He swallowed hard, his eyes flicking to a tree where his father lay at the base covered in a jacket, while his mother wept over his body wearing some random dude’s shirt. My mom rubbed small circles in her back.
This was so wrong. How had this gone so wrong?
Sawyer closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly regaining composure, and when they opened they were bright yellow and pissed as all hell. “My father’s death will be avenged.” His voice was deep and raspy, heavy with his wolf. “The vampires have waged war, and it’s a war I intend to win.”
The clapping resumed and some of the men even cried out in agreement, but the children just clung to their mothers. How long had it been since they’d seen war? A hundred years? No one alive here surely. Certainly not my generation.
The mothers with children started taking their little ones around the side of the building for home. It was horrible to hear their screams. I knew this day would be imprinted on all of us forever.
We’re all in shock, I thought.My father-in-law is dead under a tree and I’m in shock.
People staredat us and I wondered if we looked as horrible as we felt when I heard a whisper.
“Cursed one,” someone said, and that’s when I realized that my wolf was right beside me.
Shit.Everyone had seen me split shift. As if she wanted to throw it in their faces again, my wolf went semi-transparent and leapt into my chest, causing people to fall backward in shock, and gasp.
Well, there was no hiding what I was, and I didn’t want to anymore.
“Yes, Demi is a split shifter. She’s also my future wife so… get over it,” Sawyer snarled, and alpha power leaked out of him and slammed into the people, causing a few to stagger backward. Some of the onlookers bowed their heads, looking to the ground in submission, but a few still stared.
“You’re marrying a Paladin! Split shifters can only be Paladin wolves,” a man growled.
Everyone gasped at that, and I was guessing not a lot of people knew that little tidbit of info. This was going to go off the rails really quickly if we didn’t rein it in.
Sawyer opened his mouth to speak, when my mother stepped into the center of the crowd. “I met Demi’s Paladin biological father when I was a young girl. He lived on the border to my gran’s farm, and we were best friends since childhood.”
People fell silent, looking at my mom with curiosity.
“Then he grew into a young man and I fell in love with him,” she declared boldly.
Every single woman gasped as if my mom had just admitted to a murder or something equally shocking. I didn’t like the way they looked at my mom, like she was a slut, so I decided to top her story with one of my own.
“Then at fifteen I was gang raped by four vampires,” I said, and everyone fell silent, mouths popping open in shock. “I was banished, so I had my cuffs on. Couldn’t shift and protect myself.”
Hands went to mouths, people openly cried out, and it was the most uncomfortable moment of my life, but I pressed on, swallowing hard as Sawyer’s hand slipped in mine. “And I blacked out, but my wolf was able to split off from my body and save me.”
Grown men had tears in their eyes, and women wept openly, causing me to squirm under their gaze.
“So I am who I am. Demon. Cursed one. Split shifter. Whatever you want to call me is fine, just leave my family and loved ones out of it.”
Sawyer nodded. “Alright, you’ve heard your gossip for the night. Go on home now.”
He raised his arms to shoo our wedding party away, but then the women started to drag their husbands and line up single file in front of us.
What were they doing?
The first one was a woman I didn’t know, about thirty years old. Her hair was drenched from the sprinklers and her mascara ran down her face in two thin black streaks.
“I’m sorry that happened to you. Thank you for protecting us tonight.” She reached out and grasped my hand, giving me a small bow before leaving.
My throat tightened as the next woman stepped up. “Oh, honey, we shouldn’t have judged you. I had no idea.” Her voice broke as she stepped forward and pulled me into a tight hug. “Happy engagement, dear,” she whispered before pulling away.
Then another and another. These women formed a line, and one by one apologized for their treatment of me, or simply said they were sorry for what happened to me, or some said nothing at all, just a hand squeeze or a hug, or a thanks for inviting them.
I chewed the inside of my cheek raw to keep from bursting into tears until the very last woman, an old lady about eighty, came up to me hobbling on a cane. Sawyer stood firm at my side, shaking the men’s hands as I waited for whatever the woman was going to say. She stepped up and kissed my cheek, then leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Did you know you can rip a man’s scrotum off with the same force you’d throw a punch?” She then pulled back and winked at me before hobbling away.
Okay… that lady was a bit unhinged.
