Page 55 of Fated Despite the Moon

The woman frowned and crossed her scrawny arms. "You're the one who took my Franny's place. Took her Caleb."

A chill raced over Makayla. "I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"My Franny was supposed to be with Caleb. He was hers. And now you're here, and you stole him away."

A pit grew in Makayla’s stomach. "I... I don't know anything about that. No one told me—"

"Caleb belongs with Franny. My Franny!" The woman lunged down at Makayla, and Makayla curled in on herself and gripped her belly, instinctively protecting her baby.

"Alice!" Mary raced over and grabbed the older woman around the shoulders, tugging her away from Makayla.

"He's Franny's! He's Franny's! When she gets home, he'll go back to her. You'll see!"

"Alice," Mary said in a subdued tone. "Alice, come on, honey."

Hannah appeared out of nowhere. "Mom!"

"Franny. Where's Franny?"

Hannah grabbed her mother and took her from Mary. "I'm sorry, Mary. I thought today was going to be a good day. I thought being up here would help."

Mary hugged both of them. "It's okay, honey. It's okay. She needs us. You did the right thing bringing her."

Mary kissed Hannah on the forehead and rubbed her back.

"We should get home," said Hannah, keeping a firm hold on her mother.

Mary nodded. "Come back and run with us tonight. I'll have Dakota sit with her."

Hannah nodded, and she ushered her mother through the trees to the cars.

Mary watched them disappear then turned to Makayla. "You good?"

Adrenaline coursed through Makayla, making her heart race and her body shake. "I'm okay."

Mary nodded.

She could see Caleb in his mother's stoic stature and quiet strength. "Alice has been through a lot. Hannah too. Their good people. It will just take them time to get used to the idea of you with Caleb."

Makayla nodded not knowing what to say. She couldn’t imagine losing her child, and her baby hadn’t even been born yet. The anguish in the woman’s eyes had almost been too much for Makayla to witness, let alone bear.

"Everything going well with the baby?"

"Baby's just fine."

"And what about you? You doing okay? Settling in?"

The immediate change of conversation helped to brush off the remainder of Makayla’s shakes. "I am. I've started to really enjoy being in the cabin to be honest. The time away from everything has started to remind me what I love and what truly makes me happy. Caleb has helped me do that too."

Mary folded her arms over her chest and studied Makayla. "That's good. So, you think you’ll stay?"

Makayla’s cheeks heated. Mary didn’t pull any punches. Makayla both liked that and hated that about her. "I'd like to." She looked out at Caleb still playing in the water.If he’ll have me.

"Good." Jeremiah walked up behind Mary and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Because I was thinking you and Caleb need to get mated before the baby is born. It'll help solidify the family bond better."

Makayla looked between Jeremiah and Mary and then courage bolstered inside her. "Is that what you want? Really? Do you really want Caleb to mate me?"

"We want what Caleb wants," said Mary.

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