“Don’t be mad.” Her words were soft, almost childlike, in her fear.
“I’m not baby. We have four years to wait. I’ve already waited seventeen, and this will be easier because now I know you are coming back.” He kissed her again, and she walked him to the door. She pulled out descenting spray and sprayed him down. One second my father’s scent was surrounding us, and the next it was gone, leaving a missing hole in my senses. “Can you do me one favor, though?”
“Anything.” My mom stared at his face with a longing so strong it made my heart hurt.
“Unblock me so we can mind-link. It has been ages since Loki talked to Sigyn, and he misses his mate. As I miss mine.”
“Already done.” My mother smiled up at him. “That’s why they have been quiet. They have been spending time with each other.”
My dad smiled and leaned down once more to kiss her one last time. “He’s always smarter than me.”
“That he is.” She hugged him once more, then he was gone. A long howl sounded again, and she slammed the door and walked back to me. Tears were welling in her eyes, and she looked at me. “I don’t want to go back.”
“I know.” I grabbed her hand and smiled.
“I couldn’t say this in front of your father, not after I got him back, but Morgan has been pushing to have a pup of our own.” She looked at me. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Don’t do it.” My answer was fast.
“Obviously not.” My mother was quick with her answer. But she looked at me, really looked at me. “Why did you answer so quickly?”
“In my first life, you were pregnant with Morgan’s pup, but it was like the pup sucked the life out of you. Every day you were pregnant, you died a little more on the inside. Your wolf withered, and you did too. By the time it came for the baby to be born, you were so weak, you died. I had thought you died from sadness that it was Morgan’s pup, and that fact ate away at you making you weak, too weak to give birth. I found out as Brandon took me that he had poisoned you to make you weak. Well, Brandon and Shannon, both. Then they had the doctor use silver on you, and in your weakened state you and the pup died on the table.”
My mother trembled as I told her the full truth. “That bastard.”
I just nodded. “He killed my entire family. He killed dad too. This time around, I won’t be letting him anywhere near us.”
“You have dealt with so much already in your life, and you are barely eighteen.” My mom stroked my hair. “This isn’t how I pictured your life.”
I leaned into her arm, and she wrapped me in a tight hug. “I doubt my life would ever be what you and dad dreamed it would be. You made an Alpha, and a strong one at that. My life was always going to be harder than most. Plus, as a Lycan, it was doomed from the start.” I gave a small laugh.
“Don’t say that. You were supposed to have an amazing life, and you still can.”
“Mom. My mate is a bastard. He will never be deserving of me.”
“Your wolf mate will never be deserving of you. My wolf’s mate wasn’t either.” She chuckled as she shook herself. “He was and still is a disgusting rat bastard that I never allowed myself to get too close to until I was fully mated to your father.”
“Dad was your Lycan mate?” I questioned.
She nodded. “He was strong enough to catch Sigyn’s fancy, but in truth, they were destined to be together. My wolf, Leanne’s mate, is, well, pathetic.”
“Who was Leanne’s mate?” I looked up at her and she shook her head in disgust.
“Vince.” She looked down at me, disgusted. “I caught his scent the morning of my eighteenth. I followed his scent back to his pack, and I watched as he rutted another female. I was disgusted. As I taught you, my mother hammered home the meaning of mates and how we should save ourselves for them. So, when I saw him rutting with another, it broke Leanne’s heart.”
“Understandable.” I held her close.
“But even then, I could have tried to make it work.”
“Then what happened?” I pulled back.
“Mid-rut, the scent hit him. The she-wolf was pregnant with his pup. And he lost control. He ripped her apart. The poor girl was no more than seventeen and he ripped her to shreds. I watched as he killed a girl that he confessed his love to, and I couldn’t do anything because I was a rogue wolf on his land.
I stared at her for what felt like minutes, but it was probably only seconds. “Mom…”
She shook her head, and a new tear fell. “I knew then I could never mate Vince. So, I left. And I spoke with my father, as you spoke with me, and he said he would never make me mate with a wolf that held females so low. Low enough to use themwhile they were at their weakest and then kill them when he was finished with them. So, whenever Vince came looking for his mate, my father would always send me back home.”
“How did you meet daddy?”
