In a fit of rage, Beth stomped to the door and yanked it open, scanning the street outside to see which way Joanna had gone. But there was no sign of her anywhere.
The fire in Beth drained away at once. She wanted to run after Joanna, but what was the point? She wasn't going to listen to anything else Beth had to say. As far as she was concerned, Beth was a terrible mother for taking her away from their pack, and denying her a father. But of course, Beth had never wanted this to happen. Never wanted anything less than the whole world for her little girl.
Beth should have expected this reaction. Her instincts had been to stand firm and not tell anything she didn't need to just yet, but Joanna had been nothing but trouble for weeks now, why would she ever hope to get a break? A moment of understanding?
Her memories had been stolen by goblins! She had lived a lie, just as much as Joanna had!
None of it had been on purpose. None of it. Yet she was being punished by her own daughter as if she was a devil.
Should she go after Joanna and try to talk some sense into her? Or should she just let her go and hope that she would come back on her own?
Beth didn't want to lose her daughter, but she knew that sometimes you had to give people space in order for them to come back to you on their own terms. And maybe this was one of those times.
Beth let out a shaky breath and forced herself to close the door. There was no use in standing there like an idiot. Joanna wasn't coming back, at least not until she was good and ready.
But even if she was prepared to give Joanna space, what if she ended up finding Ken on her own?
There weren't many options ahead of her. She had to talk to Ken one way or another, but she had hoped to ease into the topic of Joanna, not bang on his door going 'surprise, it's me, your ex who dumped you fourteen years ago! Oh and by the way, you have a teenage daughter.' Beth was too old for shit like this anymore.
Ken was going to be so angry when he found out. He would blame her for this, just like he blamed her for running off out of the blue and ruining their perfect life. He would have every right to be pissed. This was all her fault.
If she had just gone to him first thing, pushing her fears about the goblins aside for a few minutes to go find Ken instead, then they could have gotten all of this out of the way first. She could have figured out where she and Ken stood, and she could have introduced him to Joanna.
Then she wouldn't be in this mess.
But fear had gotten the better of her. She tried to say that she went to the new alpha first because she was worried about the fate of the town, the safety of her back, but she was just lying to herself.
She had been too scared to confront Ken. Too worried about what he might say or do. Worried that if she tracked him down first, she might find him with a new wife and children of his own, and herself long forgotten.
And now it was all coming back to bite her in the ass.
Beth wasn't usually the type to mope, but here, in the silent aloneness of her temporary home, it felt good to just cry. To let it all out, all that pain she'd been carrying on her own.
It felt good to be weak, for once, after having to be strong for so long.
Right here, right now, there was no one else relying on her.
She cried until her eyes were swollen and her head hurt, until she couldn't cry anymore. And then, when she was all cried out, she got up intending to take a long, hot shower, and figure out what to do with the mess she'd made of her life.
Only when she stood, there was a knock on the front door. It couldn't be Joanna, not this soon. And she really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone else right now.
Beth considered just ignoring it, but she didn't want to be rude if someone had come to say hi. She could just tell them this wasn't a good time. With a sigh, Beth went to answer the door.
It swung open to the face of the last person she expected to see at her front door. A tall man with dark hair and delicious green eyes, the same eyes that Joanna had been blessed with. He wore a frown like he wasn't sure if he wanted to be here or not.
"Ken?" she gasped.
Chapter 7 - Ken
Beth stood at the door, her eyes red and puffy. Although she tried to hide it with a cool yet uncertain expression, it was clear she'd been crying. She looked like she'd been through hell, and Ken felt a sharp stab of guilt at the sight of her. It was hard not to look upon her pained face, those blue eyes stained with sadness, and think that he wasn't the cause.
Because he had to be, didn't he?
He had treated her so badly when he saw her for the first time in that meeting hall. He had been consumed by anger and resentment, unable to see past his own hurt feelings to recognize what Beth must have been going through.
If even just a fraction of what she'd said was true ... he was a selfish bastard.
"I'm sorry for appearing out of the blue like this," he said after what had to be a minute of him gawking awkwardly at her. "If now isn't a good time, I can come back later. Or not. That's up to you."