“Oh.” She didn’t say any more, just carried on applying the cream she held in her hand.
“I don’t want to hurt Cage; he’s lovely and has been nothing but nice to me, but Jackson has given Cage something that was never his to give in the first place. Only I can give my heart to Cage.”
“And you do not want to give Cage your heart?”
Katalina looked at Karen and replied in a sad voice, “I just want to go home and say goodbye to my parents. Why does no one understand that?”
“I understand, Kat. You have every right to feel that way.”
“Really? I just expected you to be just like the rest.”
“Ah, Kat, do not take Jackson’s views as the whole pack’s views. Yes, we’d like to have our bloodlines continue. I personally would love to have you back, but we cannot always have what we want. In a perfect world, I would have never lost my daughter and you would have been brought up by your mother.”
Daughter?
Katalina looked at Karen, really looked. “Your eyes…”
“Yes, your mother was my daughter. These eyes have been passed down from generation to generation, only in the females. Your hair though, you get that from your grandfather’s side. Unfortunately, he isn’t here to see.”
“I don’t understand. Why didn’t you say who you were?”
“Because, Kat, unlike Jackson, I do not presume that blood makes us family. Family is much more than blood. I’m guessing you already have a grandmother. I have no right to claim that status when I only knew you for the first six months of your life and what a wonderful six months they were. I’d love nothing more than to have the chance to get to know you, if you’d like?”
“I…yes, sure, sorry. I just feel a little overwhelmed. The past few days have just been so…overwhelming.”
Karen pulled the covers back over Katalina’s legs and turned to pick something up. “I can only imagine how you feel. I’ll give you some space. Here, I’d like you to have this. It’s a photo album of Jackson, your mother and you. I know Jackson has gone about things in completely the wrong way, but he used to be a reasonable man, a happy man. When his world ended, he traveled on the wrong path. It’s been nearly eighteen years now and no one has been able to steer him right, but I think, I think soon things are going to change.”
Karen walked to the door. Sitting in the bed, Katalina’s emotions were in turmoil inside of her as she gripped the worn album in her hands.
“What makes you think I can change him?”
Karen smiled fondly. “Because, Kat, you have a fire in your eyes, a fire your mother possessed too and she…she was the only person who steered Jackson in the right direction.”
“What was her name, my mother?” Katalina asked, staring at the album.
“Winter.”
Looking up, Katalina wasn’t sure she’d heard her right, “Winter?”
Karen smiled sadly, “yes. Jackson, didn’t just leave you on any doorstep. He wanted you to carry her name.”
Karen left the room, leaving Katalina alone with her thoughts.
Running her fingers over the worn album, the leather faded and wrinkled. She couldn’t bring herself to open it. She wasn’t ready to see the life she could have had. She wasn’t ready to see the mother who never had the chance to raise her.
Feeling suddenly overcome with fatigue she lay back down, wishing the churning knot in her stomach would go away. Karen said she didn’t expect anything from her, but that wasn’t true. She not only wanted her to carry on the pure bloodline, she wanted her to save Jackson. Katalina didn’t want to know him. She hated him for all he’d done and she didn’t think anyone could make him see he was wrong.
Only a few days ago, I was happy… Oh, Mom, Dad, I miss you…
Chapter 6
The morning sun peeked behind the drawn curtains, flooding the room in a muted orange.
“Knock, knock,” Toby said as he opened the door.
“Hey, Toby.”
“Brought you some breakfast if you’re feeling up to eating?”
“Yes, please, I’m starving. Do you think I could get this drip out my hand? Kinda hate needles.”
“Karen’s coming over at lunch. You’ll have to ask her then. She instructed me to change the bag though.”
“You?”
“Oh, okay, she asked Cage, but Jackson had a fit because she didn’t ask him. He stomped off somewhere, and then Cage…he asked me to do it. I saw Karen change it last week; can’t be that hard.” He grinned at her.
“Hmm, I don’t feel worried one little bit.” She started to stuff the food he’d given her into her mouth. “So Cage hates me then?”