Chapter 117

Natasha:

“Malenkiy volk,” Little wolf, Uncle Yaroslav said, entering my room.

I was laying under the blanket, and though exhausted, I forced myself to sit up as I looked at him.

“Hi, Uncle Yaroslav,” I said, and he raised an eyebrow at me. 

“Do you mind me sitting here?” He asked, and I shook my head. He sat on the edge of the bed beside me, and I looked down at my lap, avoiding his eyes. “And why is my little angelic face looking down at her feet? Why is she avoiding my eyes when she knows that she has done nothing to be punished for.”

It was common for me to avoid Yaroslav’s eyes when I did something wrong. And though his punishments toward me were never harsh, I still didn’t like it when he confronted me with a mistake that I made. 

“I am sorry,” I said, and he shook his head in question, waiting for my response. I curled up under my blanket, hugging my legs as I kept my eyes on his. “For what she did, and for the betrayal that my family took part of.”

“Am I the type to ever blame a child, and you are going to be a child in my eyes until the end of time, for his parents’ mistake? If you knew me any better, Natasha, you would know that I didn’t.” He said, and I smiled. I knew that he wouldn’t be blaming me, but I was more ashamed than anything. The pain that I felt was one that I couldn’t describe, and I knew that if anyone saw it in my eyes, it would be him. The man was the father that I never had, and little did I know, it seemed to me that my mother was never the person that I believed her to be. “Your mother made a mistake, but I know for fact that you didn’t take part in it. I know that you never would have, and I know that had it not been you in the wedding, I would have either lost my son, my daughter-in-law, or my grandchild. And I am not going to start with one of us possibly jumping to take that bullet instead as well.”

He took my hand in his, squeezing it gently before bringing it to his lips. He kissed my knuckle very slowly while keeping his eyes on mine as he did.

“You don’t understand what big thing you did, but I do. And I will forever owe you my world for what you did that night, and no matter what you are going to do from here on out, I am going to stand in the face of the person who dares think to hurt you.” He said, and my chest ached. “But I do hope that you know that things are going to have to take a path that is going to hurt all of us. It would be hurting you more than anyone else, and that is something that I won’t be neglecting either.”

“I want to be the one to talk to you about it beforehand, because I don’t want you to see her after we are done with questioning her. And though your pain is still fresh, and you are in shock, I am going to need you to talk to her.” He said, making me frown as my breath got caught in my throat. “I understand that you might not want to, and I understand that you might not want to think of facing her or anyone for that matter. But what I do not want for or from you is to be running away from this.”

“Uncle Yaroslav…”

“Neither one of us is going to be touching her or any of them tonight.” He said, stopping me. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I shook my head. I wasn’t even ready to go out of my room and face anyone to begin with. I wasn’t going to be able to do so while knowing that I was going to look at the woman, my mother, who not only betrayed me, but the whole family too.

“I know that it is going to be hard. And I understand that you are going to go through more pain than you would ever want to. She is your mother, and you grew up believing something that not only turned out to be a lie, but a deception.” He said, and I closed my eyes as I tried to stop my tears from falling. He got slid up on the bed before sitting by my side to cup my cheeks. I opened them, and my tears fell freely before he wiped them for me, smiling softly as a father would be looking at his daughter.

“But if I believe ONE thing in this world, it is that Liana always loved you. And I know that no matter her betrayal, the one person that she wouldn’t have wanted to harm in all of this; is you.” He said, and my lips quivered as I tried calming myself enough to breathe. His eyes were fixed on mine and I shook my head before he pulled me to his chest for a hug.

“I will not blame you for not wanting to come and say whatever you have as final words to her, but as a man who took your father’s place, and as a man who loves you as he would his daughter, I want you to go and talk to her.” He said, gently massaging my shoulder. “You were there for me, no matter your own pain, when my daughter died. Do you remember that, Natasha? Do you remember the number of nights that you would come to my office, wiping my tears as they fell from my eyes, removing the bottles of whiskey, breaking some of them, and making sure that I stood sober to be there for Maria?”

“Uncle Yaroslav…”

“You made sure that I not only stood strong for my wife, but that I didn’t die inside or forget my own humanity.” He said, stopping me. “And I know that you did it out of goodwill and out of love, but I think that it is time for me to repay the favor. The difference is, I was not lucky enough to say goodbye. Traitor or not, she is your mother and I want you to do so.”

“We will be waiting for you before anything until it clocks eleven in the morning. You can make your final decision until then, and I will be sure that nothing starts before you get the time to make it.” He said, getting up from bed.

“What about Killian?” I asked, shaking my head and he smiled.

“He will understand,” he said, opening the bedroom door. “I will be waiting for you in the morning…”