MATE AND HIS LOVER 9

#50 Enough

Daisy shuts her eyes tight and shakes her head.

"I," Thomas says with the last breaths he had saved for Daisy, "I heard Ian is going to Raketrope tonight to look for you. He thinks you are there."

"Don't," Daisy says. "Don't worry about it. I'm safe." And then Daisy also realizes the meaning behind the feeling she had been having these past few days — telling about her and Nate to the world. To her world. "I'm not alone. I found my mate. His name is Nate Penston."

"Christopher's son?" Thomas inquires.

"Yes. Him."

Thomas smiles. He at last can leave with at least some peace of mind. A part of him had always regretted for keeping Daisy with him, surrounded by the world of crime he had forged since his youth. But she was the only thing pure and innocent in his life, next to his late mate, Madeline. Thomas loved Daisy like his own child, sometimes even more than Ian.

He thought he could protect her forever. Little did he knew his own son would become the biggest threat for her. The love Ian had for Daisy became a venom that was poisoning her slowly. She was dying.

He was left with no choice but to send her away, into a world she didn't know, hoping everything he had taught her so far would keep her safe.

But now... she's not alone.

Thomas closes his eyes. "I'm happy. Thank you for everything."

Daisy is sobbing. "No. I'm the one who s—" She breaks down.

Thomas smiles. "Don't. You are sending me away as a happy man. I just wish you kids had—"

"Don't worry about us. We'll figure it out. I'm not alone. I can handle Ian now. I'll fix everything," she says, trying to say anything to comfort the dying man who was no less than a father for her.

Thomas nods. "I'd love that. The three of you..." His head gently rests on the backrest. "Playing again... In front of the fireplace. I love you, kid. And... I'm sorry."

His breathing stops.

"No," Daisy says, crying. "No, please! Thomas you can't..." She calls his name again and again. But he never speaks.

The phone crushes in her hand. She hits the steering wheel, shouting at the top of her lungs.

She couldn't be there. She couldn't be there to hold the hand of the man who loved her even more than a father would for one last time.

When she hears footsteps, she looks up.

Ian is here.

Daisy had imagined the moment she would see him again one day. She imagined she would be cowering in fear, thinking how that was going to be the end of her life. But now, all she feels is rage.

She gets out of her car. "He's gone!" She shouts and cries. "You killed him!"

She falls to the ground weeping. Ian sees the crumbled phone she's tightly holing onto. He closes his welling eyes and takes a deep breath, to bury down whatever little humanity that was left in him.

He remembers the last conversation he had with his father.

"Don't," Thomas said. He had caught his son on time before Ian left the house for Raketrope. "Don't hurt her, Ian."

"She's mine," Ian said.

"That's not love, son."

"I don't care what it is! You brought her home! I was fucking fine on my own, but you brought her in. And when I wanted her, you sent her away!"

"Son—"

"I'm not going to change my mind. I know you love her very much. So don't worry, I'll take good care of her."

"I love you, too, son," Thomas said.

Ian swallowed, and stepped out of the house.

Ian opens his eyes. Drops of water falls on his face from the still dark sky. He looks at Daisy. He needs her more than ever now. He takes a step towards her.

Daisy stops crying and becomes alert. She stands up. "Don't, Ian. Please. Leave me alone. You've ruined us all enough." She wipes her eyes to see clearly.

She sees a fuming Ian who's staring at her neck.

The coat's collar displaced when she got up.

"Who?" Ian says.

Daisy's body becomes weak.

"WHO?!" He shouts, startling her. She stumbles back and falls down. "I-Ian."

"Nate?" Ian says. Daisy looks at him, and Ian knows he's right.

"I should have killed him the day I heard his name," Ian says through his teeth. "It's still not too late. I'll make sure to finish him off right in front of your eyes when he comes for you."

Ian goes for Daisy, but in a moment someone comes out of the woods and stands protectively in front of her.

"Frank," Daisy says.

"Get in the car and go," he says, not taking his eyes off Ian.

Daisy is not sure if that's a good idea. She looks around. Frank seems to be the only one here. He can't fight off Ian all by himself, not against the furious state Ian is in now.

Daisy gets up, but before she could reach her car, a fight breaks between Ian and Frank.

And Ian is winning.

Daisy's trembling hand hovers over the handle as she hears Frank getting beaten up by the monster that once was the boy she grew up with.

Daisy thinks about Lily who is waiting at her home for Frank.

When she hears the muffling sound of Frank as he fights to breath while getting strangled, Daisy drops her hand. "Enough!" She shouts at Ian.

Ian drops a barely conscious Frank to the ground. Frank lifts his fingers to somehow gesture Daisy to leave.

Daisy looks at Frank with tears covering her face. Then she looks at Ian and glares. "If you can't have me, no one else can, right? That's what you said that day. So I'll leave. Leave you, Nate, every fucking one I know. Next time you find me, you can fucking have me. But if you lay your hands on any of them before that, I promise you Ian, you won't find me even in hell."

She quickly climbs up into her car and drives away before Ian could reach her.

She drives, drives, and keeps driving. The loss of Thomas was enough. She can't lose Frank, too. She'll vanish. From everyone's life, and hopefully, one day, their minds as well.

The days she spent with them, with him, is enough. It's enough to last her for a lifetime. 

🗳 This batch update is over. See you in next one :)