by Lynn Red
"Who..." Faith couldn't utter the words.
"Killed me? Well some asshole, obviously," Miranda said. "Trust me, I've been angry about it for thirty years. He took me from my life, my baby."
"You had a baby?"
"Yes, a son. He was everything to me. I never had a reason to live before him. That night I had just put him to bed. He was only five years old then, so young...things like that simply shouldn't happen," she said then was silent. "A group of four men came with torches. I heard them coming and grabbed my boy. It was just me and him and I needed him to be safe. I carried my half asleep son into the woods, into an area I knew was thickly overgrown and begged him to stay there. Then I came back here.
"They had set the house on fire," she said as her face filled with horror. "They were looking for us, calling for my son. They called us devils and said the fire would purify us and rid us of our evil. I killed three of them, before I sensed my son coming closer..."
As her words faded Miranda began running like when Faith first saw her the night before. She turned back and Faith finally saw the expression on her face was a mixture of love and worry. Then as she turned to continue forward something stopped her. Miranda turned towards Faith and dark red blood spread across her white nightgown. As Miranda collapsed to the ground Faith ran to her and fell onto her knees beside her, sobbing.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry," Miranda said sitting up, suddenly healed.
Faith wiped her tears with the tips of her fingers and shook her head. "I'm so sorry that happened to you. I just...I'm so sorry. You said I can help you. Just tell me what it is and I'll do it."
"That man never got my son, but he did take from me the one thing I had from his father. My husband was in the military and had recently been deployed. I'm sure they knew that when they attacked. Before burying me the man removed my wedding ring and slipped it into his pocket, but he never made it home."
"What happened?"
"When an Alpha dies and a child is left behind another Alpha must protect that child. My son's godfather was Alpha of the next territory, Connor Overstreet. He felt my death and arrived as quickly as he could. My spirit watched as Connor destroyed that man, ripping him apart as if he was nothing. The ring fell to the ground but Connor didn't know about it. He found my son and took him away before he could see what happened."
"Did your son stay with Connor? Wait, is he...?"
She laughed. "No, he's not Caleb. Caleb was born later. Unfortunately state law and shifter law don't coincide and back then no one really cared about shifter law anyway. My son was taken from the Overstreet family and placed into an orphanage until his father returned from duty. I watched him grow. I saw the incredible man he became and then when he was ready he chose to follow in his father's footsteps and enlist. My son had fallen in love by then with a beautiful girl and I hoped to see them marry. I wanted to give him my ring to give to her. But then she stepped in," Miranda said bitterly.
"She? Who? What happened?"
"The same woman who deserted you at birth," Miranda sneered. "She was just like those men, she hated shifters and didn't want her daughter to be with one. She broke them apart and did everything she could to keep it that way."
"My mother? You know my mother?"
"She couldn't keep them apart forever though. True love has a way of finding each other again plus they were fated to be together, you know. But for so long he was lost. Lost without his other half, his mate. You've met him. You knew him as a child and were one of the few who accepted him despite his being a shifter. You later kept him safe when Abel imprisoned him with the other wolves."
Faith recalled the handsome wolf shifter she moved into one of the cells that housed the shifters who had lost their minds. When the pack captured and brought him in, she recognized him as the boy she knew long ago and vowed that if she couldn't save any of the others, she would do what she could to protect him.
"You mean your son is Knox Whitman?" Faith asked.
Miranda beamed with pride. "Yes, Knox is my son and the only reason I didn't become one of those crazed spirits who runs around attacking people. I've spent my time following him. I've seen his ups and his downs and he is finally happy and whole again. He asked Eliza to marry him."
"Eliza?"
"Your older sister. You have a family, Faith. A family worth knowing. That dreaded woman is dead. She's actually trapped here in this clearing with me. I think its her final penance," she said as she giggled. "Knox and Eliza live in the small house at the end of the path. Go there, tell them everything I told you and bring him my ring."
Miranda pointed to an area not far from them and something began glittering in the soil. Faith stood and walked over to find a simple gold band with an antique cut diamond. Miranda appeared in front of her and smiled warmly.
"Thank you, Faith. You've helped me do the final thing I needed to before I can rest."
"Does that mean you're going to leave?"
"No, I can't leave my Knox. I'll always be around, but now I can rest. I might not be a part of his life, but at least I get to watch. Thank you again, Faith."
Miranda faded and left Faith alone in the clearing. She looked at the ring, a family heirloom, and for the first time she wasn't jealous about someone having a family, she finally had one herself.
As she stood to go she heard Abel howling nearby, then the wind picked up. The hair at the back of her neck rose and a chill ran down her spine, but not from the coyote. She wasn't alone anymore. Turning she saw an older woman with short black hair in a yellow housecoat.
The spirit furrowed her brow above her emerald green eyes and tilted her head as she looked at Faith. "How did you find me?"
"Who are you?" Faith asked.
A flash of light shot towards Faith, then filled the clearing. The woman was gone. She didn't need the answer though, Faith knew to her very core that she had just met her mother.
CHAPTER SIX
Faith peeked out from behind the kitchen curtains into the yard. Abel had been out all night working on whatever this new contraption was. She dreaded talking to him when he was like this but she didn't have much choice. Taking a deep breath she opened the kitchen door and stepped outside. Abel paused for a moment, sniffed the air then continued soldering joints together.
"You should stay inside," he said without looking up at her.
"I was going to go out. We need some things from the market."
Abel stopped and looked at her, his eyes narrowing as he looked her over. "Why are you dressed like that? That's too nice for the market. Is that new?"
After years of Abel being controlled by the coyote, years of him not noticing her, barely even seeing her, she didn't think he would notice if she wore a nicer skirt with a fitted top in a dark green color that complemented her eyes. She planned to see Knox and Eliza like she promised Miranda she would, and she refused to make a bad first impression.
"Dressed like what? I didn't do laundry so I had to wear something I haven't worn in a long time," she lied and hoped he didn't press further.
"Whatever," he said as his focus returned to his project. He waved his hand to dismiss her and she turned back towards the house. "Bring Erich with you. People might be looking for you now. He's close. He's always close," he snorted.
She entered the house and grabbed her bag and the keys. They had an old blue sedan Erich arranged for them to use and she hopped into it without any intention of finding Erich or telling him where she was going. She maneuvered the car through the tree lined dirt driveway and down to the narrow county road. As she turned the vehicle onto the asphalt, hit the gas and began picking up speed until a bear appeared in the middle of the road. Slamming on the brakes, the car skidded off the road to a stop just missing the bear.
With her heart pounding in her chest, she gasped for air as she calmed herself down. Slowly it dawned on her that bears didn't usually come out during the middle of the day, especially not such large ones in that part of South
Jersey.
"What the fuck, Erich?" she yelled as she got out of the car. "You could've killed me!"
Erich quickly shifted into his human form and she looked away wondering if she would ever get used to seeing this gorgeous man naked. Secretly she hoped she wouldn't.
"Kill you? You're the one behind the wheel," he said with a grin. "You're a hazard to animals, Faith. No wonder there's so much roadkill around. I'm only here because Abel asked you to take me along with you."
Exasperated, Faith got back into the car as Erich climbed into the passenger side. "You're kidding right?" she said. "There's no way I'm taking you with me when you're naked."
She looked at him like he was crazy, then quickly looked away knowing her eyes wanted to wander over his body like a lion checking its prey. Or in this case, a cougar.
As she laughed to herself, Erich repositioned himself on the old vinyl seat which gave off a loud squeak. Faith suddenly burst into laughter. Erich looked at her amused.
"You really have a problem with nudity, don't you?" he asked with a smirk.
She tried to answer but couldn't. All the stress from the past few weeks melted away as she let the laughter finally trump her sadness. Putting the car into gear she continued driving, with her naked protector seated beside her.
"Where are we going?" he asked. "I need to get some clothes. Take me to Night Shift."
Faith drove to the deserted industrial side of town. On the weekends the entire area shut down except for the bar. As she pulled around to the back, Erich vanished into the building and reappeared a few minutes later wearing a pair of jeans with a white button shirt.
As he exited the building, he rolled up the sleeves and Faith thought about how even the most mundane thing seemed more exciting when he did it. She shouldn't think like that about another man. Her stomach dropped and turned as guilt dripped like acid inside her. She had to remember, she was with Abel.
"Slide over," Erich said as he opened the driver's side door. "I'm driving."
Faith obediently moved to the passenger side of the bench seat. His voice was so commanding and authoritative she couldn't say no. She didn't want to anyway, despite her guilt.
"Where are you headed anyway?" he asked.
Faith's brain spun. She couldn't tell him the truth. She needed to do that alone anyway. There was no way she was going to finally meet her family with a man who was...what? Protecting her? Confusing her? Things were too complicated to bring Erich along.
"To the grocery store?" she said.
"Are you asking or telling me?"
Nervously playing with the hem on her shirt, she realized there was no way to not tell Erich what was going on, but she didn't have to tell him right away.
Several months ago Faith learned the group home she lived in the longest was going to be torn down. She needed to see the place one last time, but didn't want to go alone. In the past this was something she relied on Abel to do with her, but now she wondered what it would be like to have Erich along with her instead.
"Do you know where St. Elizabeth's Home is?" she asked.
"Yeah, the old orphanage?"
"That's it. I need to go there. Please don't ask any questions. I'll explain everything once we're there."
He nodded and put the sedan into gear. They drove past the old mills and deserted factories before going over an old metal bridge that hummed as the car's wheels spun over the grooves. Once they were on the other side of the narrow river, the scenery changed.
Trees lined the streets and old traffic lights swung from electrical wire stretched between two electric poles. In the distance Faith recognized the faded red brick building as soon as it came into view and felt her heart jump into her throat.
St. Elizabeth's was originally a hospital, then later a school, then a home for children. On the top of the wide building was a white wooden widow's walk. The glass paned windows were pitted and broken and their once gleaming frames showed their age with every peel and crack of the paint. The oversized door was gone, making the sad building look surprised.
"There it is, up there," she said as she pointed ahead.
Despite being in the foster care system growing up, Faith considered herself lucky. Every family she was placed with had been kind to her. Unfortunately the older she got, the less people wanted to take her in. That's where St. Elizabeth's came in.
She was in high school when she first started living there. Even then the building sagged into the ground beneath it. The only part that seemed to withstand the natural destruction of time was the widow's walk where a small brass bell had been installed when the building was used as a school.
The car jostled and jerked as it drove over the broken pavement of the parking lot. Erich jumped out and came to Faith's door before she got out and held his hand out to her.
"I don't need your help," she said as she pushed his hand away. That's all she needed, like she didn't have enough guilt from just looking at him.
"You forget who you're talking to. I've seen how graceful you can be," he teased and took her hand anyway.
Her hand felt so small in his that for a moment she forgot about Abel and his now paw-hands. Following Erich into the abandoned building, she tried to keep Abel out of her mind but it was useless, everything reminded her of how he used to be.
With the bricks steps leading to the front entrance destroyed, Erich easily lifted her into the building before climbing in after her. Inhaling, she could still smell the mixture of ammonia and mildew that marked her time there.
"My room was down this hall," she said as she walked along the dusty green formica floor.
"This place looks like a hospital," Erich said.
"I think that was its first life. Its been through a lot of reincarnations. There's so much history here its sad they're tearing it down, but I'm sure its too damaged to save."
Pushing aside a broken door that blocked the path into a room at the end of the hall, they entered a large room with broken desks scattered about. An old blackboard on wheels sat in the corner and the little sunlight that streamed in through the windows was speckled with dust.
"It was six to a room. They tried to keep us around the same age but it never really mattered. We were all so hopeful we'd have a real home, none of us became friends. If we got to know each other that would be like admitting we knew we were going to be there for a while. I sometimes wonder what happened to everyone else. There were a few people who were left the same way I was."
"What do you mean left?" Erich asked.
Faith realized she said too much. She never talked about this kind of stuff with anyone but Abel. It was too personal, too painful. She shook her head at him hoping he'd drop it then beelined to an old radiator in the corner.
"My bed was right here, next to this radiator. It never worked and right next to it was a loose floorboard."
Kneeling in the corner she banged the floor with her fist and the tile wobbled. Erich stepped closer as she banged it again, caught a corner of it and slid it over, exposing the wood underneath. Faith slipped her hand in and to the side then smiled as she pulled out a shoebox.
"I can't believe its still here," she said. "I had no choice but to leave this behind when I went to live with Abel. I didn't want anyone looking through it and they watched me to make sure I didn't take anything that wasn't mine when I packed.
As she sat cross legged on the floor, she balanced the shoebox in her lap and removed the top. Slowly she began removing folded pieces of paper, a sad smile on her face.
"What's in there?" Erich asked as he crouched down beside her.
"Old poems and stories, some drawings. I used to write all the time."
"Why did you hide them?"
"One of the nuns found them when I was younger and said they were disgusting and that I should be punished for writing such filth. I was in the eighth grade then and wrote a story about a girl getting her first kiss. After that I hid everything I wrote." She pulled out a drawing of a house and
showed it to him. "I was doodling this when I first met Abel. Its one of the Victorians down in Cape May. When he saw my drawing he said he'd buy it for me one day."
"Did he?"
She nodded. "It was a gift one year just before the coyote took over for good. He wanted to move in there, but I couldn't. I couldn't leave Leeds."
"Why not? I'm sure you would've loved it there."
She shook her head sadly. "Its messed up but I kept hoping she'd come back for me. Even when I was in my twenties, I kept hoping to meet my mother, even now in my thirties..."
She smiled softly at him feeling like a fool. "What grown woman is attached to a mother she never knew?" she said as she put everything back in the box and carried it out into the hall.
"I'm sorry," Erich said quietly as he followed her. "I can't imagine how that must have been for you."
"Maybe I was better off. But deep down all I ever really wanted was a family. Abel became my family, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't his fault, he did everything he could do but I still missed that ideal I created in my head of what a family should be."
"Have you ever looked for them?"
"That's what's funny. In all these years I tried to find some kind of records that showed who she was, but the hospital she left me in didn't have anything. The social workers had enough information to let her know when they were removing her rights, but they couldn't give that information to me. I never even knew her name. All I ever had from her was this stupid pendant." She showed him the crane and shrugged, then looked out a window. "Come with me. I just need to see one more thing."
She climbed out the window and onto a nearby fire escape up to the roof and carefully made her way to the widow's walk. Wrapping her arms around herself she looked out at the quiet town.
"I used to hide out up here. It was the only place I could get some privacy."
The wind blew her skirt around and she shivered from the cold. Erich wrapped his arms around her and she pushed him away.
"You're cold," he said as he tightened his grip around her waist.