didn’t exist.” Mom paused for a moment, obviously catching her breath. I noticed her eyes had begun to fill with tears again and I bit my bottom lip, fighting back my own sudden urge to cry for her.
“ One night while we were lying in bed beside each other he turned to me and asked me if I really wanted to know the truth, the whole truth about him and where he disappeared to every month. Of course I told him that I did, because at that point I was beyond caring about whatever it was that he had been hiding.
“ I’ll never forget the look on his face. He seemed to be fighting an unseen battle inside of himself, struggling against himself with the decision to tell me or not. I remember sitting beside him at the edge of my bed, comforting him and telling him that no matter what it was he had to say it would never change the way I felt about him. The look he’d given me when those words spilled from my lips was incredible. His eyes had grown so wide and loving that I’d felt I could drown in the endless depths of them.
“ He’d poured his heart out to me that night, explaining everything from where he disappeared to each month to what he was, from the title in his pack he held to the girl he was betrothed to and why there could never be a future for us because I was merely human and his life was about to change forever in just another year—the year of his twenty-first birthday.” She stopped talking then, and I knew from the look in her eyes she was waiting for me to say something again. Deep inside I knew this would be the perfect moment to tell her about Jace and how in just two short months he would be taking over his father’s position as Pack Leader, but I couldn’t. Learning how high up in the werewolf world my father had been was enough to make my heart lurch to my throat, cutting off my ability to speak. When I didn’t speak, she continued.
“ Hearing all of that still hadn’t been enough to push me away from Kale. We continued to see each other just like always, only now things went a little more smoothly because I knew his secret. I lived a double life. By day I was just another human girl, and by night I was the absolute love of a werewolf’s life.
“ I did ask him at one point why he couldn’t change me, because if I were just like him, then we wouldn’t have to hide anymore. He’d told me it wasn’t like in the movies, that it wasn’t that simple. You were either born a werewolf or you were a half-blood marked for change and then bitten. Since I was neither it was just more ammo for why we had no future.
“ Two weeks after our one-year anniversary I’d finally decided to call it quits. Kale had disappeared for another full moon, and I’d made up my mind that when he came back I’d free him from this shameful relationship he was so embarrassed about. Only I never got the chance to tell him any of that, because the day he came back was the day I found out that I was pregnant with you.” She took my hand into her cold one, and I could see tears pooling in her eyes again.
“ I didn’t cry when I found out, because in my own selfish way I thought having you might be the bond that tied us together forever. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
“ The next night when he came over, I told him. As the words ‘I’m pregnant’ came from my mouth a look of pure rage burned within his eyes and splashed across his face. Becoming enraged by my news, he smashed his fist on my dining room table with such force splinters of wood went flying as it cracked. I stared at him, feeling the most shocked I’d ever felt in my entire life. I remember asking why he was so angry and his exact words had been: ‘I’ll never raise a half-blood; it’s a disgrace.’ I lost count of how many times he told me to get rid of you, that he wanted no part in this,” she said, her hand squeezed mine and then released.
I swallowed hard and blinked away the tears that filled my eyes. I had been unborn and still
“ One night while we were lying in bed beside each other he turned to me and asked me if I really wanted to know the truth, the whole truth about him and where he disappeared to every month. Of course I told him that I did, because at that point I was beyond caring about whatever it was that he had been hiding.
“ I’ll never forget the look on his face. He seemed to be fighting an unseen battle inside of himself, struggling against himself with the decision to tell me or not. I remember sitting beside him at the edge of my bed, comforting him and telling him that no matter what it was he had to say it would never change the way I felt about him. The look he’d given me when those words spilled from my lips was incredible. His eyes had grown so wide and loving that I’d felt I could drown in the endless depths of them.
“ He’d poured his heart out to me that night, explaining everything from where he disappeared to each month to what he was, from the title in his pack he held to the girl he was betrothed to and why there could never be a future for us because I was merely human and his life was about to change forever in just another year—the year of his twenty-first birthday.” She stopped talking then, and I knew from the look in her eyes she was waiting for me to say something again. Deep inside I knew this would be the perfect moment to tell her about Jace and how in just two short months he would be taking over his father’s position as Pack Leader, but I couldn’t. Learning how high up in the werewolf world my father had been was enough to make my heart lurch to my throat, cutting off my ability to speak. When I didn’t speak, she continued.
“ Hearing all of that still hadn’t been enough to push me away from Kale. We continued to see each other just like always, only now things went a little more smoothly because I knew his secret. I lived a double life. By day I was just another human girl, and by night I was the absolute love of a werewolf’s life.
“ I did ask him at one point why he couldn’t change me, because if I were just like him, then we wouldn’t have to hide anymore. He’d told me it wasn’t like in the movies, that it wasn’t that simple. You were either born a werewolf or you were a half-blood marked for change and then bitten. Since I was neither it was just more ammo for why we had no future.
“ Two weeks after our one-year anniversary I’d finally decided to call it quits. Kale had disappeared for another full moon, and I’d made up my mind that when he came back I’d free him from this shameful relationship he was so embarrassed about. Only I never got the chance to tell him any of that, because the day he came back was the day I found out that I was pregnant with you.” She took my hand into her cold one, and I could see tears pooling in her eyes again.
“ I didn’t cry when I found out, because in my own selfish way I thought having you might be the bond that tied us together forever. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
“ The next night when he came over, I told him. As the words ‘I’m pregnant’ came from my mouth a look of pure rage burned within his eyes and splashed across his face. Becoming enraged by my news, he smashed his fist on my dining room table with such force splinters of wood went flying as it cracked. I stared at him, feeling the most shocked I’d ever felt in my entire life. I remember asking why he was so angry and his exact words had been: ‘I’ll never raise a half-blood; it’s a disgrace.’ I lost count of how many times he told me to get rid of you, that he wanted no part in this,” she said, her hand squeezed mine and then released.
I swallowed hard and blinked away the tears that filled my eyes. I had been unborn and still
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