The House Across The Street

CHAPTER ELEVEN

POV: Raina

I was carrying a light box of children's clothes from the front porch into the hallway of my new city home, feeling completely relieved to finally give Ruth and Raymond a quiet, secure life far away from the Frostvale pack territory. Reign was in the kitchen setting up our internet connection while the kids played with their plastic blocks in the living room, and everything felt completely peaceful until I heard the heavy rumble of a large truck pulling up outside. I set the box down on the floor, wiped my hands on my jeans, and walked out onto the front porch to see who was moving into the empty property directly across the quiet street. A massive moving truck backed into the opposite driveway, followed immediately by a sleek black SUV, and my blood ran completely cold the moment the driver's side door opened and Damon stepped out onto the pavement.

He was wearing plain sports clothes, and he walked around to the back of the SUV, opening the trunk and grabbing a stack of cardboard boxes with total ease while looking around at the neighborhood.

I felt a sudden wave of pure fury wash over me as I watched him, completely unable to believe that he had followed me out of the pack territory and tracked down my exact residential address less than twenty-four hours after our meeting at the league offices. I marched off my porch, crossed the green lawn in fast strides, and walked straight over the asphalt road until I was standing right at the edge of his driveway with my hands resting on my hips.

"What in the world are you doing here, Damon?" I asked, keeping my voice loud and sharp so he could hear me over the sound of the truck engine.

Damon turned around slowly with the stack of boxes in his arms, and when his eyes met mine, he set the boxes down on the grass next to his shoes, looking completely calm and unbothered by my sudden appearance.

"Good afternoon, Raina," Damon said, stepping toward the edge of his lawn with his hands resting casually inside his front pockets. "I'm just moving my things into my new house."

"Do not play games with me right now," I said, pointing my finger directly at his chest while my jaw clenched in frustration. "You followed me all the way out here from Frostvale, you tracked down my private home address, and you bought the house directly across the street from my children!"

"I didn't track you down through illegal means, Raina," Damon said, keeping his voice extremely soft and low while he looked at me. "I called the real estate agent this morning, I paid double the asking price for this property in cash, and I bought it legally so I could be near my kids."

"They are not your kids, Damon!" I shouted, taking a step forward on the driveway while my heart hammered against my ribs. "You forfeited every single right to be a father five years ago when you let your father's guards chase me through the woods while I was bleeding to death!"

"I told you yesterday in the hallway that I knew nothing about those guards, Raina," Damon said, his golden eyes filling with raw pain as he took a step closer to the road, "My father lied to me for five straight years and told me you were dead, so the moment I found out you were alive with my children, I bought this place so I could protect you guys."

"We do not need your protection, and we certainly do not need you living across the street from us," I said, crossing my arms defensively over my chest as I glared at him. "I have my own security team watching my house, I have Reign living with us, and we were doing completely fine for five years without you in our lives."

"Is Reign staying in that house with you?" Damon asked, his brows pulling together tightly while his voice dropped into a low growl that he tried his best to hide from me.

"My living arrangements are none of your business," I answered immediately, refusing to give him any information about Reign or our family setup. "I am telling you right now to stay completely off my land, stay away from my front lawn, and do not try to approach my children when they are playing outside."

"Raina, they are my children too, and I just want a chance to get to know them," Damon pleaded, holding his hands out toward me while his voice trembled slightly. "I'm not here to interfere with your hockey team or ruin your business, I just want to be a father to Ruth and Raymond."

"If you step one foot across this street onto my property, my security guards will throw you out into the road and I will file a restraining order against you with the city police," I warned him, keeping my voice completely firm and unyielding so he knew I was not making an empty threat.

"You don't have to keep treating me like an enemy, Raina," Damon said softly, looking over my shoulder toward my front porch with a desperate look in his eyes. "I just want to speak to them for five minutes, I want to hear their voices, and I want to explain why I wasn't there for the last five years."

"They don't know who you are, and I am not going to let you confuse them or bring your father's dangerous pack drama into their safe lives," I said, turning my body around to head back across the street toward my lawn. "Stay on your side of the road, Damon, because if you break my boundary, I will make sure you lose your captain title on the ice."

I walked back onto my lawn, keeping my head held high, but just as I reached the bottom step of my front porch, the front screen door clicked open and young Raymond snuck out onto the green grass. He had his little plastic toy car in his hand, and he walked right up to the edge of our driveway, looking across the asphalt street with his wide golden eyes until he spotted Damon standing beside the black SUV.

Raymond smiled brightly, lifting his free hand into the air and waving enthusiastically at the tall man across the street, completely unaware of the tension between us.

Damon froze on his lawn, a soft smile spreading across his face as tears welled up in his eyes, and he lifted his big hand to wave back at our son with total tenderness.

"Raymond, get back inside the house right now," I said quickly, rushing across the grass, grabbing my son by his small hand, and lifting him up into my arms before he could say a single word.

I turned around and carried Raymond back onto the porch, opening the front door and pulling him safely inside the house before slamming the wooden door shut tight between us, leaving Damon standing alone across the street staring at our front window.