Page 11 of Taming Darkness

“He’s a nobody!” Lysander snaps at her, and if it weren’t for the receptionist's guilt and quick thinking, Lysander would have dragged her back with him.

“She’s right. You’d be putting the baby at risk by taking her from her mate. Mates can’t remain apart.” the girl blurts.

Lysander stops, and the girl continues. “She’s Dark-Fae. She needs her mate to retain magic,” the receptionist pleads on her behalf.

“We’ll find another way.” Lysander tells her, but the girl shakes her head.

“Is it worth the risk, my King? You take her from her mate. You could harm your son,” the girl warns him. Lysander stops for a second considering her words. He finally lets her go but paces back and forth.

“I can’t let her bring him back with us. What will people say?” Lysander snaps. The girl shrugs.

“Well, you know where she is now. You can come back after the baby is born.”

“But that won’t stop her from running again. I’ve spent months hunting her down!”

“I won’t run. On one condition,” Karla says, looking up at him. Lysander looks down at her.

“Let me keep him until he turns 16. Then I’ll hand him over,” Lysander scoffs.

“You expect me to give up my son?”

“Not forever, just until he’s old enough. Let him have a childhood away from the media. Let him be a kid. You yourself told me you hated growing up in your father’s image, yet you want that for your son?” Karla questions. Eventually, she manages to convince him to let her keep her son, and he agrees not to tell Porter. After that, he left, and the girl immediately rushed to her aid. Karla didn’t even have it in her to be angry at the girl. She knew how much everyone feared Lysander Lycaerian.

However, as Darius watches the next memories play out, I can only feel nothing but sadness for Karla. She ran off to be with her mate, who was a bad alcoholic. She went from controlling parents to a rapist husband to an abusive mate. Watching her life play out I realize she only ever knew pain and nothing more.

Karla had just got home from the scan, where she ran into Lysander. Walking through the door of their shitty apartment, she spots Porter sitting on the couch, beer in hand.

“You’re home early!” she says, excited to see him. Porter takes a sip of his beer, glaring at the TV.

“I got fired,” he grumbles. Karla nods her head, Porter can never hold a job for long, but she really thought he was getting himself together. Karla says nothing, deciding to go have a bath. She just wanted the day to end. She didn’t want to argue with her mate either. However, when she sets her bag on the coffee table, she notices the half-drunk case of beer beside the armchair and the keno tickets. She chews her lip nervously, glancing at the kitchen. She hadn’t eaten in two days, because he gambled and drank all the money away.

“Did you get a final paycheck?” she asks. He huffs, turning his head to glare at her. Karla rubs her belly, she was starving yet each day he drank whatever money he had away. Leaving her to go from charity to charity begging for anything to tide them over. Yet it has become so constant that they're now turning her away. Saying she is taking advantage of their kindness. So for two days she has not eaten and it was starting to take a toll on her. Especially since she developed gestational diabetes. She couldn't even afford her insulin and Porter promised he'd bring it home with him today along with some groceries.

“Did you buy any food?” she asks. He says nothing and instead sips his beer. She chews her lip glancing at the kitchen. "Did you get my insulin?" she asks hopefully.

“Did you not hear? I said I got fired!” he snaps at her. She points at the case of beer and the tickets.

“But you could buy beer? I haven’t eaten in two days. I need to eat, Porter.” she tells him. Seeing his wallet she picks it up and opens it, finding it empty.

“You wasted all our money again?” she murmurs, tears welling in her eyes as she drops the wallet on the coffee table.

“You mean my money! You don’t do anything to earn it!” he yells at her, and she flinches. But he is lying. Karla worked up until yesterday when she passed out and fell over at work. She even still does ironing down at the laundromat, but she had to have her scan done today, and Porter promised he would cover food when he got paid if she could just hold out for another day.

“What do you pay for?” he snarls at her.

“I paid for my scan, Porter. You know I can't miss them. You promised you would buy food,” she tells him. Picking up her bag. She rummages around in it. She’s sure she has a few silver coins at the bottom to buy some bread.

“Well, maybe if you weren’t fucking eating all the time, we’d have food!” he screams at her. She looks at him, shocked at his words. He’s never mentioned her weight before.

“I’m pregnant.” she states, becoming angry.

“That’s no excuse to eat like a fucking pig!” Porter yells, tossing his can aside and getting to his feet.

He snatches her handbag and turns it up, emptying it on the coffee table. The coins spill out, and she goes to grab them. Happy that she was right, maybe she could go to the bakery, and they’ll give her the older loafs a little cheaper. Until she could get more work at the laundromat. She had thought as she bent down to pick up the $3 in silver. However, when she goes to grab it, Porter grips her hand. He picks up the coins and pockets them.

“Porter! Give them back. I will see Tilly at the bakery. I should be able to buy two loaves of yesterday's bread before they destroy them,” she says, reaching into his pants pocket. Porter backhands her, sending her sprawling on the floor.

“You want money; then fucking earn it like the rest of us!” he spits at her while she rubs her face in shock. He had hit her. Never had he hit her before. Sure, he yelled, and broke things occasionally, but she was his mate, and never once did she ever think he would put his hands on her. Porter then took his seat and grabbed another beer, while Karla picked herself up off the floor.

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