1010 Chapter 195- Epilogue 6 (VOLUME 5)
Alyssa’s Dilemma
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Shawn
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I had mostly been ignoring the problem that we all had at the moment. OK, well I guess that it wasn’t all of us. It was limited to just me, Dietrich and Alyssa. I knew that Trinity and Reece sympathized with us. And I knew that Alexandria, Levi and Luka all sympathized with their sister, but they didn’t have the same feelings about it that we did.
Well, actually, maybe they did. They were all part of a magically conceived quadruplet set. Yes, Dietrich and I each had conceived and carried two of them, half each of two sets of twins. But just because the girls were identical twins and the boys were identical twins, that didn’t make Alyssa and Levi less than twins. Nor did it make Alexandria and Luka less than twins. This wasn’t a normal situation, so it was hard to judge what was going on.
While sitting at home, about two weeks after learning about Warrick, I was trying to figure out how to help my little girl. Yeah, oh, Alyssa was eighteen now. They all four were. And before we knew it, Luther and Fauna were going to be eighteen as well. While Luka, Levi, Alyssa and Alexandria will be nineteen in February, Luther would be eighteen in June. He was going to be in college with his older siblings next year. This was all happening way too fast. I can’t believe how much time has passed already. Even our youngest was about to turn ten right before Christmas of this year. It had all come to pass too quickly.
Those weren’t our issue at the moment though. The problem that we had right now was Alyssa, and what we were going to do about her mate bond with Warrick. We needed to know if she wanted to try to dissolve the link that she had with him, or if she wanted to wait to see if he would be able to change his behaviors.
We had sent Warrick away, like Reece and Trinity had wanted to. He was now living in Wales. He was learning with the werewolves that lived there. He was supposed to become a better man that maybe we could approve of for her. Not that I even thought that I could forgive him for lying to my daughter. And let’s not even think about the fact that he touched her and kissed her. Just thinking about that made me want to murder him.
.....
As I worked hard to blow the anger out of me, I heard the door to my office opening. I had called Alyssa here, needing to talk to her with Dietrich. We needed to figure it all out. And I wanted to do this in a way that wasn’t going to upset our daughter. I wanted to let her know that, no matter what she decided to do, we would support her. We might not be happy with her decision in the beginning, but neither of us were going to get angry over the choice that she made. This was her life, and as her fathers, Dietrich and I needed to understand that she was old enough to make her own life choices.
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“Y..you wanted to see me?” Alyssa stuck her head into the room. She was looking at me and Dietrich apprehensively. I think she thought that we were angry at her like we had been at Warrick. I hated that she was worried about that.
“Come on in, sweetheart.” I beckoned to her. “We want to talk to you.” I made sure that my tone was soft and soothing. I didn’t want her to be more wary than she was.
“OK.” She still looked scared, even with my calm tone. Dammit, we must have really upset her before.
“It’s OK, Schatzi, we just want to talk to you. Please do not be nervous.” Dietrich spoke calmly as well. I think that seeing that we were both being calm and inviting was helping her. She relaxed a little and walked into the room. Instead of letting her sit at the desk in front of us though, I got up so that Dietrich and I could sit with her on the couch that was across the room. She was between us, and we each had an arm around her. Mine was around her shoulders and Dietrich’s was around her waist.
“Alyssa, sweetheart, your papa and I just want to talk to you.”
“About what, Dad?” She looked at me warily.
“I am sure that you know what.” I told her.
“About Warrick?” She guessed it easily.
“Yes, Liebste, we need to talk about him.”
“Y..you don’t like him. I know that. And I am sorry, Papa. I am sorry to both of you, Daddy. I..I am so sorry that I mated with him and made you so disappointed in me.”
“Alyssa, sweetheart, we are not disappointed in you. We both know what it feels like to find your mate. You didn’t choose him, fate did. And that means, somewhere, somehow, the universe has a plan for you two. I know that it might not be visible right now, but it’s out there, I am sure of that.” I was trying to make sure that she felt loved and safe right now. I had seen that worry and fear creeping back into her eyes.
“Your Dad is right, Alyssa, we know that this isn’t something that you did to spite anyone or anything, so you don’t need to worry. You are not in trouble, sweetheart.” Dietrich was soothing her as well, kissing her gently on top of her head.
“S..s..so why did you want to talk to me about Warrick?” She looked curious now, and a little worried.
“Well, Alyssa, we need to figure out what is going to happen now. I know that you didn’t mark him, and he isn’t capable of marking you, so there is not much truly binding you together at the moment. You have a soul connection, one that gets stronger the more time that you spend together, but that is all.” I explained this to her. “And, as you know, Warrick isn’t here right now.”
“You sent him away.” She glared at me.
“Actually, Reece was the one that wanted to send him away.” I wanted to push the blame off of myself. It was wrong of me, but I didn’t want her to hate me right now. It was a cowardly move though, and I regretted it instantly. “Hahh, I sent him away as well.” I admitted. I didn’t even need to look at the disappointed look on her face. “I am sorry, sweetheart, but you need time to heal, and he needs to make up for his wrongdoings. At least he isn’t in prison.” I pointed this out to her. “He was one of the lucky ones.”
“Yes, I know that he was lucky to not be arrested for real, but you still sent him away.”
“But, Schatzi, did you even want to see Warrick right now?” Dietrich asked her as he gave her a calm expression. “You expressed that you never wanted to see him again.”
“W..well, it doesn’t matter now, does it? You sent him away.” She was crying softly as she spoke.
“Alyssa, sweetheart, he isn’t gone forever. We only sent him away for at most a year. He is also learning from other shifters right now. He is learning to be a man that you can trust.”
“I..I don’t know.” She looked uncertain now. I could tell that she was still wary about him.
“If you want, Alyssa, we can break the bond that you feel for him. And when he comes back, you can decide then if you want to try another mating with him. That will lessen your pain for the time being, and then you will see if he is still your mate later. Would you want to try that?”
“B..b..but what if I can’t feel the bond again? What if he is the only mate that I can ever have and breaking the bond for the time being would take him away from me forever.”
“That won’t happen, Alyssa.” I assured her with a hug that pulled her against my side. “The soul will always recognize the other half that is meant to complete it. When I met your Papa, I had never even considered dating a man before. I had gone on dates with women before him. Not that I had been with anyone before him, but I had never considered him a possibility. Not until my nose and my soul told him that he was the one that was meant for me. So, I know how you must have felt when you met Warrick. We both do. And I know that, no matter what you decide to do, if and when Warrick comes back, if he truly is your mate, you will feel that again. I know that you and him will make that connection once more.”
“Are you sure?” She still looked worried, but a little less so than before.
“Yes, sweetheart, I am sure.” I squeezed her against my side again, hugging her for comfort.
“A..a..alright.” She nodded. “I..I will break the connection for right now. I..I just don’t want to feel this pain anymore. I..I want to be happy, Dad. I don’t want to be sad for a whole year.”
“If that is what you want, sweetheart. We will take care of this tomorrow, OK?” She nodded at me as she agreed.
“Thank you.”
I was glad that she agreed. I didn’t want to see her in pain like this anymore. I hated seeing the tears that were always at the ready in her eyes. And like I said, if Warrick was really her mate, they would just bond again. It was that simple. And that was why we made an appointment to get the process started. I would have my sweet and happy Alyssa back again.