Rosalina's Hope by D.D. Dass (best non fiction books to read txt) đ
- Author: D.D. Dass
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Damn it.
Without a pause, I followed her out, catching up easily. She looked over at me and jumped, gasping as I held my hands up in surrender. Hadnât she caught the car doors?
âWhere do you think youâre going?â
I grinned with false optimism. âTo meet the in laws, where else?â At that, her face paled in a horrified mask. But the porch lit up and I smiled widely as Rosa stomped towards the already opening doors.
âWhere have you been, young lady? And who is that?!â Her mothersâ irritated shout made my temples throb, but I pushed my hand out as I closed the space, pasting a polite smile on my lips. The older radiated disapproval, but I hardly noticed. She took my hand in a hard grip âone she didnât seem capable ofâthen quickly released me with a skewed smile.
âSebastian, Mrs. Payne,â How fitting for a woman who, in all aspects of my life, was a pain. Just to rub it in a bit, I added, âItâs nice to finally be introduced. Rosa has told me so much.â
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Rosaâs flushed face, eyes narrowing and jaw working.
Donât laugh, donât laugh, God Seb, donât you fucking laugh! I continued to chant, my mouth twitching despite my efforts.
âIndeed?â Ouch, Mother In Law already hates me. Just my luck. I coughed, stifling a chuckle. Suddenly, another male, presence sharp and authoritative stepped out, a wide smile on his lips.
Finally, someone who might actually like me out of the trio weâd formed.
âSon, I donât believe weâve met. You a friend of my little girl?â I despised the term friend. Mine, mine, mine. Tell them, I willed Rosa with my eyes, tell them youâre mine.
However, I kept my mouth shut, aware that it wouldnât be appropriate to inform the young girlâs parents that she belonged to me. Not to mention Rosaâs inevitable abhorrence to being termed as an objectâŠthough to me, it was an expression of worship.
âDad, um, this is Bastien.â So I was Bastien again.
With a nod, I took his hand in a firm grip.
âPleasure. Please, come in.â He opened the door wider, towing his narrow-eyed wife in with him. Rosa walked through first, her steps practically stomps ahead of mine.
When her father gestured for me to sit, I did so, but grudgingly. I wasnât comfortable with the look of Rosa alone.
âSo where did you take my girl tonight, Bastien?â
âWe were studying, sir,â I lied smoothly. Rosa gaped and inwardly I winced, hoping the expression would go unnoticed.
âStudying what?â Dieu, this entire family was unbelievablyâŠinquisitive, or meddlesome. Well, this is their daughter; they ought to have the right.
âFrench, actually. We have French together and wellâŠyou see, Rosa has been really struggling,â I goaded, smiling at her.
âIs that right?â In question, her father glanced at Rosa, who frowned as blue blaze met blue mellow.
âItâs French two. Iâve only had Spanish,â she muttered defensively.
âSir?â I asked, instantly relieved when his attention was on me instead of Rosa who breathed an obvious sigh of relief. She was feeling better and with that, so was I. âWould it be alright if I studied with Rosa a while longer? Her French is that terrible.â Which it was. I glanced at Rosaâwho, for once, looked quite like her motherâeyes narrowed, mouth pursed.
âIâm sure an hour longer would be fine, right honey?â Her mother looked reluctant, but nonetheless nodded.
Slyly, I smiled before gesturing for Rosa to proceed to her bedroom, which she did in stomping footsteps. When she opened her door and closed it in my face, I cursed.
âLet the punishment fit the crime,â I recited. But that went both ways.
***
Marilyn Payneâs POV:
Marilyn Payne watched her daughter ascend the stairs, the young Alpha trailing her âthe same Alpha that had been kicked from Ladenâs pack in France for the murder of a young Omega. Always a watchful mother, Mari wanted him out of her home before she called on Luis and demanded he be rerouted.
She had lost her daughter once before and was not about to again, especially when she was just getting her back. Her mate and husband, Marcus, had another mindset.
âSweetheart, I love it when youâre angry, just not with me,â he murmured, please-donât-be-mad written on his face. She only glared.
âWhy would you allow him into our home? Around our daughter?â she whisper-shouted, aware that the wolf above could hear. Marcus sighed.
âYou allow Iris to be with Josh,â he pointed stubbornly. Why, she wondered. Why were all Alphaâs so damned tenacious?
She clenched her jaw. Iris and Josh were an entire different matter. Josh was an Omega, whom hadnât mated Iris and who would not be forever. Iris wasnât even aware of what her boyfriend wasâŠwhat her parents were.
âDo not bring Joshua into this! He is an Omega, who canât mate a half-breed. Lacriox, being an Alpha, can! I want him nowhere near my daughter. S-She canât handle that,â Mari breathed, the anger ousted my exhaustion. Marcus was already there, supporting her and lifting her bridal-style to carry her to the sofa, where she huddled in his warm lap, head resting on his shoulder.
âYou know itâs too late, Mari. Canât you see it? The way he watches her, protects her. Itâs already begun,â he paused, running his fingers through her hair in that soothing manner. âRosa is stronger than she looks, MarilynâŠShe has to be.â The blood drained from her face. She loved her husband like no other, had from the very beginning, Alpha or not, she wouldâve always been his.
But this was Rosalina, her daughter, her little girlâŠHow could she be so sure of herself?
âH-How can you be okay with him as an heir? How can you be okay with any of this?â Marcus opened his mouth to reply but she continued. âRosa is soâŠfragileâŠever sinceâŠâ
âMari, stop. Rosa will know what she wants soon enough. We will have to wait and see how honorable the Alpha is concerning her decision. And donât go off to Luis and tell him to reroute.â Mari glared as he kept on. âIf Lacriox is Rosalinaâs choice, than my heir he will be. Itâs not easy for me to let this happenâŠbut I will not ruin her chances of happiness. Havenât you seen it? Havenât you noticed how much happier she is since they met? Donât lie.â
She sighed. How could she? He read her thoughts most of the time anyway.
âIâll not make any promises. She is my daughter and I will not see her hurt again.â She shut her eyes against that ache in her chest. âI canât lose another baby, MarcusâŠI canât take that risk.â Despair saturated her heart whenever she saw her other baby girl on the faces of her two equalsâŠHer lost baby.
âNor can I, Mari. But this is Rosalinaâs choiceâŠâ his voice was a deep, broken whisper.
For the first time, in a long time, the two were finally in accord.
Secrets (Rosa):
Fuming, I slammed my bedroom door in Sebastienâs face, emotions a fierce storm within. It wasnât even seconds later that the door opened âI wanted to fight himâI wanted to kiss him.
God, I didnât know, I just wanted to do something.
Love does this too a girl, I thought with an unladylike snort, sullenly plunking onto my bed (having already kicked off my shoes âwhich regrettably were too far to retrieve and throw without Sebastien preventing me first). I hated that I was aware of his eyes on my body; that my heart sped with anticipation.
âYou, Rosalina Payne, are a mystifying creature,â his voice was soft âcold. Inwardly, I flinched, squeezing my eyes shut âI confused myself as well, but I wasnât about to say that.
âWhy?â I whispered.
He laughed without humor.
âYouâreâŠunlike the others. Frustrating and fascinating and intriguingâŠThere arenât enough adjectives to even begin to describe youâŠYou want the truth, yet you never give it. How do you expect that to possibly work? You want me to open myself up without the same from you? Hypocrite,â he muttered, shoving his tattooed hand through his hair.
I bit into my bottom lip, absorbing his words and realizingâdespising the fact that it was all true. It was wrong, I wasâŠbut it wasâŠterrifying, bearing myself that way. I feared, with every molecule of my being, that if I dared speak of HimâŠHeâd come back.
ButâŠthe haunted glint in Sebastienâs eyes when I brought up his father told me it was just as hard for himâŠ
Oh GodâŠSwallowing passed the lump in my throat, I stood and shuffled over to him. Lacing our fingers, I sighed, finding so much strength in his firm hold as I towed him over to my bed, pushing lightly at his chest until with a complaint hum, he sat.
Satisfied, I went over to the door, locking it and switching the lights off. I couldnât do thisâŠnot with the sight of the disgust on his face when I âOh GodâŠNo.
Needing the comfort, I cuddled up beside him, inhaling the fresh scent of peppermints.
âW-When I was fifteenâŠI was everything Iâd hope to be,â I began quietly. âNetty used to tease me about it, being a perfectionist and the likesâŠWith the perfect boyfriend, captain of the cheer team, excellent gradesâŠJust everything.â He remained still, so I forced myself to continue. âI-I remember I used to tease her tooâŠbecause she was quiet. A reserved girl who took comfort in the isolationâŠShe was so smart and lovelyâŠbut a lot of people thought she was weirdâŠGod, she wasnâtâŠNot NettyâŠShe was the best of the triplets."
The time that seemed so long ago was a crystal clear memory in my head. I could see Netty, dressed in all back with her cropped blonde hair. Back then Iâd worn my cheer outfits, the same blue and white with flawless makeup and my hair mussed back at the crown of my head.
Quickly, I shoved the images away and forced myself to continue. âIt was just a stupid betâŠâ I breathed, squeezing my eyes tighter. âTalk to the creepiest stranger around.â
All my fault. Shouldâve been me. The tears began to slide soundlessly down my cheeks, my lips trembling and my lungs working to breathe evenly. It was her last dayâŠOh God. âS-School had just been released and the streets were clearing outâŠOnly a few students lingered and Iris was at s-swimming practiceâŠShe was soâŠgood at swimmingâŠBut she doesnât s-swim anymoreâŠBut somethingâŠin the shadows had caught my eye and I looked over my shoulder andâŠI s-saw Him.â The monsterâmy nightmare.
âHe was just standing thereâby the trees so I couldnât make him out butâŠI pointed. I pointedâŠand said, âHim, go talk to that one,ââŠAt first, she refused toâŠ.but I goaded until she finally walked over to Him. I could see how scared she wasâŠbut I still made her go anywayâŠâ
Sebastien was still beside meâŠI didnât dare glance at him as the rest of the horror story fell passed my lips.
âI watched her cross over to Him and begin talking, pointing at me as I wavedâŠThen, she left. She looked so scared and paleâŠIâd been excited to know how it went, hopeful sheâd made like a friendâŠbut I was wrong. When she reached me again, she couldnât even form coherent sentences. She saidâŠhe would
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