A Handful of Daffodils (Forgotten Series, #7)

Chapter Forty-Eight

I was pacing inside the house. When Menza had left I came back in and it wasn't long before that feeling of shame rose up inside me as the anger lowered to a simmer. I hated it. Menza deserved it. She did. She took my Maeve away from me and now she wasn't the same. That was all Menza's fault. It was all her fault. She deserved the punishment. She deserved what she got and I was justified in believing that.

A knock on the door jolted me out of my thoughts and I narrowed my eyes. It was getting to be close to the time when Menza should be done with the laundry. I didn't really want to see her. I didn't want her in the house but I had nothing else to shove at her to keep her out of the house. I hated that the guilt seemed to be worse now that I had looked at her. She didn't look normal. Something was wrong. I shook my head to shake the thoughts away. It was probably the guilt she carried that made her look like that. That made more sense.

The knocking sounded again, a bit more impatient that time and I narrowed my eyes. The knocking was a bit more heavy than anything I knew Menza would do but not as authoritative as Stenton's knock would have been. I moved over and opened the door. Mike was standing on the other side, a laundry basket resting on his hip filled with folded clothes.

"Hey." He gave me a tight smile before he held out the basket. "Some clean and folded clothes for you." I stared at him, my eyes slowly narrowing.

"Menza was doing my laundry." I bit off each word and he tilted his head, his posture spoke of something I didn't exactly like. It was almost like the lines of his form held something similar to a challenge. He had a chip on his shoulder but I didn't exactly know from what.

"I know. She did and I'm delivering it." He tilted his head as he lifted the basket higher. "Are you going to take it?" There was an edge to his voice and I reached out and took it. The smell of clean laundry wafted up from the basket and I turned and set it just inside the door before stepping out onto the porch.

"Why were you in the laundry mat?" I couldn't help but be suspicious as I crossed my arms over my chest, staring at the other male.

He gave an almost flippant shrug. "I'm allowed to be where ever I want. It's a free pack and I don't need an escort." There was definitely an edge to his voice that I did not appreciate. He had a problem with me but I didn't know what for.

"Why are you bringing me the clothes instead of Menza?" I wanted an answer to that and I wanted it immediately. There was no reason for him to be going into the laundry mat and taking over Menza's duties. I told her to do the laundry and that meant delivering it back here as well.

"Oh. Simon was redoing her bandages. Apparently when she was man handled by the Alpha and the Delta dragging her over here, they popped several of the stitches and tore open quite a few of the still healing wounds." He said it flippantly but his gaze was intent on me and my jaw twitched under the scrutiny. "It looks fucking horrible to tell you the truth, like fuck me." He looked away, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. "So... I can clearly tell you aren't happy with her around and if you want to her to be out of the way, we would take her in." Mike was saying it but I didn't quite understand what he was referring to.

"Who?" I narrowed my eyes at him, shifting my weight on my feet as I stared at him.

"Menza." He looked at me, giving me that tight smile. "If you don't want to see her or deal with her, Dana and I will take her. The kids can be a handful and another set of hands around the house would help." He crossed his own arms over his chest and levelled me with a look. My wolf and I immediately recoiled from the idea. As much as we didn't like her, hated her really, she was ours.

"Fuck no." My scowl deepened and I sneered at him. "She stays." She would stay within reach and that would be the end of it. I didn't want any other males thinking they had any say over her.