Bloodmoon Heir

Echoes of Absence

Sussie

I stood at my daughter’s door, every heartbeat a thunderclap echoing through the silence.

I have never felt so nervous and scared in my life. It has been a long time since I have seen her.

My wolf was howling. She wanted to be with her pup, but I knew how my daughter felt; it was clear when I met her father a few days ago she hated me.

“I want pup,” she whined, but I sighed, knowing exactly how she felt. I knew this was going to be hard, but this was awful.

I wanted my mate, he wanted to come, but I thought it would be best for Aria and me to talk first. She knows nothing of our world or about him.

My thoughts drifted back to the past, taking me through every decision I made which led me down this road.

After eight years, I reached out to her father, telling him I wanted to see our girl. He didn’t agree at first, but I asked him to meet. We got talking, and I soon realized that I was too late.

James was a human who I fell in love with back in college. I moved from my pack to come here to go to college, the only werewolf at the time. I was a student at the local college, and not many people in my pack could get into college, but I did and was the first in my family.

My parents were so proud and still are. But at one party I met James and everything changed.

I knew he wasn’t my mate, and I knew it was wrong. James was someone who you would call a nerd back in the day. But he was so sweet and innocent, something I never saw, well not with the males in our pack.

James and I were a couple all through college, and I fell in love with him. When college was over, I had to tell my parents, who weren’t too thrilled but were okay with him once they met him. My parents came to visit and loved him as I did. The weekend they stayed, they told me to tell him about our kind, and I did after my parents left. James was shocked, but after many questions, he was okay with it.

A few months later, we bought our own house and even got jobs at the local school. Everything was perfect, and two years later, I fell pregnant with Aria.

My life felt complete.

My wolf never mentioned anything about our mate; she was content with James and even loved him as much as I did.

Everything went smoothly for five years, and we were the happiest family in the world. After Aria’s fifth birthday, I received the sad news that my father was attacked and was severely injured. My mum was a mess and wanted me to come home. My mum told me rogues went into the pack and killed many members, including the alpha.

My mum wanted me home to help with my father. I knew I had to stay for a few weeks, but I had to leave James and Aria behind.

My parents knew of my relationship with James from the start, but not about Aria. I lied to James that they knew of her; I was too scared about what they would say. Having a child with another person besides your mate was wrong, and I had one with a human.

James offered to come with me, and we could leave Aria with our friend. I told him I didn’t want him to witness all the gore. I was also scared for his safety.

I felt lost, especially as it was the first time I was leaving Aria alone.

I left that night. I drove away and looked behind to watch the man I loved holding our daughter’s little hand in his. It broke me.

When I got to the pack, I stayed with my father and helped look after him. My father was okay, and my mum made a big fuss over nothing, but I was concerned about him too, so I stayed for a little while. It was the first time in a long time that I had ever heard about rogues attacking our pack. We were a strong pack, but a lot had changed over the years I was gone. I had planned to leave after the alpha’s funeral, but one fateful day, my mate showed up with his pack to pay their respects to the alpha.

My wolf was happy, but everything came at me like a hurricane. I was shocked. I had lost hope of finding him, but everything was a mess. I had to tell him about my life amongst the humans and the family I had.

I was heartbroken and so confused.

My mate made a big scene about us being mates. Everyone was thrilled, but I couldn’t tell them how I felt. I spoke to my mate and learned that my mate was a warrior. After a few hours of talking, he left but told me he would stay with the pack to be with me.

I was flattered, but I didn’t say anything. Later that night, I left the pack without speaking to my family or mate.

I drove home and began my life with my family. I knew I had to be there for my family, but it didn’t take long before things changed drastically.

First, it started with my wolf not wanting James to touch us; she would go nuts when he was around or even try to come near me. After two weeks of being home, I was always on edge, and arguments erupted between James and me.

One fight was hurtful, and I blurted out that I had found my mate to James. He knew about werewolves and their mates, but I told him my wolf wanted our mate, not him. When he asked me what I wanted, I couldn’t answer him. I watched as I crushed James’s heart in two.

He left me that night, taking Aria with him.

During all this time, my parents were trying to get me to come back home. They kept telling me to leave James and that I should be with my mate, like the moon goddess.

The night James left and took Aria; my wolf wanted to return to her mate. She forgot about our pup. She wasn’t even thinking about Aria, only about our mate.

I stayed in the house, crying and worrying about them. James came home the next day with Aria. I wanted to wait for a week or two and make a decision about everything. But that was short-lived, as my mate showed up and demanded that I come back home with him.

James was out with Aria at the time, working. Everything was strained between us. James never knew that my mate was here.

I told my mate I would go with him, but I needed to sort some stuff out with my work and other things as I had a life here.

I was in a pickle. The only person on my mind was Aria, who was only six, but I didn’t want to leave my child but looked like I had no option.

I remember walking into my job and telling them I had to leave, but my contract was invalid for a year. I had to finish the year off, or I would lose out on some money and would have legal terms thrown at me.

I was relieved that I had a year and could figure out what I would do, so I decided to go back with my mate, but I told him I had to finish my year at work. He agreed and even took a job training other packs locally to be close to me.

I was leading a double life for a year. I would stay with my mate for a few nights and be with my family for the rest.

James grew distant over that year. I had stopped being intimate with him, as I knew my mate would suspect. I thought I was doing so well in keeping my mate and James hidden from each until one day, James came up to me in front of my mate and gave me documents to sign.

My mate was shocked and even pissed. I had no idea what was happening. James told me that he had been following me and saw me with him. He knew what was going on. James thrust the documents into my hands and told me to sign them.

I had never seen him so angry, but the hurt in his eyes was there too.

I looked at the documents, and one was for James to take full custody of Aria.

My heart broke, but I knew it was the right thing to do.

After I signed everything over, James took the documents and left.

I stayed with my mate and had to explain everything to him, but I didn’t mention Aria as there was no point. She would be better off without me.

That day I left.

I knew Aria could be a werewolf, but she never showed signs of being one when she was young.

As a loud bang from the corridor brought me back, I was brought back from my memories. I shook my head, trying to forget all the memories.

I knew why Aria hated me; I wasn’t there. I was a coward to be a mum or tell people about her.

A few weeks ago, I took a big step and reached out to James. I had come a long way, as I was ill. I wanted to have contact with Aria.

When I left, I was all about my mate. After two weeks, we mated and marked each other, and I had another two pups. I was happy, but I had Aria in the back of my mind, especially on her birthday. When one of the children did something, I wondered if Aria liked the same things they did or if she liked sports.

When I arrived at the pack, my parents kept telling me I was doing the right thing. I knew they were in the dark about Aria, as I never told them. I was too ashamed to say to them that I had a child with a man who wasn’t my mate. My parents grew up following the rules and expected me and my brother, Lucian, to do the same.

I was a horrible person, and now the truth I hid might shatter everything I ever believed about family, love, and fate.