked.
Leon looked over at my mother and one of his hands left my face to cup hers, ‘Yes. I never stopped loving you, Sarah. I just couldn't resist the mate bond, otherwise I would still have been with you and our daughter.'
My mum stepped backwards out of his reach. 'It doesn't matter now, you have your mate, your family, and your pack. Go back to them.' She said, turning and walking off towards the house.
'Mum!' I called after her and went to follow her, but Mrs Baines stopped me. 'I will check on her. You stay and get to know your father.' She quickly glances back at him before continuing, 'I believe you are safe with him.'
I hear Leon huff behind us, but Mrs Baines just smiles softly at me before following my mother into the house.
Turning round, I faced the man I now know is my father. Placing my hands on my hips, I stared at him. 'So, you are my father. The man that got my mum pregnant and then left her for another woman? '
His adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped at my words. 'Yes.' He says, hesitantly. 'I am your father.'
'Look, I’m new to all this wolf stuff. So why don't you explain to me why you left my mother?' I asked him.
'It's a long story, do you mind if we sit while I tell it?' He asks.
I gesture towards an empty table, and he heads towards it with me following. He takes a seat and I sit, making sure that there is an empty chair between us.
Sighing, he places his hands on the table in front of him before taking a deep breath.
'For wolves, finding your mate is everything. It's like finding the other half of your soul, or it is supposed to be. An Alpha is nothing without his Luna, his mate. You can't take over the role of Alpha without your Luna beside you.' He told me. 'Most wolves find their mates around their eighteenth birthday, like you and Connor have. But some never find their mates, their other halves.'
'I was twenty-five when I met your mum.' A soft smile played on his lips as he thought of her. 'I had resigned myself to the fact that I was mateless and, as such, would never become Alpha when my father stepped down. I saw your mum in a bar. She was alone and sad. Her friend had stood her up after meeting a bloke on the bus, so I kept her company. I fell in love with her that night and never stopped loving her.'
'I bought an apartment, and we moved in together about a month later. But my dad, the Alpha, insisted that I return to the pack each full moon where he would introduce me to unmated she-wolves in the hopes of finding my mate. I hadn't told your mum that I was a werewolf, so she thought I was going on monthly business trips.' He explained.
'I loved your mum so much, that I prayed to the moon goddess each time, that I wouldn't find my mate. We were together, happy and in love, for the four best years of my life and then...... then boom! Stacey, the twenty-two-year-old daughter of the Alpha of a neighbouring pack had returned from college and was attending my dad's full moon mating dinner. And she turned out to be my mate.'
'Normally, when a wolf finds their mate, they are happy, ecstatic to have found the other half of their soul. But I wasn't! I was...... I was.......' He shrugged his shoulders and dropped his head into his hands.
'As soon as I met Stacey, I found her annoying. I disliked everything about her, but there was no denying the mate pull, the physical attraction. I have never loved Stacey, but because of the mate bond, I had to be with her. I never stopped loving Sarah.' I could hear the despair in his voice as he spoke.
'I wanted to explain things to Sarah, tell her about me being a werewolf. But Stacey wouldn't let me go anywhere alone. I had already delayed returning home to your mum, so Stacey ended up going with me. Before I got a chance to explain anything, Stacey called Sarah the maid and latched onto my arm and I stupidly introduced her as my fiancé.'
Leon looked up at me and I could see the tears in his eyes. 'I tried to talk to her, tried to explain, but she wouldn't listen. She left; Sarah left. I tried to find her. For months I searched for her, employing PIs. But nothing, she had vanished. I didn't know that she was pregnant. I didn't know about you. I would have rejected Stacey if I had known.'
He dropped his head into his hands once more and I saw his shoulders heave as a sob escaped his lips. I scooted into the empty chair between us and placed my arm around his shoulders, trying to comfort him.
'You really do love my mum, don't you?' I asked him and he just nodded his head in just hands.
'Well! You should have told me the truth from the start then!' I heard my mother exclaim.
We both jumped from our seats and saw my mum standing across the table from us with her hands on her hips.
Leon rushed over to her and wrapped his arms around her in a strong embrace, 'I love you so much, Sarah. I have missed you all these years. I want to be a part of your and our daughter's lives.'
'I missed you too.' Mum said, pulling herself from his embrace. 'But you have your own family now, one that we are not a part of.'
Leon lowered his arms to his sides. 'I know and you are right, but I would like to visit you both, if that's okay.'
Mum looked at me and I gave her a quick nod, before she looked back at Leon, 'Okay.'
The smile that appeared on Leon's face was so bright that it could have overpowered the light from the sun.
- Writer
