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“But I haven’t always been honest with you, not entirely. And now I realize that may have been a mistake.” He takes a deep breath. “The mother who raised you… she was not your birth mother.”
“What are you saying? Who was my mother if it wasn’t her?” She’s the only mom I’ve ever known. Some of my first memories are of her.
“Your birth mother, my original mate… Was a witch. A very powerful witch.”
“We are right here with you,” Wilde murmurs. “It’s all right.”
Is it? Because I just found out I’m a witch and that I have a mother I don’t know. “What happened to her? Where is she? Why don’t I remember her?”
“She died when you were an infant.” And it’s obvious he’s in pain when he says it. But right now, I don’t care very much about his pain. I’m more concerned with my shock.
“We didn’t think you needed to know,” he continues when all I can do is stand here gaping at him. “You never showed any powers. I thought maybe, you would never have to know. You were already different enough. I didn’t want to put that on your shoulders.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Wilde whispers, and I feel the truth of that in my chest, in his wolf’s connection with mine. “It doesn’t change who you are.”
“I’m not upset,” I tell him, then my father and plain relief washes over his face. “I mean, I’ve never had any kind of power that I know about. I’ve never cast a spell or anything. And I’m still here, so it’s not like having my mother’s blood in me is hurting me.”
I look over to where the corpses are being dragged outside, where I assume they’ll be burned. “So that’s why they wanted me?”
“They said something about you being the child of two worlds.”
A chill runs through me. They were going to kill me. But why? What difference do I make? “Did they say why, though?”
“They didn’t,” Wilde mutters.
Of course not. Why would anything ever be clear?
“I’m sorry.”
I have to hug Dad because he seems so sad, almost broken. “It’s okay. I understand why you wouldn’t tell me.”
“If we’ve learned anything tonight, it’s that you can’t stay here.”
I pull back, shaking my head. “No. That’s not how this is going to go.”
“How many times are you almost going to die while you’re here?” he asks, looking around, speaking to everyone in our little group. “How many more close calls are there going to be? The nearer you are to their borders, the more likely it is for you to come under attack again. Did you hear what those witches said? They’re not going to stop. And I doubt they’re going to give up on you.”
His gaze is intense, his eyes searching my face like he’s looking for some hint of hope. “I want to bring you home.”
“Dad.” I place my hands on his shoulders and squeeze hard before sighing. “Don’t you see? I am home.”
38
WILDE
There’s nothing in the world like the feeling of closing my bedroom door and shutting out everyone and everything else.
“You don’t have to worry about any of it anymore.” Now that we’re alone, I take her in my arms, stroking her hair and whispering in her ear. “You’re safe. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”
“I didn’t know what was happening to me.”
“Neither did I,” I remind her with a shaky, soft laugh. “I didn’t know what I was going to do, what was wrong with you, or if there was any way to fix it.”
“I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She would say something like that. “I know you didn’t mean to. It’s not your fault.” I kiss her neck, her ear, her jaw.
“And do you still want me?”
I pull back, searching her face for any sign that she’s joking. Because she must be. There’s no way she could ask a question like that while she’s in my arms, and I’m kissing her and, yes, stiffening against her because if there’s one thing my wolf wants more than anything, it’s to sink deep inside her and remind both of us she’s ours. Always ours.
There’s nothing but sincerity shining from her eyes. “Even now that you know who I am and who I came from. I understand if you’ve changed your mind.”
“I have no intention of changing my mind. How could I?” I sink my hands into her hair, pulling her close until our noses touch. I inhale her scent, filling my lungs with it, wishing I could obliterate all traces of myself in favor of her because there’s never been anything as sweet. “You are my mate, my chosen mate. My mother reminded me tonight when she announced it to those evil bitches: there is no magic in this world more powerful than that which exists between us.”
