My Step-Dad Is My Mate

Richard's POV

I squatted low on the tree branch and watched her. She was sitting on the porch in her little shorts and tank top. I smiled to myself. She made anything she wore look beautiful.

Her hair was over one shoulder and she was looking out into the forest before her. I don't know if she was in thought or just zoned out.

I've made many mistakes in my life that I never regret but messing up to the point where she hated me is my only regret.

Her face broke out into a smile and I sighed deeply as I saw why. Kaden emerged from the forest in some basketball shorts and she ran up to him, wrapping her arms around him and his around her. Thank God I masked my scent.

I looked away. Sure, our bond might be broken but..that doesn't mean I'll stop caring. That doesn’t mean I'll stop loving her because I know I could never bring myself to stop caring for her.

I turned my head and looked back. They were talking, but a bit too soft for me to hear right at my distance. She was laughing though. I heard that for sure.

Aiden has been trying to contact me but I keep him blocked out. He wants to me far away. But that's too far from her. I live in the town, around the humans which is a good distance from the pack. That's far enough.

Kaden cupped her face and pressed his lips to her forehead and whispered something to her.

Something I knew I probably wouldn't like to hear..but whatever it was, put a grin on her face and she nodded. He gave her another smile then ran back into the woods, I'm assuming maybe he's going to his pack.

I checked the time on my watch. Its almost the time where Danica meets me in her spot for a little while so we can talk. Goddess knows how badly I love those few minutes with her.

She did the same and began to jog towards my direction. I waited until she passed by the tree I was on and continued to jog until she reached her destination. I climbed down quietly and waited a few minutes before heading after her.

When I got there she was sitting down, with her head on her knee. Danica looked up and gave me a wide smile.

"Hey." She said and I smiled back.

"Hey."

"How are you Richard?" She asked me and I just nodded for a few seconds.

“I'm alright. How is everything on your end?" I asked her back and she wrinkled her nose.

"Eh. So so. It's getting better.” The genuine smile she had on her face when she looked up, assured me that everything really was falling in place for her. I was happy for her, really I was but a part of me just wished everything could fall in place with me in it but this is life and you don't always get what you want. I learned that the hardest way a man ever could. Losing the love of his life to his own stupidness.

As much as asking this dreaded my very being, I wanted to show Danica that I really do care about her so I said ,"How's everything with Kaden?"

I noticed her hesitancy in answering so I sat beside her and nudged her with my elbow gently, "You can tell me."

Slowly, Danica began to talk about how things between her and him were going and the little problem she encountered with some girl yesterday.

The more she said his name, the more I felt a little piece of my heart break. It's not easy listening to the girl that you love talk about her growing romance with another man but my feelings don't matter, hers do. I cared about my own feelings too much all those times I kept her from rejecting me, just to protect my own feelings. Even though in my mind I was thinking about hers, I know now I never was and that alone was my biggest mistake with her.

I was selfish and I was a cold hearted bastard but I never lied when I told her I was sorry all those times or that I loved her. But with the way I was acting, I wouldn't of believed myself either.

The kind of pep she had in her while she spoke, I never saw that for a very long time. This glow she has in her now, I never really saw that either.

Danica is happy, genuinely happy and I couldn't ask for anything more. She would tell me that I would move on one day but hell, even I know I could never care for another woman like I care for her. I will always be there for Danica. I'll be there for her like I was supposed to from the start.