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My entire life was a lie. I didn’t know how I felt about it. All I wanted to do was cry, scream and destroy something. But now with my life hanging in the balance, all of it seemed trivial. One thing I wished was different was that I had a chance to speak to my mother or even my grandmother. I felt like a different person now that I knew I was a shifter.
A soft knock brought my attention to the door, seeing Mr. Potter float in.
“How are you?” he asked.
He looked even more ghostly carrying a tray of food, worrying me that he was right about the magic keeping him here.
Was it failing him and did that mean it would be easier to break the spell?
“I’m ok,” I said, shrugging in the plush chair in the corner by the window.
“You haven’t eaten, so I brought something light, but I have soup downstairs, if you feel up to it.” He set the tray down on the ottoman in front of me. The tray had a variety of sweet treats,hot tea, coffee and a few rolls. I also noticed a fruit salad in the corner with mint and a side of cream.
“Thank you,” I said, grateful that he was so thoughtful. “What am I going to do without you?”
Mr. Potter smiled, but it looked so sad.
“I can’t wait to be home with my mate, I will miss you all so much, but you, Katarina, will stay with me for the rest of my existence. I’m very sad that I won’t see you blossom and give these men the life they’ve always deserved.” He put his hand on my shoulder, and I couldn’t help but lean against him.
“Thank you for believing in me. No one had really ever done that before you and you don’t know how much I’ll miss you,” I said, as a few tears fell down my cheek.
He leaned down so our faces were close.
“I wish I could see if you are able to shift. I never imagined those boys would have the chance to run with a true mate, to feel that connection because it's amazing.” He smiled. “I know the amount of information you heard last night might be overwhelming and it might feel like all they have done is lied to you, but it was to keep you safe.”
I didn’t want to agree with him, because it was easier to be mad at my family, but I knew he was right. I just wished I knew more because my father didn’t seem like the man to keep me out of harm's way. He was always so cold, calculated, and he never showed any emotion toward me.
“I feel like my family will be strangers if I ever see them again. I get that it was to keep me safe, but I feel like all these secrets just made my life so challenging,” I said exasperated.
“Have you thought of how much harder your life might have been if everyone knew you shifted? Would you have been hunted or maybe killed?” Mr. Potter looked at me with a raised brow. “I think your family was worried about losing you and tellingyou these lies saved your life and brought you right where you needed to be to find your mates.”
I didn’t like his logic because it meant I had to accept the lies.
“Don’t give me that look, Katarina.” He gave me a pointed look. “Do you really want to give up your mates for some honesty? Or even death? Would you rather have gone your entire life without ever knowing Aeon or Lucien or even Zev?”
Damn him and his stupid logic.
“No, I would suffer my life over and over again if it meant I would feel their love even for just a year,” I said, my throat clogging with emotion. “Their love is everything.”
“Even Zev’s?” he asked, and I should have known this would be an opening for him to push me towards Zev.
“Mr. Potter…” I said, trying to look upset, but I knew it wouldn’t work. “Zev and I can’t… If this doesn’t work out… They would all be mourning.”
“You think he needs a mate mark to mourn for you?”
I turned away from him, feeling the truth in his words. Zev and I had developed feelings, but feelings and his mark on my body were two different things.
“If we don’t mate, he won’t go crazy from the loss, he might be able to work through his feelings, but Lucien and Aeon will be lost to their grief.” I knew I was pulling at strings, but I hated thinking that all of them would go crazy. Zev was right about one thing; they would be worse off than before I got here and I didn’t want to make them suffer.
“What if you needed the extra power to complete the spell? What if mating Zev was the only way to break the spell? You need to take all this new information and use it to your advantage. Come out of the dark and embrace your destiny, Katarina.”
“I don’t know,” I said, but in truth I had been thinking about this since Serena had said something close to that. A small partof me thought, ‘What if this was their way of finishing off the beasts? Leaving them worse off than just the curse. They’ve lied to me my entire life. What if this is another lie to get me to do what they want.’
“I think it's worth the risk and all of you together, even for just a moment in time, might be worth it.” Mr. Potter looked at me with determination like he was ready to argue with me until he changed my mind.
“I’ll think about it, ok,” I said, trying to placate him.
He looked at me like I was dumb for thinking he would take that answer.
