“Tell me about your childhood,” I say. “Where did you grow up?”
“In a rural area, on the other side of the city,” she says in a dreamy voice. “We didn’t have much money, but we didn’t need it. Mom had a little garden, and we survived just fine. She sold a bit of produce or made sweets to sell. The thing I remember most is that she always had time for me. We were together all the time.”
Sadie snuggles a little closer to me with a happy little sigh.
“I hope to give Cassie the same. It was hard in the city. I had to work so much just to pay the rent. I was always so afraid I was neglecting her, but I had no choice.”
I want to ask how she ended up in college as a young adult if they were poor, but I don’t want to interrupt her, either, so I just stay curled around her, hoping that she feels safe.
“Cassie is happy here,” she says, her voice dropping to a whisper. “She has everything I always worried I could never give her…”
It seems like the perfect opening to ask Sadie about telling Cassie I’m really her father, but when I look down, Sadie’s eyes are closed and she’s fallen into a peaceful slumber on my chest.
I fold my arms gently around her, enjoying the closeness between us and beginning to really struggle with thoughts of what comes next.
I can’t keep living each day as if tomorrow will never come. The pack is in danger, and the council wants answers. Sadie isn’t safe here.
Chapter 16 - Sadie
The day after the party, I wake in Rhys’s arms. I feel so comfortable and safe beside him, but at the same time, I’m more afraid than ever.
My issues with the relationship haven’t magically disappeared, and one peaceful night in his arms isn’t going to change the fact that he literally kidnapped me. But the events from the night before play out in my head with vivid clarity, and my fear rises so sharply, I have to get up quickly in case Rhys notices my sudden anxiety.
Did that guy notice when I pushed him back? What would they do to me if they found out I had magic—and what would happen to Cassie?
I check in on her, relieved to see her sleeping soundly, then go to the kitchen to make coffee. My heart doesn’t slow down, and I test my powers on a few items. My powers are even stronger than before.
What actually is my power? So far, I have telekinesis. I have a heightened sense of everything around me as if I’ve developed enhanced senses. But what does this actually mean?
I sit at the table, sipping very strong coffee and trying to think. If I were alone, back in my old life, I’d probably feel very curious and want to explore this aspect of myself. But here, it just frightens me.
I’m only just starting to get some respect in Rhys’s pack, and obviously, the wolves from the other packs don’t like me. I feel more trapped now than I did before.
I hear a light step in the hall and get up to give my baby girl a kiss and a hug. Seeing Cassie always lifts my mood, but the dark weight in my chest gets heavier.
I have to protect her. I don’t know what to do!
By the time Rhys comes down, I’ve managed to settle my emotions. We eat breakfast together. He’s very relaxed after the night before, and his closeness just makes me even more conflicted.
It was nice to sleep in his arms. I wish I could just sink into that feeling and forget all the reasons why I shouldn’t give in.
***
After Jean picks up Cassie, Rhys drives me to work, and I manage to carry on a conversation without stumbling over my emotions. I can tell he wants to ask about last night, but I’m more determined than ever not to tell him.
And everyone thinks it’s just because that goon leaned on me. Really, it’s because I think I could have taken his head clean off without thinking about it.
I wave goodbye to Rhys as he drives off to work, and finally, I know the first thing that I have to do.
I have to learn about witches and my powers. I need to control this thing, whatever it is.
The girls are in the break room, having coffee. I greet them briefly before heading out back. I’m almost more nervous around them than the wolves, because if wolves would take me being a witch badly, what would humans do?
There’s still a lot of filing to do in the old room out back, but before I go out there, I stop in the reference area to dosome checking on the computers. Even though I’m interested to learn more about the witch lore in this town, there’s something bugging me a lot more.
Why did my mother have absolutely no family?
Because we lived isolated, I never thought it was strange that I only had a mother and no extended family. She died in a car accident when I was fifteen, and I was moved into the city to a foster home. The place was crowded with homeless kids who had come from similar situations as mine, so I thought my situation wasn’t unusual.
