Talons

Chapter 79: The Goodbye

Rhea’s POV

Too much has happened to me in the last few days, and now I'm afraid to step foot off campus without Jamie or human witnesses; usually Brent and Brice.

After pulling me into a secluded area, Tucker tried to force a kiss on me, and because he is human, I chose to run. I wanted to kill him, but I'm a rogue. It won't matter the reason; if the council decides that there were other options, they will condemn me.

Not to mention the human authorities who will undoubtedly get involved because there are cameras everywhere. Julee’s mother is in prison right now for stabbing a she-wolf who wanted her position in self-defense.

As an unfated human lover, weapons are her only method of protecting herself, and while the woman she stabbed lived and walked away, probably fully healed, the officers who witnessed the incident pressed forward with charges, leading to her arrest.

I did not want that to happen to me, so I shouted loudly, pretending to be helpless until school security got involved. Tucker fled the area, so he was not caught, and Raven was called out to the dorms to get me. She had a near mental breakdown when she was told what happened, so I chose to keep the words the man had said to myself, not wanting to hurt her further.

Tucker was not the person we all thought him to be. When he had approached Raven in high school, he said he had done so with the intention of getting to know me better, but he became ‘distracted’ by my sister. He claimed that everything that happened between them was a mistake but the only mistake I see in the situation was my not noticing it sooner.

Mike has also been told what happened, but every time he tries to talk to me about it, I stay silent. So far, I feel like coming back to the states was a mistake, but when I was leaving Puerto Rico, I got the inclination that my aunt was relieved.

Aside from that, General showed up at Claw Pack territory demanding to see me, obviously forgetting I'm packless. He then went to my sister's apartment, where he somehow got inside and waited for her to return. She just so happened to be with Jamie, who knows a lot about council and pack law, so she was able to get my sister out of telling him where I 'worked’ by saying that Raven did not have permission from her alpha to discuss my whereabouts.

The only plus side of being back is that I got to deliver my nephew and Mandy just texted me to tell me that she has given birth. I love and miss her so much that I took the risk and drove down to the hospital to visit.

This is probably one of the few times that I will get to see her baby without Colton, who has gone to buy celebratory whiskey with his gamma Trey, leaving Carter and Mandy in the hospital room alone.

So far, I have not been recognized, which is good, and I didn't wear a scent blocker because I want Mandy's pup to bond with me, even if most of our interactions will be done over video call. My supply is also running low, and I will need it in the near future, so I have to be careful with waste.

As soon as I step into the room, I'm overwhelmed by the sight. My cousin looks extremely happy as she watches Carter look down at the little bundle in his hands. They notice me at the same time, and both gasp when they realize who I am.

"Can I hold her?" I ask, already knowing the answer. I scoop the small child into my arms. She looks exactly like her father, except for her skin tone which is a little darker than mine. Regardless, it's clear that he had the dominant genes, at least in their first pregnancy. "Hello little Carly," I say as I kiss her tiny hand.

"Babe, I know she is your best friend and family, but you weren't supposed to tell anyone the baby's name before Alpha Stone." I giggle at Carter's gentle rebuke. I’ve heard that alpha stone is obsessed with being put first, but Mandy hasn’t broken any pack laws; I already knew.

"B and I picked out baby names before you even looked at me. I can’t help it if she remembered." I smile at my cousin's words as I press a kiss on the infant's hat and tears start to fall from my eyes. I feel miserable, and I just want to find a place where I can be as peaceful as the baby sleeping in my arms.

I hand Carly back to her mother, who has also started to cry. I tell her that I have to leave, and when I say that, she knows that I don't just mean the hospital. After giving her a gift, I leave the room.

If I stay and General finds me, I can't guarantee that he won't force his mark on me. There is also the fact that I'm still not over Mike and the best thing for me to do is transfer to another school and finish out the year there.

Carter's POV

I was enjoying holding my little girl when an unfamiliar scent hit my nose. I look up to see a woman with curly black hair standing in the doorway, and I think that one of Colton's recent flings has shown up, but then I realize it's B.

She looks healthy, but there is a sadness in her eyes that makes my wolf and I stir. We feel the need to protect our mate's cousin and I don’t know why. Maybe it's because I have a daughter now and when I think of all the horrible things I did to B when she was a child, I fear that someone else will do the same to my little girl. In short, I owe it to her.

Brain takes Carly into her arms and calls her by name, taking me by surprise. I say something to Mandy, careful to keep my tone warm because she literally just pushed out a baby for me, and I don’t want her to think I don’t appreciate her hard work. It's just that our current alpha has issues.

I’m immediately put in my place when my mate tells me that she picked out her children's names before I even looked at her. As I’m consumed in thought about the implication my mate just made, Mandy and B start to cry.

They aren’t whimpering or whining, but tears are falling from their eyes and before I understand what is happening, B has run out of the room leaving Mandy a mess of tears. I hold her tightly, and through our bond I can feel a sense of pity, regret and even a hint of rejection.

“What is happening?” I ask, not understanding the reaction she is having. Mandy stops crying long enough to snuggle up to our pup and tell me that we may never see B again.

The weight of those words should not have hit me the way that they did, and I can tell that Mandy must have felt my reaction because she looked up at me in confusion.

Colton’s POV

Carter will not leave Mandy’s side, so Trey and I have decided to bring the celebration to him. Celebration whiskey is mild, so it's not about getting him drunk, it's just meant to loosen his nerves a bit.

He is excited about being a father, but the stress of having a daughter is already getting to him, and before I left, I heard him telling Mandy that the girl will be homeschooled. I can’t say that I don’t understand his worry, he and I were never idle in high school, and all of those girls were someone’s daughter.

Trey and I step back into the delivery room, and my nose instantly picks up on a scent that was beautiful. I ignored it, picking up my beta’s daughter with a smile. I go to press a kiss on the little girl's hat and once again the scent of a stranger hits me.

“What nurse was in here?” I ask, handing the baby back to her father.

“They go in and out. I didn’t get any of their names or look at their faces.” I flash a guilty expression. Carter is marked and mated; the only woman he looks at is his mate, everyone else is irrelevant. I knew that, I was just curious as to who the scent belonged to.

“I didn’t mean it that way bro. Mandy knows that.” I glance over at the woman, whose arms are crossed as if she is upset, but I know she is also teasing me. Trey starts chuckling at my mishap, and he grips Carter’s daughter's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as he makes fun of me for almost getting her father in trouble with Mandy.

“She is beautiful,” Trey says, and I swear Carter growled.

“Sorry,” Carter says, and laughter fills the room with his realization that his reaction was extreme. “This whole daughter thing is a little too much for me.”

“That is why she will hang out with us until she is thirty,” I reply, once again taking the child into my arms. I swear I could feel my beta’s relief.

I take a seat with the baby in my arms waiting for the nurse whose scent is all over her to come back, but the woman never does. Just as I’m about to leave, I receive a link from my father, telling me that he is on his way to the room.

We have all been waiting for this moment. I have no idea what Carter decided to name his daughter because my father has a weird rule about being the first to know every pup's name. I heard he even ordered a couple to change a name when he didn’t like it, and while that story hasn’t been confirmed it would not shock me at all.

My father strolls into the room followed by Jessica who stands next to me as if she and I came together. He questions Mandy and she tells him that her daughter will be called Carly. Jessica snorts and I glare at her.

Her disrespect toward my beta and his mate has been much more open since Holly arrived, and as if on cue, my cousin comes into the room carrying a giant basket filled with gifts for the baby.

“I may have gotten carried away, but congratulations!” she shouts.