moonlight.

39

☾

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

DEVIL BURNING TEARS blurred haven's vision as she stared at her 'father' in the living room. her cheeks were heated and a pale pink, her heart pounding heavy in her chest walls. anger, confusion, and betrayal was all she was feeling. she wished none of this was true and that this was all nothing but a nightmare.

"i met your mother when you were about seven months. she had gotten pregnant with you the summer before she left for college. she was with this guy throughout high school and went their separate ways when she moved." tucker explained to her, giving her a heartbroken look.

haven gulped, breaking eye contact as she let the information sink in. her nerves was all over the place and she clenched her jaw, closing her eyes as a shaky breath left her lips. she swallowed the lump in her throat, blinking back the tears in her eyes.

"she told me there was a reason why she never told him. but she never did tell me why. haven," tucker stepped toward her, his lips curling down into a frown. "you gotta understand, the first time i held you in my arms, it felt like you were mine."

haven's eyes flickered toward his angrily, a fire settling in her irises. her lips pulled into a straight line, her jaw still clenched as she eyed him furiously. a tear trickled down her cheek as she glared darkly at him, her chest aching that it maddened her.

"i was there for her for first words, for the first time she walked. i held her every time she was sick." tucker explained to the judge, glancing at haven who was seated in between scott and melissa, her head down.

"i did everything with her and everything for her. each time she had a nightmare, i would hold her until she fell asleep again. when her mom was working late, we would watch movies and play games." he continued to explain himself to the judge, swallowing hard as hurt pulsed through him.

"i strongly believe she is my daughter. i not only raised her but love her unconditionally as my own." he finished, giving haven another glance as he took as seat in the chairs a few rows behind them.

the judge waited a few moments before speaking and shuffling through the papers of all the notes on his stand. he lifted his head and looked around the room.

"it is quite clear that tucker did in fact raise and provided for haven, which makes him her presumptive father and should have the right to make the decision. however, this is not the case."

haven shook her head and sighed, leaning her elbows on her table as her, scott, and melissa looked at the judge as he continued speaking.

"because tucker is not the listed father on her birth certificate and mr. stilinski is, yet he never signed it. which means there is a chance that he never knew about her. so he needs to be notified of all this." the judge explained, looking at the young girl with anger in her eyes. "it's frustrating. i know, i understand."

gathering all the papers together and placing this neatly in haven's file, the judge looked back at her as well as melissa and scott.

"until there is signed consent from noah stilinski, the adoption of haven woods by melissa mccall is denied."

•••

haven's eyes were dry and empty of tears as she sat on the picnic table by the cliffside. her eyes were glued to the crystal, glistening water with waves crashing against one another.

she didn't understand why this was happening. she didn't understand why her mother never told her about her biological father. she felt betrayed. all these years, thinking tucker was her father, only to find out he isn't. it made no sense.

she wanted to know the reason why her mom never told noah about her. but she knew she was never going to know why. so she knew she would have to figure it out on her own, even if it meant talking to noah about everything as much as she didn't want to.

"i've been trying to get a hold of you all day," jackson come over, giving her a frown as he sat down. "how did it go today?"

she shook her head, keeping her eyes locked on the water. "the judge won't let me get adopted until we get signed consent from mr. stilinski."

"does anyone else know about him being your..." jackson trailed, avoiding the word but knew she would understand what he was trying to ask.

"no. only you and scott. and i'd like to keep it that way." she told him, turning her head to look at him.

he nodded, "of course."

he looked into her eyes, vacant of expression, and wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. she let out a shaky breath, resting her head on his shoulder as she closed her eyes. but this felt off to her.

she appreciated having jackson as her best friend and always being here to comfort her. the thing is, he didn't provide her with the security like derek always did. with derek, she felt safe and secure. she was happy and content. but now with his absence, she felt nothing but a void in her.

what the two of them didn't notice was derek standing behind them from afar, watching the two of them carefully. his hands were balled into fists and his jaw was clenched, his eyes darkening furiously.

instead of storming over to them, reclaiming what's his, an idea popped into his mind and his angry expression had been replaced. his eyes squinted slightly and the corners of his lips tugged upward into a smirk as he stared at jackson. he tilted his head, watching him for another moment before walking away.

"i should probably get going. promised melissa i would be home for dinner." haven told jackson, lifting her head from his shoulder and standing on her feet. "i'll see you later?"

he nodded, giving her a smile. "yeah, see you haven."

she walked down the path she came, not realizing derek was watching her. he stared at her, wanting so badly to run up to her and take her into his arms, masking her scent with his. instead, he saw jackson get up from the picnic table began making his way down.

"jackson," derek called, his voice deep and intimidating. jackson looked at him, slight fear washing over his face as he remembered the last two encounters with the hale.

"listen, if you wanna know where scott is, ask stiles or someone else." jackson quickly said, taking a step back from derek.

derek shook his head, the smirk growing wider across his face. he knew what he was doing. he watched as jackson gulped, a line of sweat forming across the top of his forehead.

"i actually wanted to talk to you. i have something you want. i just need to know how badly you want it."