Chapter 12


    Chapter 12


    Bentley, Duskfall and L were my life savers.


    They pulled me from the darkest corner of my life.


    They gave me the true understanding of what “family” meant.


    From randomly being invited to dinners, included in social events, asked toe over at houses,


    befriending almost everyone in the pack and freely spending my time at the garden without being


    judged, Duskfall was my sanctuary. A pack free from the poisonous tentacles of dramatics. It hurt to


    know that someday I would leave it all behind. That my time here was ticking. This privilege of living life


    to the fullest was limited.


    It was all in the hands of Landon.


    The mate who didn’t want me.


    “Of course we can.”


    I looked up to Bentley who nodded at my silent question for approval. Giving him onest smile, I


    leaned down to carry L against my chest before walking off to the flower garden. She locked her legs


    together, squeezing my waist between them as her arms hung around my neck. L squirmed in my


    hold, her small hand clutching onto the back of my shirt as she buried her face in the cr ook of my neck.


    I felt a smallugh escape me when she peered over my shoulder to look at Bentley before quickly


    ducking down when he caught her stare.


    The little pup was quite the cutie.


    We walked down the trail for about seven minutes of silence when she asked,


    “Selly, are you going to leave?”


    I flinched at the suddenness of her question. She never really asked about my stay until now. I stopped


    walking mid-step to look down at her before continuing our way to the flower garden. She kept her


    head down, the crown of her head the only thing I could see. She was ying with a lock of my hair,


    her fingersbing through the strands at the ends. L knew I was only ‘visiting’ for a while.


    Everyone in the pack knew that. They didn’t know for what reason, though. Some would ask but I


    brushed it off saying it was some minor issue back home. I could only guess what kind of excuse


    Landon came up with. I highly doubt he would go on a limb to say that I was his rejected mate and he


    needed me to stay away so he can mark and mate my sister.


    I wasn’t eager to receive looks of pity from them either if I told them the truth. I had my fill of that from


    Bentley– the only one I ever told. He was angry for me, but most of all I could see the sympathy under


    those bluish green eyes. His mate had passed on a few years back, but he was happy.


    He was content.


    He had the chance to love and cherish his mate til her veryst breath. It was an honor, he said. An


    honor to have been the one to provide her with a lifetime full of love and affection. An honor to be her


    mate that she had blessed with a family of three.


    Him, her and their son, Isaac.


    Issac was supposedly out of pack territory training to be the next Gamma at a training camp in the


    South. Gamma’s and Beta’s were chosen by the reigning Alpha. They weren’t passed down from


    generation to generation like Alpha’s were. After choosing the candidate, they were sent to train for the


    position. It was only after thepletion of their extensive training that they were given a ceremony to


    officially ept the title. There was a lot of requirements to pass the standards.


    Bentley keeps close contact with his son. He writes him letter that he would receive a response to


    every two weeks. I could see with the way his eyes glimmer with pride when he speaks of him that his


    son was his biggest joy. Being mateless and away from his son, did make him feel quite lonely. So


    when L came into the picture, he found a new sense of


    purpose.


    He would take care of her with the remaining years he had left in him.


    Bentley often said he misses his mate, Maria, dearly. Sometimes still seeing her sitting in her favorite


    couch with her legs propped up reading a romance novel.


    She may have ag ed, but she’s still the romantic she always was when we first met at sixteen. The


    warmth in his eyes as he said that tugged at my heart. In both good and bad ways. It was only then did


    I realize I wouldn’t have any of that. I wouldn’t have anyone to just sit around and do nothing with. To


    just enjoy and revel in each other’spany. No one to memorize their little habits and mechanisms. I


    tried not thinking about it too much, but it was hard not to when I could physically feel my bond with


    Landon weaken. Turns out what he said was true.


    The mate bond was slowly loosening and I felt everyyer forcibly removed by his increasing emotional


    bond to Hestia deep in my bones. Every time I felt it, a piece of me fell


    away.


    Suddenly, a sharp pain twisted in my gut. I hunched over, mo uth open in a soundless scream when I


    fell onto the ground. I managed to keep myself from falling face first because of the little girl still in my


    arms. She was the only thing racing through my mind. L squealed, startled from my wheezing. She


    squirmed in my hold until I let go but I couldn’t breathe. My hands shakily clutched onto the fabric over


    my heart. My mind going hazy as my vision began to ck out.Original from N?velDrama.Org.