Chapter 172 - The Plan - II
The day Teresa Woods had been told about her brother's death she had imagined to be Adeline's guardian and give her all of her. She had vowed to never let Adeline feel the need to have a parent. She always tried to fill up that gap of the same of a mother and that of an aunt so that Adeline would never feel awkward.
Her brother and she had always kept in touch as they were family members that were left in the world and Adaline had been a common topic amongst them so naturally when Tessa was given the guardianship of Adeline, she had never imagined herself to be waiting outside jail from which Adeline was to be released.
The doors opened and loud screeching noise of rusted metal was heard. Tessa stood up and hugged her child who seemed to be awfully cold.
"Here," she took off her coat and placed it on Adeline's shoulder then made sure that her arms were inside and that she was warm enough before sitting down. "How are you my child?"
Adeline felt bitter from inside. "I don't know. I have no idea how one feels to get out of Jail but I am sure that I will give you an answer next time because I don't think I'm leaving anytime soon."
" Hey!" She chided immediately, " do not say that, Adeline You will get out of Jail very soon. This is just a very small punishment." She regretted saying the last line immediately and the look on Adeline's face told her that she did not like hearing that as well.
"I suppose I can only imagine what will happen to me if I actually did something wrong." Adeline grumbled out and her aunt did not have to take much time to realise the change in adaline.
She held Adeline's cold hand in hers and tried to rub them for warmth. "Baby, understand that you and I are going to a lot and you're even more than I am but you have to understand that throwing a glass jar at someone was very dangerous, werewolf or not."
"She would have healed!" Adeline hissed and the look in her eyes made Tessa gulp.
"Well then," she was already a mother to this child by the looks of what she had to say next to adaline, "I suppose then every bit of violence committed on everyone women, children or man can be justified because at the end of the day everyone can be healed, mentallyor physically even socially!"
Hearing her words, the stare that Adeline had been holding on as a competition against her aunt was brought down as she lowered her eyes and looked at their hands. Her aunt was rubbing her hands against Adeline's to provide them any warmth in the awfully cold dungeons.
"Adeline?" Tessa probbed, "any child with an upbringing as good as yours would know what to say next."
"I'm sorry." She muttered but did not look up into the eyes of her aunt. " I did not think it through before saying that."
Tessa nodded and took Adeline's other hand in hers and started to warm up that one.
As her aunt and someone who had grieved over the death of her own parents, both of them who had passed together, she knew for a fact that Adeline had grown more bitter than anyone she had ever seen.
Adeline was a lovely child and always had been and violence was never an option for her and in contrast to her true nature Adaline had a very normal talk about hitting someone and in defence had talked about how the person would heal eventually. This only made Teresa realise how long she had been.
She should have sent Adaline to therapy when she had the chance. Seven months of grieving had been too long and messed up for the child especially when she did not have anyone to talk to and she had pulled apart from every friend of hers.
She had made a massive mistake and the bitterness in Adeline and was a part of that.
"Do you know that when a mate dies the other one soon follows?"
Adeline looked up and shook her head which only made Tessa realise that Adelene still did not have any idea in comparison to what she did. The child was still clueless as day one and it was understandable that now she was angry and bitter about it.
So she explained, "it's just how nature is and that is what I have been told. Slowly and slowly Ashlynn's wolf will start to grievend slowly shut down completely which is when Ashylnn will lose the other half of herself and it would be difficult for her to continue to live on."
" S-so she is dying?" Adelene whispered out with a voice full of fear and uncertainty and they could not help but pity the child. She immediately took her hands in hers.
"No, no, not yet." She reassured, "usually, as I've been told, it is the kind of connection one has with their wolf. If she was really attached to the wolf when she would start to feel her Wolf's absence and it would affect her but if the connection was not a strong one then she could live up to one year or two."
Adeline closed her eyes, folded her arms at the table and placed her head there. She wanted to cry at the news because Ashlynn was definitely a great friend and more like a sister and knowing the facts that she was responsible for her that which was inevitable was Harsh and was killing her inside.
She wanted to cry and felt her nose itching to do so but it was as if he had no tears left to cry.
"What now?" She got her head up, "She must be holding me responsible in some sort of way and I am ready to. . Go back to jail if that pleases her." She offered, but with slight hesitation on her part. Even if she knew that she was responsible for killing someone, staying in a dungeon with no light and no one else apart from her was a little daunting.
"No, no," Tessa smiled and cupped Adeline's face, "what you have to do is quite simple actually. I am sure Ashylnn is not thinking of vengeance rather is completely fine with what we have decided to do instead."