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“ K nock, knock,” Mom said, her knuckles rapping lightly on my bedroom door.

I turned from where I was folding my shirt to see her leaning against the doorway watching me. I tried not to frown when I saw the same tightness around her eyes and mouth that had taken up permanent residence the last two weeks since I announced I was going to the Summit.

“Hey,” I said with a smile, finishing folding the shirt and laying it into the open suitcase on my bed.

Her gaze drifted to the suitcase before landing on me. “Anything you need me to get you?”

I surveyed the stacks of clothes, toiletries, and random other items around me. “I think I’ve got it.”

“Are you sure?” She pressed, coming into my room. “Toothbrush? Sweater? Plane ticket to Paris?”

I gave her a look as she sat down in my desk chair.

She splayed her hands wide with a shrug. “Can’t blame a Mom for trying.”

I finished putting the last set of clothes in my suitcase and zipped it shut before sitting on the edge of the bed. “I know you’re worried, but it’s going to be fine, Mom.”

With a sigh, she leaned back. “I still think it should be me going.”

“You know why it has to be me,” I countered, really not wanting to rehash the same argument we had been having for the last week.

If Mom wasn’t coming up with last minute Mother-Daughter activities, she was trying to not-so-subtly change my mind about going to the Summit. It had been the same routine for the last two weeks, but she had definitely ramped up the guilt trip and side comments the last three days.

She heaved another heavy sigh. “I do know, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“Mom, we’ve gone over this,” I said for the twentieth time in the last twenty hours, “I’m going to testify to the Shifter Council what happened. You, Bella, and Aunt Zara have already written and recorded formal statements. Even Zoe gave her statement.”

I reached out and took her hand. “I won’t take any chances. I’ll be with Remy the entire time.”

Now she frowned for a whole new reason. “Skye, I think maybe we should talk about that.”

My lips curved into what I hoped was a teasing smile. “No offense, Mom, but I think I have the birds and the bees talk handled.”

Her mouth flattened. “You definitely aren’t a bird or a bee, sweetheart.”

A blush crept over my cheeks. “Okay, truth? Remy and I have never... I mean we haven’t actually...”

Oh. God, please don’t make me say it.

She blinked slowly. “You two haven’t had sex?”

My face was on fire. Actual flames were exploding from my cheeks. “No.”

“Oh.” She didn’t seem overly surprised, but there was a small glint of relief hiding in her emerald eyes.

“It’s... Remy knows about the omega house. He’s never pressured me. In fact, kind of the opposite,” I admitted. “I think he knows my introduction to sex wasn’t normal, so we’ve taken things slow.”

Really slow , I wanted to add, barely able to not roll my eyes.

Mom flinched back, looking away but not before I saw the anger and hurt flash in her eyes.

“Mom, I don’t blame you,” I reminded her quickly.

“I blame me, baby,” she muttered, lifting a hand to absently rub the scar where her neck curved into her shoulder.

Like all omegas from our pack, Mom bore the scars from her years spent being abused. Shifters didn’t scar easily due to our faster healing rates, but wounds with significant damage left scars.

Mom and I both had our fair share, but she had more visible ones.

Her palm settled over the scar as she lifted her eyes to me. “I’m so glad that you and Remy found each other. I’m so thankful that he’s patient and kind and understanding.”

I frowned slightly. “Sometimes I wish he would be a little less patient and kind and understanding.”

Her only response was to raise her eyebrows as she waited for me to elaborate.

I swallowed back the fresh wave of embarrassment. “Remy and I are mates, Mom. We spent part of the semester living together, and I feel like... I mean, I want...”

“You want a more physical relationship?”

I couldn’t meet her gaze as I nodded.

She exhaled a long breath. “Skye, you have your entire lives to have a physical relationship. For what it’s worth, I think you and Remy are smart by taking things slowly. You can’t ignore the things you’ve witnessed and endured yourself, baby. I know when hormones are involved, you may not think about it in the moment, but I don’t ever want you to have regrets about being with Remy.”

Something about her tone caught my attention. “Do you have regrets?”

“What?”

“Mom, I’ve done the math,” I said softly. “I figured your first time was with my dad.”

It made sense. Most females didn’t go into their first fertility cycle until they were twenty. Mom was supposed to be married six months before she turned twenty to ensure the likelihood of having a child her first cycle.

Unfortunately she had gotten pregnant when she was nineteen. Talk about bad luck.

She jerked away from me, getting to her feet and pacing across the room. “Skye—”

“I know you don’t want to talk about him,” I cut her off with a huff. “But do you regret being with him?”

She looked absently out the window, her hand again reached up to massage her neck. “I regret a lot of things,” she said quietly. “Your father... Honey, it never would have worked. And yes, my first time was with him.”

I stayed quiet for a moment, but finally my curiosity got the better of me. “Was he someone from our—from Long Mesa?”

Her jaw clenched. “Skye.”

I got up off the bed, but didn’t approach her. “Mom, please. I’ll be eighteen in a few days. Don’t you think it’s time to tell me something— anything —about him?”

She turned and looked back at me, her expression conflicted. “No,” she finally said. “He wasn’t someone from that pack. He was... “ She sighed, and I had the distinct impression she was sad.

Her hand went to her neck again, rubbing absently. It was her go-to tell when she was anxious. She had done it as long as I could remember.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered, swallowing my disappointment. “Forget I said anything.” I turned and took my ereader off the charger to put into my backpack.

“Skye.”

I turned slowly, stunned and guilty when I saw tears glistening in her eyes.

“You’re right,” she said slowly. “You’re almost an adult, and you deserve to know.”

Hope surged in my chest, my breath catching.

She held up a shaking hand. “But, can we talk about this when you come home? I need some time to gather my thoughts and... prepare myself.”

I frowned. “I don’t want you to be upset, Mom.”

“Baby, I buried a lot of memories of your father,” she whispered, shaking her head. “It was the only way to survive what happened. I’ll tell you everything when you come home. Deal?”

“Deal,” I agreed, crossing the room to hug her.

She rocked us until someone knocked at the front door.

I turned and looked at my clock. “That’s weird. Remy said he wouldn’t be here for another hour.”

“Okay, don’t be mad,” Mom said with a slight grimace. “Zara wanted to come by and talk to you before you left.”

“Why would that make me mad?”

“Because Bella also wants to talk to you,” she finished in a rush. “She showed up with her mom. I can tell her you don’t want to talk to her.”

I hadn’t spoken to Bella since that night in my room weeks earlier. We both had said a lot of nasty shit I didn’t really want to rehash.

Mom touched my shoulder briefly as she headed for my door. “It’s your choice, love.”

“No, it’s fine,” I agreed with a shrug. “There might be something she wants me to say to the Council on her behalf.”

Mom smiled at me. “I love you, my amazing daughter.”

“Love you more,” I muttered, unable to hide my own grin.

“Love you most!” she called as she headed for the front door to let them in.

I was inventorying the backpack I would use as my carryon when Aunt Zara stepped into the room.

“May I come in?” she asked, her voice a soft whisper.

“Of course,” I said, returning the hug she offered.

She released me and surveyed the suitcase and backpack. “Do you have everything you need?”

“Yeah,” I said with a tight smile.

She looked at me for a second before her face crumpled. “I’m so sorry, honey. I’m so sorry you have to do this.”

“Aunt Z,” I said softly, reaching out for her, but she backed away.

“I could kill him,” she whispered fiercely, turning to me with wet eyes. “I hate him. The only thing he ever gave me is Bella, and look how he destroyed her. How he ruined your mother and you.”

“He isn’t getting away with this,” I said firmly, lifting my chin. “He’s not going to get away with what they did to any of us. I promise, we’ll be safe.”

“You are so much like your mother,” Aunt Zara said in wonder, looking at me. “I never had her strength.”

“You saved my life,” I countered. “You saved us both.”

“But not soon enough,” she murmured. “Make them pay. Tell the world what they’ve done. But, sweetheart, be careful. Your uncle is a dangerous man with a lot of friends who think like he does.”

A ghost of a smile drifted across my lips. “I have friends, too.”

“I know,” she replied, finally smiling as well. “Your mate is pretty incredible, from what I’ve seen, and his father even more. I wish Long Mesa had an Alpha like we have here.”

“I’m glad we didn’t,” I said bluntly. “I hate what each of us went through. What... Maisie and Shane died for. But all of that brought me here. I found friends, a family, and my mate. I would take a lifetime of Linden and Cassian if Remy was waiting for me at the end.”

She cupped my jaw. “Yeah, you’re definitely your mother’s daughter.” She leaned in and kissed my forehead.

“Did your mother tell you Bella wanted to speak to you?”

“Yeah,” I replied, trying to stay indifferent. “You can send her in.”

“Okay,” Aunt Zara answered. “Stay safe, sweetheart.”

“You, too,” I said with a tight smile.

Aunt Zara left and Bella appeared in the doorway a second later, her eyes downcast. A small tremor rippled through her body.

I took a deep breath. “So, I was kind of a bitch last time we talked.”

Her head snapped up, her big green eyes staring at me.

Crap, she was scared of me. Actually scared .

I cleared my throat with a weak smile. “Okay, more like the last time I yelled at you. Not my finest hour.”

She edged into my room. “I wasn’t exactly the most understanding person either.” Another step forward. “I’m sorry for what I said. I was out of line.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I’m sorry, too.”

“Thank you,” she repeated, slowly blinking. “Not just for the apology, but for going and talking to the Council. I... I couldn’t do that.”

“Uh, sure. You’re welcome,” I stammered. I tried to shrug it off. “I’m just going to tell them the truth.”

And maybe punch your dad if I get the chance.

Bella sank into the chair at my desk, her hands clasped on the lap as she stared at them. “I miss him.”

Every muscle in my body went tense.

“My dad,” she clarified, with a whisper. A teardrop fell and splashed against the dark skin of her hands. “He wasn’t always this monster, you know? He was... my dad . I thought he loved me.”

Well, shit.

“Bella,” I started, but I had no idea how to follow up that beginning.

“I know he’s evil. What he did to you, and your mom and the other omegas? That’s just evil, Skye.” She lifted a shaking hand to wipe at her eyes. “He’s a bad person.”

I felt the familiar sting of my own tears and tried to blink them back.

“But I can remember him sitting down to help me with homework, or taking me to a movie,” she went on quietly, “and he wasn’t evil then. Or was he? I feel like I don’t know what to think anymore. I knew he hit my mom sometimes, but he always said she deserved it, and I guess I believed that, too. Even when he locked her up, he said it was because she broke pack law by helping you escape. He said she was a traitor, and I believed him. How stupid was I?”

She looked up at me, and my heart broke for her.

She was as shattered as a person could get. She had been betrayed by her father, the man she thought would always love and protect her.

“The night that Cass—that they attacked me,” she ground out through clenched teeth, “He came home, and saw me lying where they left me. It hurt so much, I couldn’t move. I expected my dad to raise hell. To kill them all. Or, I don’t know... Help me?”

I bit the inside of my cheek, unable to imagine going to the person you thought loved you for help and being turned away.

“He just... looked at me,” she said, almost in a daze. “He just stared at me, watched me crying and bleeding. And then he told me to go upstairs and clean up.”

I stepped forward and knelt at her feet, wanting to touch her and offer comfort, but not sure she would let me.

“I tried to tell him what they did, and he said he needed to make a phone call.” She grabbed my hand suddenly. “A fucking phone call, Skye. Who does that?”

“I’m sorry.” They were the only words I could give, and they weren’t enough. They weren’t nearly enough to undo that trauma.

“I hate him.” She sucked in a wobbly breath, fresh tears falling. “But I also remember loving him.”

The grip she had on my wrist turned bruising. “How do you do it?” she asked, begging. “How did you move on? Because I can’t. I’ve tried, but I can’t .”

A gut wrenching sob ripped from her body as she folded over, sobbing with her head against my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her.

“Tell me how I can move on,” she pleaded against my neck. “You did it—how did you do it?”

I leaned back, freeing my hands to frame her face so she would look at me. “I didn’t do it alone. I had a lot of help.”

I wiped away a tear with my thumb. “You have people who will help you, Bella. I’ll help you. Your mom, my mom, Zoe, Michael... You have an entire pack that will help you. You aren’t alone.”

She swallowed audibly, looking wildly around the room. “But every time I leave the house, I can feel their stares. I jump when people laugh too loudly, I scream if someone slams a door. I’m a mess .”

“Yeah,” I said slowly. “I’ve been there, and it gets better. But it takes time. A lot of time.”

“The idea of letting anyone touch me...” She shuddered violently.

“Trust me, I know ,” I told her, letting her face go and reaching for her hands. “But look. You’re letting me touch you.”

She frowned at our hands. “It’s not the same as... I mean, you have Remy, and I’ve seen you guys together.”

“It’s not the same,” I agreed, “but it’s a start. And Remy is patient with me, but there have been a lot of times that it hasn’t been easy on us. It’s also helped letting people in. Larkin, Katy, Rhodes, and a few other people I trust. It helps to talk about it with them.”

She threaded her fingers with mine. “I’m a mess. I’m a broken mess. How can I look any of these people in the eye when they know who I am?”

I smiled. “Remy told me when I first came to the pack that what I was before didn’t define who I was now.”

“Do you think it’s true?”

“I know it is.” I squeezed her hand. “You went through hell, Bella, but you survived. No one will ever judge you for being a survivor. Not in this pack, and not in this family.”

“How do you not hate me?” she asked. “If I were you, I would absolutely hate me.”

That answer was easier. “Because I’m tired of being angry all the time. There are enough people for me to hate without you being on the list.”

I caught the time on the clock behind her. Remy would be here in minutes.

I gave her a smirk. “Now I’m going to go tell the Council all the fucked up shit that happened to us so it never happens to another shifter ever again.”

Bella finally smiled back at me. “Sounds like a great plan.”