Page 78 of My Only Luna

“I did…” he says curtly. I frown. He isn’t getting off that easily.

“So shouldn’t you at least admit you were wrong or apologise?” I push coldly. Dad’s eyes flash.

“I’m still your father, boy.”

“I know. It’s the only reason I’m holding my anger back. You threatened to strip me of a position I have earned because of your own ego, so now I want to know, since we’re mates, whatare you going to do?”

“Elijah, we-” Jessica begins, but I raise a finger, stopping her, my eyes not leaving my father.

“Now that you are mates, you think we should divorce? So now do you understand why, before knowing you were mated, I didn’t want you two together?” Dad barks.

I let out a humourless laugh. “I wouldn’t have had a problem with the two of you being married, whether we were mates or not. It’syouwho has the issue, Dad. Maybe you should take out the stick that’s shoved up your ass and accept you were in the fucking wrong.”

Dad frowns, clenching his jaw.

This man can never apologise.

“Fine. I may have been, but I will not apologise.”

There we go.

“Let bygones be bygones. We will hold the Alpha ceremony a month from now. You will get the title. Once we have dealt with Zidane and his pack, it is yours.”

He says nothing more, turning and heading upstairs. I simply frown coldly. I know I’m not going to get an apology from the man, even though he fucking owes us one, but I won’t make this worse for the three females who are watching. Different emotions shine in all their eyes. Jessica looks guilty and sad, Indigo seems worried, and Scarlett is frowning deeply. Yeah, she’s pissed at me… I’ll deal with that later.

I look at Jessica. Despite everything, she has been supportive. It is high time I speak to her one-on-one.

“Can I have a word?” I ask her seriously. Jessica nods, looking at her daughters.

“You two can go to the kitchen, get the drinks on the table in the meantime.” The girls nod before they walk into the kitchen, and I lead the way to the lounge. Jessica follows me and I can hear her heart race. She’s nervous. Once we’re inside, she shuts the door and I turn to her, combing my fingers through my hair.

“I won’t drag this out.”

She nods, twisting her hands in front of her. She’s on edge waiting, as if scared about what I’m going to say.

“I’ve never seen you as a mother. Although you were there for me growing up, and you did more than a lot of stepmoms would, no one can replace my mom,” I begin.

She nods slowly, looking down at her hands. There is a flicker of sadness but also understanding in her eyes. She’s tried, don’t get me wrong, I know that, and I know my tone isn’t the softest. But this is hard for me, too. I guess I’m more like Dad than I’ll ever admit.

“But it doesn’t mean that I don’t think of you as family. I appreciate what you did for Dad, for me – heck, I got a little sister too. But, growing up, Scarlett was someone I never could treat the same way as Indigo and I think it was the reason I became angrier with everything. When she called Dad ‘Dad’, it irritated the hell out of me. Maybe it was the pull of the bond or my feelings for her that I never realised. I don’t know. I just want to say that I don’t regret the fact Dad married you, and brought you here into our home. I know I come off like I don’t care at times, but I just wanted to let you know that I do consider you family, and I appreciate you for what you have done for me and for Dad,” I finish, shoving my hands into my pockets as I look at my shoes. That wasn’t easy to say.

I glance up at Jessica just in time to see her brushing away a few stray tears, and I wonder what she’s been through. I’veonly seen one memory of Scarlett’s and it still makes me sick. She steps forward, smiling gently as she reaches up and cups my face.

“Hearing that means more than I can ever express. Thank you,” she says softly, pulling me down and placing a kiss on my forehead. I wrap my arms around her, glad that I did say what I did. She is part of this family and that is not a lie. Some relationships don’t need a title, and this is one of them. She will never replace my mother, but she is the closest thing I have to a mother figure, and I do love her even if I can never say it.

She’s been there for me, cleaning up after me, washing up after me, reminding me about my homework, picking up the books I’ve thrown around my room. She’s taken care of me when I was sick, made note of the foods I like and those I didn’t.

She hadn’t just been Dad’s woman, which was all she needed to be, but she was also there for me. And I noticed it, even when it hurt, and I hated it, unable to explain how it made me feel. She did those things I thought Mom would be doing for me, andthatwas what hurt. But it was not Jessica’s fault, it never was.

“Well, we better get to the kitchen before my chicken gets burnt!” she explains, lightening the mood. I smirk.

“Or it’s all eaten, especially with the way those two can eat,” I smirk, making her chuckle as we both head back to the kitchen just as Dad is coming down the stairs with Scarlett. The four of us exchange looks, Dad and I simply look away from each other coolly but the tension doesn’t seem to be so intense anymore.

Maybe things are going back to normal, even if it is baby steps at a time.

Irritation

Elijah

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