She nodded, chewing her lip in anxiety. “He was back, he was alpha, and he wasinsanelygood looking.”
I gulped, my heart torn at the story.
“Why was he gone so long?” I suddenly felt like I was watching a soap opera and needed to know every detail.
My mom shrugged. “We didn’t do much talking…” She let that sentence linger and my eyes went wide.
“I was dating Curt, falling in love with your father, and already in love with Run. I was a mess, so confused, and when he kissed me, all of that fell away and … we made love right there in the barn for the first time.” She winced.
Okay, embarrassing to hear my mom say that, but I needed to hear this story. “Wow,” was all I could think of to say.
She nodded. “I guess Curt was suspicious that I was secretly dating your father, so he had me followed, and a guard caught us in the barn.”
Oh shit.Plot twist.“Did they arrest you?”
She pulled her hand from mine and walked to the window. The curtains were closed but she stared at them and rubbed her temples.
“He was a Paladin, Demi. They killed him. Right there in front of me. Said he was trespassing and called it rape.”
Bile rose in my throat. To misuse that word made anger rise up in me so strongly I felt dizzy.
“Oh, Mom, I’m so sorry.” I stood and stepped closer to meet her at the window and she spun around.
“I’m not done, Demi.” She held out her hand as if she didn’t want me to come closer. Tears lined her eyes, but she blinked them back. I’d never seen my mom cry. Every sad movie we watched, my father cried with me but not my mom. She was the rock of the family, and seeing her eyes well up now shook me.
“I couldn’t let Run go like that, let them smear his name and call him a rapist.”
I nodded and she took a deep breath. “I told Curt what happened, that I’d known Run since he was eleven and that it was consensual, that it was my first time with him and that I loved him.” She pressed her palms to her eyelids and came away with smudged make-up and wet cheeks. “He was so mad, so furious that I chose a Paladin over him, that he banished me right there. He said he’d fallen in love with me during the selection, I had no idea.”
Holy shit … Curt must have really loved my mom … not that this was any way to treat someone you loved, but it explained the anger.
“I rushed to my dorm to pack my things,” my mom said. “Wondering what I would do for food and shelter, wondering how I could live in a human world alone … when your dad showed up to my dorm.” This time a sob escaped her and she clutched her chest. “He said he heard of my banishment and couldn’t bear to think of me out in the human world all alone. He told me he’d fallen in love with me somewhere during those late nights in the library and asked me to marry him.”
Now I was crying too. That wassomy dad, such a sweetheart and always doing the right thing. Wow, my mom had three guys in love with her at the same time. Talk about drama.
“I told your father about Run and he said he didn’t care, that he knew I would grow to love him in time and we could take it slow.”
“That’s so Dad,” I half sobbed, and she nodded, smiling and wiping back tears.
“We took it slow, but I quickly fell in love with him. You know your father, there isn’t much not to love. He provided for us while I went to community college and got my teaching degree.”
I smiled, feeling lightness in my chest. This story was bad, but not as bad as I feared, and it just made me love my parents more.
“Thanks for telling me, Mom.” I went to hug her and she held up a hand.
I froze, a stone sinking in my gut.
“Demi, one month into living outside of Wolf City, we found out I was pregnant.” Her voice shook and I blinked back shock. What was she saying?
Her cheeks reddened. “Your father and I hadn’t been intimate all the way like that yet, and so … Demi, you’re half Paladin,” she blurted out.
The world swam around me as dizziness took over. What? Run was …my dad wasn’t my real father?
“No!” she growled. “Don’t you do that, don’t you fucking dare.” She cursed for the first time ever and it scared the shit out of me. “I see what you’re thinking. That man out there…” She pointed to the living room. “He pulled you from between my legs when you were born, he cut your umbilical cord, he changed every diaper, he stayed when most men would leave.Thatman is your father.”
I nodded, tears slipping down my cheeks as my chest tightened. She was right of course, but I couldn’t help but think of poor Run, who might have been a great father had he been given the chance. Still, it wouldn’t change my feelings for my dad, who I just loved more now after hearing this story. “Dad knows?”
She nodded. “Of course, I tell him everything. Demi … I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. It’s such a painful story for me and it doesn’t really matter. We started a family a little sooner than planned but that’s it. End of discussion. You were wanted. You were conceived in love and born of love and—oofh.”
