Infatuated (Unedited)

Chapter 36

On their own volition, my hands came up between us, begging me to test what I was sure was a mirage. Rather than having paled skin, the image of my mother standing before me harbors a glow that is in every sense of the word, alluring. The eyes that I've spent many nights wishing I could see just one more time were staring back at me aligned with tears, also glowing like a strange light. She looks like my mother. The feeling of her presence puts me in the mind of my mother, but my heart won't allow me to believe what my eyes are showing me just yet.

So many day...so many nights I've dreamed of this day; imagined what I'd do when and if I'd ever gotten the chance to see my mother again and now that it's here, I don't know what to do.

The closer my hands moved toward her the more I felt myself accepting it, leaning in hoping to feel the warmth that I've missed so dearly. The sound of my own heart beating like a war drum within my ribs echoed in my own ears. Time was standing still. Or at least it felt like it. An inch away from her face the quick clinging of the chain connected to her neck sounded, forcing me to recoil.

"You shouldn't get too close," Dalton wrapped the thick links around four of his fingers a second time to keep my mother at bay, "Odessa has been feeding her only enough to keep her from starving. She'll attack first and ask questions later."

Seeing her as the woman that gave birth to me; the woman that played both parental roles and ultimately died trying to protect me rather than the animal he was treating her as, I let my hand rise between us again with the intention of touching her and didn't stop until I did. Cool skin that felt unreal met with my fingers. A rippling of a chill rolled down my back as a result. It was nothing like I expected. Not nearly as warm as I remembered, but her eyes closing when I made contact reassured me that I was not now nor would I ever be in harms way where she was concerned.

Grabbing hold of my hand, she pulled me into her faster than I could blink or protest wrapping her arms around me. Just like with my father, I felt like I was home again. Like suddenly there were no worries for me in this world, but in reality there were more than a few. The last time I saw my Dad he was bleed on the floor with a silver chain cutting off his air supply. I haven't seen Adam since my change and Nicolas was nowhere to be found. In situations like this, Roland would have at least come to my aide as would Armand and Claud, so where are they? That's seemingly the story of my life. As soon as something good happens for me, something else has to be wrong. I can't just have my parents and the man I love with no drama. That's too much like right. However, I can enjoy this moment of peace, having my mother back.

A moment, it was indeed.

Seconds after I brought my hands up around her the chain was yanked rather harshly a second time. My mother's head whipped back to the point that the force of it hurt me. Grabbing hold of my own neck, I looked up at Dalton fiercely to which him met my gaze apologetically.

"I'm sorry my lo--" I smacked away the hand that was coming up to stroke my neck causing him to grit his teeth like he was trying to hold himself back. "I told you she's unstable! If she would have hurt you--"

"I find it ironic that you of all people are concerned about someone hurting me." Again I can literally see his gears grinding. He never could stand being talked back to. Doing so would always land me or my mother with a new bruise. At this point, I don't give two shits about what he wants or feels. "My mother is the last person you should be worry about."

Dalton took a single step toward me using his height to no doubt intimidate me while narrowing his eyes. Sadly, it worked. Rather than standing tall like I wanted, I shrunk back a little but managed to keep my eyes focused on his. They were cold. As cold as a winter night and just as dark. There was something there though. Something hidden behind that infamous stare of his that I couldn't quite decipher until he speaks.