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Chapter 13

Noah

Mia stared at me for so long I wondered if she’d heard me. Did I say it aloud? ’Cause I sure as hell thought about it a million times during the past two weeks. Correction, during the past fifteen years.

Back then I didn’t know Mia was a Whitcome. Joan fostered a few kids over the years, and I assumed Mia was one of them.

“What did you say?”

I swallowed. “The Whitcome family are the original hunters. For centuries, they’ve hunted shifters for their blood, triggering the curse generation after generation.”

“No,” she whispered. “You’re lying.”

My heart cracked, splintering into jagged shards. “Why would I lie to you? I have nothing to gain from making this shit up.” My stomach twisted. “I have everything to lose.”

“Lose?” Her eyes narrowed, then realization dawned on her face. “As in me. Your…mate?”

I nodded.

I let her push my leg aside as she slid off the stool to stand. Secrets had a way of coming out eventually, I knew that, but I wished they weren’t mine. I thought I had more time. I wanted to tell her about the mating bond first.

She was nothing like the others of her kind, I sensed that deep in my soul.

Mia paced, stopping in front of a wrought iron wolf head hung on the back wall. She stood there, hands on hips, staring at my family’s crest. I hopped off the stool and crossed to her, sliding my hands up and down her arms.

“If Joan was a hunter, why didn’t she say anything to me when I came here?”

She twisted to face me, and the look on her face made my knees buckle. Shock, confusion, betrayal. It took every ounce of strength not to sweep her up in my arms and tell her everything would be all right. Would it? I didn’t know. Whether we had a future or not depended on this conversation.

I led her to the nearest chair and sat facing her. “Joan was different. She and my dad had an…understanding.”

“An understanding not to kill each other?”

“When you put it like that, it sounds a bit bizarre.” I took her hand in mine. “Joan had already triggered the hunter curse when my parents moved here but she hated the curse and the compulsion to kill for blood. She and my dad struck a deal. In exchange for his blood to keep the cravings at bay, Joan created a concoction to mask our shifter scent which kept our existence in Woodland Falls a secret, protecting us from other hunters.”

She thought for a moment. “My grandmother was an immortal hunter.” The creases in her brows deepened. “And my mother? Did you know her? Is she the same?”

I held her gaze. No more secrets. “Yes. But she didn’t agree with Joan’s deal. From what I know, your mother had a falling out with Joan and left town.” I squeezed her hand trying to reassure her. “It doesn’t matter what your mother is or isn’t like, you’re not her. I’ve known that from the first moment I saw you. I feel it in my soul.”

“How can you be sure? I might be. If what you say is true, I have the hunter curse. What if tomorrow or the next day, I wake up and have the urge to kill you for your blood like some sick vampire?”

I held back my smirk. “I have no doubt there’ll be times in our lives when you want to kill me. But wanting to and actively trying to are two very different things.”

Her brows furrowed. “If my grandma had the blood, how did she die of a heart attack? You said the blood healed and gave her near immortality.”

A lump thickened in the back of my throat. Fucking secrets. I should’ve learned my lesson in the beginning.

“After my parents died, Ash vowed to keep the Cole end of the bargain, but that was right about the time you first came to Woodland Falls.” I paused, not sure how to explain it. “I think Joan knew about us. I think she knew you were my fated mate. Right after you left, she told Ash that she’d continue providing us the concoction but no longer wanted blood. She fought against the bloodlust and the compulsion to kill every day.”

She sat back in the chair. “That’s why your wolf never stepped out of the forest. It always waited at the tree line. Even though you had an agreement, Joan was still your enemy.”

I nodded.

“So, she had no blood in her system to prevent the heart attack?”

My pulse kicked up, thumping around my body so fast it made my brain fuzzy. I let go of her hand to wipe mine along my jeans.

“Noah?”