CONNOR
I saw Grace climbing up the stairs and my tummy lurched.
She must’ve seen my car parked downstairs. Would she suspect I was already here? It took all of my willpower to not descend the stairwell to go meet her.
So I stood frozen at the top of the stairs, watching her clamber up with a child by her at her side.
Neither she nor the child had seen me yet. Grace’s attention was fully on her as they both laughed and continued climbing.
From my position, I almost gasped out in awe. The little girl, the same girl I saw on the tablet was like a miniature version of myself. The picture I saw didn’t do justice to what I was finally seeing.
I wouldn’t need a DNA test, heck I wouldn’t even need Grace to tell me the girl now walking towards me was my daughter. Seeing both the mother and the child made me thrilled and scared at the same time.
The little girl ran up ahead of her mum, hopping on the each stair with innate energy of a kid. Her mum who was obviously not please asked her to be careful, calling her name and making her look back. The child missed a step and was about falling forward when a protective instinct I never knew existed in me kicked in and I practically flew downwards to prop her up.
Her mum dragged her from me before realizing who I was. At first it was bewilderment, but then it instantly melted into an obvious rage. Even in anger, she looked breathtaking.
I could almost read her mind at that moment.
The girl held her back and thanked me, before following her mum who was suddenly in a big hurry. Grace brushed past me, an indication that showed she wasn’t interested in talking, and with the look she gave me, I was supposed to disappear from her sight or even from existence, but I wasn’t going to back down that easily.
“Grace,” I started, taking a step forward.
She told her daughter she’d be back, shutting the door firmly before twirling around to face me.
“Please listen to me, you haven’t heard my side of the story yet.” I said in a tone of remorse.
“Alpha Connor,” she moved closer to where I stood, obviously trying to make sure her daughter didn’t know what was going on. “I don’t need any reward for helping someone who was in need of my help, it’s good to see that you are fine now, you may kindly stop trying to trace me. I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t appreciate that.”
She had totally changed the topic and the main reason I came without batting an eyelid. She turned around to go to her room when I moved swiftly, catching her by her wrist.
An electrifying sensation surged through me as our skin touched, causing her to visibly shiver slightly. She felt it too but yanked her hand out from mine abruptly. “Don’t you dare.” came an icy warning from her cold face.
“If you’ll listen for a minute-”
“No, you listen! You own this building, so I can’t keep you out of it, but it is also my home. If you have any respect for me, you’ll also respect my privacy and leave me alone.” she yelled and marched towards her door.
“I’m sorry, Grace.” I called loudly behind her, feeling torn, realizing I made her this way. “I’m really, really, really sorry, Grace. I lost my father that night. The same night we met.”
She was already turning the door knob but those words made her halt.
So I took that as an incentive to continue. “I was called before dawn as the first child, and his heir, so I had to leave immediately thinking I was going to see you when I came back. I was in such a hurry that I couldn’t drop a note or a number or even wake you up.” Tears threatened to fall down my eyes as I spoke.
“And I came back. I came back but you weren’t there anymore. I was told you had moved to your parents place. But I looked for you, by the Goddess, I did. I went to the bar every night, hoping you’d come but you never did. I asked around your school but no one could help. I didn’t even have your name, I had literally nothing to go on with, I couldn’t even find your friends.”
I paused to catch my breath.
“I didn’t just sit back after leaving that night, I hadn’t even planned to leave, Grace. I’m so sorry it turned out this way and I can’t imagine all you have to go through, raising our child and–”
“My child,” she cut me short, dropping her hands to her side. The setting sun gave her eyes a deeper glow. “She’s my child. Please don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m sure we are done here. Have a nice day, Alpha.” she concluded gentler than earlier on and went inside.
Could I have done things differently? Even if I took back the hands of time, I wouldn’t be able to change much. I had no idea why she adamantly refused to tell me her name, and even though she explained why, I still couldn’t understand.
I had a gnawing fear that night that the reason she didn’t want to tell me her name was simply because she wanted to dump me the next morning. However, I wasn’t even given the opportunity to know if she would have done that or not.
I stood rock still, staring hard at her door, clenching and unclenching my fists. I wanted to respect her privacy and leave, like she said but..
We want our mate! Max, my wolf growled with raw need and urgency. We had waited for her all these years.
How could she turn away like that after hearing my side of the story? I wondered, feeling distraught.
No one had ever treated me that disrespectfuly in all of my existence but I deserved it. I shouldn’t have left that way, considering I was her first, the very first man to taste her.
It was only natural she reacted this way. I rationalized, trying to understand her.
I won’t get tired, Grace, I thought. I will chase you with everything I’ve got and won’t stop till I get you and our daughter back.
I climbed down from the flight of stairs feeling rejected and broken. I walked towards where our cars were parked only to see Marcus standing with a tall blonde woman, and the strange thing was that they weren’t speaking but merely staring at each other, one in disdain and the other one in utter shock.
“Marcus, is that you?” she forced herself to say while trying to conceal her shock.
There was something familiar about her, something I couldn’t quite place.
“Yes.” Marcus replied stonily. He had never been the enthusiastic or cheerful type, but I knew he could do better than that if the disdain on his face wasn’t so obvious.
She caught on faster than I expected as she waved briskly and brushed past him with a knowing grin. Most females who had a crush on Marcus never get that he would never be interested.
But they looked like they had known each other before now.
I chuckled mentally, forgetting my own plight for a moment. She made towards the steps, strolling towards where I stood, so I thought she was also a resident of the building till she halted few meters from where I stood.
“Am I seeing things?” she asked no one in particular, looking from her left to right. “Are you the Connor Shelby? Omgeee! I’m a fan!” she covered her mouth with her both hands looking shocked.
I wasn’t even a celebrity.
Marcus sprinted to where I stood and led me to the car, making it obvious that he was trying to act like she wasn’t there. I watched her race up the stairs till she stopped at Grace’s door, knocked and entered when the door gave way.
I wondered who she was to Grace, instantly feeling jealous at anyone and everyone close to my mate.
I slid into the backside of the car, pondering where to start from concerning getting closer to Grace.
I promised to chase her as long as I can.
But I had no idea what to do, nor where to start.