Never Bend

Mom/Dad

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The past shapes the present.
MJ
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The girl whose brain I literally fried, will live. My ability is getting better and her being alive is proof of it. She will make a good soldier and she won't be brainless, which is an improvement. So many people have paid the price for my recovery, but since I am the only one able to tame the wolf inside the host, their fate is inevitable. Had my husband be here things would be different, but he is not. The survivors from our realm must remain hidden whatever the cost. I rub my front line. Each improvement takes me closer to the day, I will be reunited with my family. I look at the footage of my two kids on my way back while the driver takes me back.

I sigh,
"Julie and Luc."

It's been a little over three months since I last saw them in the flesh and 7 since I saw Annie. It was just before her birthday. They've grown, but I couldn't be at peace with myself knowing that by remaining I was to harm them. My episodes have been erratic and impossible to predict as time passes by. I couldn't keep them safe when I was the menace. This was the only choice.

I kept my promise in a way, they are safe, there are no tutors, only Mom and them. It isn't me, but a staff wearing my face with a spell. She stays with them full time and is the mother I can't be for now.

"I am too unstable." 

I had wished for Annie to be with them, but she proved to be a clever girl and noticed the switch between her mom's. What a failure, I failed her. Neuronally and physically I am not the same, I am weaker after each episode and need close attention. My crises are killing me slowly and painfully, but I can't lose hope. Each crises is the reminder that he is alive and fighting. The mate bond is a curse and a gift sharing every joys, but also the hardships. One day, my husband will find his way home and we will find peace again.

In the screen, I see Richard entering the house. He kisses them on their forehead and Isabella2 hugs him welcoming him back. Joy and sorrow builds inside me at the same time, this was the best outcome.

They play the happy family eating and laughing. Walking in by a secret door, I get to my room. Richard doesn't admit it but he is growing fond of my kids. Somehow this is an opportunity for him, he is filling the void left by his family.

The one Tom destroyed, as Richard likes to remind me and complain, but I know this is just his way of pushing aside the guilt of losing his mate. He just can't bear the guilt and pushed the blame on his kid. Since the event, he has been making Tom suffer, as often as he can. Sometimes I wonder if he forgets he is still his child.

I lay back on my chair as I look at the screen.

◁◁ ◁◁   (Flashback) ◁◁ ◁◁

Tomas was 17 just like Annie is now. I came to find him in a ravaged house and a soulless mate. The total opposite of how it was when Riana was there. Richard's mate was taken. He asked me not to erase Tom's memories, I was only to switch a few. It surprised me at first, but I owed him so much. It was his child after all and he knew best or so I thought. Time thought me that I was so very wrong.

Still the other dimension needed to remain a secret and has seen too much and his mother's kidnapping was but a drop of a bigger wave. This was a tragedy that couldn't be avoided since his security team was incomplete due to Tom's unplanned absence. The remaining Security was outnumbered turning the evening into a tragedy.

In the end, I complied, Tom was to believe that a group of investors were against his company and with his father's refusal to join their mafia, they decided to retaliate ending with his mother's and sister's disappearance.