Mike’s POV

I was holding Janet’s hand in a tight grip.

I needed her support. I would see my daughter for the first time in 15 years. I would see my true mate’s body being burned. I would need to talk to my daughter and ask her to come with me.

To say that I was nervous would be an understatement. I was freaking out.

“Mike?” I heard my name being called.

I turned around and saw my old best friend.

“Jack,” I mumbled his name.

He sighed and approached me and Janet. He continued walking toward the funeral site along with us.

“It’s Alpha Jack to you, but I will let it go this time,” he said, glancing at me from the corner of his eye.

He was still angry at me. He never used to insist I call him Alpha.

“This is my mate, Janet,” I said, looking at her and giving her a small smile.

“It’s nice to meet you, Alpha Jack,” Janet said politely.

Jack looked at her and gave her a small nod. He looked back at me and narrowed his eyes.

“Why are you here?” he asked.

I gulped and took a deep breath.

“Leah called me,” I said. “She asked me to take care of Madeline. I am here to take her home with me.”

Jack tightened his jaw and looked away from me.

“Maddie won’t be happy,” he mumbled. “She will refuse to go with you.”

I could tell that he wanted to say something else. He started fidgeting with his fingers. I knew that he did that when he was nervous. He was my best friend for years. I knew him.

“But?” I asked, making him glance at me again.

“But she will have to go,” he mumbled. “Her financial situation isn’t good and there isn’t much I can do to help.”

Shit. The cancer treatment probably cost a fortune.

“She is poor?” Janet asked, making Jack look at her wide-eyed.

That wasn’t very nice, Janet. I mind-linked her.

I just want to know what we are dealing with. She answered. We need to know how much it will cost us to take care of her.

“She is in a little bit of trouble,” Jack mumbled, narrowing his eyes at my mate.

I could tell that Jack was pissed at my mate for asking that.

I sighed and looked around.

So many people were going to the funeral. Most of them were crying and comforting each other. It was obvious that Leah was very loved.

I could see the burial site up ahead. I could already see Leah’s body. It was completely wrapped in a white sheet. It was tradition. Her body was laid on a structure made of wood. It would soon be burned. The tradition was for the funeral to be held at night. The bodies were burned because it was believed that the fire in the night will show the deceased the way to the Moon Goddess.

My heart clenched. I loved Leah. I loved her so much. I just wished that my love for her had been enough to keep me here.

My wolf retreated completely. He wasn’t able to witness his fated mate’s funeral.

He never completely forgave me for leaving. He understood why I left, but he always missed his pup. I knew that he would come back when I approached Madeline. He would want to see her.

I could feel people’s eyes on me. I could hear them whispering. I didn’t even need to hear what they were saying. I knew exactly what they thought of me. The warriors at the border almost didn’t let me in. One of them recognized me and I was sure that he was going to attack me.

Thankfully, the other warrior mind-linked Jack, who allowed me to enter the pack.

Their opinions of me didn’t matter. I was here for my daughter. I was here to take her home with me.

Everything around me disappeared when my eyes landed on her.

Goddess, she was beautiful.

She looked just like Leah, but she had my eyes. Her hair was long and wavy, and the color was the same as mine. She was a perfect mixture of Leah and me, and she was beautiful.

She was staring at her mom’s body without blinking. She wasn’t crying though. Her face was expressionless.

“Is that her?” Janet asked.

I nodded, not moving my eyes away from my daughter. I wished that she would look up at me. I wished that she would smile at me as she did when she was a baby.

Jack approached her and pulled her into a hug. He whispered something to her, and she nodded.

She still didn’t look at me.

“Thank you all for coming,” Jack said as he let Madeline go.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and looked at Leah’s body.

Luna Maria approached Madeline and Jack. She cupped Madeline’s cheeks and kissed her forehead. I saw a tear fall down Madeline’s cheek. Maria took Madeline’s hand in hers and looked at Leah.

“Leah was an amazing woman,” Jack said. “She was a wonderful mother and a great friend to us all. Everyone who knew Leah knows how much she loved her daughter. Everyone who knew Leah knows how devoted she was to our pack. We lost a great she-wolf, but we are all better people because we knew her.”

Jack turned to Madeline and asked her something quietly. She shook her head. Jack nodded and kissed the top of her head.

He looked at someone in the crowd and nodded.

A man approached the wooden structure and lit the wood on fire.

I looked at my daughter. She closed her eyes and bent her head down.

A girl around her age approached her and pulled her into a hug.

“Let the fire lead her way,” Jack said.

“Let the fire lead her way,” I mumbled quietly.

I heard people around me mumbling the traditional proverb. Janet stayed silent. I sighed. It was disrespectful not to say it at a funeral.

Janet. I mind-linked her. Say it.

She glanced at me but kept quiet.

I tightened my jaw. I knew that I would have to talk to her about it later. I knew that Janet wasn’t too happy about my daughter coming home with us, but she could have at least said the damn proverb.

I looked at Leah’s body. It was almost completely gone.

My heart clenched. I wished that I could have seen her one more time before she died.

I sighed and looked back at my daughter.

Her wide eyes were fixed on me. She knew who I was. She had to know who I was. She recognized me. My pup recognized me.

I gave her a small smile.

Anger flashed in her eyes and she looked away from me.

Fear washed over me. Would my daughter even want to talk to me?

Madeline’s POV

"What is my father doing here?” I asked Alpha Jackson.

There was a sharp pain in my chest that was slowly being replaced by anger. I wanted that man gone. I didn’t want him here. He made his choice when he left my mom and me 15 years ago. I didn’t want him here. I didn’t need him.

“You recognized him?” Alpha Jackson asked, surprised.

Of course, I did.

“I have his eyes,” I mumbled, wiping the tear from my cheek. “And my mom always showed me pictures of him. She wanted me to remember him.”

She loved him so much. She loved him even after everything he did to her. He was her fated mate, who lied to her. He promised to mark her, but he never did. He hurt her so much, and I would never forgive him for it.

I looked back at the fire.

“I will miss you, mom,” I mumbled quietly. “I hope that you are not in pain anymore.”

My voice broke and I stopped to take a deep breath.

“I love you,” I continued quietly. “Please watch over me.”

I still couldn't believe that my mom was gone. She was the most important person in my life. She was the one who loved me the most. She was the one who always took care of me. I didn’t know what I would do without her. I didn’t know how to move on.

“I am so sorry, Mads,” Ali said quietly as she tightened her arms around me. “I will always be here for you. I will always be your friend. You know that, right?”

I nodded, keeping my eyes on the dying flame.

My mom’s body was completely gone.

My mom was gone. She was gone and she would never come back.

My heart broke into a million tiny pieces. I wanted to scream and cry. I wanted my mom to come to hug me. I wanted my mom to call me her little Flower and to tell me that everything would be okay.

I sobbed and leaned my head on Ali’s shoulder.

“Maddie,” I heard a man’s voice.

I looked up and saw my father standing a few feet away. A woman with an ugly expression on her face was next to him.

Anger rose inside me, and I had the urge to punch him.

“My name is Madeline,” I said as I looked away from him.

“Alison, could you give us some privacy, please?” Luna Maria asked my friend quietly.

“Of course,” Ali responded before I could say that I wanted her to stay here.

She kissed my cheek and let me go. I watched as she walked toward her parents. Her mom pulled her into a hug and it made me want to cry. I wanted my mom to hug me.

But that wasn’t possible anymore. She was gone.

“I am sorry for your loss, Madeline,” my father said, making me look back at him.

The anger returned. I wanted to slap that fake sadness off his face.

“Why are you here?” I asked, clenching my fists. “You made your choice 15 years ago. My mom wouldn't want you here. I don’t want you here.”

My dad sighed and glanced at the woman next to him. He took her hand in his and squeezed it.

Who was she?

“Your mom called me before she died, honey,” my father said. “She wanted me to take care of you after her death.”

My eyes widened and my heart raced. What the hell was he talking about?

“I don’t need you to take care of me,” I said, trying to stop my voice from shaking. “You haven’t been taking care of me for the last 15 years.

Why start now?”

What did that even mean? How would he take care of me? Would he send me money? I didn’t want it. I had two jobs. I would manage somehow.

I would sell my house, pay off the debt and find a smaller place to live in. I already had a plan. I didn’t need him.

“I know that you are angry, Maddie, but…” my father said, but I interrupted him.

“It’s Madeline,” I said sternly. “It’s not Maddie or honey. It’s Madeline.”

“Your father is trying to be nice,” the woman who was standing next to him spoke. “You could be a little bit more polite.”

My eyes widened. I could have sworn that I heard Luna Maria growl quietly.

I wasn’t rude. I just didn’t want that man to call me by any nickname.

“It’s okay, Janet,” my father said, keeping his eyes on me. “Madeline has every right to be angry.”

I took a deep breath and released it slowly.

I realized that I wasn’t even angry at him. He didn’t deserve my anger.

I was just so sad. I was in pain and all I wanted to do was go back home and curl into my mom’s bed. I wanted to breathe in her soothing scent while it was still there. I wanted to pretend that she was holding me. I wanted to cry my eyes out and let the pain wash over me.

I had to keep it together for the last few days and I was so tired of it. I wanted to let go. I wanted to break down.

“You are 17 years old, Madeline,” my father said. “You are having some financial trouble. Janet and I are here to help.”

I looked at the woman. I seriously doubted that she wanted to help me.

The expression on her face told me that she would rather watch me burn next to my mother than help me.

“Who is she?” I asked, looking back at my father.

He took a deep breath and looked at the woman next to him.

“She is my chosen mate,” he said, making my heart stop.

She was his chosen mate?! He left my mom and me and took this woman as his chosen mate?!

“I know that everything is a shock right now, Madeline, but you will have time to get used to it,” my father said, looking back at me. “When you move to our pack, you will…” “What?!” I interrupted him.

Move to their pack?! Was he serious?! I wasn’t leaving my pack! I wasn’t moving anywhere! I wasn’t going anywhere with him!

My father took a deep breath and looked at Alpha Jackson.

“We are taking you home with us, Madeline,” my father said. “You can’t stay here anymore. I know I screwed up 15 years ago, but I am here now, and I will take care of you.”

My heart wasn’t beating anymore.

He wanted me to go with him?

No.

No freaking way.

I wasn’t going to go with him. I was going to find a way to stay with my pack.

I didn’t need him. I didn’t need anyone.

I was going to be okay on my own.

Madeline’s POV

“I am not going,” I said as I started walking away from my father.

I had no reason to stay there anymore. My mom’s body was gone. I wasn’t going with my father and I didn’t want to talk to him anymore.

There was no reason for me to stay at the burial site any longer. I was going to go home, lay in my mom’s bed, and cry my eyes out.

I definitely wasn’t going with my father anywhere. There was no freaking way that I was leaving my pack. There was no freaking way that I was going anywhere with that man.

“Madeline!” he called after me.

I didn’t respond. I didn’t even turn around.

The man left me. He left my mom. I didn’t need him or his pity money.

“Madeline!” he called me again, but this time I heard him following after me.

I started walking faster.

“Madeline, stop!” my father yelled.

I ignored him.

My heart was beating a mile a minute. I wasn’t leaving. I wasn’t leaving my pack. I wasn’t leaving my house. My mom’s stuff was there. I wasn’t going to leave the place that reminded me of my mom. Her scent was still there. I couldn't leave. I didn’t want to leave.

I felt tears fall down my cheeks.

Someone grabbed my arm and stopped me.

I felt anger rising.

“Maddie, please,” my father said.

I tried to pull my arm from his hold, but he only tightened his grip on it.

“I know I screwed up, Maddie,” he sighed as he turned me around.

“Please let me make it right.”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“I don’t need you to make it right,” I said. “I don’t need your help. My mom and I were fine on our own. I am going to be fine on my own.”

“You do need his help, Maddie,” Alpha Jackson sighed. “You don’t have money. You are going to lose your house. You need your father’s help.”

A sharp pain spread through my chest. I felt tears in the corners of my eyes, but they weren’t sad tears, they were angry tears. I always cried when I was angry and I hated it.

“I can work more,” I said, my voice raspy. “I can take more shifts. You can give me a job at the packhouse. I can…” “Maddie,” Alpha Jackson interrupted me.

He sighed and moved my father’s hand away. He pulled me into a hug and the tears finally fell down my cheeks.

“You need to go with your father, Maddie,” Alpha Jackson said softly.

“Why?” I asked, trying to stop my voice from breaking. “I don’t need him. I don’t want to go with him. I can stay here. I can stay at the packhouse. I can work as much as you need me to.”

Alpha Jackson sighed as he let me go. He placed his hands on my shoulders and bent down.

“You know the pack rules, Maddie,” he said. “You can’t live in the packhouse until you get your wolf.”

I tightened my jaw.

“Can’t you make an exception?” I asked. “I am 17. I will be 18 in nine months.”

Alpha Jackson took a deep breath and released it slowly.

“I can’t do that, Maddie,” he said, breaking my heart all over again.

“You are not the first wolf to lose a parent. Usually, the wolves who are underage go live with their relatives. Your father is the only living relative you have.”

I tried to gulp down the lump in my throat.

“So you are exiling me?” I asked quietly.

“Goddess, Maddie, no!” Alpha Jackson exclaimed. “The minute you turn 18 and get your wolf you can come back and live in the packhouse.”

I looked down and took a deep breath.

“I am so sorry, Maddie,” Alpha Jackson sighed. “Your mom wanted you to go live with your dad.”

I looked up at my father and his new mate.

“My mom forgave him for what he did,” I said. “I never will.”

My father closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“You don’t need to forgive me, Madeline,” he said as he opened his eyes and looked at me. “You just need to let me take care of you.”

I wanted to run away. I wanted to disappear. I wanted to find another pack and start over.

But I knew what would happen the minute I left my pack. I still didn’t have my wolf and I was defenseless. The rogues would eat me alive, and if they didn’t and I somehow made it to another pack, they would send out a message that there was a 17-year-old she-wolf on the run. I would end up back here or with my father.

I couldn't run away and start my life in another pack until I turned 18.

“You won’t be taking care of me,” I said coldly. “I will find a job at your pack. I will feed myself. I will take care of myself. I will only go with you because I know what would happen to me if I didn’t. The moment I turn 18, I will be out of your pack and out of your life.”

My father’s eyes widened.

“We are fine with that,” his chosen mate said.

I didn’t even realize that she was standing next to my father.

Of course they were fine with it. My father never wanted me. If my mom hadn’t called him, he wouldn't even know that she was sick and dying.

“Madeline…” my father spoke, but I interrupted him.

“I said everything I wanted to say,” I said, clenching my fists. “When are we leaving?”

My father glanced at Alpha Jackson.

“Tomorrow morning,” Alpha Jackson said. “Your father and his mate will stay at the packhouse.”

I nodded and turned around. I rushed toward my house.

I couldn't believe that I had to leave my home. I couldn't believe that I wouldn't be able to stay here. I didn’t want to go. I really didn’t want to go.

But I had to.

It would be for nine months only. Nine months and I would be free.

Nine months and I would never have to see my father again.