Page 13

Imri

Driving home was difficult, considering how conflicted I felt.

Leaving Sully on the side of the road was the last thing I wanted to do. I felt inexplicably drawn to him. Okay, I knew the reason. He was right. Sully was my fated mate. Even though I’d denied it to his face, I knew it in my heart. He was mine as much as I was his.

Was I really going to deny our bond?

Yes, I was.

There were three reasons why I’d do so waiting for me at home. Our relationship was too new, too fragile, for a partner to come in. A young omega, a prey animal at that, who might want kids of his own. How likely was it a young omega would accept the kids? Especially ones with a complicated past like mine had.

He also came from Haenvale. As soon as they got wind of our relationship, if we were to have one, they’d drag me over the coals to prove I was worthy of one of their precious prey shifters. I had to keep the town off my back.

It was no good. We were too different for it to work. Maybe if I’d met him before the kids… No, that was unfair to the kids. They weren’t disposable. Not a burden. They were mine.

As soon as it was a decent time of day, I was calling my moms for their help. I’d put it off, but this was too important. I had no clue what Sully would say to anyone in town. The last thing I needed was a bunch of people knocking on my door asking questions I couldn’t answer.

They could take Sandy and Berry from me. I couldn’t allow that to happen.

Forcing myself to pay attention to the road, I brushed all thoughts of Sully away. All I could control was the stuff with the kids. I’d get the necessary papers forged to make it official enough looking to pass scrutiny, because I’d have people looking over every inch of my life if they found out about us.

It was only a matter of time before Sully said something to the wrong person and the authorities were at my door. Time in our little bubble was running out. My first instinct was to flee, but the woods were all the kids had ever known, and Rowan’s magic was too unpredictable to move for a bit. It wasn’t his fault, just the facts of the situation.

Rowan was waiting for me on the porch when I pulled up. He had a coffee in his hands, worry lined every part of his body. He was hunched against the early morning chill, cradling the cup like it held all the answers.

He waited for me to park the truck and join him on the porch before he spoke.

“Is he really your fated mate?” It was asked so quietly I almost missed the words.

He handed over the still warm coffee to me. I sipped it before I answered. “Doesn’t matter either way. He’s not for me.”

“Why? Is it because of us?” Rowan looked on the brink of tears.

I didn’t know how to approach this. The truth was, the kids were part of it. Not all of it. Honesty was the best policy and all that… ugh, I just hoped this wouldn’t make Rowan take the twins and leave.

“Part of it is, yeah. We don’t have what we need yet to ensure the town doesn’t take you three from me.” I held up a hand to stop his words of protest. “First thing this morning I’m calling my moms. I’ll introduce you three to them, and they’ll fix it.”

“So you can have your mate once that’s fixed?”

“No.”

“Why not?” With the way he was frowning, it was easy to see just how young Rowan was. He was idealistic, untarnished by the outside world because he’d barely met anyone or been disappointed.

“Because he’s still from that godforsaken town,” I muttered bitterly. “And I’m still a predator and he’s still prey. There’s no changing that. Besides, they’d never go for it,” I sighed, feeling a heavy weight on my shoulders. “I’m not interested in fighting a town.”

“So you’re just going to give your fated mate up?” Now Rowan was frowning at me.

“We’ve only just met. He doesn’t even know my name,” I pointed out. “Neither of us are missing out on anything.”

In our short time together, we hadn’t had time to form a bond. We barely knew a thing about each other, by design on my end, aside from our shifter types and that Sully was twenty-two. A big age gap. If we were both a little older, it wouldn’t matter so much, but he was only just considered an adult. Fresh out of college, with no real world experience.

His heat might have been an error. I should have taken him home instead of giving him my knot. Already I craved more of him. Something that would lessen with time, I hoped.

“It just doesn’t seem right.” Rowan leaned his head on my shoulder. Rare for him. He was starting to initiate touches more. I enjoyed how tactile the younger kids were. They often came for hugs and Berry loved having her hair brushed.

“Maybe not, but it’s how things are for now. If the town proves me wrong about them…” I didn’t really want to voice my secret hope. After our time in the truck, I might have ruined things for good with him. He looked so sad in the rearview mirror.

Having Sully in my life didn’t look likely for the time being.

“Imri? Is it not early there?” Mama sounded sleepy even though it was already after seven, and I was on my fourth coffee.

“Can I start a video call with you? I need to show you something.”

“Hold on.” There was rustling, then the call changed, and she came into view, a robe tightly tied around her ample form. Mom fed her well. “What’s wrong? Is it the house? We’re able to come sooner if you need us.”

“No, it’s not the house. I’ve got some helpers to pitch in.” It was utterly nerve-wracking to reveal what I’d been hiding from her.

“I thought no one was allowed in those damned woods?” I heard her muttering about backwards hick towns and bit back a smile.

The rant she had gone on the day I told her no one came out to the house was epic. My parents were so fierce in their protectiveness for all of their children, and the littles my siblings had.

“Remember that letter?”

“Do I remember the letter, he says?” she turned to ask Mom, who was at the stove cooking eggs. “He wouldn’t tell us what was in it, would he?”

“Nope.” Mom’s eyes shone with fondness.

“You want the long or short version?” I grinned playfully.

“Short, my eggs are nearly done!” Mama called, she’d gotten up to help Mom with breakfast by taking the plates out of the warming shelf in the oven.

“Okay, well, you are grandparents again. I’ve adopted three kids!”

Mama nearly dropped the plates. Mom shut off the burner. “Baby, you’re gonna have to give us the longer version.”

It took some time to convince them to eat their breakfast while I explained the details of the letter. Both of them got emotional hearing how Malik had taken the family under his wing. What wasn’t in the letter was that the kids’ mom, Agnes, was the one who performed healing on Malik, delaying the disease slowly killing him. Rowan told me he had tried to do the same after she died, but it wasn’t as effective .

“Oh! Those poor babies!” Mama cried, she had a tissue held tightly in her fist, fresh tears welling in her eyes. “Let me see them, please, Imri. Are they okay?”

“Better than you would’ve thought, considering they had to wait for me. They’ve got no one else.”

“Not true. They’ve got grandmas now. So let us see them.” Mom, more stoic than Mama, even had unshed tears begging to fall.

“See?” I said, walking my phone through to the living room where the kids waited for me. “Two grandmas, just waiting to meet you.”

I turned the camera to face the kids. They each waved nervously.

“The twins are Sandy and Berry. The big one is Rowan. He’s been helping me fix up the house.”

My moms excitedly greeted the kids, making relief flood my system. I unbunched my shoulders and took a full breath for the first time since Sully had woken on the couch.

“What do you need?” Mom asked about half an hour later, after the kids felt safe enough to ask to go outside. They’d gotten along so well with both my moms, it was a massive relief for us all.

“You’re not going to tell me to turn the kids over to the authorities?”

“In that town?” Mama sounded offended. “Have you lost your head? No, we support you keeping them. You are planning on keeping them, right? They love you, Imri.”

“Of course I’m keeping them!” It was my turn for my hackles to rise. “I’d never introduce you as their grandparents if I wasn’t. That’s stupid and cruel!”

“Good. So what do you need?” Mom intervened.

“I need your witch hacker friend to make them identities,” I said to Mama. “Fake an old adoption certificate for them all going back to when Malik went into the hospice.”

“So no one knows they were alone. Right. Makes sense. I can do that. I’ll need dates and their birth names.” She was already fiddling with her phone, ready to act.

“I’ll text you that. We’ve been working with the younger ones on our story. At the minute, the story is we only came here because Malik’s estate finally transferred to me. I’ve had someone check on the house periodically, which is why it wasn’t as bad. Malik was their guardian after their mom died, until the hospice, but I agreed to take them when he got too bad. We lived not too far from you, pretty isolated. All that shit.”

“Smart. I always knew you had the brains. All perfectly plausible and giving no one reason to dig too deep will keep you all safe.”

“The documents will help.”

“They will. I’ll get on that as soon as we’re off the phone. When they are ready, we’ll come with them, help you get more of the house ready. We want to visit our grandbabies, don’t we, honey?”

I heard my mom in the background, shouting that she was already packing. “I’m canceling that hotel. That town isn’t getting a dime of our money if I can help it!”

Mama’s smile was vicious. “Damn straight!”

“You know the town probably doesn’t know about the kids, right? The clan that came here generations ago just slowly died out. The townsfolk don’t go into the woods because they probably think the ghosts of that clan are there, waiting to attack. It wouldn’t have crossed their minds that a family still lived there.”

“Maybe, but I don’t like how they treated Malik, either. They sound like bigots.”

I opened my mouth to convince her they weren’t, but stopped myself. There was no proof they weren’t. Didn’t I say to Sully they wouldn’t like me being with him because of what we were? I’d seen enough from the way they’d looked at me and in the rules they had in the town charter to make that decision for myself.

“Fair enough. You’ll have the camper, right? If we focus on it, we can get the spare room ready for you.”

“The camper will be more than fine. We don’t get to use it often enough,” Mom said, returning to her mate’s side.

“Thanks, Mom, Mama. I knew you’d know what to do.”

“You’re more than welcome, Imri.” Mama’s eyes shone with her love for me. “We don’t say this often enough, but both of us are very proud of you. Always have been, just especially today. You’ve brought so much light into our lives. I can’t wait to meet them. I’ll call when we get the documents, okay? Might take a couple of days, though. Love you.”

“Love you both, too.”

Some time later, Rowan, Sandy, and Berry joined me in the kitchen. Rowan slumped down into the chair, his head tipped back, looking at the ceiling.

“I like our grandmas,” Sandy said confidently. He never let anything bother him.

Berry perched herself on my knee, leaning back against my chest. “Me too. Grandma Ellie said she was going to bring me a pretty dress.”

“A pretty dress for a pretty princess. That’s right.”

“Can I have wellington boots for the garden instead?” She’d learned about wellies from the TV shows about Earth One. I tried to limit their screen time because too much wasn’t good for them.

“Why not both? Grandma Farah might get you some boots.”

Sandy didn’t ask for a present, unused to the idea. He didn’t like the TV as much as Berry did.

“They didn’t try to talk you out of it.” Rowan finally looked at me. His eyes were red-rimmed. “They want you to keep us, too.”

“Of course they do. I guarantee it’s a done deal. They were bugging me for your details as soon as I hung up with them. Might take them a couple of days to track down their witch friend, she’s a free spirit, but I guarantee they are out here by the end of the week.”

“What would you bet?”

I ran a hand over Sandy’s brown hair and squeezed Berry to me. “If they aren’t here by the end of this week, I’ll make you a pie of your choosing, just for you.” Rowan’s appetite was epic. “If you lose…”

Humor danced in Rowan’s eyes. “If they come visit before the week is out, I’m on cooking duty.”

“Cooking duty, huh? How long?”

“A week?” Rowan hedged.

My eldest kid was an amazing cook. I almost wished my parents would be delayed and Rowan would lose.

“I agree to those terms.”

We shook hands, making the twins laugh. My chest ached and I was exhausted. Still, protecting them almost made it worth giving up Sully.