“Your father is a good man. He had nothing to do with the death of your mother. Your stepmother however, she has twisted and warped his brain just like she has done yours. Get rid of her and make up with your father. Take your rightful place as the alpha, Harold.”
It was everything that Harold wanted to hear. He had always blamed his father, but that was probably because his stepmother had been chiming in his ears pretty much his whole life. Could all that really be a lie?
“So, what are we supposed to do?”
“You are to be mated. You're destined to be together. You have broken her curse and now you can finally be together. Be who you were supposed to be this whole time.”
Harold couldn't believe the answers he had gotten. What he would have given to have had them sooner. The anger that had welled up inside of him and then held on to for so long, had hurt him so badly. Harold wished that none of it had happened.
“Before you let me talk to my mother, can I ask you one more thing?”
“He is fine. He has a few scars, but her father is fine.”
Harold breathed out a sigh of relief. He wanted Sarah to forgive him, but it would have been a lot harder if her father was maimed for life. Harold was ready to see his mom again. He missed her and wanted something to remember. The memories he had of her had faded dramatically.
Chapter 25
Sarah
Harold was so worried that Sarah would be upset with him, but she couldn't be. She couldn't be mad at him being lied to and deceived. She couldn't be upset that he had almost killed her father, the man that she had never met in all of her life. No, Sarah wasn't upset with Harold. She was upset with her own mother, the one who could have put her out of her misery but chose not to. That was the first place she wanted to go when they got back from the witches. Harold wanted to go home and cuddle. Sarah didn't feel like doing that. She knew that if she didn't go to her mother soon, she was going to lose her nerve.
When she got there, Carolyn hugged her, and Sarah didn't hug her back. She couldn't pretend like everything was okay. It wasn't. Her life was now so murky that she didn't understand anything, and it was hard not to blame her mother for it all. She was the one that had kept it all from her. Her father had his memory of her wiped, Carolyn didn’t.
“What's going on, Sarah?”
“Is dad here?”
Her mother looked at her strangely and then sighed, like she knew what was going to happen next.
“No, not right now. He's at work. What's going on?”
“Well, let's just say that we talked to a few witches today and I know everything. Like, everything, Mom. I think you have some explaining to do.”
Carolyn smiled. “That is so good to hear. So now you know that Harold’s your mate.”
“Yes, Mother. He is supposed to be my mate. I also learned that I'm not human.”
Carolyn frowned after a moment. “So, you've already had sex?”
“Yes, we had sex and I turned into a fricking lion. You think that you would have told me that. You could have saved me a lot of grief.”
Carolyn looked to Harold for help, but as much as the two of them seemed to get along, Harold didn't say anything. Carolyn was almost thankful for that. She didn't want to have to fight both of them.
“Why don't we sit down? It seems like you’ve had quite a day.”
“Yes, and then you can tell me how you kept this from me all this time. And why.”
“I didn't want to keep it from you, Sarah.”
“But you did! I had to find out in the worst way possible.”
Harold got another dirty look from Carolyn.
“It wasn't his fault. I freaked out so bad that I passed out. Can you imagine? In the middle of sex. It was so embarrassing.”
Harold started to get uncomfortable, and Sarah smiled his way.
“The witches told you about the curse then?”
