Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 60198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
The entire interaction is over in a matter of seconds. Rainer’s weapon lies twisted in the corner of the room, less a weapon, more scrap metal. His body is…
Margaret grabs the curtains next to her, tossing one over her fallen husband, and using the other as impromptu clothing. Her shift back is as swift as the initial transformation.
“I didn’t want to do that,” she says, covering herself in a drape. “I didn’t want to do any of this, but…”
“That. Was. So. Fucking. Cool,” Connor breathes.
He’s right. That was amazing. I’ve never liked my mother, but I feel a certain level of awe right now that might somewhat stand in its place.
“Language,” Margaret says, her voice demonstrating exhaustion.
“Not a fucking gain,” Karl breathes. “How many damn werewolves do we have?”
“There’re others?” I murmur the question to him.
“You’ve heard the rumors about Gray’s mate. They’re true.”
“Wow.”
We’re staring at my mother, and for the first time in my life, I feel like I sort of understand her. No wonder she always denied being a wolf shifter. She wasn’t one. She’s not a wolf. She’s something much more powerful and infinitely more rare.
“You’re amazing,” I say, kind of hating that I am saying it because I still have all the issues with her that I had before. “Why didn’t you ever tell us about this? Why did you leave us in the woods? What the fuck, Mom?”
She finally gives me an answer that makes some sense, doesn’t deflect, doesn’t lie, doesn’t try to make me feel stupid for asking the question.
“I couldn’t be a parent,” she says. “I am a werewolf, and we crave human flesh. There were times when I was tempted… when I thought I could not prevent myself from consuming my own offspring. Do you know how tender a baby is?”
“Uhm.”
“So yes, I left you in the woods, and you thrived there until Rainer bought them from the alpha of Louisiana. Then I tried to get him to keep your territory clear, but of course he wanted to put in a very big parking lot…” She sighs. “I have not handled things in the way a traditional mother would, but I have tried to provide for you.”
“Through the medium of abandonment and multiple kidnappings.”
“Yes.”
“Fair,” I say. “Respect.”
I’m surprised to learn that I actually mean it on some level. It doesn’t make up for her failings as a mother, but it does explain them. She was never normal. She couldn’t even really fit in with the packs who lived around us.
“How come we aren’t werewolves like you?”
“Your fathers were normal men,” she says. “Werewolves and typical human men make common shifters.”
I’d object to the term ‘common,’ but compared to her, it is an accurate description.
She pauses for a moment. “I’m going to have a shower and get changed. If you wouldn’t mind tidying things up, alpha, that would be much appreciated.”
“Mom’s kind of cool,” Connor says when she is gone. I expect him to talk about her transition to werewolf, but that’s not what’s on his mind. “She made me pancakes.”
“Did she?” I ask him the question pretty much automatically, in the way you do when you’re just having a conversation on autopilot. I cannot believe what I just saw. It was the most impressive display of raw power I have ever laid eyes on. A wolf kill is always something to behold, but that was on another level. She destroyed Rainer in seconds. She could have killed us all at any time, I realize. The patience she was showing before the moment she didn’t have it anymore is very impressive.
“Yeah. And she made them look like they had mouse ears? They were cute. I liked them. Can she come with us? She’s a werewolf.”
Karl finally speaks up. “Go sit in the car, okay, buddy? Baldwin is out there.”
“Baldwin!” Connor runs out to see his friend.
Connor seems remarkably unscathed by what he has seen. I suppose that’s due to the hunting we did in his younger days. He’s seen a lot of death in his life. It’s not usually human death, but Rainer always had the vibe of a man who was going to end up in a bad way.
Karl starts wrapping the body in the curtain. He does a good job of it, especially given how messy it is. He wraps it up into a snug little package, and carries it out to the car, where he pulls out a plastic sheet and wraps it around the curtain and then puts the whole lot in the trunk.
While this is happening, my mother comes down looking very well put together, from her garnet clip-on earrings to her red pumps.
“Karl says he’ll have someone clean the floors,” I tell her. I am not sure how to look at her now that I know what she is, and that I have seen her turn a man into an interior decoration.