21: You Are My World

Trenton's wolf flashed through his eyes as he looked at my torn dress again.

"Did he do that to you?"

I looked past him towards Alastor, who was still standing beside the carriage speaking to Dwight. Even though they were several feet away, I knew better than to assume Alastor wasn't listening because werewolf hearing had ruined more secrets than alcohol.

"Not here," I whispered.

Trenton followed my gaze, and understanding finally crossed his face. He nodded once, so I left him standing there and went inside.

For the next half an hour, I concentrated on Rachel because she was the only thing I wanted to think about. I didn't want to think about Ashley or Mount Hecate, and I certainly didn't want to think about RJ, Alastor or Trenton. For the next thirty minutes, I just wanted to be a mother spending time with her daughter.

I helped Rachel change into her nightdress before sitting on the edge of her bed while she told me every insignificant detail about her carriage ride. Apparently, Trenton had let her hold the reins for exactly three seconds before deciding he valued his life.

"And then Uncle Trent said a bad word."

"What bad word?"

Rachel's eyes widened. "I can't say it."

"You just told me he said it."

"That's different."

"How?"

"Because he is old."

I pressed my lips together because Trenton was thirty-five, and I couldn't wait to tell him Rachel considered him elderly.

She climbed beneath her blankets and pulled them all the way up to her chin before looking at me.

"Mama?"

"Hmm?"

"Is Papa Alastor mad at you?"

My smile faded. "What makes you think that?"

"His eyes were red."

I brushed one of her curls away from her forehead. "Papa Alastor's eyes are red quite often."

"I know," she said as her little fingers played with the edge of the blanket. "But yours were sad."

That nearly broke me because children noticed too much, even when you desperately wanted to believe they weren't paying attention.

"I'm just tired, baby."

She studied me with those brown eyes, and suddenly, all I could see were Trenton's.

Goddess.

I'd looked at them every day for almost seven years and never thought much about how obvious the resemblance might become once someone started looking for similarities. Alastor had spent years believing Rachel was his, so he had never needed to search her face for another man, but now he was looking.

"Mama?"

"Yes?"

"Can I still marry RJ when I'm eighteen?"

My entire body went cold.

"No."

She blinked. "But Papa said..."

"I don't care what Papa said."

Rachel stared at me, and when I realized how harshly the words had come out, I softened my voice.

"You don't have to worry about marriage. You're six years old, so you should be worrying about toys and sweets and whether your wild rabbit is going to poop all over your bedroom."

She giggled, and the sound immediately loosened something inside my chest.

Good.

I wanted her laughing because I wanted her childhood to remain hers for as long as I could protect it.

"Okay."

I leaned down and kissed her forehead, but before I could say anything else, a knock came at the door, causing my muscles to tighten before I could stop them.

Alastor walked in, and I immediately noticed that he had changed his clothes. There wasn't a trace of Pussy left on him now, but somehow, I could still smell her because my mind refused to forget what had happened inside that carriage.

Rachel immediately smiled.

"You came!"

"I promised."

He walked over and sat on the opposite side of her bed, and for one strange moment, we looked like a normal family with our child tucked beneath the blankets between us.

A mother, a father and their daughter.

Except one of those things was a lie.

Alastor brushed his fingers through Rachel's curls before leaning down and kissing her forehead, and I watched as his nose moved slightly.

Barely.

As though he were smelling her.

My blood froze, and when his eyes lifted to mine, I stopped breathing.

Alastor smiled.

"Goodnight, princess."

"Goodnight, Papa."

He stood and walked towards the door, but before leaving, he looked back at me.

"Don't stay up too late, Ava."

The door closed behind him, and Kennedy immediately surfaced.

'He smelled her.'

'I know.'

'He fucking smelled her.'

'I know!'

Rachel yawned beside me, so I forced myself to calm down because there was nothing for Alastor to smell yet. At least, there was nothing that mattered. Her wolf hadn't emerged, which meant he couldn't know.

Not yet.

I stayed with Rachel until she fell asleep, and only when I was certain she was completely out did I slip from her room and quietly close the door behind me.

Trenton was waiting at the end of the corridor when I closed Rachel's door behind me.

Of course he was.

I glanced around to make sure no one else was nearby before walking towards him.

"We need to talk."

"I've been trying to talk to you."

"Not here."

I continued farther down the corridor, and Trenton followed without arguing until I found one of the small sitting rooms. The moment we were both inside, I closed the door behind us, but before I could move away from it, Trenton turned towards me.

"What did he do?"

"Keep your voice down."

"What did Alastor do to you?"

I folded my arms across my chest, partly because I didn't want to have this conversation and partly because I was still wearing the evidence of exactly what Alastor had done.

"That's not what we need to talk about."

Trenton's eyes dropped to my torn dress again, but before he could question me further, I said the one thing guaranteed to make him forget about it.

"He knows about us."

That shut him up.

Trenton stared at me for several seconds before his face slowly lost colour.

"Did he tell you that?"

"Yes, he told me plain as day."

"How the fuck did he find out?"

"I don't know exactly, but he said several things tonight that made it pretty fucking clear that he knows. He even told me he has known for years."

I walked farther into the room because standing still suddenly felt impossible.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Trenton kicked the wall. "This isn't good."

"And that's not even the worst part."

"There's a worst part?"

"He suspects that Rachel might not be his."

Trenton didn't move. "He said that?"

"Yes."

"But she is, right?"

When the tears gathered in my eyes and my lips began to tremble, he got his answer.

"For fuck's sake, Ava!"

"I'm sorry. I couldn't tell you that she's yours. I knew how you'd react, and I was afraid that you'd run your mouth to Alastor and get us all killed."

I was crying now, and Trenton calmed down.

"Come here, Ava." He pulled me into his arms. "You know I wouldn't do that. I would never put you or Rachel in harm's way."

It had been so long since I had been held like this that I just sank into the warmth of his arms.

"Do you hate me?" I asked him as I pulled back to look into his eyes.

He sighed as he used his thumbs to dry beneath my eyes. "I could never hate you, Ava. You are my world. You and our daughter."

For a brief moment, I saw what a happy life could be with the three of us running away together.

Trenton bit his bottom lip.

"I love you, Ava-Rose Redclaw."

I gasped at the sound of my real name on his lips, and for a moment, I allowed myself to sink into everything I still felt for him. Before I knew it, my mouth was on his, kissing him hungrily as my hands worked at his pants, and somewhere between the desperation and thirteen years of wanting a life we could never have, we ended up making love right there on the floor.