Page 61 of Rejected Nanny Mate
Samson told me that Gwen and Rose were in the kitchen, and they went upstairs to give us some space while I talked to her.
I felt my heart nearly shatter in my chest when I saw Gwen. Her back was turned to me as she gazed out the large window, and Rose was in her arms, asleep. Gwen stilled when she sensed me, but she didn't turn.
“Gwendolyn,” I started. “I know things are a mess. But I don't care about any damn spell. If you say you're innocent, I believe you.”
She was swaying slowly to keep the baby asleep, and I was dying to pull her into my arms and hold both of the girls I cared so much for. But she wouldn't even look at me, so I was sure she didn't want to be touched.
“What does it matter?” Gwen asked after a long pause. “Even if I were proven innocent before the sun rose, everyone has already formed an opinion about me. You included.”
It was like she had struck me. I was stunned. “Gwen. I believe you.”
“Then why did you send me away and let Mia stay in the territory?” She turned then, finally, and her eyes were cold as steel. Rose stirred, but Gwen's rocking quickly lulled her back to sleep. “If you truly believed me, you would have sent her out. But you didn't.”
“You know why. I'm the Alpha. I had to be a fair leader.”
“I'm tired, Joe,” she said, and the exhaustion in her voice was bone-deep. “I need to go to bed.”
She moved past me, careful not to jostle Rose as she handed her to me, and walked up the stairs. She didn't even glance my way, and the door to the guest room shut softly behind her.
And I was alone beside the baby, still, sound asleep in my arms.
I let myself out, feeling numb, and didn't even bother to speak to Samson or Kiera. I, too, was tired, and as much as it killed me to go home without Gwen, I wouldn't force her. But ithurt like hell that she didn't believe me, and I knew no matter how tired I was, sleep wasn't going to find me that night.
Chapter 24 - Gwen
Surprisingly, I slept like the dead once Joe left, my grief dragging me down until sleep was all that I had left.
In the morning, Kiera had made me breakfast, and we ate while watching Kit play in the backyard with his school friends. I smiled and nodded along when they spoke to me, but inside, there was just silence.
Mia had accused me, Kiera's spell had shown my magical signature, and Joe had sent me away. I didn't even have my sweet Rosie to wake up to. Everything I had come to treasure was gone.
After breakfast, Kiera went upstairs to take a shower, and Samson had already gone to work. I felt like I should leave, that I was imposing on them by being there, but Joe had made them swear I'd stay there until he'd figured things out.
As if he ever could. Mia was lying, but someone she had altered the spell to show my magic. She'd given everyone proof, even when there wasn't a drop of truth in her words.
So, with nothing else to do and desperately wanting to avoid even the friends I loved, I walked.
I had no destination. I simply walked the streets of Samson's neighborhood, stretching my legs and letting my mind wander. It went on like that for days. When nothing else occupied me, I wandered.
Sometimes, Kit would ride on his bike beside me and talk incessantly. Other times, Kiera would join me, and while we had conversations, I retained none of them. One morning, even Nayeli showed up, but she was so pregnant that she couldn't walk too far. I gave in and sat inside with her for some time, butI wasn't much of a conversationalist when I was so steeped in misery.
It was the third day that the veil of sadness finally lifted. I missed Rose and Joe so much that I simply shattered in the shower that morning, bawling my eyes out. When I had my coffee and went to walk once more, my mind wasn't just blank anymore. Instead, I thought about what had happened.
Joe had let Mia stay in his territory. And that stung like nothing else. But when he spoke to me last, he swore that he believed me. It was his duty as a leader to be fair. It still didn't feel right, like he was choosing her over me, but he'd seemed so sincere that I found myself going over his last words to me over and over again.
Had Joe ever given me a reason to doubt his faith in me? To doubt that he'd ever pick anyone over me? He hadn't. I'd always been treated like an equal. Like someone he cared for.
Like a mate.
Wasn't that what mates were supposed to be? Supposed to do? Trust each other with everything? Support each other?
He was still working on proving that I hadn't attacked Mia. If he truly didn't believe me, he would have sent me away permanently. But he hadn't. And while he hadn't contacted me, I'd known him long enough to know that he was giving me space like I'd wanted.
Well...what if I didn't want it anymore?
But I missed him. So much. More than I'd thought I could. And I knew that there was one thing that needed to happen before anything else.
I needed to prove my innocence. By shutting down for all those past days, I'd put the burden of solving the mystery all onhim. And if I wanted to go back to him, the quickest way would be to do it myself.
