at him, her eyes shiny. "Uh huh. Yeah I get the thing about the kids, John. The problem needs seeing to." She walked closer to him and shook her head and slapped him in the face, hard enough for his head to shift to the side. "You know, I don’t give a shit what you do, but don’t fucking lie to me. I know you better than anyone John, and that whisper this morning was no mere whisper of a father figure, nor was the placement of your arms around her waist, so save the drama. You know," she laughed, tears flowing down her face, "I could have handled this so much better if you had just let it be.” She shook her head and stumbled, the ring falling out of her shallow pocket onto the floor in front of her.
He grabbed her elbows holding her still. "I'm telling the truth! The others have to believe the lie...
if we want any land to live on at the end of this they have to believe it’s all her. They won’t give me anything but a swift execution. We're already going to lose our home over this. They have to believe that I'm a puppet and not the other way around.... if I was with her then what would I gain from being here? If you think me as heartless as you obviously do, then why would I be here right now wasting my time with lies when I could be in her arms? What you’re suggesting sickens me... I could never be with anyone but you. Mark or no you are my mate and I refuse to have it any other way. Ask Aiden tomorrow, better yet ask Carmen."
"Carmen?" she laughed and shook her head. "Figures you would know the little viper. Tell me, if you are so close to her, why didn’t you show yourself at their wedding?" she sniffed and lowered her voice. "And why didn’t you bother to come to me? In fifteen years nothing changed, I always had hope, always thought you would show up one night.... John, don’t give me your shit. You could have come to me, any time; I have always been the keeper of your secrets. Yet I find out you’re alive in front of the heads of the five territories, and in the company of a fucking hatchling! Thank you for completely making me out to be a pathetic thing unable to hold what I considered mine! But I suppose it works for you, doesn’t it. They are all attacking me and my emotional stupidity..." she sighed.
He took a deep breath letting it out slowly. "I didn't want to make you appear weak, Lise, it just worked out that way and yes it does benefit me. You can survive their attacks. We can't, not with everything that’s been going on. I didn't come back to you because it wasn't safe, at first. You were under threat, as was I... a good friend of mine went back on a contract to keep me alive, it was his ass on the line as well. I had to work off my debt to him before I did anything. Once it was finally safe I
~29~
had so many kids dotted around that I couldn’t physically dump them all on your doorstep. You say I could have showed up for one night but there could never be just one night between us, you of all people know that. If not forever then not at all... to you I was better off dead." He sighed heavily.
"And yes I know Carmen, she's one of mine. I found her in... Well she was in a bad state. I'm glad she's better off now. In truth I didn’t go to her wedding because I didn't know she was getting married, it's only with the disappearances that we've started keeping tabs on our people. When she left us we hadn't settled down to one place and until recently I thought she was one of our missing."
“Well she’s not. Christ, Merrick, when have I ever not taken in strays? You know very well you could have brought your entire crèche to me and I would have welcomed them! But you were a selfish bastard as usual. Yes, it’s all about the kids, but you never once stopped to think about me. Yes, they needed you and probably still do, but I needed you too.”
"And you don’t think I need you? Elise, there are a lot of strays out there, it's not just a case of you welcoming our crèche. Nest life scares
He grabbed her elbows holding her still. "I'm telling the truth! The others have to believe the lie...
if we want any land to live on at the end of this they have to believe it’s all her. They won’t give me anything but a swift execution. We're already going to lose our home over this. They have to believe that I'm a puppet and not the other way around.... if I was with her then what would I gain from being here? If you think me as heartless as you obviously do, then why would I be here right now wasting my time with lies when I could be in her arms? What you’re suggesting sickens me... I could never be with anyone but you. Mark or no you are my mate and I refuse to have it any other way. Ask Aiden tomorrow, better yet ask Carmen."
"Carmen?" she laughed and shook her head. "Figures you would know the little viper. Tell me, if you are so close to her, why didn’t you show yourself at their wedding?" she sniffed and lowered her voice. "And why didn’t you bother to come to me? In fifteen years nothing changed, I always had hope, always thought you would show up one night.... John, don’t give me your shit. You could have come to me, any time; I have always been the keeper of your secrets. Yet I find out you’re alive in front of the heads of the five territories, and in the company of a fucking hatchling! Thank you for completely making me out to be a pathetic thing unable to hold what I considered mine! But I suppose it works for you, doesn’t it. They are all attacking me and my emotional stupidity..." she sighed.
He took a deep breath letting it out slowly. "I didn't want to make you appear weak, Lise, it just worked out that way and yes it does benefit me. You can survive their attacks. We can't, not with everything that’s been going on. I didn't come back to you because it wasn't safe, at first. You were under threat, as was I... a good friend of mine went back on a contract to keep me alive, it was his ass on the line as well. I had to work off my debt to him before I did anything. Once it was finally safe I
~29~
had so many kids dotted around that I couldn’t physically dump them all on your doorstep. You say I could have showed up for one night but there could never be just one night between us, you of all people know that. If not forever then not at all... to you I was better off dead." He sighed heavily.
"And yes I know Carmen, she's one of mine. I found her in... Well she was in a bad state. I'm glad she's better off now. In truth I didn’t go to her wedding because I didn't know she was getting married, it's only with the disappearances that we've started keeping tabs on our people. When she left us we hadn't settled down to one place and until recently I thought she was one of our missing."
“Well she’s not. Christ, Merrick, when have I ever not taken in strays? You know very well you could have brought your entire crèche to me and I would have welcomed them! But you were a selfish bastard as usual. Yes, it’s all about the kids, but you never once stopped to think about me. Yes, they needed you and probably still do, but I needed you too.”
"And you don’t think I need you? Elise, there are a lot of strays out there, it's not just a case of you welcoming our crèche. Nest life scares
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