CHAPTER 99: 99-NEVER THERE FOR ME

Iris:

After a few minutes of kissing him with intensity, I noticed he began to pull back. My body had started to calm down as well.

"You don’t wish for intimacy," he whispered, shocking me.

Before I could ask him why he said that, he added, "You just need comfort."

As he said that and caressed my cheek, I felt myself wanting to melt into his arms again.

In the darkness, he guided me to the bed. For a moment, everything around me felt numb.

He held me in his arms while he lay down with me. I could not remember the last time I had cuddled with someone like this.

My wolf needed it so badly that she tried her best not to leave his embrace.

So I stayed there. After a few minutes, when the haze of his touch finally faded, I realized how lucky I was that he had not taken things further.

It would have been awkward.

I lifted my head from his chest and noticed he had fallen asleep.

It was the perfect time to sneak out. I felt guilty as I carefully got out of his bed and stepped toward the bedside table where the blue box sat.

Without a second thought or any intention of staying longer, I grabbed the blue box and hurried out of his room.

I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I had no other choice.

If Kash knew why I was taking the box, he would not have questioned me and would have given it to me himself.

But I could not tell him. One mistake from me and my son would be in constant pain. I could not allow that.

I rushed out of the mansion and felt the cold wind hit me. I knew I had to go back and face my mother.

As soon as I entered the living room again, my mother stepped into my way.

It seemed as if she had been staying awake, waiting for me.

When our eyes met, I could tell she did not feel guilty and believed she had done the right thing.

"Did you get it?" she asked, her eyes fixed on my face so sharply that she refused to look at my hand.

Otherwise, she would not have needed to ask that question.

I extended my hand and gave her what she had been asking for.

A bright smile spread across her lips as she snatched the box from my hand.

"Perfect. You did a great job," she remarked, suddenly smiling at me and looking at me as if she were proud of me.

However, I was not proud of her. My eyes were filled with tears as I remembered how she had never been there for me.

Flashback.

"No, you will slip. Just be careful," I warned, watching Robin climb the tree.

We were both fourteen, and we were best friends.

Robin had been with me for as long as I could remember.

Whenever my mother or father yelled at me after my brother did something wrong, Robin would come to cheer me up.

"You wanted this mango, and I am going to get it for you," Robin told me in his deep voice for a fourteen-year-old.

He was strong and somewhat mature, and he always reminded me not to treat him like a child.

He said he was capable enough to take care of me.

Everyone in the Lycan community was jealous of my friendship with him.

The girls did not like me because Robin paid too much attention to me.

"Okay, but be careful," I repeated, rolling my eyes at him for being so stubborn.

"Just there. Listen, I am going to throw it, and you have to catch it," he warned, showing me the mango in his hand.

"Okay, I am ready," I replied, adjusting my steps so I could catch the mango properly.

He threw it, and the moment he did, while the mango was in the air, my eyes lifted and I saw the branch he had hooked his leg on, breaking apart.

"No!" I screamed as he tumbled. "No, no, no!" I panicked.

The mango landed on my head, but I did not care.

I rushed forward, trying to save him, but I could only get a little too close.

Before he could fall completely to the ground, he caught another branch and saved himself.

"Oh my God, I am so glad you are fine," I said.

By now, the commotion had drawn too many passersby.

People came out of their houses, and the ones working in the woods gathered to see what was happening.

Someone pushed through the crowd quickly. I did not notice her arrival.

My eyes stayed on Robin’s father, the old man who had dropped everything to hug his son.

"What were you doing up there?" his father complained.

"It is not his fault. I wanted a mango, and he was getting it for me," I admitted instantly.

But before anyone could see how frightened and guilty I was, my mother arrived, spun me around, and slapped me so hard in front of everyone that for a moment my ears went completely silent.

Flashback:

"You’re not going to ask me what happened?" I questioned as I noticed how she kept staring at the small blue box in her hand, examining it.

She briefly lifted her head and then shrugged.

"You came back fine, didn’t you? And I could tell not much happened. Knowing Kash, I figured he would not be done in just a few minutes," she replied.

As she said that, I raised my hand and slapped myself hard enough for a yelp to escape my lips.

My mother immediately put the box down and reached for me, trying to hold my hands while I attempted to hit myself again.

"What are you doing?" she screamed, grabbing my fists and stopping me.

"I couldn’t hit you," was all I said, watching her expression.

Then I freed myself and stepped away, rushing into my room and locking the door.

I felt unloved, and it seemed as if every problem in my life had been created by others, by controlling me.