Rejected and Pregnant I Fled The Pack (Evelyn and Damon) novel Chapter 174

"Robert," Marcus said, his voice carrying something more vulnerable now as the conversation began winding down. "I owe you an apology too, don't I? For everything, for staying away so long, for letting whatever happened with Genevieve poison our relationship so thoroughly that I couldn't even manage to stay connected with my own family."

"We can talk about that properly, once you're actually here," my father said gently. "I think we both have things to actually work through, Marcus. But I'm genuinely glad you're willing to actually engage with this rather than simply retreating further."

"I've had considerable practice retreating," Marcus admitted, something rueful entering his voice despite the obvious continued weight of everything he was processing. "But this—Robert, this is my daughter. I can't simply continue avoiding difficult things when it means avoiding actually knowing her."

They ended the call shortly after, plans arranged for Marcus to travel to pack territory within the next few days, and my father set his phone down, exhaustion and cautious hope both evident in his tired expression.

"That went better than I initially feared," he said, though genuine emotional weight remained visible beneath his attempted composure.

"He seemed genuinely shocked," I said carefully. "But also genuinely willing to actually engage, rather than simply denying or avoiding the situation entirely."

"I think that's the version of Marcus I actually remember," my father said thoughtfully, "before Genevieve, before whatever happened between them that drove him away from our entire family. He was always someone who felt things deeply, reacted intensely, but genuinely tried to actually do right by people once he'd processed his initial reaction."

"What happened between you two originally," I asked carefully, "before Nadia entered the picture? You mentioned it before, but never explained the actual details."

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