Third Person POV
Irene was lost in thought, lying in the parlor, doom-scrolling through her phone. She frowned when she came across a recent article that featured her father and Judy out on what seemed like a date. Irene wasn''t stupid, she knew that there was something going on between the two of them. She wasn''t sure how she felt about it; Judy was her age, and her father was... well... her father was old. At least to her, he was old.
Plus, that was her father.
But at the same time, Judy seemed to make him happy. She had never seen Gavin Landry crack a smile before, but Judy somehow brought out his yful and attentive side. Now, he pays attention to his family and constantly grins from ear to ear. It was a strange sight for sure, and Irene could get used to it.
It was unsettling to think that people were actually following her father and Judy and taking these pictures. They were pictures that weren''t known, which made things worse. It gave stalker vibes.
On top of that, Irene also worried about Matt. She hadn''t spoken to her father, even after knowing he was homest night with Judy. He was too afraid of what her father would say to her if he did say to her, and he didn''t want to trigger Matt''s
wolf again.
Her little brother hated her, and she had no one but herself to me.
She pressed her knees to her chest and continued to scroll through her phone, desperate to distract herself.
She barely even heard the knock on the front door around the corner from the parlor, or Alex approaching the parlor doors. She didn''t look up until she heard something that wasn''t usually heard in the vi... Something she never thought she would ever hear in the Vi.
A crying baby.
She nced up from her phone and frowned when she spotted Alex, the butler, standing in the archway of the front parlor, a car seat in his grasp.
"Alex..." Irene said, narrowing her eyes. "Did you have a baby and not tell me?"
His frown was deep, and the annoyance on his face would have beenughable if she weren''t so confused.
"Funny," he murmured as he walked towards her. "No, I did not have a baby, Miss Irene. This baby was at our doorstep. Care to exin why it was there?"
"That''s a pink nket, so she is a girl," Irene said, annoyed by Alex calling the baby an "it."
Alex rolled his eyes, not caring one bit about the gender of this baby.
"Not the point," he murmured. "Why is she here?"
Irene folded her arms across her chest.
"How would I know?"
Alex pressed his lips in a thin line and lifted something out of the carrier. It was an envelope. When he turned it over for her to see the front of it, she sucked in a sharp breath.
"It has your name on it," Alex told her, raising her brows.
"Did you read it?" Irene asked, walking towards him and stretching her hand out to grab the letter from him.
"Of course not," he replied.
She opened the letter, her fingers trembling as she pulled out the paper.
Dear Irene,
I know you don''t want to hear from
me. I took your advice and left town. Leaving Ethan was the healthiest choice for me. He was a true monster. He found out about my pregnancy and tried to force me to abort; he threatened both me and my baby. I had no choice but to leave. I have no one to protect me; I have no family, no friends, and I no longer have a pack. I am a rogue wolf, and I worry that Ethan wille searching for me. If he finds me, there''s no doubt in my mind that he will kill me.
I finally gave birth a couple of weeks ago, and I worry for my baby''s safety. I worry that Ethan will find out about her and do what he can to get rid of her. I can''t give her a good life. I''m not fit to be a mother and I can''t protect her.
But youe from a good family, and you are kind... I knew it the moment we spoke in that coffee
shop. You can protect her bette
than lever could. So, I ask that you give my little girl a good life, and maybe one day I''ll be able to be in her life again.
Her name is Emalyn.
Ste.
Irene stared at the letter, dumbfounded, her hands trembling as she continued to
read the letter over and over again.