AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As much as I tried to shield Leo from his grandmother’s condition, I knew that he had something of an understanding of what was going on. So when we reached the door of my half-brother’s house, I didn’t try to hide my mother’s limp or the way her fingers shook when she reached out to pull Leo into a hug. Andres offered a loving handshake that expressed his sympathy. The giant oaf.
All of us were walking the line with this whole cancer business. I mean, how else was a family supposed to react? This wasn’t normal in the shifter world. This wasn’t something we were used to dealing with.
Wars and battles happened often enough for us to be used to the casualties. Even the occasional duel for somebody’s honor happened every so often.
Cancer, though, was just something else. Magic had a long way to go in the science of health, especially when it came to magical creatures like us. Given our healing abilities, it was always daunting to be faced with this kind of mortality.
Leo wrapped his arms around his grandmother’s leg. She patted the top of his head and then gestured for him to help Bethany with some of the load.
Spencer stepped onto the porch and held up a pipe. By the smell, it was something a lot earthier than the tobacco. He gave my mother a quick nod and extended the pipe. “How’s it hanging, little Mama?”
“Are you getting taller every day?” My mother asked this question every time, but however many times she did, Spencer always entertained the answer.
Which was always a wholeheartedyes.
She waved off the pipe.
Andres saluted Bethany. “Don’t let him work you too hard. I hear he’s a bit of a bully when it comes to work.”
“Where did you hear that from?” But I already knew where he’d heard that from.
Rumors like that—rumors like the things Galanthia said to Izdor and the others, I mean—circulated like wildfire. No matter how much I tried to put out the fire that encompassed me, I always ended up making it worse. Something ridiculous always fueled the flames, making them grow significantly. Skyscrapers couldn’t possibly boast the height to which these flames were growing.
If I didn’t get them under control soon, then the fire would consume everything inside of this pack. Everything I held dear would be subject to the mouth of the dragon. Metaphorically, of course. Dragon shifters weren’t particularly common in this area but that didn’t mean I was going to be ignorant about their species.
Sunlight faded slightly. We were starting to work against the weather. So, I gathered Leo and slid my arm around my mother again, and then bid my half-brothers farewell. As they tried to argue for us to stay, I shot them a harsh look that Bethany reflected as well. Though she was annoyingly horny for me sometimes, she did have a strong resolve that was often used to back up my decisions.
Once we had waved enough to knock our limbs off, we headed back down the same path, surrounded by enough flora to cause an allergy attack. Never mind the fact that I could actually smell roses. Sure, Galanthia came to mind for a second, but that wasn’t the most important thing on my mind.
My mother was the most important thing right now. Leo was important as well. Both of them were equally important. The point was, I didn’t need to be thinking about unimportant things. And Galanthia definitely counted as something that was unimportant.
The way my stomach dropped out from beneath me when my mother tripped was enough to rev up my adrenaline. I lifted her and carried her the rest of the way, despite her weekly attempt to pummel my chest with her fists. I wasn’t about to mess around with another injury. Bethany didn’t argue either. And Leo also mentioned that he didn’t want his grandmother to get hurt again.
“So, we’re all in agreement then.” Mom didn’t like the sound of that, but she didn’t protest it either. “You can use your walker when you get inside.”
“Sometimes, I think you treat me like a child.”
I sighed. I didn’t mean to do these things. I was just worried about her.
Couldn’t she see that we were all on edge for her? It wasn’t every day that the woman who took care of you needed to be taken care of herself. Granted, that would inevitably happen from old age, but my mother was far from being old. She was far from being frail. She had always been strong.
Watching her lose her strength was one of the most hurtful things. Right next to that was the way Jazmin had treated me. My emotional limit for things that were in the harm category was starting to overflow.
Hell, it had started overflowing years ago.
Leo ran up the steps and grabbed the door. Not much use locking doors around here when there weren’t exactly a whole lot of thieves. The pack’s witch usually offered some kind of home security system for us to use that would tell us if anybody had been in the house since we’d been gone. Locks were useful when they needed to be used. Neighbors here were more protective than those back in Ambersky.
Then again, a lot of my time then had been spent in the forests and fields.
Mom pointed to her favorite chair. She was wheezing once I got her to it, and she was shivering by the time I spread her favorite crocheted blanket on her legs. Weak smiles all around. Bethany went to make tea while Leo tended his grandmother’s shoes. After that, it was right to massaging her feet.
I patted his back. “What would I do without you?”
“You’d probably argue with Galanthia.”
Mom perked up.
Damn it, I thought while trying to dodge her inquisitive gaze. I ducked into the kitchen to help with the tea. Butno, I wasn’t out of the clear just yet. I could practically hear my mother tinkering away with the questions she was going to ask. Mom always had a way of making me feel like I was about to stand trial.
