by K. C. Hamby
Daddy looks around and smiles a little. “Yeah, she likes to play hide and seek. It was her favorite when she was little.”
That’s true, I tell her. Good guess, you smart, sexy lady.
Her cheeks turn red at my words and I try not to laugh. It would surely come out as a weird howl.
My dad loosens his grip on the rifle. “She’s always been a night owl too. Never could get her to go to sleep at a reasonable time.”
“Me either,” Fal agrees, and they share a laugh.
“Relax, daughter.”
I jerk my head and Selene is beside me, lying beneath the bush too.
“Take a breath and relax. Feel yourself as a person.”
I scrunch my forehead before I comply.
Me as a person. Okay. I have two arms, two legs, wiggly toes…
My body snaps back painfully into my human form and I bite my tongue to keep from screaming. It’s so sudden that, for a moment, it is like I’m in an expanded body. I’m not sure how to explain. Sort of like when you land on your feet too hard and the shock vibrates up your bones, making you feel like you’re not exactly in your own skin for a second.
Once the stupor wears away, I stand and brush myself off, leaving Selene to hide in the bush by herself.
Fal’s head snaps to my direction and her eyebrows scrunch together.
“You suck at seeking,” I yell and trot up to her and my dad.
“Maybe you’re just a professional hider,” she counters, still a little confusion on her face.
“Hm, flattery will get you nowhere, Fal.”
She shakes her head and smiles, winking where my dad can’t see.
Impressive, she whispers through my thoughts.
“Well, you two should get back inside,” Dad says, but his eyes are soft. “I thought I heard some wolves or coyotes out here.” He glares at the woods, daring something big and furry to come out and fight.
I walk up and wrap an arm around him as we head back to the house. “I wouldn’t be too worried. Not a soul would dare cross Charlie Crawford and expect to escape unscathed.”
He grunts and pokes me in my ribs, chuckling when I squeak. “Got some more tattoos, huh?” He gestures to my arms.
“Oh, I…” I start to explain the flowers on my right shoulder from Persephone’s gift of immortality but stop when I notice three blue bands around the bicep of my left arm. Blue Alpha bands.
I’m an Alpha?
Of course, you are, Fal answers. You wouldn’t be anything less with your lively personality.
“Uh, yeah. Fal has hers…” I tell him and lift the sleeve of Fal’s jacket to show her bands. “And I got mine. Matching sort of, but different in color.”
I mean, it’s not exactly a lie.
“Hmph. They look good. Nice and simple. Whoever did the line work is a pro. I’m thinkin’ about gettin’ another one. Y’all will have to tell me what ya think of my idea later,” my dad says, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.
“Charlie.”
Daddy freezes and I stumble forward. Fal’s head snaps to attention as she turns around.
“…Selene?” my dad whispers when he finally gathers the willpower to glance in the direction of the voice.
He just stands there, mouth slack and staring at my mother.
She’s different somehow, still seeming ageless but…more matching the age of my dad. She doesn’t have the goddessy glow and golden crescent moon on her forehead like she had earlier. She looks more like an unbelievably beautiful middle-aged woman. Like she belongs with my dad.
There are tears in Selene’s eyes as her and my dad watch each other, silence long and still between them. But the energy is swirling, causing me to become dizzy.
Fal steps up to my dad and gently grabs the rifle out of his hand, unloading it quickly. She shoves the unused bullets in her pocket and snaps the bolt back in place. My dad doesn’t seem to even know he isn’t holding it anymore. He is so entranced by Selene, nothing else seems to matter.
Fal wraps her free arm around my shoulders and pulls me close to her.
I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel. Angry? Sad? Happy? All there is swirling in my chest is cold numbness.
You don’t have to feel anything right now. Just let it happen, Fal whispers in my mind before kissing my forehead.
Selene takes a small step forward, almost unsure if Daddy wants to see her. But I know he does. He has ever since she left. He has never dated anyone, never even looked at another woman. He has always hoped she would come back, even when she stayed away my entire life.
Twenty-four years. That’s a long time to wait.
Selene’s movement kicks my dad into action. He steps once, twice, three times before he is running. She falters a step before letting out a loud sob. I can tell her knees are shaking when she sprints to him, but she doesn’t let it stop her. My dad throws his arms out wide and catches her when she pitches forward into his embrace.
“Selene,” he whispers into her hair, fingers combing through the thick, white waves. Tears flow steadily down his cheeks and he just keeps repeating her name. “Selene, Selene, Selene.”
He pulls back enough to study her bright eyes and wet cheeks.
“Are you really here? Am I dreaming?”
“I’m here, my love,” Selene whispers back, smiling as salty happiness rolls over her lips. Her hands caress his stubbly cheeks.
I don’t think I could write a better reunion scene if I spent my life trying.
They don’t kiss, thankfully. I don’t know how I would handle it if they did. They just stare at each other long enough to have time to construct a portrait of the other; every detail, every line, every strand of loose hair would be painted carefully as not to get even one freckle wrong.
Is it okay if I interrupt now? I ask Fal.
Yeah. I’m starting to feel a little like we are the awkward bystanders to a romantic comedy climax scene.
I clear my throat, and this pulls my…parents...out of their enamored stupor.
“Nini, this is…”
“My mom. I know.”
He looks between both of us and his smile falls. “You two know each other?”
Panic briefly flashes on Selene’s face before I shake my head. “No. It’s just hard to miss the similarities.”
I can’t tell him I met her already. He would think I’ve been hiding her this whole time. I mean, he never even told me her name. He didn’t want me to hope for a mother that may never come back. So, he kept his grief to himself, stashed away in a little box beneath his bed.
Selene relaxes and walks past my dad. “Nina, it is so nice to finally meet you,” she says, walking slowly toward me.
I want to run inside and hide. I don’t want to hug her and finally know what it is like to have a mother’s embrace. What if I love it and she takes it away from me?
I’ve never known what it is like to have a mother’s love.
I don’t know if I want to do this to myself.
My daddy looks at me over Selene’s advancing shoulder with so much hope in his eyes, it takes my breath from me. I can’t disappoint him. I can’t hurt him by turning away from her even if it hurts me in the process.
I swallow my pride and my childish anger for now. I have to do this.
When she steps up to me, I hesitate, my selfishness taking over again for a moment. Her eyes are pleading and hopeful. It makes me sick with need to turn away and need to run into her embrace. I’m being pulled in different directions, but I know which way my heart wants to go.
I step into her arms and, as they close around me so softly, my eyes water. My own arms wrap around her waist cautiously, but when she pulls me to her chest, I find myself unable to resist the urge to squeeze her tight.
A sob catches in my throat as my emotions catch up. This is what it’s like to have a mother hold you; to feel safe and wanted by the woman that brought you into this world. My chest is full, and I can barely breathe past the heavine
ss in my lungs. My skin tingles all over as if I felt the texture of something I’ve never touched before. This is new, this embrace.
I want to hate it.
But I can’t.
Chapter 53
Falen
The sight of their hug stings my eyes.
I know what it is to be loved by a mother. It’s warm and safe, full of unconditional caring. I can’t help but think of my mom, of her tough hands soft on my face when she looked at me with so much pride. It always made me vow to die before disappointing her.
With all the emotions rolling over me from Nina, I smile and let tears stream down my cheeks for her. Even though she has always said she never had a mother, I’ve known she wanted one more than anything a child could want.
When Selene and Nina pull away from each other, their cheeks are wet from their emotional moment. Nina wipes her face and sniffs before taking a step away and walking back over to me. My arm instantly wraps around her, pulling her as close as possible so she knows I’m here for her.
Selene seems a little disappointed, but I can tell she understands Nina needs time to process everything that’s happened tonight.
She met her mother. She shifted for the first time. Her father reunited with her mother.
I would have had an emotional, temper-tantrum filled mental breakdown by now, but Nina has always been so much more emotionally strong than me. The compacity she has to handle her emotions is baffling and absolutely fucking amazing.
“Um, should we go inside?” I ask, more to Nina, but I look at Charlie and Selene as well.
“Oh, of course. Um, yeah. Let’s all go inside. If ya were planin’ on stayin’, Selene?” Charlie asks and I almost choke on the hope in his voice.
Nina tenses beside me.
“If you will have me, I will stay as long as you want, my love,” Selene replies before walking up to him and grabbing his hand.
The heat of his cheeks can be felt from where I’m standing.
He clears his throat and shakes his head like he can’t believe everything he’s experiencing. He smiles and heads up the stairs of the porch and holds the door open for Selene. I walk by with Nina in tow, but Charlie touches her arm.
“Nini, can I talk to ya out here for a sec?”
“Yeah, okay,” Nina agrees and lets me continue into the house.
Once inside and alone with Selene, I slip on my hard-ass mask. I take the rifle over to the wooden gun case with a glass front and place it gently into the empty slot. I pull the bullets out of my pocket and set them back in the box before slowly closing the door and turning the lock.
“Falen…” Selene starts.
“No. You listen to me,” I growl when I turn around and face her. Shadows dance around my shoulders, weaving in and out of my vision. “You realize you can never leave Nina again, don’t you? She has wanted to know her mother her entire life, no matter what she told herself. If you do all this just to leave, you will break her heart into pieces. And I don’t know if you know this,” I say and take a step toward her, lip curling to expose sharp canines. “Anyone who hurts my Mate, goddess or not, will deal with me.” I lift my chin and look down my nose at her. “And I will unleash a wrath that would make Zeus piss himself.”
The Monster stirs, rejoicing in my audacity.
“Don’t think for one second you are safe because of your immortality,” I growl, pushing dark power into my voice. The house seems to quake with each word dripping from my lips. “Even the divine submit to Death.”
Selene swallows, nodding her head. Fear dances in the crystals of her eyes for a moment. “I understand. My sister knew what she was doing when she made you Nina’s Mate. You truly love her.”
“I love her more than there are stars in the sky, and I would do absolutely anything to make her happy. To keep her safe and loved. That’s something you best not forget.”
Even though I’m actively threatening another goddess, she smiles. “I’m very happy to have you as a part of my family.”
A moment of still silence passes.
There is a thump outside and my heart skips in my chest.
“Nini? Nina Ruth? What’s wrong?”
I choke as my heart seems to try to exit my body through my mouth.
“Fal, call 911!”
“Shit,” I curse and run onto the porch.
My steps are nearly silent with my speed, fear pushing me forward.
No no no no.
I find Luna lying on the wooden deck of the porch beside a prone Nina. The scared pup is whimpering and licking her face. And Nina…
Is having a vision.
Shit shit shit shit.
I drop to my knees by Charlie who has managed to catch Nina enough, so she didn’t smack her head against the porch floor. I slide her into my lap and hold her head still so she doesn’t move and hurt herself. Her eyes are open and all white, her nose is flooding with blood.
“She’s okay,” I tell Charlie, but panic covers his face.
His hands hover over us like he doesn’t know what to do with them.
“Hell she is! She just fell out with her eyes all….freaky like that…”
Think think think.
“She’s having a seizure,” I tell him as calmly as I can while hoping so hard that Nina’s vision doesn’t keep her down for long.
“Charlie? What’s…” Selene steps outside and sees Nina. Understanding immediately straightens her posture. She knows what’s going on.
“She’s having a seizure,” I tell her too so we can be on the same page.
“Right. Okay, Charlie, run inside and get a cold washcloth. I’ll help Falen hold Nina still,” she commands, falling into the lie very quickly.
“Uh, okay. Yeah, I’ll do that.” He sprints through the screen door and I cringe as it slams against the frame.
“How often does she have visions?” Selene whispers, her icy eyes on her daughter’s frozen face.
“They aren’t really common. She usually only gets them if bad shit is about to happen. And they vary in length. She could be out for five minutes or six hours. It’s always different.”
Charlie runs back outside with his phone to his ear.
Goddammit.
“No, she’s not foamin’ at the mouth or anythin’ like that. She’s very stiff and her eyes are rolled back in her head. Her nose is bleedin’ pretty bad…”
Selene presses her lips into a fine line as she listens and eyes me with apologies dancing in the irises nearly identical to Nina’s.
“What do you mean it may be a bad seizure? Cause her muscles are stiff and she’s unconscious?” Charlie whines on the phone before punching the wall of the house. “Hurry up with the goddamn EMS!”
This is really not how I thought tonight was going to go.
Charlie stays on the phone with the operator as he runs back inside, that goddamn door slamming again. The noise is a slap to my ears, pushing the Monster forward.
Leave her. She is weak.
Shut. The Fuck. Up.
My wolf springs into action at the slight to our Mate and shoves the monster to the back of my mind with a snarl.
“Falen, are you alright?” Selene whispers.
I realize I’ve exposed my teeth, sharpened canines and all.
Why does shit like this always happen to me? Why?
“Yep. Fine. Can we focus on Nina, please?” I snap, hiding my teeth once more.
Tires crunch along the gravel at the mouth of the driveway. Goddess, I can smell the sanitizer they use on the inside of the ambulance, strong and an assault on my fucking nose.
“Yeah, I see the lights. Thanks.” Charlie hangs up the phone when the ambulance flashes its lights through the trees.
“She has been having seizures for a while now,” I tell him, trying to get him calm enough to let me send the EMS away. “We have always been told by her doctor she doesn’t need to go to the hospital unless she hurts herself…”
“She collapsed right in front of me
.”
Fuck. This is bad.
The doors of the ambulance open and footsteps kick rocks on their way over to the porch.
Shit shit shit.
“You caught her before she hit the patio,” I remind him.
“Hey everyone, is this the patient?” a paramedic asks as he climbs the stairs and squats on the right side of Nina.
Goddammit. Too late to turn back now.
The paramedic is tall with sandy hair, muscular, and has that pretty-boy-type-smile I instantly want to knock off his face. I nearly growl as that smile is aimed at my Mate.
Two other paramedics follow, but they remain standing off the porch. The lackeys, I’m presuming. While pretty boy is the one in charge of this shit.
“Yeah, that’s her. That’s Nina,” Charlie croaks, visibly shaking. “She was just talkin’ to me and collapsed.”
“I see,” the paramedic comments as he uses a flashlight to shine in Nina’s iris and pupil-less eyes. “Nina? My name is Mark. I’m here to help you out. Can you hear me at all?”
She’s not going to respond, moron.
I scold myself. He doesn’t know what’s going on. He’s just doing his job.
He closes his fist and gives Nina a hard sternal rub on her chest, an action meant to rouse an unconscious person with pain. “Nina? Can you blink your eyes, sweetie?”
He is touching what’s yours and calling her pet names, the Monster chides.
I swallow the roar building in my throat as his closed fist rubs against her chest again. She doesn’t stir, obviously.
“Has she hit her head since she’s fallen?”
“No,” I say before Charlie can answer. He may be her dad, but I must handle this. “Charlie caught her, and I’ve kept her still since then. She hasn’t moved.”
He looks to Charlie. “Is this kind of behavior normal for her?”
Again, I speak up, annoyed pretty boy is trying to act like I don’t exist. “Yes. She has Atonic and Tonic-clonic seizures. She’s been having them for a while now. The only symptom she doesn’t have is the muscle spasms. She’s usually very still after she goes down.”
Goddess, I’m glad I have a bit of medical training. Thank you, Washington Pack.