The Alpha’s Curvy Cinderella - Chapter 89: Chapter 89

Grant POV
I exhaled as I made it out of the dungeon and back into the pack house, Sarah’s screams still ringing through my ears. I winced, running a hand through my hair in exasperation, and walked into the kitchen, my mother not far behind me, a sympathetic expression on her face. I didn’t know what to think, or how to feel. I had been so angry, so furious when I initially found out about the pregnancy and how she had manipulated everything but now? The second I had seen my baby, so small and vulnerable on the screen everything had changed inside of me. A fierceness had swept through me. I felt protective of my child. Hades had been fascinated, looking at the screen in awe, at the smallness of his pup. Everything ceased to exist at that moment. Now I knew I was going to have a daughter and while I was still angry at Sarah, I wasn’t angry about the baby, not anymore.
“Grant honey, I know it’s a lot to take in,” my mother said uncertainly as I silently sat at the dining table and stared at the table broodingly “But are you even a little bit, okay?”
I snorted. She fell silent, biting her lip and joining me at the table. “I’m going to have a daughter,” I said to her a little desperately “and I don’t know the first thing about raising a child, not on my own. How am I supposed to cope? How am I supposed to care for something so small and helpless? I can barely take care of myself” I said guiltily, full of self-doubt.
My mother looked surprised by my vehemence “Grant, are you saying that you want this baby after all?” she asked delicately “I thought you were against it.”
“I can’t take my anger out on my baby, not after I got to see her,” I said gloomily, and my mother’s eyes lit up with excitement and longing.
“Oh, I can’t tell you how happy that makes me” she whispered, her voice shaking “I was afraid that you would turn your back on your own child or that you would threaten adoption and I so badly want to be able to hold my grandchild in my arms.”
“But what am I going to do?” I asked again, slamming my hand on the table and causing her to jump “I’m not father material. I’m just a teenager who can barely keep his head screwed on straight. What if I stuff up? What if I make things worse? I don’t know the first thing about changing a diaper or how to dress a baby or how to bathe it or feed it” I vented, panic rising inside of me as my mother grinned “What if I drop her or accidentally hurt her?”
My father came sauntering into the kitchen, raising his eyebrows as he listened to me exploding in worry. He smirked. ” Son,” he said very casually, leaning against a chair and regarding me thoughtfully “do you think I had any clue what to do with you when you were born?” he asked. “I was at a complete loss. I had to learn what to do and trust me I made plenty of mistakes” he said exhaling and looking sheepish “I put your diaper on backwards, I mixed your clothes up, I forgot you were in a stroller once” he admitted. “The thing is, nobody is perfect” he added with a shrug “And if you think you’re going to be then you are in for one hell of a rude awakening” he warned.
My mother shot him a glower. “You have us to help. I can teach you how to make bottles, how to get her to drink from them, how to clothe her, change her diaper, and bathe her. We’ll get through this together” she said softly “All you have to do is trust us to help you and trust in yourself a bit more. You’ve had more thrown at you than what’s fair, but you are handling it remarkably well. Not a lot of teenage boys would want the responsibility that you’ve just said you’re willing to take on. We will help shoulder the burden” she said, putting a hand on my shoulder “And be the doting grandparents we’ve always wanted to be” she joked, making me grin.
I felt marginally better. I yawned feeling drained. Visiting Sarah was like having the very life sucked out of you. I didn’t know if it was a combination of the dark, the gloominess of the dungeon, or the fact that she seemed to have lost her marbles. For some reason, she seemed to think that we were still an item and nothing seemed to persuade her otherwise. The confinement was slowly making her go crazy and I wondered if it was a matter of time before she believed she was somewhere else entirely and not locked up in a dungeon. Still, I didn’t feel even remotely sorry for her. She was facing the consequences of her actions and honestly, the world was better off without her in it. She was a menace as long as she was alive and a threat to the pack and to me.
Suddenly we got a mind-link, all of us at the same time.
Injured shifter woman in neutral territory. Looks dead. What are your instructions? She’s covered in blood Alpha Grant and Alpha John. Looks to have been fleeing from something or someone.
Stay with the body, we’ll be right there I instructed grimly keep the other pack members away and stand guard.
I will await your arrival, Alphas and Luna. I’m in the Southeast of the forest, just past the boundary line. There are no signs of rogues, and the way is relatively clear. Please hurry.
“Do you suppose she was making her way to our pack?” I mused “If she was this close to our territory…” I trailed off.
My mother looked stricken. “Who knows, the poor woman. Let’s get down there quickly and see what needs to be done. I don’t like the fact that the warrior said she was covered in blood. John” she said turning to him “Will you carry me on your back.”
My father nodded, looking grim. We made our way to the grounds and then father and I shifted as mother watched. Both of our big black wolves stood there, stamping our paws softly on the hard ground, father approaching mother and laying on his belly so that she could awkwardly climb on him, her hand gripping his fur tightly.
Together we turned and trotted to the southeast of the forest. Our paws thudded lightly on the ground, the breeze rippling through our fur. Despite the gravity of the situation, it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, the air was cool and fresh and the sounds of birds chirping happily sounded in the distance. I followed behind Father, carefully stepping over branches, spotting the warrior in the distance, motioning to us with urgency.
I sniffed. I could smell the metallic scent of blood in the air. There was a lot of it. It was strong, vile, some of it old and some of it new. But there was an underlying scent beneath all of that. A gentle, understated scent that made my nostrils flare in confusion. Why could I smell the scent of roses when there were no rose bushes nearby? Strange I thought as we drew nearer, Hades strangely silent in the background. Where was the annoying mutt? Normally he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
The smell of roses grew stronger. My mouth watered. I drew close to the warrior and shifted, my father, lying down so that my mother could get off him before he did the same.
“Where is the woman?” I asked, aware we were now on neutral territory.
The warrior looked grim, standing back and allowing us to see her properly. My mother gasped. My father inhaled sharply. I stared at her, mesmerized, anger and rage shooting through me.
The woman was drenched in blood, her clothes torn and ripped. She was petite, with a short frame. I could see bruises on her, old and new, in various stages of healing. One of her eyes was blackened, I saw, even underneath the blood. She had long dark raven black hair, some of it not covered in blood and it shone in the light. Her eyes stared in the distance, a gorgeous green color that made me suck in a breath as regret overwhelmed me and grief came over me. I moved a little closer.
“The poor woman” my mother whispered “Who could have done something like this? It’s beyond cruel,” she said as my father nodded tightly.
“Don’t look love. I don’t think there’s anything that can be done for her” he murmured remorsefully “There’s so much blood, there’s no way she could have survived.”
My feet seemed to be moving forward of their own accord.
“Grant where are you going? Hun, there’s nothing that can be done for her” my mother said sharply.
I ignored her. My heart was racing in my chest. The woman was so pale, her skin translucent. I could see a long cut on her throat, where the blood must have poured from.
“You never even stood a chance” I muttered, clenching my fists “Son of a b***h” I shouted, “only a coward would attack a woman in this way.”
“Grant son, please, just move away. I’ll have patrol take care of her. We’ll bury her with dignity. Give her the send-off that she deserves. But it happened on neutral territory son and you know as well as I do that means we can’t investigate it. It would be a different story if it happened on our territory, but she was just shy of making it” my father said quietly as my mother let out a small sob.
I knelt beside her. I don’t know what was coming over me. But my chest tightened, and I felt pain. This woman was so delicate, so kind-looking. She didn’t deserve what happened to her. I looked her over, wishing she’d made it to our pack safely. I leaned over, intending to gently close her eyes when they fluttered slightly, and I heard a rattling sound come from her chest as she struggled for air.
“She’s not dead” I yelled, and my father came running “But she’s almost there. We have to get her to a hospital” I roared, the woman’s eyelids fluttering weakly now.
She was desperately holding on for dear life.
Without hesitation, I scooped her up into my arms and turned. Warmth spread through me as I began to bolt towards the direction of the hospital, my mother and father sprinting behind me. Tingles ran down my spine, my arms tightened around her and my heart began to race in my chest.
I had felt this once before. My mouth went dry with fear. Hades went berserk as a word went through my head and I bellowed the word out, grief and rage pouring out as I burst into the hospital, doctors and nurses scrambling to put her on a stretcher, wheeling her into emergency.
“Mate” I bellowed, “Save her” I roared as my mother and father came in, looking astonished. I had found my second chance mate, but would she live or had I just lost another one? I wanted to follow her into emergency but I was refused entry. I plonked myself on a chair and glowered at the nurses, refusing to move.
I wouldn’t move from this chair until I had news of my mate, I vowed, as my mother and father sat beside me, a nurse tactfully handing my father and me some scrubs to put on in the meantime. The moon goddess had seen fit to give me another chance and come hell or high water, I was going to sit here until I could lay my eyes back on her. Surely the moon goddess would not be so cruel as to take away another mate of mine?