Page 2 of Bone Collector’s Mate

Chapter Two

Rook

Whisper Grove was not where we intended to end up. In fact, I’d never intended to return here, but our old car was on its last legs, and I was afraid of going any farther with my little boy. Getting stuck myself was no big deal. Getting stuck with a preschooler? No. Not if I had any choice in the matter.

My own father had been very protective of me when I was little, and they would have been the first ones to offer help now, but they’d passed right before Benji was born. They would have loved him so much.

Every mile along the highway had me closer to panic, as the faint shimmy my mate had promised to have taken care of and obviously never did grew worse

Some of the people were a little unusual looking, but I felt like I was the only one who noticed. And they were all pleasant enough, especially for residents of a small town. Only a few weeks ago, I’d have said I would never leave our home, but the situation had gone from mildly concerning to one I could no longer ignore.

It was better to have a second father in the home than not, said the experts. Even if he wasn’t the best at showing up, whatever he did bring was to the child’s benefit. So, every day, I made excuses for him. Daddy is working. He wishes he could have dinner with us. He’ll be home as soon as he can.

Until Benji was born, I thought we had a pretty good relationship. We went out to dinner or with friends sometimes, made love regularly… We had breakfast together nearly every day.

No, he didn’t help with the house chore or the cooking, but he’d never been into that stuff. Neither were most alphas. It was the omega’s job, even if the alpha had plenty of time to sit around and watch while doing absolutely nothing.

But I accepted that as the way things were supposed to be. Told myself we would grow stronger together over time.

The pregnancy was an accident.

I hoped for a family, but Adam wanted to wait, and I agreed. We had many years ahead of us for children, and, as he pointed out, once we did, we wouldn’t have all this special time to ourselves. “It’s our honeymoon, as the humans call it,” he said. “It will never be like this again.”

Looking back, I did not see it with the rosy glow he’d painted it and that I was willing to accept as fact. But I was young and starry-eyed, and although I knew he wasn’t my fated, I was glad to call him my chosen mate.

In comparison to my family, we did have a happy home, at first. Probably that was why I took so long to recognize things that would have helped me make better decisions early on. Maybe before I even let him pick me up and take me home with him that first night.

But, there was no changing the past, and if I had the choice, would I give up Benji? Never.

From the moment I got pregnant, the stability of our relationship was shattered. He blamed me, even though I told him it was a risky time, and he refused to use protection because it didn’t feel as good. But it was my fault, and any attempt to change his opinion did not go well. That attitude was only at home, however. In public, with his friends—because in a typical controlling narcissistic way, he’d managed to eliminate mine from the picture—he was a proud expectant papa. Inviting everyone to touch my belly and see if the baby would move for them. If not, it was also my fault.

Driving down the road on that rainy night, everything I should have seen was much clearer. The different behaviors inside and outside the house, Adam’s missing so many important milestones, his neglect of the baby and me, the fact that he missed coming home entirely at least once a week… Why had I stayed?

I’d threatened to leave before.

Once Benji was born, I felt obligated to try extra hard to make us a family. Glancing in the rearview mirror, I saw him sleeping away, head tipped back and stuffie clutched tight to his chest. Fortunately, I’d taken his glasses off at our last stop for gas. He didn’t understand, yet, that we would not be going home again. After learning the level of perfidy Adam engaged in, I’d bundled Benji and as much of our clothing and personal items as I could fit into the older car and hit the road. I didn’t even wait for him to get home because he’d talked me out of leaving for lesser things.

I almost turned around and went back two or three times. What would Benji say when he learned he wasn’t going home to his bed? That Adam was no longer going to be in his life. Despite his neglect, his son still loved him.

But what kind of a life was I giving him? Teaching him to pretend things were fine? To live a lie?

Whisper Grove offered at least a temporary place to rest and reconnoiter. Whether it would be our home for longer remained to be seen. At least I had enough money to survive while I made some decisions. Money Adam never knew about. But it had been a very long time since I’d been here and I didn’t really remember much about it.

Benji had never had more to count on than me, anyway. Time to live honestly, without pretense. My son would learn how to have respect for himself in this new life—instead of watching me allow myself to be treated like I should be grateful for every scrap of attention. It would be hard and not what I thought I’d have to do as an omega.

My parents fought all day and night, but they stayed together until they passed away while I lived with Adam. But I wanted more, better for Benji. And after learning how Adam betrayed me, I began to wake up.