By the time I hear my father's truck pull into my driveway, Raven's third seizure has come and gone. I cradle her head in my lap as Luna lays across her body. I stroke her hair and murmur softly to her as she recovers. I only feel a scrambled mess of emotions inside her head, and her skin seems hot to me now.
Her face started to shift again during her convulsions, along with her fingernails that briefly elongated and sharpened this time. As I held her through it, I could feel this agitated and turbulent feral energy struggling to break free inside her. It was almost as if something was holding back the wolf I now know is inside her. What if what's happening somehow damages her body or her mind in some irrevocable way? My God, what if it kills her?
I hunch over her under the heavy onslaught of fear and worry and helplessness. Hot tears start streaming from my eyes as my mother and father burst through the door of the cabin. I hear my mother gasp as hurried footsteps approach, then she drops down next to me.
"Em, honey?" she asks in a frightened voice. "What happened?" She reaches out to touch Raven's face in a motherly gesture.
"She's been having seizures," I explain in a wavering voice, never taking my eyes off Raven.
"How many?"
"Three," I whisper. "Really bad ones too."
"She feels very feverish to me. I think we need to call an ambulance," Mom announces. She grabs up my discarded phone from the floor next to her leg as Dad kneels on Raven's other side and inhales.
She starts dialing, but Dad abruptly snaps out, "Cadence, stop."
Mom freezes, and we both glance over to see him staring intently at Raven, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.
"You smell it too," I say in a quiet and subdued voice. Oh, how I wanted to be wrong about this.
My father meets my gaze and nods, his expression stunned. "She smells like a werewolf," he says incredulously. "It's fading, but it's there."
"What?" Mom blurts out.
"Her body tried to shift during the last two seizures," I explain. "And I could feel the wolf trying to get out during the last one."
"Feel?" Dad says, his head tilting questioningly. "What do you mean by feel?"
"We...we can feel each other's emotions through our mating bond when we're touching," I replied with a frown. "It started when we had sex the first time."
"Son," he says gravely. "Only two werewolves with a mating bond can share their emotions like that." He shook his head, and continued, "Even your mother and I can't do that."
"What?"
"She's not a wild blood human, Emmett," Dad continues. "She's a werewolf."
I look down to stare at Raven for a long incredulous moment. "I...I don't understand," I murmur. "How is that even possible? Why hasn't she shifted before?"
"I don't know why she's never shifted before, honey, but at least one of her parents had to be a werewolf," Mom tells me as she places a comforting hand on my forearm. "If not her father, then definitely her mother. Has she mentioned anything about her mom?"
"She...she was adopted," I whisper as I glide my fingertips along Raven's cheek.
I feel the gray haze leftover from her last seizure begin to clear, leaving a sense of confusion and fear in its wake. She moans, and her eyes flutter a few times before they open, but it doesn't seem like she's really seeing anything.
"Raven," I say in relief as I cradle her face in my hands.
"Emmett?" Her voice is a hoarse and wavering croak. The fear she feels rises toward panic.
"I'm here, baby," I say in a reassuring tone, then lean down to press a kiss to her forehead. Her skin feels like it's burning up. "I've got you." I have to fight down my own fear and try to stay calm, not wanting to upset her any further in the delirious state she's in.
She lifts a hand and flails it out toward me, and I grab it and hold it tight. Luna, who has been lying across Raven's hips this whole time, shifts over to start licking Raven's face. The panic she feels eases, but the fear and confusion are still there.
"I...I don't feel good," Raven whimpers out in a child-like voice as tears well in her eyes. She closes them, and the tears stream down into her hairline. "I wanna go home. I want Dad."
"Shh...it's okay, baby," I tell her as I gently stroke her now hot and reddened cheek again. "I'll take you home."
My words soothe her, and alleviate her fear. She nods feebly as her eyes flutter closed again. Then she drifts off into an exhausted sleep, and I hope like hell the seizures are over. Watching her suffer like that is a fucking torture I don't want to repeat anytime soon. But unfortunately, I know exactly what her fever means now, and I know she's going to suffer a hell of a lot more before she gets better again.
I sigh, then regretfully break my contact with Raven and stand. I turn to go upstairs to grab a shirt and a pair of shoes, so I can take her home, but freeze when I have a horrifying realization. I have to tell her father what's going on, her father who's a cop. I'm already on shaky ground with the man, and now he's going to hate me for sure. If he even believes me and doesn't just shoot me instead. Fucking hell.
"What is it, son?" my father asks as he stands and eyes me with concern.
I turn to give him a pained expression. "I have to tell her dad about all this...about everything."
His eyes widen, then he nods in understanding. He glances down to share a brief look with Mom, who's still on the floor next to Raven. Even if they can't feel each other's emotions like I do with my mate, they've always had a deeply intuitive connection that's uncanny. After a moment, Mom finally nods at him. Then he turns his attention back to me with a grim and determined expression, and says, "We'll go with you."
I can't help but feel relieved that I don't have to do this alone. Even if there's still a very good chance that Brandon Cade is going to shoot me anyway. Hell, none of this would probably be happening at all if I never met his daughter in the first place. An irrational guilt-ridden part of me feels like I deserve it if he does put a bullet in me.
24
EMMETT
I tuck the blanket more snuggly around Raven's body where she's lying across the back seat of my father's silver crew cab pickup. Her head is on my lap and Luna is lying across her hips. I brush her hair from her face as I watch her sleep with a somewhat pained expression, and let my love and affection trickle through our bond to comfort her. She murmurs my name happily, and her face relaxes as she nuzzles against my thigh. I feel her sleepy contentment roll into me and sigh in relief.
I'm glad that's she's feeling a little better, even if I know it's only temporary before the fever comes raging back again. I know she'll have to suffer through great pain and misery as her body nears and then finally endures its first shift. Not to mention if she has more seizures on top of it all. I'm not looking forward to watching any of it happen, and it gives me newfound sympathy for my parents. They had to watch all five of their children go through the change.
"Is this it, son?" Dad asks from the driver's seat.
I glance up to look out the window and see Raven's familiar little beige house up ahead with a deck that wraps around to the back. An older SUV I don't recognize sits in the gravel driveway. I assume it's her father's vehicle. I'm certain that if Raven hadn't told him she was spending the night with me, that he would've already shown up at my place looking for her again. I'm happy her father cares enough to be so protective of her, but it makes facing him this morning that much more daunting.
"Yeah," I say grimly as dread roils in my gut, making me feel a little sick.
Mom turns in the passenger seat, reaches back to touch my knee, and gives me a sympathetic expression. "It's going to be okay, Em," she says as she pats my leg.
I nod, even though I'm not sure I believe her, as Dad pulls into the driveway. When the truck stops I open the passenger door, then gather a grumbling Raven into my arms and climb out as she settles into sleep again. She's looks so exhausted and frail in my arms, that it breaks my heart. It makes the wolf in me feel all kinds of possessive and want to squirr
el her away somewhere safe from the rest of the world.
I lead the way up the driveway with the little husky a close shadow. Just as I reach the narrow sidewalk that leads to the front door, Brandon Cade bursts through it. He hurries over to me with a distressed expression, dressed in his Wolcott P.D. uniform, and still armed I might add.
"What happened?" he barks out demandingly, then immediately pulls Raven from my arms and into his. My wolf instantly protests, and it's all I can do not to snarl at him and snatch her back.
"She had some seizures," I tell him in a gruff rasping voice as I struggle to control the beast in me.
"How many?" he asks as he turns and strides back toward the house.
"Three," I answer as I follow him.
"When?"
"I woke up just as she started having the first one, and then she had two more pretty close together."
"Did she take her medication last night?" he says as I open the door for him.
"Um...I...I don't know," I reply sheepishly.
He shoots me a baleful glare, then shakes his head and carries his daughter inside. I follow him as a surge of guilt floods me since I didn't pay any attention to whether she took it or not. He takes Raven to the brown faux leather sofa and gently lays her down. He grabs the blanket that's lying across the back of the couch and covers her with it. Then he leans over to brush his fingers through her hair. Luna jumps up to lay on Raven's legs with her chin resting on her master's hip.
"Baby girl?" he murmurs softly to her as he cups her cheek in his hand.
"Dad?" she responds. "I'm so tired." She moans. "Where's Emmett?"
"He's right here," he tells her. "Did you take your medicine last night?"
"I...I don't know," she answers as she tries to keep her eyes open and focus on her father. "I'm sorry," she says in a mournful tone that breaks my heart.
"Shh, it's alright," he reassures her. "Go back to sleep."
"Okay," she whispers and drifts off again before he turns to face me with a glower.
"Where's her purse?" he asks demandingly. "I'm not taking the chance that she could be missing a second dose this morning."
"I have it," Mom answers him as she and my father walk into the house behind me.
Brandon glances at them warily. "Who are you?" he asks defensively.
"I'm Emmett's mother, Cadie, and this is his father, Rett." She gestures toward my father, who nods as he eyes Brandon assessingly in silence. "And I wish we'd met under better circumstances," Mom replies sympathetically. She approaches Brandon with the bag held out toward him, then suddenly stops and pulls it back with a thoughtful expression. "When did Raven start having seizures?"
"When she was thirteen," Brandon answered with a frown.
"How long has she been taking anti-seizure meds?" Mom continues, ignoring his impatient expression.
"She's been taking one kind or another ever since. They just haven't been consistently effective until the last eight or nine months," -he glances at Raven with a sorrowful expression- "at least until today that is."
Mom glances at Dad and they exchange a long pointed look until I see a sudden flash of realization fill my father's blue eyes. He nods slowly to her in agreement to whatever silent communication passed between them, before looking at Brandon.
"There are some things we need to discuss about your daughter," Dad says in a grim and measured tone.
"Discuss what exactly?" Brandon says guardedly to Dad, then glances worriedly at his deeply sleeping daughter.
"Something important," Dad adds, "and relevant to what happened this morning and her medication."
He purses his lips dubiously for a moment then finally nods. "Okay."
"Perhaps we should sit down first," Mom suggests calmly.
Brandon and my parents move toward the small kitchen table nearby in the open living area. I gaze longingly at Raven. I want to hold her, touch her, soothe her through our bond. Instead, I follow them and park myself in the chair that offers me a clear view of my mate. I end up sitting next to her father with Mom and Dad across the rectangular table from us. I'm so nervous and tense. I can't help but believe that this going to be a train wreck. How the hell did we explain this without pissing Raven's father off and sounding like raving lunatics?
I think it's best for everyone involved if I let my parents handle this. I have a habit of saying or doing the wrong thing and making things worse. Just look how I handled Raven finding out what I am. It almost cost me my mate. Yeah, I'm staying out of this and keeping my damn mouth shut.
My father, ever the Alpha with his calm and controlled demeanor, takes the lead and begins the conversation.
"I'm not going to pull any punches here," he says gravely. "I'm not the kind of man to pussyfoot around something anymore than I think you are, Mr. Cade, so I'm going to be blunt."
Brandon nods in agreement, his expression open and inquisitive, despite the worried furrow creasing his brow. We'd see how long that lasted.
"What I'm about to tell you is going to sound improbable, insane even, but I swear to you that everything I'm about to tell you is the truth. Just please have an open mind and hear me out."
Brandon's brow furrows even more as wariness begins to color his features. "Alright," he says with a single nod.
"My son and I, and my other children as well, are werewolves."
Brandon's eyes flew wide at my father's words, and his mouth gaped open.
"We believe that your daughter is too, and what you thought was epilepsy all this time has actually been her body's attempts to shift ever since she came into her wolf at puberty," Dad continues bluntly. "My son witnessed her seizures and saw her trying to shift, and though I didn't see it for myself, I could smell wolf on her when we arrived just after the third one."
Raven's father goes rigid and still, his eyes locked on Dad with growing tension. Shit, this isn't going well at all. What a shock? Mom notices too, and jumps into the conversation in a soothing and reasonable voice.
"I think her seizure medications are most likely to blame for her unsuccessful attempts to shift all this time. Being with Emmett has somehow triggered her wolf to try to get out again, despite the meds." Wow, Mom's theory makes a hell of a lot of sense, and explains a lot.
Brandon Cade's hands clench into fists on the table top. His mouth presses into a hard line as his eyes glitter with anger.
"Get out," he says in a low and deadly serious tone. "Get the fuck out of my house. I don't know why you're doing this or what you think you'll gain from it, but take your insane and sick twisted lies, and get the fuck out of here and stay the fuck away from my daughter." He shoots a daggered glare at me. "And keep your son away from her too, or you'll all be hearing from the police department and my lawyer about harassment charges, and I'll get a restraining order against him." He rises to his feet, his entire body vibrating with barely suppressed rage. "Get. Out," he snarls out venomously through gritted teeth.
Instant panic streaks through me at his words and his threats. He doesn't believe us, and I can't lose Raven, my mate, my love. It would be liking losing a limb, like ripping out a piece of my soul. Not being able to see her, touch her, or be with her at all would destroy the man and the wolf in me. I'd die inside. There'd be nothing left but a lonely pathetic husk, an empty hollow shell. I can't let that happen. I won't. I'll make him believe. I'll make him believe right fucking now.
Without a thought to what I'm doing, or whether I should, I leap to my feet. The abrupt motion sends my chair toppling over with a loud clatter behind me as I rip my shirt off over my head. And before my dad's frantic command to stop can even register in my brain, I shift into the wolf.
25
RAVEN
My head hurts, and I'm nauseous. I'm so tired that my brain is having trouble making sense of anything, let alone struggle to stay awake. My entire body aches, my muscles feeling wrenched and sore. I feel chilled like I might be spiking a fever too, which is an odd symptom I've never experienced aft
er a seizure before. It must have been really bad, but I don't remember it, which isn't unusual.
My last clear memory is of falling asleep in Emmett's arms in the forest last night. After that it's nothing but disjointed hazy bits of misery amid a few images of Emmett's worried face as he comforted me. I wish he was here. I wish he was touching me. Everything feels so much better when he soothes me through our mating bond. Where is he? I force my bleary eyes open and blink at my blurry yet familiar surroundings. I'm home? How did I even get here?
"Get out," I hear my father say, his voice filled with virulent animosity.
I manage to focus enough to see the kitchen table across the room, where my father and Emmett are sitting next to each other. Across from them, two other people are seated with their backs to me. I feel like I should know who they are. I have no idea what's going on.
"Get the fuck out of my house," Dad continues angrily. "I don't know why you're doing this or what you think you'll gain from it, but take your insane and sick twisted lies, and get the fuck out of here, and stay the fuck away from my daughter."
I see him glare at Emmett, who stiffens under Dad's hard gaze.
"And keep your son away from her too, or you'll all be hearing from the police department and my lawyer about harassment charges, and I'll get a restraining order against him." Dad stands, and I see suppressed anger in every taut line of his body as I realize he's speaking to Emmett's parents. "Get. Out," he grits out viciously.
Emmett's eyes widen and grow wild with panic at my father's harsh words. I struggle to get my legs out from under Luna, so I can sit up on the couch. I can't let my father do this. I can't let him keep me apart from the man I love. I need him like I need air to breathe.
Wild Blood: The Trueborn Saga Book 1 Page 17