And it was all my fault.
Anguish drilled into my heart until I couldn’t stand it anymore. I ran to her.
“Mom,” I yelled, breathless as I struggled to drag her from the clutches of the overgrown raspberry bush. She resisted my pull, determined to get to the front yard.
“She’s here! She has to be,” she screamed, her brain completely addled.
“Mom, stop it. Just stop it!” I shook her shoulders, startling her into stillness. “She isn’t here!” My voice quivered as my heart shattered. I wiped angrily at the tears streaming down my face. “She left us, remember.”
Her eyes sunk into a haunted state as my words hit home. Her body sagged. I pulled her into my arms and cradled her. Racking sobs shook her whole frame. The words echoed in my mind—She left us. How could Beast not see why I needed to stay? Something floated on the edge of my mind, just out of reach. A missing puzzle piece I couldn’t snap into place. Aunt Lily’s sudden psychosis didn’t add up. And Beast was disinterested in the whole search for Rose, as if he knew with surety that no one was there. But how would he know?
“Mom, why did you think Rose was here?”
Aunt Lily shifted to look over my shoulder and stared with swollen eyes at Beast. “That was her pet. He was there the night she left. I’d never forget those silver eyes.” Her voice strained through the broken phrases.
He was there? No. That would mean…
My stomach clenched in a tight ball. Aunt Lily had to be crazy, forging her own reality to make sense of this one.
“But the note?” I asked aloud. Why would my mom write that stupid note if Beast had taken her? Then again, I’d almost done the same. I stole a glance at Beast, willing him to transform into a human to explain. Doubts whirled in my mind. Was everyone keeping things from me? Lying to me? My whole world teetered, easily toppled by what my aunt might reveal.
Aunt Lily scrubbed tears from her face and sniffled. “I don’t understand…I signed guardianship papers. But I thought…” she swallowed, “I thought she was finally being responsible, but that night I heard you crying. I waited for her to get up and soothe you, but those footsteps never came.”
I couldn’t move or even breathe as I listened to a story I’d never heard. A shot of betrayal pricked my heart.
“I entered your room. Pulled you from the crib. I saw Rose through the window, walking away. I pounded on the window. ‘Rose, come back!’ Then,” she pointed to Beast, eyes lost in memory, “he stepped out of the shadows and nudged her. I pounded and yelled over your wailing cries until my knuckles stung. I never saw her again.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Emotions crashed around me, and I scrambled to catch at my swirling world by holding on to the thick syrupy anger oozing through my veins. My mother hadn’t abandoned me, she’d been stolen—by Beast.
I sprang to my feet. “You took my mother!”
Aunt Lily squeaked at my outburst, momentarily shaken from her hypnotic state, but I barely noticed. White anger blinded my mind to anything but my target. I grabbed for a fallen tree branch and charged. Beast lithely shot to his feet, stepping clear of my swinging branch, like I was no more than an annoying fly. The momentum of my swing sent me twirling, tripping over my feet, and crashing into the unrelenting ground. Pain lanced my shoulder. But I was too angry to give the pain my attention. Beast cocked his head, as if studying a tantrum-throwing child.
I spat the metallic blood pooling in my mouth. “Did you think I’d never find out?” Digging my heels into the soft ground, I sprinted toward him, hurling the stick with all my fury. “How dare you keep her from me. I thought she abandoned me!”
The stick whizzed through the air, straight for Beast. I thought I’d get him this time, but at the last second, he caught the stick in his mighty jaws, snapping it in two with a growl.
I darted for the flowerbed and snatched fist-size rocks from the decorative lining. “Ahh! You girl—stealing—monster!” The rocks sailed through the air like missiles, but failed to hit their moving mark.
I glared daggers at Beast. I wanted him to hurt like I had every day I’d thought my mother had discarded me like a worthless rag. He must have finally felt my venomous thoughts directed at him because he whimpered and lowered his gaze. Satisfaction slithered through my heart. My words had succeeded where my fists hadn’t. He deserved every word.
“Tay.” Aunt Lily’s voice trembled with a fear that broke through my enraged haze. I flipped around. One look at her instantly dampened the raging fire to a tight ball of embers in my gut—a promise to unleash my wrath on Beast later.
Her face was blotchy from crying, and her pale blue eyes looked translucent with the terror of understanding. “You mean he…the legends,” she licked her dry lips, “they’re true?”
Beast barked. And I felt his unease wash over me. I looked at him, his silver eyes were spotted with caramel. He wanted to turn human, but couldn’t. For a moment, I wanted to feel bad for him, but his betrayal still burned inside me.
“You owe me this.” I stared into his shifting eyes until he relented with a snorty-huff, like he was waging his own battle.
Before he changed his mind, I continued. “I didn’t believe it at first, but the werewolf legends are true. Well, the werewolf part at least.” Exhausted, I watched her process the information while I felt my lip, still sticky with blood.
It was painful to watch the pieces click together in her mind.
She gasped a breath. “Then Rose really was—taken.”
“Yeah.” I lowered my eyes guiltily, unprepared to spell out the more recent bad news. But I couldn’t stall any longer. “And now he’s here for me.”
“No.” Her voice hitched in horror. She jumped to her feet, seizing my wrist and pulling me in. Her eyes darted around the yard as if trying to decide how to escape.
I touched her cheek, turning her face so our eyes locked. “Mom, you have to listen. He’s too powerful. I…” My heart twisted painfully. “I came to say goodbye.”
A chaos of panic raged behind her eyes like a wild fire out of control. Her hand squeezed my wrist painfully, but I didn’t try to pull away.
“It’s the only way to protect you.” I swallowed hard. “I have no choice. I have to—”
“No.” Aunt Lily paled.
A few yards away, Beast woofed softly and flicked his head in the direction of the van. I narrowed my eyes, my blood still fiery. There was no way I was leaving my aunt upset like this. She might call the police with a crazy kidnapping werewolf story and get herself locked up.
Aunt Lily followed my gaze, her cheeks reddening. She glared at Beast like she could burn him with her eyes while simultaneously pushing me toward the backdoor. “I’d die first,” she snarled.
A growl ripped from Beast’s throat.
A warning.
Fear trickled through me. Would he attack her? His silver eyes were losing patience.
“What about Cammie and Sarah?” I exhaled the sentence in a rush.
I knew it was low, but she had to let me go—now. I had a sinking feeling this wasn’t going to end well if she didn’t. When she didn’t acknowledge me, I knew I had to tell her more, even if Beast punished me for it later. “No matter where you take me, he’ll be there. He’s bound me to him.”
Her mouth gaped open in horror and disbelief, like a floundering fish. I continued, “I’ve tried everything to break free, believe me. If we stay here, he could lose control of his wolf urges to feed and…” My tongue felt like cotton. “I can’t let anything happen to you, to them.”
“No, I can’t lose you, too. I can’t!” Her body shook.
“I’ll not be the reason they are motherless!” I gripped her thin shoulders and forced my voice through my grief-swollen windpipe, driving my point home.
“No,” she whispered like a helpless child. I wrapped my arms around her wafer-thin torso. Her arms wound around me like a vice.
“Grandma’s retold legend after legend. I thought it was
just another stupid obsession. I should’ve realized what he was. That Rose wouldn’t have left you. But I was so bitter, and nothing made any sense. I failed you, Tay. I love you so much, and I failed you.” The anguish in her voice stabbed like a serrated dagger to my heart.
“You didn’t fail. Do you hear me? He was going to find me no matter what, but you’re the one who gave me a family and a mother’s love.” My voice wavered against the sob in my throat. Dropping my voice, I whispered in her ear, “I’ll find a way back. I swear. I love you.”
I kissed her head and tried to move, but she held on.
“No.” Her voice was hoarse, eyes pleading. “He took Rose and she never—came—back.”
Her words hit like a soccer ball slammed into my gut. Fear stung my eyes, and I hugged her back. Would I ever see my family again? A deep rumble shook the air as Beast’s patience came to an end. Painfully, I let go. Somehow, I’d find a way back.
Tears spilled from my eyes. “I have to go.”
“No one’s taking you from me.” Her voice was like steel biting into flesh. She pulled me at a sprint to the backdoor, ripping it open. But Beast slammed into us before we could enter the kitchen. We hit the door jam with a painful thud. I sat up in time to see Beast lung at Aunt Lily, head butting her with a sickening crack. She sagged motionless to the ground.
“Mom!” I crawled the short distance to her, checking her face, her closed eyes, and her neck. Under my trembling fingers, I felt a strong pulse and slumped with relief. I noticed a smear of blood on the ground. My hand slid up the back of her head and came back coated with blood from a cut on a good size goose egg.
“You knocked her out,” I yelled.
Through the bond I could feel him sending me reassurance, but it only infuriated me further.
Beast started toward the front yard, clearly telling me to leave, and if I didn’t follow, I’m sure he’d have no problem knocking me out as well and dragging me to his lair. No more warnings.
“You didn’t have to hurt her.” My voice was tight with a galaxy of endless emotions. Beast cocked his head to one side as if saying, “Didn’t I?”
Looking back at Aunt Lily’s unconscious form, I was thankful the cut was shallow. She’d have a killer headache, but would be fine. I struggled to get her inside and onto the living room couch. I bandaged her head, laying it on a pillow and elevating her legs to prevent shock—just like she’d taught me. Covering her with a warm blanket, I kissed her cheek goodbye, whispering apologies.
I stormed out of the house and nearly ripped the van’s hatch off its hinges. I glowered at Beast. I badly wanted to make him run all the way to Grandma’s, but this would be more punishing. It was his turn to feel trapped, caged. Beast growled deep, sensing my malicious intent, but jumped into the van anyway.
Somehow, I drove back to Grandma’s with blurry, bitter tears. Beast’s agitated whines actually soothed my nerves. I made it a special point to hit the potholes and play chicken on the corners. When we arrived, I hopped out of the van, and Beast’s front paws planted on my vacated seat. Before he could jump out of the van, I slammed the door on his nose, locking him in. I wasn’t done punishing him, and I didn’t care if he broke my van in the process. It’s not like I’d ever see it again.
He’d taken my mom. My mom! And now he was ripping Aunt Lily from me. I curled up on Grandma’s bed, giving in to the black despair growing inside me. Overwhelmed, I could barely grasp that my mother hadn’t abandoned me. That she might still be out there. That she might love me.
Night fell hours later, and liquid fire burned through my flesh. It was almost soothing to block out the swirling emotions inside. Soon Beast would come to haul me away to his dungeon in the mountains, and I’d be powerless to stop him. I closed my eyes, sinking deeper into my mind-numbing void.
CHAPTER 23—Lies
A reflection of my puffy eyes stared hypnotically back at me as I looked at the passenger side window. I’d barely noticed when Beast plucked me off Grandma’s bed where I’d cried myself into an exhausted, mind-numbing sleep and carried me to his truck.
My mind was still hazy. I slightly remembered Beast buckling me into the cold leather seat before tossing my belongings into the covered truck bed.
The cab light cast an ugly yellow glow over the truck’s interior. I jumped when it tilted to one side as Beast climbed in, and I heard the door shut with a sharp click. His brown eyes reflected in the window beside mine, but I didn’t turn to face him. I didn’t want to think. I didn’t want to feel. I wanted to stay numb, oblivious to the world around me, and to the pain of leaving my family—my life.
Aunt Lily’s words still haunted me, repeating like a broken record in my mind. “She never came back!” A mixture of feelings assaulted me every time I thought about my mom. There were so many times I hated her for leaving me, refusing to let the part of me that loved her surface. Beast had ripped Rose from her life, like he had me from my family, and my emotions swirled like water in a blender. Did that mean she would’ve stayed?
The town lights slowly faded into shaded varieties of black, as we cruised by pines lining the road. I knew we were headed west, toward Yellowstone. There were only so many ways to leave Cody and only one that landed you in a pine forest canyon with a deep ravine off to one side. Just this year, one of my classmates was killed by the dangerous curves of the North Fork, and an overpowering impulse to yank the steering wheel toward the cliff and into the Shoshone River jetted through me. I could imagine the sound of rushing water at the bottom of the ravine. Newspaper images of a truck smashed between the current of the river and a boulder flashed in my mind. It would be so easy to end my misery.
Blinding lights from the oncoming traffic shocked me back to reality. If I gave into depression, I would fail to keep my promise to my aunt without even a fight. I breathed in deeply and felt Beast’s eyes on me once again. He didn’t speak, and I was thankful for that. Moping wouldn’t change anything. Besides, he had a lot to answer for. I was going to get some answers.
“Where’s my mother?” I demanded, heat trickling back into my numb system.
Beast clenched the steering wheel, but said nothing.
“Answer me,” I yelled, glaring at his silhouette.
Beast wrung the steering wheel with this massive hands. “Would it really have mattered if you’d known? You couldn’t have changed anything. We are all slaves to this curse.” His voice was soft but firm.
“I thought she abandoned me. That she didn’t care enough to be my mother.” Tears threatened to spill onto my cheeks, but I gritted my teeth, fighting them back. “Yes, it would have mattered.”
I could hear the hum of the truck engine over his silence.
“What happened to her?”
He didn’t answer.
“Is she even alive?” I was starting to lose whatever control I had established over my emotions.
“She’s safe.” He relinquished finally, avoiding answering my question directly.
I snapped.
“Where. Is. She!” My voice grew louder, ricocheting like a bullet through the cab. “Take me to her, now!”
“I don’t think that’s wise,” he said calmly, avoiding my eyes.
“Don’t give me that bull.” My blood boiled. He had no right to keep her from me. He might drag me to the woods against my will, knock Aunt Lily out, but he wouldn’t stop me from seeing my mother. Especially when he knew where she was.
“She’s well, Tayla. Be satisfied.”
He wanted me to let it go and be satisfied? That was like asking me not to breathe.
“How do I know you aren’t lying? You probably killed her yourself and aren’t man enough to own up to it.” I spat, as rational thinking slipped through my fingers.
A snarl burst from between his hard lips. “I always take care of my pack!”
“Screw your pack!” I threw my hands in the air, before slapping my thighs in exasperation. “What about my mom?”
His hard glar
e never wavered from the road. The steering wheel groaned from the abuse of Beast’s crushing fists. Moments passed in stiff silence.
“She’s a wolf, Tayla,” he said, gravely.
His words stung me like falling into a frozen lake. My world went murky as I drowned in his meaning. I gulped, coming back up for air.
“No, you can’t mean…” My breathing came in shallow gasps. The world felt smaller, slowly closing in, and I couldn’t finish the sentence. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it.
“Wh-what? How?”
His jaw flexed, and I was afraid he wasn’t going to answer. My heart skipped a beat when his lips parted.
“Werewolves aren’t born. We’re made.” His eyes grew sad, weighed down by an invisible burden as he looked sideways at me. “It was an accident.” Grief resonated through his voice.
“An accident?” Disbelief colored my words.
His stony glare fixed on the road again and a hard edge formed around his lips. Everything about his rigid posture said he’d finished speaking. All those years I thought she abandoned me, but she’d really been a wolf. The word ‘wolf’ burned like acid in my mind. I couldn’t see her as a wolf, with her delicate frame and the same cream-colored skin as me.
A tear would have fallen if I had any left to shed.
“You could’ve told me. You could’ve let her stay with me once she’d turned.”
“A wild wolf?” he incredulously asked.
“She’s my mother!”
Silver streaked his irises. “And what? You’d have kept her in that dilapidated apartment in Charleston, like a dog!” He laughed harshly.
I felt like I’d been slugged in the gut. “No,” I automatically responded, but then I realized I’d never told him about Charleston.
Everything clicked into place: Aunt Lily locking us in the apartment, her twitchy behavior, the way she relaxed the further away from Charleston we got. It all made sense now.
“You were there! That’s why she made us move. You’ve been trying to ‘bond’ with me since Charleston?”
Curse of the Beast Page 17