Chapter 77 CHANGES

Chapter 77 CHANGES
IRIS' POV

My legs were forced to wobble, and my mom was no longer looking at me with the love that she used earlier. There was something on her face that was almost disappointed.

I took a step towards her, and she took one back.

“I'm still me,” I whispered.

My mother seemed to tip her chin, and she looked more than defiant. She wasn't willing to believe me.

“No,” she answered, and her voice was shaky. “You're not. You broke the gate. You're not the child that I gave birth to.”

“You barely even know me,” I said, and tears were stinging the back of my eyes. “You didn't watch me grow.”

Goddess, I hate how I sounded. I sounded weak.

“Like I said before, you broke the gate,” she said. Her tone was sharper now.

“I saved you. How are you forgetting that?”

“And are you just going to deny the fact that you've unleashed something else?” She asked. This time, I couldn't say anything.

The silence in the pack was deafening. A few pack members were starting to look in our direction. I looked over at Marcus, and he looked like he was about to say something. Then he thought better about it, and shut up.

“There's nothing you can say to convince me,” my mom said calmly.

“Do you want me to finish her too?” The creature asked in my head, and I was even shocked that I could hear him in my head.

“No,” I quickly said, replying him through the mind link. I didn't even know it was capable of doing that. “She's still my mother.”

Every single day, I was learning about something new that I was capable of doing.

It didn't matter at that moment whatever my mom said was the truth. There was no denying that fact. I looked over at her again.

“I didn't have a choice,” I whispered. She clicked her tongue.

“There's always a choice,” my mom said.
In my head, I was already thinking if I even made the right choice by freeing her. Maybe we were better off leaving her there. But my dad… I couldn't deny the fact that he still needed a partner.

I sniffled.

That was when I felt Garrett step forward. “She made that move to save you,” he said.

My mom's gaze flickered towards him. “And what would it cost her?” As she looked at me again, I noticed that her face softened.

She walked over to me, cupping my cheek. “I care about you, Iris. And that's the only reason why I'm bothered. You can't subdue yourself to the pack.”

She wasn't wrong about that. I was already thinking about what was going to become of me either way.

The cost of what I had done was still unfolding. Even the people in the pack knew about that. The looks that they were giving me, told me everything.

I looked over at Marcus, but even he didn't look like he had anything to tell me. I guess I was stuck with the pack.

The creature behind me flickered, and as I looked up at it, it mirrored my exact expression.

The estate was quiet once more, and I watched people walk away like they expected more to happen. One of the maids came to hold on to my mother's hand, and she looked up at me.

“I'm just going to take her to a better room. She needs rest after all those years of malnutrition.

I almost laughed at the statement. It was like she was more comfortable going through the maltreatment and malnutrition.

But I bit my tongue.

I watched as Garrett walked over to the rest of the land, like he was inspecting things. Watching all the damage that had been done. All the damage that I had caused.

Derek walked over to him, with his hand stuffed into his pocket. As the both of them left my side, the creatures had their eyes on me.

I didn't want to think they they were the only ones that I was going to have at the end of the day. It couldn't even be.

“Well, that escalated quickly,” I heard Derek said dryly.

Garrett didn't respond, and I felt him look up at me.

“She's different,” Garrett finally said.

Goddess, I hated the fact that I could hear them that well.

Derek hummed. “That's what happens when you're an anchor for some kind of spiritual thing.”

Garrett shot him a look. “Not helping. And it was even worse that you didn't call me to help.”

“I thought about it. But I knew you'd figure it out yourself. And you did, didn't you?”

That was one thing that I was never going to get tired of. The fact that the both of them were slowly becoming friends.

“She's not losing herself,” Garrett said, and I felt myself relying on what Derek's answer was going to be. That was going determine if I was going to lose my fucking mind or not.

“No,” Derek answered. “She's not.”

That response was everything I needed.

Derek quickly added another statement before I got my head in the clouds.

“But she's not staying the same either.”

That landed heavier than it was supposed to, because it was the damn truth.

There was no way I was staying the same. Not after everything that had happened. I wasn't even feeling the same already. Not with two ancient creatures that were more than willing to kill for me.

That was when I noticed that Marcus was walking towards us. The sight of him was more than enough to make my heart accelerate in my chest.

His presence was a menace. It was nothing less than an announcement that worse things would still happen.

He looked over at me, before keeping his hands behind his back. He looked at the two men, and then back at me.

“I think the both of you are talking about the wrong things right now.”

Derek cocked an eyebrow. “And what are we supposed to be talking about?”

“You should be asking what's coming next.”