Chapter Thirty-Eight #2
“And my biological father?” she asks, pushing away from my chest where I had her cocooned against my body heat. She moves further down the couch, out of my reach again, and I’m instantly cold without her in my arms.
“Alpha Lo. He was killed during the rescue mission. He was not a good person, Maya.”
“Did either of them have more children?” she asks quietly, refusing to look at me.
“There’s nothing in the records about your mother having any more children. Lo did have two sons with his actual mate. They’re both in their twenties.”
She pushes to her feet and paces away before turning back to me. Her eyes glassy but a little brighter at this information. “You know who they are? Do you know where they are? I want to meet them.”
Bile threatens to rise up my throat at the idea of my mate going anywhere near anything connected to Lo or that fucked-up organization.
Even if we did burn it to the ground a couple of months ago.
I don’t know if his sons were involved in the Keepers, but I won’t take any chances where Maya is concerned.
“You can’t meet them. It’s not safe,” I say in a tone that sounds much harsher than intended, but I can’t keep my wolf from adding his snarl into my voice.
The look Maya gives me could have the power to freeze the blood in my veins.
She’s all calm fury, muscles coiled tight and clenched, but her eyes burn with fire.
“That’s not your choice to make,” she says through gritted teeth. “Is this why you wanted to keep it a secret from me? So, you could stop me from speaking to my brothers?”
“You don’t understand—”
“And whose fault is that?” she snaps, crossing her arms in front of her.
“I was trying to protect you,” I growl back as my wolf pushes against me. I know I should have told her sooner. This isn’t how I wanted it to come out, but Maya is being ridiculous and petulant. She can’t go near them. “You’re acting like they didn’t come from a fucking monster.”
She recoils, and I want to stuff the words back into my mouth. Or go back in time and punch myself in the face to prevent myself from saying something so fucking idiotic.
“Well, apparently so did I,” she says, her tone deceptively calm.
“It’s different. You weren’t raised by him. They were. You can’t see them, I won’t allow it.”
Maya glares at me, and her eyes—yellow with the presence of her tiger—narrow with an intensity that makes my stomach clench.
The silence in the room stretches, thick with unspoken accusations and a palpable tension that seems to hum in the air between us.
Her jaw is set, a small muscle twitching near her temple betraying the effort she's making to control her emotions as she focuses on her breathing.
Her lips are pressed into a thin, hard line, and her sweet scent is drowned out by the bitter tint of anger.
“You won’t allow it?” she hisses. “Who the hell do you think you are? I haven’t given you the power to make decisions like this.
I just found out that I have a biological family out there.
For all we know, they are victims of our father too.
I want to meet them, and you don’t get to have a say in that.
You don’t get to manipulate me with mate bonds and promises. ”
“What are you saying?” I ask as my mouth goes dry.
“I need some space to process this. Space away from you.”
“Maya, please don’t leave me. I need you.” I want to tell her about the moon madness, how taking space from me isn’t just a break, it could be the end for me. For us. I don’t want to hide anything from her anymore.
“No. I’m not doing this. You don’t get to hide things from me and then say you need me. It’s controlling and manipulative. I would be horrified if one of my clients told me their partner behaved like you have. I should have known better. This isn’t a healthy relationship. It never was.”
My wolf howls, and my world collapses as her words land.
She’s rejecting the bond. Rejecting me. No, I can’t let her do this.
Maya walks past me into the bedroom, grabbing her bag and throwing her clothes and belongings into it.
She’s not folding them meticulously like usual.
She’s not breathing in that way that calms her down. Everything is wrong.
“Maya, wait,” I say, grabbing her arm. She jerks out of my reach and continues moving around the room, erasing every sign that she’s been here. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going home. Don’t follow me.”
“I can’t let you—”
Maya spins and snarls at me, cutting off my words and silencing my argument. “You don’t get a choice. I’m taking back control of my life. If you try to stop me, I will shift and show you exactly how capable I am of making my own decisions.”
Shit, shit, shit.
How did we get here?
Maya storms out of the bedroom, leaving her toiletries behind as she speeds toward the door and slams it so hard the jamb splinters in her wake.
My wolf snaps and snarls, urging me to run after her.
Trying to get me to pin her down and force her to accept the bond.
I can’t do that to her, and if I follow her now, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop myself.
If I’ll be able to stop my wolf.
He claws at me, pushing forward without my consent. Pain shoots through my limbs as my wolf overpowers me, forcing a half-shift before I contain him again. My breath comes out in heavy gasps, fur pushes through my skin, and my face contorts between forms over and over again.
A tortured howl builds in my chest before erupting from my throat. If I lose this fight to my wolf, if he shifts fully, I don’t know if I’ll be able to come back from it. If I’ll be able to pull myself back from the feral edge of moon madness.