Chapter 2 #2
“I didn’t want to see Uncle Daniel and Aunt Avaleigh hurt by your self pity.”
“I thought about that, but I decided to tune that possibility out.”
Cristie’s eye started twitching again.
“Anyway, I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere any time soon.
Uncle Riley granted me sanctuary, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do for permanent work yet, but for the moment, I’m helping Richie, so I really need to get back to work.
” He looked at the coffee in her hand and realized she didn’t have a breakfast sandwich in the other.
“You want a sandwich? You forgot to get one from the store. Sausage, right? You always liked breakfast sausage better than bacon.” He grabbed a croissant and sliced it open.
He put a sausage patty on it, then soft scrambled eggs and slice of cheese before wrapping it in foil and pressed it into her other hand with a smile.
“I wasn’t lying, it’s really good to see you again.
Maybe later we can grab dinner and try to talk a little. ”
Cristie vigorously shook her head back and forth as her mouth bobbed opened and closed as she searched for the right words that just wouldn’t come. “No!” she finally blurted out.
“Well, maybe after dinner.”
“You won’t be here!” she yelled, as she spun on her heel and headed for the swinging doors that would lead her from the kitchen back into the dining room.
“Sure I will! Just let me know when it’s convenient. I’m not going anywhere, I’ll be hanging around here or there.”
“You’re leaving! I’m going to speak to my father right this instant!”
“Don’t you need to go to the animal hospital, though?” Remi asked.
“Stop knowing things about me!” she shouted angrily as she stomped out of the restaurant and made a beeline toward the house.
~~~
“Aw, shit,” Riley cursed, glancing out of the kitchen window on the side of the house that looked out over the parking lot between the house, the restaurant, and store.
“What’s wrong?” Maia asked.
“She’s coming back.”
“You think she saw him?” Maia asked.
“Richie sent a text. He said he’s never seen her this mad and put three laughing crying emojis behind it.”
Maia laughed.
“It’s not funny, Maia.”
“Sure it is. Wasn’t funny when my father dumped me here without telling me where we were going, but you didn’t seem to mind.”
“You can’t blame me for that. I didn’t know either of you were coming. And this is completely different.”
“How’s that?”
“Because it’s Cristie, and me, and Remi. See? Completely different.”
The front door opened and then slammed so hard it echoed through the house. “Daaaaaad!” Cristie screamed. She didn’t yell or shout, she screamed — in anger.
“We’re in the kitchen, babygirl,” Riley called out sweetly just seconds before Cristie appeared in the archway that was the entrance to the kitchen.
Cristie was clutching a now crushed foil-wrapped breakfast sandwich with pieces dangling from it in one hand, and her usual Stanley cup of coffee in the other hand.
Her face was a contorted mixture of eye twitching, bared lips and clenched teeth.
Her face, her neck, and throat were flushed and red with the rush of blood to the area and there was a definite rumble deep in her chest as she stood there staring daggers through her father.
“Good Lord, what happened to you?” Riley asked. “Come sit down. Are you okay, baby?”
Cristie stood where she was, glaring at him for a few more seconds before she stepped closer. “Tell me that you did not grant Remi sanctuary.”
“I don’t understand,” Riley said.
“Yes, you do. Remi is here.”
“Oh, he made it, then. Good, that’s good. I was about to see if I could reach him on the phone. I was getting worried,” Riley said.
“Why?!” she demanded.
“Because he was late, and it’s a long drive,” Riley said, his own voice hinting at the fact that he might not be as patient as she’d like him to be.
“No. Why did you give him sanctuary here, with us, among our Pride?!” she yelled.
Riley smiled as he set his coffee cup down and walked over to where she stood.
“Because Remi paid respect by calling me and asking for sanctuary. I like Remi. He was always very special to me, and to you, as a little boy. He still is special to me. And he’s the son of some very dear friends of mine, and of people that you love and value as well.
Why wouldn’t I grant him sanctuary, Cristie? ”
“Because he broke my heart!”
“He was lost.”
“He didn’t give a damn what it did to me. He just walked away and pretended I didn’t exist. You know how hurt I was. I made no secret of it! I confided every little thing and just when I’m beginning to get back to myself again, you invite him here to rip open the wound all over again!”
“He’s your mate. He fucked up. That doesn’t mean he should be barred from ever being here. He asked for an opportunity to be here, to be near you. I gave it to him because I know how hard it is to even fucking breathe without your mate at your side.”
“He renounced me!” Cristie yelled through tears.
“No, he didn’t. He didn’t do a damn thing.
Nothing at all. He didn’t claim you. He didn’t even speak to you, but he did not renounce you.
Your mother, she renounced me. In front of Kaid, God and every fucking body, but look at us, married, mated, and the proud parents of two full grown, successfully functioning adults.
Running a Pride filled with other successful functioning adults.
You might think we may happen to know a thing or two about life that you haven’t had to live yet,” Riley said.
“This is my home, Dad. This is my sanctuary, and you invited him in, meaning that it’s no longer a sanctuary to me.” She turned to leave, but her father stopped her.
“Cristie!”
She stopped short, knowing the voice he used was his Alpha voice, not his father voice. But she didn’t turn around.
“He asked to come here. I asked him what took him so long. His answer was, ‘I had some healing to do’. I gave him permission to be here. He knows he was wrong. He knows it won’t be easy, but he also knows you’re worth the fight to make things right.”
“I don’t care. He hurt me.”
“Maybe he’s not the only one that needed to heal, young lady. Maybe you need to examine yourself and figure out why you cared enough to run off to Louisiana to save him, but won’t even tolerate him here,” Riley said.
“Because this is my peace. This is my home, and he’s invaded it. There it was all his place, his home. If he didn’t respond it didn’t matter. It was his sanctuary. This is mine.”
“What would you have done if he didn’t respond when you went down there?” Maia asked quietly. “Would you have just left and let the pieces fall where they may?”
“Yes,” Cristie snapped.
Maia smiled, though Cristie had her back to her and couldn’t see it. “I scent a lie,” she said softly.
Cristie didn’t turn around and didn’t say anything in response to Maia’s declaration that she was lying. She knew both her parents could scent lies; she could, too.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Cristie said, shaking her head incessantly back and forth, but staying where she was. She knew better than to walk away when her dad the Alpha was speaking to her, versus when her dad was speaking with her.
“It’s happening. Remi is a guest here. You will treat him with respect and dignity while he’s here just like any other guest. You will not set out to drive him away. You want to rule this Pride some day, you’ll learn to rule it fairly no matter what you’re going through personally,” Riley said.
Cristie remained silent.
“Think about what your mother just asked you. You know there’s no way under the sun that you’d have left Remi to fade away and disappear in his confusion.
If your first attempt hadn’t worked you’d have gone after him again — we all three know that.
You loved Remi all your life, and I can’t believe you stopped loving him because he turned out to be your mate and he made some poor decisions. ”
“He chose her.”
“No, he didn’t. He chose loyalty. He’d been in a committed relationship with somebody.
Somebody that happens to be a very nice woman.
He’s loyal to a fault and always has been.
You and he had no indication until Havoc’s wedding that you were mates.
He was thrown for a loop. He felt guilty for wanting you after committing to her.
He felt guilty for ignoring the mate pull and staying with her.
He couldn’t win. It’s easy to say what you’d do in a similar circumstance, but you don’t know.
Remi’s the same Remi he’s always been — strong, dutiful, reliable, loyal.
And you know that or you wouldn’t still be upset about the whole situation.
If you questioned his integrity or the male he’s grown into, you’d have written him off and moved on by now.
You’re still hurting like you were the day it all happened. ”
“I am not. I’ve been better.”
“You learned how to fake it better, but you’re not better,” Maia said.
“Nobody’s telling you, you have to mate him.
We’re telling you, you have to give him a chance.
If you can’t forgive him, then there is no future as mates.
But maybe you can find a thread of the friendship that you both once shared.
Either way, he’s here for a while at least. He may choose to stay forever.
We’ll just have to see, but you will conduct yourself as a fair and just Alpha regardless.
Pull yourself together and do not embarrass me,” Riley said firmly.
Cristie stood there for only a few seconds more. If nothing else, her father was right about her acting with strength and dignity. “Yes, sir.”
“Have a good day at work,” Riley said.
“Yes, sir,” she said again, then left the house in a much more controlled emotional state than she’d entered it in.