Page 44 of Ravenous

WES

The next night after work,Remy, Joy, and I brought the air conditioner over to Joy’s mom’s place.

With advanced notice, Mrs. Wallace was waiting at the front door for us when we pulled up. If Joy hadn’t told me she’d been in a funk, I wouldn’t have known. She and Joy looked so much alike with their fair hair and blue eyes. While Mrs. Wallace’s weren’t as alive as her daughter’s, they certainly brightened at the sight of Remy.

I’d have to give Remy extra marshmallows in her hot cocoa because she took toMiz Wallright away, yakking her ear off about her day at preschool, then pretty much conning the older woman into making cookies.

All I’d done was shake her hand when Joy introduced me, then installed the window unit in her bedroom.

Seeing how happy–yes, happy–all three of them were, I decided to let them have some girl time and headed home.

Thank fuck I had.

Not ten minutes after I got back, Soraya showed up. I wasn’t sure if her timing was intentional or not.

“I’m here for Remington,” she said after I opened the door then leaned against the jamb. I wasn’t letting her in, and the action made that very clear.

“She goes byRemy, which you’d know if you’d been around.”

Soraya cocked a hip, allowing her shoulders to sink in defeat. “I want to be a mom to her.”

I hadn’t seen Soraya in all this time. She looked the same. She looked good even. Sleek dark hair. Pale skin. Tall and slim. But I knew her heart. I knew her nature, and it was ugly.

“Yeah, then I guess you shouldn’t have left four years ago,” I countered.

“I know I shouldn’t have left. I just got scared. I didn’t know anything about raising a pup, and she was so tiny and helpless.”

Fate, I remembered those long nights holding a crying infant who wouldn’t sleep. Cursing Soraya for leaving us.

“I didn’t know anything about it, either,” I countered. “But I didn’t bail on the tiny pup whose life depended on me.”

“Yeah, I knew you’d be better at it. I figured I’d fuck her up. I was a mess. But I’ve got myself together now, and I want her back. She’s my daughter.”

“What’s the female version of a sperm donor? Surrogate? You were just a womb for her to grow. Nothing more.”

Harsh? Hell, yeah.

I watched as her face hardened. Whatever she was playing at before–being sorrowful or honest–was just that. A game.

“What do you really want, Soraya?”

“I want Remy.” She crossed her arms over her chest. The contrast between Soraya and Joy was blatant. Soraya exuded… greed. She wanted Remy for some reason and expected to get her. I thought of what Joy had said about her dad fighting for custody to avoid paying child support. Could she want Remy, so I’d have to pay her support?

Except she was delusional if she thought I’d ever give up my kid. I had a heart. Unlike her.

She’d stopped by as if she were asking for a cup of sugar, and I’d hand it off, and she’d leave. ‘Cause you didn’t return sugar.

Joy was a giver. She gave and gave until she was empty. I knew what she was like when that happened. It would be my job as her mate to refill her as she needed it because her brightness replenished me.

Soraya on the other hand? She was a leech.

“Not happening.”

She arched a brow. “Really? You don’t have a say.”

“I don’t? Are you insane? She’s been mine since the second you told me she was too much, that you needed out. She’s my child. My fucking life. I haveallthe say.”

She didn’t cower. Not even the slightest. “When the council hears you’re shacking up with a human, they’ll give her to me.”

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