Page 60 of The Witch's Shifter
My fingers curl into trembling fists. “Yes, I know who the father is,” I say, but the heat has gone from my tone. Tears brim along my low lashes, turning the pinpricks of distant firelight into starbursts that try to blind me. “And this child will have a beautiful life, one full of love and support andacceptance. They will have everything you refused to give me. And they will have a father who doesn’t leave them, who doesn’t make them feel likenothing.”
A look of shock crosses my mother’s face.
“I can’t stand you,” I whisper as tears escape my eyes and track down my cheeks. “I want you gone. I don’t want you anywhere around my family.”
She opens her mouth, but no sound comes out.
For the first time in my life, my mother is speechless. But it doesn’t stop my tears.
Turning, I flee from her, running away from the square and down Hillock Lane toward the Golden Lantern and the now-quiet pumpkin patch. The farther I go, the harder I start to cry.
Of all the hurtful things she’s said to me in my life, this might be the worst. She was so excited when Selene announced her pregnancy, so willing to be part of the baby’s life.
But she wants nothing to do with my child’s life. Nothing to do with me.
And it shouldn’t hurt like this—after all, I have Harrison and Alden and Rowan, and maybe even Faolan—but it still does, still digs beneath my ribs like briars and pricks me in my most vulnerable places.
More tears course down my cheeks, blurring my vision so I have to stop and scrub them from my eyes. It’s getting harder to breathe, and I finally let myself break down, let a sob choke from my lips.
Behind me, there’s a soft rhythmic thumping. At first, I think perhaps it’s a rider in the distance, but as I stand in the dark alone, sobbing, the sound grows louder.
Until it’s right behind me.
I whirl around and let out a small gasp. I’m still not used to seeing Faolan in his canine form.
His long black fur allows him to almost vanish into the darkness, but his eyes, so bright and blue... I’d know those eyes anywhere.
“F-Faolan,” I whisper, holding out a trembling hand.
He steps forward slowly, as if trying not to frighten me. Then he presses his snout into my palm. He’s warm and soft, and I feel immediately at ease, so comforted by his presence that I take two more steps and wrap my arms around his broad, strong neck. He’s so tall, even on all fours, that I don’t even have to stoop; he reaches my shoulders easily.
For a moment, I cling to him, crying into his fur as he stands strong and unmoving. Then I hear voices in the distance, coming this way.
“I-I can’t go back yet,” I say. “I can’t see her. I don’t want to face the others like this...”
Faolan seems to understand. Nudging me with his snout, he pushes me toward his back, then lowers himself so that I mayeasily swing a leg over him and climb up. When he rises, my toes leave the ground, and I have to twine my fingers through his thick fur to keep from falling off. I hug him with my legs, awed by the strength of his muscles moving beneath me, the heat from his body warming me in mere moments despite the chill in the air.
He’s a thing of absolute beauty. He’s magic itself.
“Aurora?” calls a faint voice. It’s Selene. Figures are moving toward us, backlit by the firelight coming from the market square.
More tears track down my cheeks.
“I’m ready,” I tell Faolan. “Take me away from here. Please.”
And before anyone can find us, he slinks into the dark, carrying me along with him.
Chapter 31
Faolan
WHEN AURORA STARTED TO CRY, I couldsmellit, and my body reacted immediately. But by the time I made it to her mother, the cruel bitch, Aurora had already run off into the dark.
“What did you do?” I snapped, and I know she caught sight of my fangs glistening beneath my lips, because a brief moment of surprise flickered through her purple eyes.
“I don’t believe that’s any of your business,” she said back.
And it took every ounce of willpower I possess to not tear her limb for limb.
