Coming Home by Julie Trettel

Author:Julie Trettel [Trettel, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-20T05:00:00+00:00

Ben

Chapter 14

My heart was breaking as I stood there staring at the tiny grave and listening to the story Shelby told. No wonder she had been so mad at me. No wonder she felt like she needed to protect herself from me. I had abandoned my mate when she had needed me the most. I couldn’t even imagine her going through all of that alone.

The military had hardened me, and I couldn’t remember the last time I had shed a tear, but I stood there holding her and started to cry. It was like the floodgates had opened up and I couldn’t stop the trail of tears from falling. My heart ached for the child I never knew. It hurt for Shelby having to face it by herself. Why hadn’t she leaned on her family? I knew she was tough, but this was beyond that. And I cried for the family we would never have.

As our combined sobs began to ebb, I sat down on the ground and pulled Shelby down with me. Without asking, I picked up a rock and channeled my wolf strength to carve into the headstone “Shay” beneath her name. She wasn’t some unknown child, she was my daughter and I would claim her as such.

My action made Shelby sob a little longer, but she was smiling through her tears.

I wasn’t sure how long Shelby and I sat there just holding each other, but when night began to fall, I knew I should get her home. We were both emotionally tapped, and it would take me a while to fully process everything she’d told me.

The drive back to the Alpha house was a quiet one.

“Are you okay?” she asked as I parked the car.

“No, but I will be. I know that wasn’t easy on you either. Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I am. It was nice to share her with someone.”

I walked her into the house. It was still quiet, a sign no one was home yet. She walked upstairs to her bedroom and I followed. I didn’t know what to say or do.

“Since I’m cleaning my slate with you today, there’s something else you should probably know.”

I wasn’t sure I could handle too much more in one day, but I didn’t tell her that.

She let us into her room and closed the door behind her. She motioned for me to sit on the bed and then went to her closet. A minute later she came out with a box and set it on the bed, then went back to retrieve another, and another.

“What’s this?” I asked.

Shelby looked a little uncomfortable and I could feel her anxiety rising through our bond.

“Open them,” she finally said.

I hesitated for a moment and then lifted the lid on the first box. Inside there were envelopes, hundreds of them. I pulled one out and saw it was addressed to me.

Shelby took a deep breath. “I never stopped writing to you, Ben. I just stopped sending them.”

I stared at the boxes in awe.

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