Mated by Chance

A Father

I expected a monster. I don't know if I was relieved or upset to see that he was normal. His eyes found me and even in the room full of guest, I knew it was him. His eyes were a deep green that reminded me of my own in the light. I had his thick, brown hair and I had his button nose. I looked at his dimples when he saw me and smiled. My eyes widened as he took a step toward me and I tensed.
"You're real." He whispered in shock. He took a few more steps toward me until he was looking me into my eyes.
"It's like a dream." I looked into his eyes and I felt my guard slipping. I tried to repeat to myself "He broke her. He didn't want you." But as I looked at the man in front of me all I wanted to do was break down and cry. I kept my guard up though. Until he spoke again.
"I thought you were dead. All of this time, I thought you were dead." He whispered as if he was in a trance.
"Not dead. Just a little in shock." I admitted. He broke out in a toothy grin and I gave him a small smile before I felt like emotional barricades crack and before I knew it I was crying. But this time, he was there to catch me.
He excused us and we went outside to talk a little in private. It seems we both weren't too keen on having this meeting with an audience.
"Kara Lucille Madison." He repeated frowning.
I laughed. "I hate my middle name. I was named after my grandmother."
  "Your adoptive grandmother?" He asked for clarity. I nodded.
   "How did they feel about you meeting me?" I paused.
   "I'm actually not speaking to them right now." I admitted feeling an ache in my chest.
   "Why not?" He asked.
  I shrugged.
   "I know that's a lie." He said rolling his eyes at me. "Come on. Tell me."
   "I was tired of always being blamed for Cali's mess. They look at me like I'm a monster. Like...I'm different and I know they love me, but it's not the same love they give to Cali and as much as I pretend that I don't know why, I do."
I looked at him and smiled sadly. "Because I'm not their real daughter."
    "Hey," he said cupping my cheek. "They took you in when Rave and I were nothing to you. You shouldn't shut them out."
   "It makes me feel stuck. They choose her. Time after time they choose her and they always will. You know, they didn't even come to my high school graduation...they went to one of her recitals."
He frowned.
  "One of her recitals. I only graduate high school once. She has recitals every week." I said with my voice breaking. I wiped my nose. "I'm not usually this emotional. And I usually don't even talk about stuff like this. I'm sorry." I said turning away.
  He grabbed my arm and turned me to face him. "I missed seventeen years being able to wipe your tears away and help you grow. I don't mind." He said looking into my eyes.
  "I've never had parents who put me first."
  "Well you have me now. There's no excuses this time. If you have me, I'd love to be a part of your family. You're my kid. My only kid. My blood. I can't imagine not knowing you after I've actually seen you now."
My heart swelled. "I went all my life thinking you didn't want me."
  "I was sixteen years old and I had just found my mate. I loved Rave." He looked down sadly. "I'll always love Rave, but I couldn't ignore the love I felt for Gabrielle. I couldn't walk away from her"-
  "But you walked away from me." I looked toward the ground feeling bad about my slip up. "I'm sorry."
  "Don't apologize. You're right. I walked away from you. I abandoned you. I gave up my right to be a parent and then for me to ask to know you now...it's selfish."
  "I do want to know you." I admitted honestly. "I didn't a few days ago. In fact I hated the idea of you...until Roman convinced me otherwise." I said smiling at the thought of my mate.
  "Roman is a great man." He spoke fondly. "He's like a son to me. He was the closest thing to a kid I had." He paused and his eyes widened. "I didn't mean to offend you." He spoke quickly. I shook my head.
  "You're fine." I said laughing. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why didn't you and Gabrielle have any children?"
He smiled sadly. "Gabrielle was pregnant and was attacked. She was hurt very badly and the only way to say her was to remove her uterus."
  "I'm sorry. No one deserves that kind of pain."
He looked me in my eye. "Especially not her."
  I instantly knew what Rave meant. His eyes lit as he thought of his mate. It was so adorable that it was hard to be annoyed by it.
  I looked out my peripheral and saw her red hair and I tensed. She was walking toward us. She was nervous and rigid but she was doing it. I stood in pride at her. Regan followed my glance and his mouth dropped and his eyes widened.
  "Rave?" He gasped in a whisper.
    "Regan." She greeted as she approached.
He attacked her into a warm, friendly embrace as she stood shocked. "It's been years. I haven't seen you since I was sixteen years old."
  "You know. I was pregnant and what not."
    "You left. You left that day. Oh Rave I didn't mean it. I didn't want you to get that abortion. I came back the next day and you were gone." He spoke so sincere.
  "You don't understand"-
He cut her off. "I do. I was your best friend. I was your person and I just told you I couldn't be that anymore. You must've been crushed. I'm so sorry. I am so sorry for everything."
Rave's head popped up as if someone was calling her. She turned frantic. "What's that?" She asked looking at us wildly.
  "What's what?" Regan asked. He was confused but I wasn't.
"Oh my god." I mumbled in amazement. I watched as the patio door opened and out walked a really tall and slender guy. He looked around the same age as my dad and Rave while still maintaining a boyish innocence to his face.
   "Michael." Regan frowned as he came out. Michael was Regan's beta and from the looks of it, he was also Rave's-
   "Mate" she growled lowly.