“That’s what the bastard told me.” She wiped the moisture from under her eyes, and throwing caution to the wind, she wrapped her arms around me. “But that rose-gold hair and the vanilla scent—it has to be you.”
I tensed, unsure what the hell to do. “Uh … who are you?” I didn’t push her off me because the hug was oddly comforting. It felt like I should know her, like she was a missing piece of my soul.
“Winter …” Titan touched her arm to get her attention. “This could be a trick. If it’s her—”
“Shut it,” Winter hissed and pulled back slightly. “I’m having a moment with my daughter.”
I’d hoped they’d be a decent pack willing to help us. It had been a long shot, but not every shifter or supernatural was thrilled with my father. But for her to try to mind fuck me was not okay.
I stepped out of her hold, and pure hatred filled me. She didn’t smell of a lie, but the fae could be involved in some way. Hate felt better than confusion. What kind of sicko would play with someone’s emotions like this? “Do you think this is funny?”
Why is this woman claiming to be your mother? Donovan’s confusion hit me. That sounds like a pretty stupid thing to do.
Because I never met her. My wolf howled inside me, and electricity grew under my skin. She died giving birth to me.
“There’s no way in hell you’re her mother.” Roxy marched to my other side. “Unless you were raised from the dead.”
“Is that what he told you?” Winter scoffed and ran her fingers through her hair. “He told you I died?”
“What other explanation is there?” Of course, now it all made sense. “Unless you ran off, not wanting to raise me.”
“That’s not it at all.” Her mouth dropped open, and she stumbled back. “I guess I get why it appears that way.”
“Appears that way?” Oh, no. She didn’t get to play the victim. If this was true, not only had my mother left me behind, but she’d left me with a prick of a father who’d treated me worse than dirt. “If you really are her, then you’re a sorry excuse for a mother.”
“You don’t get to talk to my mate that way!” Titan bellowed, his wolf coming to the forefront.
“Calm down,” Winter snarled at him. “I get you’re protecting me, but you need to butt out.”
“Winter—”
“No.” She jabbed her finger at him. “This is between me and my … daughter.” The word broke at the end.
Hope filled me, and that was a dangerous game. I had to squash it before my heart got broken.
“Tyler caught me that night,” she started and focused on the trees behind me. “It was a week after your birth. He was so livid that you were a girl, despite us knowing the whole time, and threatened to kill you. He’d thought he could wish a boy.”
Now that sounded like Dad.
“He was yelling and screaming at me and you the entire time.” Winter cringed as the memory replayed in her mind. “He was supposed to be out of town. Hell, I saw him drive away. I had it all planned. We were going to stay with some distant relatives here in the Smoky Mountains.”
“Still not understanding the leaving her behind part,” Roxy snapped.
“Will you give her a damn minute?” Titan spat back.
Roxy, chill. I needed to hear this out. Please.
Fine, she grumbled.
“I’m sorry,” I said and shot Roxy a look of warning. “Please continue.”
“When I got to the nursery, you weren’t there.” Winter placed a hand on her chest, and her eyes filled with pain. “The head maid stepped through the door and informed me that Tyler had carried you away with him to bury, and he would be back shortly. She must have believed it because she didn’t smell of a lie. Her words hit me so hard that I didn’t question it. Not after his threats. All I knew was that I hadn’t been able to protect you. That was when I became resolved to run. I had to get away before he returned because I couldn’t live with him or the memory of you.”
“And he told me you had died.” He’d kept the story the same so it would be easy to keep track of. He was smart like that. “I got left behind with a dad who didn’t even want me. He just didn’t want you to have me.”
“Yes, you did.” She licked her lips.
“But he never smelled of a lie.” But she didn’t either at this moment. That couldn’t be possible. One of them had to be lying.”
“You’ve got to understand.” Winter lifted a shaky hand. “As a child, Tyler was trained to be able to lie without his scent giving it away. He gloated to me about that fact several times while I was pregnant with you. He said the trick was believing the lie but that only a select few can actually accomplish it.”
That made sense, even though I’d never heard it was possible before. “But that’s insane.”
“It is.” She pulled at her ponytail. “But there is so much more to the story.”
“Oh, really?” I wasn’t sure there could be more. There was no way she could top this.
“Because he isn’t your biological father.”
Chapter Seven
“Okay, that’s enough.” Donovan pulled me behind him and stared Winter down. “I’ve let you say more than I wanted to, but you’ve gone too far.”
“Hey …” Titan stalked over to Donovan and got in his face. “Don’t even pretend you’re not okay with this. My mate thinks she’s seeing her dead daughter. If anything, the fae may be fucking with us.”
“You two need to calm your asses down.” Winter squeezed between the two men and shoved them apart. “She is my daughter, and why are you bringing fae into this?”
“Because two fae men just attacked us,” Axel said. “Apparently, you all heard our call for help.”
“What? Fae?” Winter shook her head and focused on me. “Has anything weird happened lately?”
“Weird?” What was she digging for? I wouldn’t bare my heart and soul to her if that was what she expected.
Roxy rolled her eyes. “If you’d call her disappearing and reappearing several feet away and stopping bullets strange, I’d say yes.”
“No.” Winter’s shoulders sagged. “This isn’t good.”
“Do you mind explaining, or are you going to keep babbling and making no sense?” If she knew something useful, now would be the time.
“It’s your father.” She blew out a breath.
“Are you saying Titan’s my dad?” There was no way it could be him. If he thought I was his child, he wouldn’t be standing there so stoically, would he? Maybe she had terrible taste in men. If her story was true, she had chosen Tyler first.
“What?” Mom jerked her head at Titan and back at me. “Oh, no. He’s not your father.”
Tyler wasn’t my father and neither was Titan. There was a third man in this mix. And here I thought once you found your mate, you were locked for life. Was she really saying that everything I knew was wrong? For whatever reason, I found this hilarious and began to laugh.
Sadie, are you okay? Roxy asked as she came closer from one side and Axel walked over to the other.
They were surrounding me, which turned my laughter into an ugly cry. Nothing made sense. I’d supposedly found my dead mom and learned that the man I’d grown up with wasn’t my father. This had to be a dream. Hell, maybe a nightmare. Peachy. I’m just peachy.
Peachy? Axel cut his eyes at me. Really?
Yeah, maybe that hadn’t been the best word, which made me laugh even harder. I was teetering between losing my mind and keeping my sanity.
Winter reached around Donovan and touched my hand. “Honey, I know it’s a lot to take in.”
“No.” I jerked away from her and glared. “You don’t get to drop a bombshell like that on me. You don’t have the right to act concerned.” Hell, it probably was all an act. “This is a lot more than that. You’re telling me that Tyler isn’t my father, but he raised me. Not you … him.” He’d killed every other child after me. Why hadn’t he done the same to me? “I find it hard to believe. You have to be lying.” Maybe she was delusional and believed it—if the fae weren’t involved.
“What?” She stilled and rubbed her arms. “No, I’m not.”
“He would’ve killed me if this is all true.” Did she think I was that gullible or stupid? “So, spare me this act.” Let’s go. I couldn’t stay here and listen to this anymore.