Chapter 85: REUNION

Iris's POV

There was no way I was going back to the pack, to get my mom. The last thing I wanted to hear was that some kind of guards were coming to fight us again. I wasn't going to stay back at the pack.

Not when I've been crying that the one thing I wanted was a normal life the whole time.

Nothing was going to make me settle for less.

I had a smile on my face. I didn't know if I was practicing for when Derek drove down with my mom in his car. Of course, he was the only one that offered to go back there.

Garrett had his hands on my shoulder, in an assuring way. “You don't have to bother about anything,” he said, and I turned to look at him, with my fake smile still on my lips.

“I'm not worried about anything,” I muttered. A clear lie.

“Your fake smile says everything. And your knees have buckled about three times here.”

The creature hummed, agreeing with him. The creature wasn't partial like Ragner. I knew that Ragner preferred Derek more. Goddess, I felt like some kind of dragon queen.

“And what's making me scared?” I asked, turning to fully face Garrett.

“The fact that you're scared your mom might not like you that much. It's written all over you. You have already been discouraged because of the way she spoke to you the last time.”

I hated the fact that he got everything perfectly. But he was right.

“I'm not what she expected.

“You did everything to save her. What she expected you to be doesn't matter at this point. You did it for her. For you.”

I could feel tears pricking the back of my eyes, and my smile immediately died.

“Come here,” Garrett said, pulling me towards him by the waist and I couldn't even complain as he kissed my eyes, before kissing my lips.

My hands curled around his shirt, and a small moan escaped my lips. His touch burned into my waist, and I couldn't deny the fact that I liked every bit of it.

That was exactly what I lived for. The thrill that came with touching both him and Derek.

And Owen as well. But now that I was avoiding him like a plague, I hadn't touched him in a long time.

I pulled away from the kiss, breathing hard. As soon as I pulled away, I heard the car come through the driveway.

Derek finally stopped in front of us, and he narrowed his eyes at us.

“I know what the two of you have been doing. We're in public though,” he said, like he was warning and joking at the same time.

I didn't even know what I was supposed to think of it, but I liked the quiet banter between both him and Garrett.

It felt almost surreal.

Derek walked past the front of the car, stopping right in front of the other door, and pulling it open like the gentleman that he was.

I didn't even realize that I was holding my breath until my mom got out of the car. I wasn't sure if I was seeing it perfectly, but she had a smirk on her lips.

Then she walked over to me, wrapping her arms around me immediately. I could feel my heartbeat accelerate in my chest.

Garrett's hands were at my back immediately, and I could tell that even he was trying not to judge. He didn't like my mom that much. That wasn't news.

“I missed you,” my mom muffled into my shoulders, and I felt my eyes tear up.

This was what I had always wanted. To feel my mother's love. To know what it felt like when kids had to watch their mom get back from a trip.

And I had just witnessed that.

Now that she wasn't acting the way she was back at the pack, every bit of it was worth it.

A part of me was grinning by the time I pulled back.

“I missed you too,” I whispered, and she nodded like she expected me to say that.

The judging look that she was giving me the last time was no longer there. But that didn't give me the satisfaction I was looking for.

What was she going to say when she found out that the creature was still within me? Or that he was still moving at the sight of her?

“Where are we going now?” She asked, looking among the three of us.

I shook my head at Derek and Garrett. There was no way they was going to tell her where we were going.

“Well, it's a surprise,” I said, having a small smile on my lips.

Once again, I just wanted to be normal. I didn't know how I was even able to forget everything that she had done so far, but I was doing it. And maybe. Just maybe I was enjoying it.

I took her hand, leading her to the back seat while Garrett drove, and Derek was in the passengers side.

The drive was silent, and my mom allowed me rest my head against her shoulder while she ran her hands through my hair.

Considering just how much pain she had gone through in that chamber for years, her palms were preserved somehow. They were still soft, but I could feel the slight callouses from holding the chains.

I looked down at her other hand, and the marks of the chains staying there for so long were still there. She was a werewolf. I was sure that she was going to be healed in no time.

Or so I hoped.

Derek turned back to look at me, with a worried look written all over him. I didn't exactly know what he was worried about.

“Are you okay back there?” He asked the both of us, but I didn't need him to tell me that the question was directed towards me.

“Yes,” I whispered. “We're okay.”

The car finally came to a stop right in front of my dad's house, and I took a deep breath.

My mom didn't even know what to expect. Especially since this wasn't the house that I grew up in.

My mom's jaw was practically on the floor at the sight of the house.

“Is this where you live?” She asked, and I didn't even know if I was supposed to grin or not.

Instead, I gestured for her to walk in with me.

“Why not come inside and have a look?” I asked, and she bit her lower lip before she nodded.

I guided her through the steps outside, before opening the door.

Even my dad didn't know that she was coming. But for some reason, he had an apple pie on the table, freshly out of the oven.

He turned towards the direction of the door, freezing immediately. I looked over at my mom, and she was also frozen in time.

“Michelle?” my dad asked in a whisper.