Joshua didn’t answer, continuing to traverse the rough road. Kira grit her teeth together, fighting back the urge to yell at him to turn around and take her back home. She didn’t want to be here! Not with the forest so dark and the road so rough and Joshua so tense.
There was a sudden bump beneath them, and the car’s bouncing smoothed out. The trees started to fall back from the road, opening up. Finally, Joshua stopped at a set of gates. Hegot out, typed a code into them, and they opened slowly. Joshua gestured for Kira to join him.
When she did, he led her toward a mausoleum. The water table on the island was so high that they couldn’t dig graves in most parts of the island, so the dead were housed in above-ground tombs and mausoleums.
Joshua rounded the mausoleum and stopped at a tomb. It was topped with a long, flat stone slab. Names were carved into it, but the darkness made it impossible to see any details.
“This is the graveyard for witch hunters,” Joshua said gruffly. “They were a small group with powers that weakened a witch’s magic. I don’t know everything, but they were said to be able to prevent a witch from becoming pregnant, and if the bloodlines ever mixed, it would always result in disaster.”
A chill stole down Kira’s spine. Her stomach cramped, and she wrapped her arms around herself. “Witch hunters? Why haven’t I ever heard of this?”
“Few people do. I don’t know how they ended up on the island, or why. The witches locked away the demons. Maybe the original group of witch hunters wanted to release them. Or maybe they came, thinking the witches were causing trouble, and realized they weren’t, so they decided to stay. Maybe they were trying to escape. I don’t know.” Joshua ran a hand through his hair as he gently touched the tomb. “These are my parents.”
Kira fought back a gasp. Her mind whirled as she tried to come to terms with this. He had brought her to his parents’ tomb?
“How did they die?” she asked.
“My father was from Bael’s pack. He didn’t have a wolf because he was descended from the witch hunters. My motherwas a shifter, and she had some witch heritage. When I was five, they were killed. It’s suspected there was a gas leak in the house, but I’ve always known it was the curse.” Joshua ran a hand over his face, his shoulders slumping forward. “They mixed the bloodlines, and it was my existence that ended their lives.”
“You can’t know that.”
“I do. Witch hunter plus witch means disaster. My mother didn’t have access to magic. She had a strong wolf. That’s the only reason why they lasted so long. But the pregnancy was hard on her. It nearly killed her,” he continued, his voice growing rougher as he pressed both his hands to the tomb. “And shifters don’t have difficult pregnancies.”
Kira hesitated, then laid a hand on his arm. “They do, though. My mother had a terrible time with Chelsey. She also had several miscarriages after Chelsey. She had a strong wolf, too.”
“But your father was human,” Joshua sighed. “I’ve done the research. As much as I can, at least, with all the secrecy surrounding the witch hunters. My parents—Mark and Susan—kept my adoption from the pack to protect me.”
Her legs felt weak as Kira walked around the tomb, processing his words. So that’s why he reacted the way he did to the possibility of having children, why he insisted that she take the morning-after pill. Her heart felt heavy in her chest, a curious pang making her wince. She could understand his behavior, but knowing the why didn’t make her feel any better.
“So you see why,” Joshua murmured. “I can’t give you children. It would result in more tragedy.”
Kira wrapped her arms around herself. “I would like to read these materials myself. Did your parents know about the risks when they had you?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t know about this until much later.” Joshua rubbed the back of his neck, sighing. “But it doesn’t matter. Not really. If you want to do the research yourself, I won’t stop you, but you shouldn’t waste your time.”
“I don’t think it’s a waste of time when it affects my life. You know how the pack treats bloodlines. Even if I were to have a child via donation or if I adopted, you could claim the child all you want, but people will still treat them as lesser.”
Joshua sighed. “Not if we pretended. We could keep it a secret, the way my adoption has been kept a secret. I will be a father. I just can’t get you pregnant. Besides, if we adopt, people will accept it easily that you can’t have children with your status as a witch.”
Kira curled her hands into fists. “I thought you didn’t agree with how the pack treats witches.”
Joshua’s face was in shadow, but his silhouette revealed his shoulders lifting, tension radiating from him. “I don’t.”
“And yet, if we adopt, you will happily use my witch heritage as an excuse for the pack, putting the blame on me rather than taking responsibility for it being your choice.”
Joshua was quiet.
Kira’s breath came sharper now. Her eyes burned, and when she spoke, her voice broke over the words. “You really think that would be the best, don’t you? Just let the pack think there’s something wrong with me, that I can’t have kids. And you think so little of me that you’d put that shame on me?”
“There isn’t any shame to—”
“Don’t. Thereisshame associated with infertility in this pack. Otherwise, you would own up to the truth rather than wanting to convince people that I’m the problem. And you thinkI’d just go along like that? That I would bow my head and take all the whispers and stares like I always have? You’re the one who tells me to stand up for myself, then you expect me to take this without a word?” Her chest burned as anger and grief twisted into a knot, choking her. The darkness seemed to grow even more intense around them as she stared at his silhouette. “You knew all of this. And when the Council told you to marry me, you just… did it. You married me, knowing that I wanted a family, and you took that choice away from me.”
Joshua started forward. “If I didn’t step up, you would have been paired with someone else.”
“And I would have left them at the altar, too,” she snapped back.
Joshua growled. “I was keeping you safe and alive. I still am. I knew you’d be unhappy, but it’s worth the risk.”
