She places a hand over her heart. “Oh, my.”
“Yeah.”
I sip on my lemonade and close my eyes. “Spent most of my life in foster care.”
“Oh dear, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It wasn’t so bad. I got a brother out of it. Well, sort of. And I got a few life lessons I never asked for, but can’t seem to shake either.”
“Care to share?”
I shouldn’t. They’re private, whispers lingering in my mind. But I do it anyway.
“My mom always told me never to let anyone claim me because it would mean I was less than.”
“And your father?”
I open my eyes and turn to look at her. She stares deeply into my eyes and then cocks her head.
“Do you mind me asking if you’re part fae? Those eyes…”
I sigh. “Yeah. My dad was fae. My mom was an omega. It’s why I have these fucking eyes and the scent I know you can smell.”
She inhales and then shrugs. “I had cancer a while back. Killed almost all sense of smell and taste. But I remember the aroma from when I visited the Isles of Shoals.”
My eyes widen. “You went there?”
She grins. “I had a lovely forbidden tryst with one of the fae that lived on one of the islands. A bit of a recluse, but it was a wild time. He smelled of honey and lavender. A bit of a trickster when he wanted to be, and downright cruel and vengeful when he got mad.”
She sighs as I just stare at her.
“Wild, wild times. I’d like to go back one day. Although I’m not sure it would be as fun now that it’s not so forbidden.”
“I’ve never been.”
“Well, you could always go. Get to know your people a little more. Maybe you won’t feel so alone there.”
I contemplate it, visiting those Isles, to see if I can find some of my father’s family. Maybe I would feel more at home there, not so alone, not so different. But maybe they would shun me for my omega nature. My mind shifts to Glenn. How he chose me during that Heat Hunt when every other alpha passed me by. How he continued to want me, even though I was different. How he never actually made mefeeldifferent.
Not like Vince did.
I’ve never felt more seen, more valued, than when I was with Glenn. And I’d discarded him.
I didn’t mean to leave him like that. My plan was to get him safely inside, but of course, the Howlers had to go and ruin it.
Fuckers. Why can’t they just go away and find some other town to terrorize?
“I don’t know if the fae would accept me either. I don’t know if I ever really want to find out.”
Eudora nods in understanding and pats my knee gently.
“What was the life lesson your dad left you with? You never said.” Eudora asks.
I sigh. “That a life lived independently is a life well lived. Or something like that. I was young at the time.”
“Do you believe there is truth in their comments?”
“I don’t know.”
