Page 44 of Beastkin
I took a deep breath. “Not exactly. Do you remember the Emberwood family? They lived down the road when I was a kid?”
“The Emberwoods?” There was surprise in her voice, followed by a longer pause. “Karrick, honey, you haven’t mentioned them in years. Not since they and their little boy disappeared. That broke your heart so badly...”
“He’s here, Mom. At Widdershins. We... we reconnected.” I ran my free hand through my fur, trying to figure out how to explain this without sounding completely insane. “And it turns out all those feelings I had as a kid... they weren’t just friendship.”
The silence stretched so long I wondered if the call had dropped. Finally, she spoke, her voice gentle but careful. “Are you telling me you have romantic feelings for…?”
“Phoenix,” I said, filling the void. “And I think it’s more than that.” The words tumbled out before I could stop them. “We... last night we... God, Mom, I think I’m falling in love with him. Hard. And I don’t understand any of it because I’ve never been attracted to guys before, but with him it’s like...” I struggled to find the right words. “It’s like everything finally makes sense.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Her voice was warm, understanding in a way that made my chest tight with relief. “You know your father and I don’t care who you love, as long as they treat you well. But Phoenix... his family...”
“I know.” I closed my eyes, leaning back against the rough bark of the oak. “They’re part of the Purity Front. They hate Beastkin. If they found out...”
“They could be dangerous,” Mom finished grimly. “Karrick, you need to be very careful. The Emberwoods aren’t just casual members, Jonathan Emberwood sits on their advisory council.”
My blood turned to ice. “What? How do you know that?”
“Because after they moved away so suddenly, I did some digging. I was heartbroken watching you grieve for your friend, and I wanted to understand why they’d left without even saying goodbye.” Her voice hardened. “What I found wasn’t pretty. They didn’t just disapprove of your friendship, they were terrified of it. Apparently, they believed you were somehowcorruptingtheir son just by being near him.”
I felt sick. All these years, I’d wondered what I’d done wrong, why Phoenix had left without a word. And Mom knew the entire time… though I could understand why she never told me. How was a kid supposed to understand that?
“But Phoenix isn’t like them,” I said, more to convince myself than her. “He chose to be with me. He wants this.”
“I’m sure he does, honey. From what I remember of that little boy, he had a good heart. But that doesn’t change how dangerous his parents could be if they found out.” She paused. “What are these feelings like? You said they were sudden?”
“Yeah,” I replied, pacing back and forth. “It was like I saw him and suddenly… I don’t know… the world was suddenly incoloror something, like it had never been before.” Despite my nervousness, I kept talking. “And the thing about him being a guy only crossed my mind for a minute or so. But when we kissed… well, none of that mattered anymore.” I paused again, taking a deep breath. “And Mom, this is gonna sound weird, but I feel thisurgeto protect him, to make sure everyone knows he belongs to me.”
“Well,” she sighed on the other end. “There’s no doubt about it. That’s a mate bond for sure.”
“A what?” I nearly dropped my phone. “A mate bond? Like... like what werewolves have?”
“Not just werewolves, honey. Beastkin too. It’s part of our heritage, though it’s rare these days. Most of us don’t experience it anymore. Your father and I didn’t.” Her voice softened. “It’s a deep, primal connection. Once formed, it’s nearly impossible to break.”
I sank down onto the grass, my legs suddenly unable to support me. “But... how? Why?”
“That I can’t tell you. The old stories say mate bonds form between souls that are meant to be together. Some believe it’s a recognition from a past life, others think it’s simply destiny.” She paused. “What I do know is that they’re powerful, and they’re permanent.”
“Permanent,” I echoed, the word both terrifying and thrilling. “But what about Phoenix? He’s not Beastkin. Would he feel it too?”
“Maybe not in the same way you do, but there would be something drawing him to you as well. A pull he couldn’t explain.” She hesitated. “Has he mentioned anything like that?”
I thought about how quickly Phoenix had fallen into my arms, how natural it had felt between us despite our history. “Maybe. We haven’t really talked about it. Everything’s happened so fast.”
“You need to tell him, Karrick. He deserves to know what this is.”
“And say what?” I ran a hand through my fur. “He’ll think I’m insane.”
“He’s a witch, honey. I’m sure he understands magical bonds better than most.”
I groaned, remembering what he’d told me about his parents. “But what if this freaks him out? What if he thinks I’m trying to trap him or something?”
“Then you’ll work through it together.” Her voice was firm. “But keeping something this important from him isn’t fair, especially given how controlling his parents have been. He deserves all the information to make his own choices.”
Deep down, I knew she was right. Phoenix had spent his wholelife having his freedom restricted by his parents. The last thing I wanted was for him to feel trapped by me.
“Okay,” I finally said. “I’ll tell him. Tonight.”
“Good.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “And Karrick? I’m proud of you. It takes courage to follow your heart, especially when it leads you somewhere unexpected.”