“If something happens to me, tell my parents I loved them.’
“Stop it.” There was a pause, and I imagined Jack hugging him or patting his arm. “You trust me, right? And I wouldn’t lead you into the lion’s den. My bear will protect you. She’s intensely loyal now that I can hear her.”
Jack’s beast had been trying to communicate with her for years, and I got teary-eyed when I thought of them unable to connect.
Not wanting to eavesdrop any longer, I flung open the door. Bardoul stumbled back, and he whimpered.
“Thanks for coming.”
I ushered them inside. Bardoul was behind my best friend, and he hunched over with one hand on her arm as his eyes darted around the main room. He reminded me of a frightened rabbit, even though he had a wolf inside him.
I regretted that I was the major cause of his anxiety, though Channon leaving Sombertooth and only doing classes online also hit him hard. He missed his bestie. I suspected I also had something to do with Channon living at home rather than here.
When Bardoul’s gaze alighted on my mate, he stood a little taller. Gods, did he think I was going to attack him? Poor guy, but I hoped to ease his fears this evening. Our guests sat together on the couch while my mate pulled up a stool and I did the same. He frowned at the empty seat when I plonked myself in the armchair.
“Knock, knock.” I’d left the door ajar, and our last guest strode in and closed it.
Refusing to explain to Phelan why I’d invited the guy, I pointed to the stool. I was pleased I’d placed it beside the couch and not near my mate because he was glowering at me. His wolf was in his gaze, and I sent him a silent plea, but either I was crap at communicating through my eyes or Phelan was ignoring my message, because he folded his arms and fumed. And his nostrils flared.
He was being ridiculous. We were fated mates, and we had a daughter who was sleeping in the next room. Why did he give a damn about my ex? But I’d answered my own question. Holden was my ex, and he appeared to have gotten over his awkwardness around me. It might have been better if he’d cowered, but I guessed tiger shifters weren’t the cowering kind.
Jack was no fan of Holden either, but she wasn’t displaying any obvious animosity, and Holden had never liked her much either.
“Thank you for coming, especially you, Bardoul. I understand how difficult this is, but I have information that may reassure you.”
Bardoul took a sip of the water he’d brought with him. Perhaps the bottle was his security blanket because he could gripit and drink whenever he didn’t know how to respond or when I presented him with details he wasn’t comfortable with.
“First, I will admit that as you all know, I am human, though thanks to me almost dying, I discovered my birth parents are wolf shifters.”
I refused to acknowledge Atticus as a brother, though biologically he was. If we’d been identical twins, it wouldn’t have been a secret from the day I arrived, but if his folks had suspected that we were, my outcome may not have been as pleasant as adoption.
That was really out there, thinking they would have done away with me, but after meeting them, nothing was impossible.
I prattled on about the ring and Rawlins insisting I always wear it. I couldn’t get into my latent scent fading and me scenting human because I didn’t have proof that being away from Atticus changed how I smelled. And Jack and Bardoul weren’t here for my complicated family history.
After giving them a brief rundown on how I discovered hunters existed when I’d found that book in Professor Shaw’s office last semester—for Phelan’s benefit, I added that they could be a myth—I explained how I kept hearing voices. One before I got pregnant and a second while Eira was inside me.
What I didn’t say, even to my mate, was how in first semester I’d been drawn to the woods at night and that man, if he was a real person, had beckoned me. I’d run in the opposite direction, but I had no explanation for that.
“The one I called the bad voice didn’t talk to me much during the pregnancy and has vanished since the birth. Or since I nearly died.”
“That tells us nothing. The hunter part of you could be hiding.” Bardoul had found his voice.
“True, and I’ve also wondered that.” I reached out to Phelan and squeezed his hand. “And I worried about Eira and if she’d inherit the hunter gene from me.”
“Are you telling me your baby might kill someone one day? That she’s the next generation’s hunter?” Bardoul was gripping the water bottle so hard, I expected it to burst. Maybe it should and getting wet might tamp down his anger.
“Enough.” Bardoul froze at the power behind that one word from my mate. “My daughter is innocent, and if you continue to insinuate she’s a killer, my wolf will tear you limb from limb.”
Bardoul tucked his legs under him and rocked back and forth. Jack comforted him and told us to calm down. But she sent me a “what the fuck” look, presumably because I had only upset everyone instead of doing the opposite.
I held up my hand, and wow, it had the effect I was hoping for. All eyes were on me.
“I’m going to hand the discussion over to Holden.”
I searched Phelan’s face for a sign he wasn’t going to rant at Holden. We were still holding hands, but he faced my ex and didn’t snark.
Holden started out by recounting how the old stories told of shifters who also became hunters, so it wasn’t just humans.
