by Jen L. Grey
“Alright, it’s my turn.” Rage took a deep breath, and for some reason, his hands shook for a moment.
“I’ll grab her gift.” Cole cooed as he jumped up and grabbed a small squarish box that wasn’t wrapped. “Here.” He shoved it in Rage’s hand.
“You know it’s been over a year since we’ve known each other, and it’s been the best part of my life.” He kneeled in front of me.
Oh my God. He couldn’t be doing that ...
“I know you’re my mate, but I want it official in every way.” He opened the box, and a large oval diamond ring with small stones around the band sat nestled within the satin. “Will you marry me?”
My heart felt like it may explode. “Yes.”
He grabbed my left hand and slid the ring on, a huge smile on his face.
I wasn’t sure how the hell he got it on with how much my hand shook, but it fit perfectly. “It’s gorgeous.”
“It looks even better on you than I imagined.” He stood and grabbed my waist, pulling me flush against him.
“Congratulations.” Audrey ran over and wrapped her arms around us. “I’m so glad I got to be part of this.”
“Right, me too.” Cole came over and joined the group hug. “I’ve never met a better couple.”
“Man, now my gifts seem lame,” Stone grumbled.
“Your brother just got engaged to his mate.” Matthew reached over and smacked his son on the arm. “You should be happy for him.”
“Of course I am.” Stone gave him a thumbs up. “I’m just glad I get a great sister-in-law from it all.”
In a lot of ways, I already was part of their family, but now we’d have the official mate ceremony and a wedding. When marriage certificates became a thing, shifters began having official mating ceremonies. Essentially, it’s the same thing as a wedding but with a wolf twist.
“Alright, picture time.” Audrey picked up her phone off the table and pointed it in our direction. “Cheese.” Her camera flashed, and she waved her hand back and forth. “Now look at each other.”
Not needing any encouragement, I faced Rage, and my heart sky rocketed. I never imagined I’d be this happy, but now that I was, there was no going back.
The camera flashed again.
“Now, one with me.” Cole placed one hand against my chest and the other against Rage’s and spread us apart. He smiled smugly between us right when the camera went off again.
“Remember when we got engaged?” Audrey dropped her arms and turned to her husband.
“Do you think I wouldn’t remember that day?” Matthew chuckled and stepped toward his wife. “It was the best day of my life.”
“Liz dragged my butt out of bed telling me she needed a run.” Audrey glanced at the ceiling with a small grin. “When we got close to the woods, there was a blanket lying on the ground. Matthew and Jonathan, who you all know as Professor Shaw, had been waiting on us.”
“I was so nervous.” Matthew wrapped an arm around her and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. “I remember you looked so confused but headed over. I thought I was going to pass out. I couldn’t even focus on anything else.”
“He’s not kidding.” Audrey glanced at us. “I even asked Liz if Matthew was okay. Oh, we even have a picture.”
It was obvious how much Rage’s parents loved each other. It showed that even chosen mates could be the real deal. “Can we see?”
“Of course, let me go get it.” Audrey ran out of the room, heading up the stairs.
“It’s so strange to think of you all hanging out with Professor Shaw.” Cole shook his head and wrinkled his nose. “He’s kinda odd. He always seems annoyed by me. I mean, who thinks like that?”
“Oh, me.” Stone raised his hand.
“It’s called a rhetorical question.” Cole motioned for Stone to lower his hand. “You’re outright lying. I’ll let it slide this one time. I mean, I’m fuc … flipping amazing.” Cole saluted Matthew. “See, I’m considerate. I filtered for you.”
“Do you ever get tired?” Matthew scratched the top of his head. “You’re always so energetic.”
“My dad asks the same question. He’s even tried to deprive me of blood, wondering if that would ‘fix’ things.” Cole shrugged even though there was a bit of sadness in his eyes. “I say I can be calm and composed when I’m dead.”
I’d always wondered why Cole never talked about his parents. The few brief times that he had, it was short and sweet. This was confirmation of what I’d guessed all along.
“Alright, here it is.” Audrey came back into the room and waved the photo. She hurried over and held up the picture for Rage, Cole, and me to see.
It was an older photo, but Bloodshed was clearly in the background. It hadn’t changed in all these years. Like Audrey mentioned, there was a blanket underneath them with Matthew and her smiling wide. Right in the corner was a person that hadn’t meant to be included though. She was just barely in the shot. As I looked closer, my heart began to race.
No, it can’t be. It just can’t be my mother.
Chapter Seventeen
My whole world rattled. The Liz that was Audrey’s best friend was my mother.
“Holy shit.” Cole’s voice filled with disbelief. “That looks just like your mom.”
Rage’s hand rested on my back.
“Because it’s her.” My mind flashed back to the wedding picture that hung in their room. They had been true mates too and performed their ceremony immediately. She didn’t look much older than she did in this photo.
“Wait … You said her last name wasn’t Cromwell.” Matthew’s brow creased, and he scratched his chin.
“It’s not.” I couldn’t believe she would’ve done this. No wonder she was upset when she found out that I would be attending Bloodshed.
“I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation.” Audrey tucked the picture behind her.
Like that was going to help anything. “I need to call her.”
“Are you sure?” Rage’s tender voice lessened the hysteria that threatened my mind. “Do you want to go for a walk?”
Not only had my mother ruined our Christmas, but her lies impacted my engagement. “No, I need to call her now.” It probably wasn’t a great idea, but this was something that I had to get off my chest. I’d always tried to protect them from what lay inside me, and if this wasn’t betrayal, I would never know what it was. I headed to the door already, pulling my cell phone from my pocket.
Cole reached over and tapped my shoulder, “You know I’m one for not thinking things through, but …”
“Look, it may not be the best decision.” I could be a big enough person to admit that. “But I feel like I can’t breathe. I have to talk to her.”
“Do you want me to go with you?” Rage didn’t press but closed the distance between us. “I’ll be quiet.”
“Honey, please let him.” Audrey must have seen my pending refusal.
“Okay, but I want to go outside.” I didn’t want everyone to hear what was said.
“Alright.” He didn’t bother reaching for my hand but just stayed close behind me as I made my way out the front door.
My hands shook as I dialed their number. It rang twice before mom picked up. “Merry Christmas, Raven.”
I couldn’t even pretend at this point. The cold air whipped around my body and I held my arms close to my body. “You went to Bloodshed.”
“What?” Mom’s voice was an octave higher than normal.
“It wasn’t a question.” I’d never felt so vulnerable in my entire life. “Why did you lie to me?”
There were muffled noises, and I could tell she was beginning to pace. It was one of her ticks. “How did you find out?”
“Are you serious?” That was the first thing out of her mouth. “You lied to me.”
“I never meant to.” She sighed and put me on speaker. “I was just trying to protect you.”
“No, we were,” Dad’s voice interjected. “it was a decision both of u
s made.”
It was like the breath was knocked out of me. “You too?” Wasn’t it bad enough that one parent had done this? Now I’d learned both of them were involved?
“There’s a lot you don’t know and wouldn’t understand.” Dad cleared his throat.
“Why don’t you try me?” They still thought of me as their little girl. “Maybe you’d be surprised.”
“I had to leave.” Mom’s voice broke.
“Why?” None of this was making sense to me anymore.
There was only silence on the other end.
“Did you enchant the necklace too?” I already knew the answer, but I had to hear them say it.
“We were just trying to protect you.” It was like mom was on repeat.
“How about you tell me what you’re protecting me from?” When I thought it couldn’t get worse, it did.
“The Academy isn’t always what it seems,” Dad said cryptically.
“Did you go there too?” I hadn’t even considered that a possibility until now.
“That’s a complicated answer.”
“It’s either yes or no.” At this point, I already knew the answer.
“Yes, I was a year behind your mother.” His voice usually calmed me, but now it felt like nails on a chalkboard.
“So you both lied to me.” It hurt so much, and they weren’t even trying to answer me. Tears filled my eyes as I struggled to breathe. “How could you?”
“This is a long and complicated story.” Mom sobbed lightly and took in a shaky breath. “But it’s important for me to understand how you know about it.”
Rage placed a hand on my shoulder. Knowing he was there made me stronger, somehow. “You were Rage’s mom’s best friend.” I shouldn’t have said it, but it was a moment of weakness.
“Audrey is his mother?” The surprise in her voice was clear. “I didn’t even put the two together.”
“So she would lie to me as well?” I had thought this conversation would provide peace, but with my parents acting so cryptically, it only made things worse.
“That’s not fair, Raven.” Dad, as always, was taking mom’s side. No, wait; their side.
“How is it not?” I’d never felt so angry before. The two people who were supposed to protect me had lied to me from the very beginning. “I need to know the truth.”
“It wasn’t something we wanted to do, but we need to protect you.” Mom’s voice cracked, and then she let out a long sigh. “Why don’t you come up here, and we can talk?”
“So you can lie your way out of it?” At this point, how could I have trusted anything they said. Their true colors had finally shown.
“Now listen here.” Dad’s voice raised. “You can’t talk to us this way. We deserve a little respect, especially your mother. After everything she sacrificed for you.”
They lied to me and then tried to make it out as if they were the victims. Who the hell were these people? My whole childhood shattered with a phone call.
Rage took the phone from my hand and took a few steps away. His voice was low and raspy. “And you can’t talk to her that way either.”
At least I had one person that I could count on to always be in my corner. Even though it was comforting, it didn’t heal the void inside me. He walked far enough away that I couldn’t make out the words on the other end.
“No, she needs time.” Rage’s jaw clenched as he listened to more words. “If you won’t tell her the truth, then there isn’t a need to do that. It’ll only cause her more pain.”
After a few seconds, Rage sighed. “I’m trying to protect her too and trying to be respectful since you’re her parents. At the end of the day, she’s the only thing that matters to me. Give her time.” He lowered the phone and clicked the red button, ending the call.
“I don’t understand.” Those three words summed up everything. They may seem simple, but it was so much more than that. They represented all my hurt. Why would my parents lie to me? How could they withhold the truth? They both attended Bloodshed, and they had never mentioned it. What the hell are they protecting me from? Why would she have given me that necklace and purposely cause me to be out of sync with my wolf? I mean, I was raised believing that a woman could never be an alpha, and clearly she knew otherwise.
“Me neither.” He grabbed my waist and pulled me into his strong, loving arms. His woodsy scent comforted me. He was my home. “But I don’t think they meant to hurt you.”
“Sometimes it doesn’t make a difference.” They must have thought I was weak if they weren’t willing to tell me their reason.
Rage’s fingertips caressed my cheek wiping away the tears that I shed. “I love you and I’m in your corner. Always.”
Even though I didn’t need his declaration, it soothed the pain ever so subtly. “I know, and I love you too.”
The front door opened, and Cole came barreling out. When his gaze landed on my face, he froze. “I’m going to kick their asses.”
I would have laughed if I had one ounce of doubt that he’d do it. “No, they aren’t worth it.”
“Like hell they aren’t.” This was the cold, calculative side of Cole that everyone feared. He pulled the keys from his back pocket. “Anyone that hurts my pack is worth it.”
Pack.
The word resonated deep inside me. Maybe that’s why I hadn’t felt like a rogue wolf. Between Rage and my friends, even though not an official pack, we did tend to work that way.
“It pains me to say this because that’s my natural inclination as well, but those are Raven’s parents.” Rage dropped his hand from my cheek and took my hand. “Even if she’s hurting now, doing something to them would hurt her worse.”
“Damnit.” Cole narrowed his eyes at Rage. “Why you gotta make sense? I just wanna kick their asses.”
Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded kicking their asses too, but it wouldn’t have accomplished anything. “I just want to know why.”
“Maybe when everything settles, they will tell you.” Rage squeezed my hand comfortably.
“Yeah, right.” Cole wrinkled his nose. “This is the kinda shit my parents do. When they’ve been lying for that long, there is a reason. Besides, they wouldn’t have kept their mouths shut for nineteen years just to have diarrhea of the mouth all of a sudden.”
“You’re so eloquent with words.” Cole was blunt, which was one reason so many people were afraid of him. He’d tell you what he thought even if you didn’t want to hear it. To me, that made him an invaluable friend.
“Why do you think I talk so much?” He patted himself on the chest and smiled.
“Because you like the sound of your voice.” Rage reached over and pushed him in the chest.
“I’ve gotten that same feedback from many people.” Cole’s cold demeanor disappeared as if he could sense that he was cheering me up. “I’ve been told many times that I had a voice made for radio.”
“For real?” Cole was many things, don’t get me wrong. I would have thought that people would say he should have been a model before telling him to be on the radio.
“That doesn’t even count.” Rage chuckled and shook his head. “A girl told you that your voice was nice. You’re the one who said that you had a radio voice.”
“But she didn’t contradict me.” He pointed his finger in Rage’s direction and lifted his chin. “And that meant she agreed.”
“Or that you were insane.” Rage reached his hand out and pushed Cole’s fingers down. “She might have been afraid you’d go psycho on her.”
“I only go crazy on those that deserve it.” Cole stepped back and lifted his hands. “Boom. You can’t deny that.”
“Not in a million years.” Even though I wasn’t my normal self, my near hysteria had calmed, thanks to my mate and close friend. I let go of Rage’s hand and made my way to Cole, wrapping him in a huge hug. “I love you.” His cotton candy scent filled my nose as I took in a deep breath.
“Oh, man.” He responded, pulling me in tight
. “You’re going to make me cry. I love you too.” As he pulled back, he sniffed. “How does it feel to know that the first time your brand new fiancée said I love you, it was to me?”
“Really, Raven?” Rage winked at me even though his shoulders sagged. “Now I’m never going to hear the end of it.”
The front door opened, and Audrey stuck her head out. Worry lined her face. “Are you guys okay?”
The question was addressed to everyone but intended for me. “Yeah, we’re good.”
“Okay, we were all worried. Just wanted to check in.” Audrey smiled and rubbed her arms from the chill in the air. “Let me know if you need anything.” She turned around and shut the door.
“I’m not thrilled about going back in there.” Rage’s family had been nice and welcoming to me the whole time. I hated to be this way, but I didn’t want to go back inside to deal with the awkward looks. They had begun to feel like family, but we were all still getting comfortable with one another.
“Then let’s go get our things and head back to school.” Rage began making his way toward the door.
“No, I don’t want to cut time with your family short.” I shouldn’t have said anything.
“We’ve been here about a week, and we’ve spent Christmas morning with them. They’re fine.” He turned me around to face him and placed both hands on my arms. “You’re the most important person to me, so as long as I’m with you, I’m good.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead. “Let’s go tell them goodbye and pack up.”
“I’m down for that.” Cole saluted us and grinned. “I’m tired of behaving.”
“Now, that might make me want to stay.” Rage dropped his hands and rubbed his eyes. “I’m not sure if I can take Cole when we first get back. All his pent-up shenanigans.”
“Well, take this for consideration.” Cole threw his arm around Rage’s shoulders. “The longer we stay, the more I’ll have to get out of my system.”
“Dear God.” I couldn’t help but tease him. “Then let’s leave right this second.”
