8. Chapter Eight #3
A furrow appeared in Adam’s brow. “What does that actually mean?”
Calder huffed a breath. Yeah, way to be vague. “The bond with a mythical shifter is… more. Are you aware that a shifter familiar bond allows the witch and the shifter to feel one another’s emotions?”
Adam nodded.
“Well, with me, you would also be able to communicate mentally.”
Adam’s eyes went wide as saucers as he gasped out, “Like telepathy?”
Calder nodded. “Yes. It goes beyond emotional state to actual verbalization.”
“Wow,” Adam whispered.
Clearing his throat, Calder said, “Although I’ve never experienced it myself, I’ve been told that mates can learn to control it. It’s not like every thought is suddenly known between them.”
“That’s so amazing.”
Thankfully, Adam really sounded like he thought it was a positive and not something to be feared.
“You’re aware that you get a boost in magic if you form a familiar bond?” Calder continued.
Adam nodded, making a face that Calder couldn’t quite interpret until he began to speak. “Like I said, it’s part of what made things so messy with Dad. I think he felt like that was one of the reasons that Mom left. That she wanted more power that she got with her shifter colleague.”
Calder didn’t know what to say to that, but thankfully, Adam continued.
“You know, I’ve been thinking about it more since you and Simon made me realize that I was being a jerk about shifters.
I think Mom and Dad fought—before she left, I mean.
And I know people can fight without splitting up, but I had it in my head that it was out of the blue, that everything was perfect before and that she was lured away by that shifter.
” He made a face. “I think that’s how Dad always talked about it.
But I wonder now if there were deeper problems, if it really was just chance.
” Adam shrugged. “Or maybe it really was the shifter familiar bond. Maybe she wanted that. But maybe that was incidental to everything else. Maybe she just fell out of love with my dad and into love with something else, and that’s just…
a thing that happens sometimes. Or maybe it was those instincts you talked about, and they really were driving her to someone else. I guess I’ll never know for sure.”
Gently, Calder said, “I’m sorry she left you.”
Adam blew out a breath, his expression conflicted.
“It’s impossible to know what my life would be like if she’d stayed or if she’d taken me with her.
I think some of my resentment towards shifters was assuming that she didn’t want me—which of course I can’t know.
She did ask me to go with her, and I said no.
Probably the childish part of me hoped that by doing that, she’d choose to stay instead.
When she didn’t… Well, it was easier to imagine that a shifter had lured her away than to accept the idea that my mom just didn’t want me enough.
But as an adult, I can also see that staying in a marriage just for your child isn’t very healthy.
Could she have made different choices and fought to stay in the country so we’d see one another more often?
Maybe. But maybe she did the best she could with the options she had at the time.
Maybe if Dad or I had been less hurt, we could have stayed in better contact. ”
Calder thought she could have tried a lot harder, but he was obviously coming at this from a very biased direction. He couldn’t begin to imagine anyone not choosing Adam every time, actively making that happen no matter what.
But what if that shifter really was her fated mate? What if she’d felt as drawn to him as Calder was to Adam, and that shifter and her son went in two different directions?
Calder really didn’t like it, but he tried to be reasonable. “It’s hard to understand everything about why people behave the way that they do. The situation can be complicated. And unfortunately, people sometimes make asinine decisions that hurt other people.”
Thankfully, this made Adam huff out a laugh and relax a bit.
“That’s true,” Adam agreed. “I mean, it’s not like I think she set out to hurt me.
But it does feel a lot like I didn’t feature in her plans once I decided to stay with Dad, and that…
that hurt.” He swallowed, then made an effort to rally.
“But as much as Dad was hurt by what happened, and as much as he’s never stopped blaming shifters for it, he also worked really hard to be there for me.
He didn’t ask to become a single parent, but I always knew he loved me and that he wanted the best for me. ”
“I’m glad,” Calder said with a smile.
He had no idea if he was going to get along with Adam’s father, given that the man seemed to be categorically opposed to Calder’s species, but he would always be grateful for that love for Adam. He would try to get along for his sake.
Calder cleared his throat again. He’d had no idea talking to your mate could be this complicated. “Now, uh, there’s still more about the bond. Did you want to hear it, or is this enough for now?”