The Reincarnated (Book 2A of Wolfcreek Series)

Chapter 23

A/N: I have beaten NaNo, but I didn't finish this book. This book is probably going to be longer than Xavier. xD The updates will come whenever I get the chance. I still have about 30 chapters to edit and post.

(Ya'll don't want to see what it looks like now.)

~Rissa

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Sergio nodded and cleared his throat. A wave of relief washed over him, and I could tell that my words meant something to him, something important. "Good," he said with a sigh of relief in his voice. He cleared his throat again and turned back to the way we were supposed to go, and started to walk again.

I rolled my eyes at the older male's back and scowled before I started to walk again and caught up by his side. "Why were you so scared that I'd say no?" I asked randomly, and he looked at me from the corner of his eye.

"Why would you think that?" he asked and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me.

I shrugged and looked forward, breaking eye contact first. I made sure to keep my face blank while I looked forward, making sure that he didn't know what I was thinking. "Because I can read you," I replied and looked at him from the corner of my eye.

He raised an eyebrow and stayed silent, waiting for me to explain, but I never did.

Sergio tried to keep his emotions in check, but I could tell that he was shocked about my blunt statement. He glanced to the side where I had a feeling that someone was watching us there before he turned his attention back to me, trying to make sure that it didn't look like he was trying to talk to someone when he was.

I rolled my eyes at him, and my scowl deepened, but I didn't say a word while I continued to go to the door that would lead me back to the present and away from my "past" and my future.

Sergio sighed and shook his head. He didn't say a word about what I said and let it be. He knew that I wasn't going to tell him how I could read him and decided to leave it be, at least for now.

However, he was grumpy about it and wanted to push the matter at hand and have me tell him my secrets that I knew he would want to hear and try to keep.

But, instead, we walked the rest of the way to the door in silence, with him nudging me and offering me a smile when I looked at him.

Unfortunately, that didn't stop the sadness in his eyes, and it filled me with sadness, too, because I didn't want him to be sad because I didn't tell him what I meant.

Sergio stopped at the door and opened it, clearing his throat while he grew serious. "I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

I offered him a small smile and nodded in confirmation. "'Course," I said, confirming and hoping to ease his worry about not seeing me tomorrow. "I'll see you and the others tomorrow."

Sergio smiled and gestured to the outside world, where my family and new life were waiting for me. Relief filled his eyes, and I knew that he was happy that I answered his question. "Then go ahead and see your family. I'll catch you later. Ok?"

My smile turned a little bigger, and I nodded again. "Ok," I said before I grinned slyly at him, squishing the sadness I felt while I waved cheekily. "Bye, Seggie," I said in a singsong voice while I twisted around on my heels until I was facing my family.

And with that, I walked away, leaving a piece of my heart with the man and the group that was from my past life, not looking back, not even after he snorted and muttered, "very funny, Cass," before he closed the door and walked the other way to talk things over with people that I had known once upon a lifetime ago, too.

***

I walked to the car and was about to open the door when I heard sniffling coming from inside the car as well as my parents talking in whispers. My hand was on the door handle, but I didn't open it while I focused on my keen hearing to see if I couldn't hear what they had to say.

"I am worried, Hal," my mother said and wiped her eyes, oblivious to the fact that I was standing beside the car. "What if she doesn't come back? What if our baby stayed with them and forgot about us?" Her voice grew softer with each passing word, and it felt like someone stabbed me in the chest at how much she sounded to be in.

There was a long pause, and my father sighed and ran a hand across his face, and shook his head. "I don't know, Lisa," he said slowly. Pain and sadness filled his voice, and I knew that he feared what my mother was fearing.

That I wouldn't come back...

"We have to assume that she will come back to us, Lis. It's not safe for her to be a part of their world yet, not until she is either claimed by them or finds her mate."

My mother let out a breathless chuckle and wiped her eyes. "But she is such an independent female," she said, her voice cracking. "She is very smart, and I know that she'll try and figure out stuff on her own." She paused and sighed while she shook her head. "I am sure that she has figured out that they mean a lot to her, especially some of the older men."

My father stayed silent before he sighed and cleared his throat. "It's not safe for her," he repeated again. "She can't go back with them, not until she has been claimed by her mate or by them. They said that they won't claim her yet, not until she meets him and starts to accept him as an important figure in her life."

My mother chuckled coldly. "They could just be saying that," she said coldly. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I just don't want her to forget about me," she said, her voice barely above a whisper and filled with so much emotion that it broke my heart, "or about us. She's our daughter, too."

There was a long pause while my father tried to come up with something to comfort my mother.

However, he couldn't, for he had the same fears as her...

Finally, he sighed and grabbed her hand. He gently placed a kiss on her hand and squeezed it, praying that he was giving her the comfort that she so desperately needed. "We just have to believe that she comes back," he said softly, repeating what he said a third time. "She will come back."

"And what if she doesn't?"

Again, my father sighed and shook his head. "I don't know, Lisa," he said finally while I slowly backed away from the car to make sure that it didn't look like I was listening in on them when I had been. "I just don't know."