The Half-Blood Mate

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Where are we going, Mom?"

Mom was driving. We had gotten up late (well Mom did), had a good, big breakfast, and afterwards, she suggested we take a drive. She didn't look as stressed as she had been yesterday, so I chalked that up to the well deserved rest she got. 

"You wanted to know about your dad. I'm taking you to the place where it all started for us." 

"Wherever this place is, it must be something special."

"It is," she said with a sigh. "It's where your father first asked me to be his girl. I flat out told him 'no chance in hell'." 

A warm smile lit up her face. One she would show me at times. It made me wonder what she was reminiscing about at this exact moment.

"Well, here we are." 

She pulled up onto a grassy lot. A couple of old, wooden picnic tables were scattered around. One in particular sat beneath an old, angel oak tree. After the car was parked, Mom got out. I soon followed after glancing around. 

I followed her toward the table that sat under the tree. "A bunch of us would come out here to hang out during our breaks from school. We met when we both were in high school, although he didn't go to Jacksonville High. None of them did." When we reached the table, she and I climbed onto the bench and sat on the tabletop. 

"He was part of this biker gang." She continued with that warm smile on her face. "They were the misfits of the city who stayed to themselves for the most part, but they were surrounded in mystery for a lot of us. Anyway, on spring break, they came here for some reason. I was here hanging out with some of my friends. 

They didn't pay us no mind at first. Too busy having their own fun I guess, but it wasn't long before he looked my way. I guess you could say things took off from there. He walked right up to me and asked me to be his girl without an introduction or anything. So o'course, I turned him down. He only laughed it off along with his buddies." 

She wrapped her hands around her right knee. "Then they joined us and we hung out. One night, we went to a bonfire he invited a few of us to. One of his friends got handsy with me and he stepped in. He was a goofy man, so imagine how hard it was for me to believe he was actually the leader of that biker group. Some other things happened that night, and I ended up with Romulus. He kissed me that night. I'll spare you the details." She nudged my shoulder with hers.

"Um gross." I made a face that was playful in nature. Her story sounded romantic to me as if she had been part of an once in a lifetime chance story. 

"We've been a thing since then, but he wouldn't take me around his family, which I found weird. It was later I found out he was keeping me a secret." Her face twisted in disdain. "I punched him in the nose and told him I didn't want to see him again. That didn't stop him, but he did tell me why he was keeping me a secret, not that I believed him. We broke up after that. It wasn't until four years later that I saw him again. 

He saved me from a vampire one night after I've been working. I believed him then after the things I saw him do. I was pregnant with you a year later and he married me. We didn't have a wedding, and his pack didn't approve of me, but we were happy. 

You were four when he left." There was a far away look in her eyes. "I gave him an ultimatum. He chose to go anyway."  

I could sense the sadness in her voice. It made me sad to know that he had chosen to leave us, but there had to be a reason, right? I hoped it was a good one. "Why did he go? Why did he leave us? Didn't he care?" 

She turned to me, placing her hands on my shoulders. "Your father loves you. He will always love you no matter what."

"But why did he leave if he loved us?"

She dropped her hands to her lap, looking forward again. "Something happened back with his pack. He had become alpha, so they were part of his responsibility too. I just wanted him to choose us — choose me first." She was quiet for a moment.  "If you'll ask him, he will tell you why he left."

We were quiet for a moment. Both of us lost to our own thoughts. A question that had been nagging me since yesterday pushed me to ask. "Why did you tell me he was dead?"

Her eyes softened. "What do you tell a little girl whose father left?"

"The truth," I offered. Surely I would have understood. I might have been upset for a while, but I was sure I would understand. 

"I couldn't tell you the truth. You were at that age where you told everything that excited you. And it was your father's idea to tell you that he was dead. I agreed because I didn't know if he was going to come back to us." 

What did he have to do? I couldn't help wondering what was so important that he was forced to leave behind his own family. I didn't understand why a pack was so important. I mean they basically didn't accept mom, so why should he even care when he had us?

Mom's voice brought me from my thinking. She had turned to face me once again."To spare you a lot of heartache, I want you to cut your ties with your mate."

My shock must have been evident on my face because she was quick to explain herself. 

"I'm not saying this because he's older than you, but the world he lives in, the one you will be a part of, is one that carries harsh rules."

"What do you mean?"

She placed a warm hand on my knee. "You will never be fully allowed to be with your mate. You're a half-blood." 

"Half-blood?"

"Half human, half werewolf. You carry both bloods in you, so that's where the term comes from among werewolves." She smiled, her eyes shined brightly for a moment. "It's kind of sweet if you think about it. In any case, there are beings out there that don't want werewolves mixing blood with humans. They will hunt you down once everything comes out."

The last of the sun's rays was sinking slowly which gave mom's words an ominous feeling. I don't know why, but it felt like I had to look over my shoulders. Which I did before looking back at mom. 

"Lucian wouldn't let that happen. And what about...him?" It felt strange to call Romulus dad after being told your dad had died so long ago. I mean I didn't even know him enough. 

An understanding look was in mom's eyes. "Your father will do everything in his power to keep you safe, but he's technically in trouble too." 

"Why? What is he in trouble for?"

"For mating me and hiding it. If I remember correctly, he said that once marked a human's life is bonded to the one that marks." When she saw the look on my face, her mouth lifted in a half smile. 

"It's like this: I no longer have the choice to get out of a bond with a werewolf. Werewolves mate for life. Your father gave me the choice to be with him or not with the full understanding that I couldn’t break from the bond. I agreed. I knew what I was getting into, but I didn’t expect to have to raise you on my own either. He promised me I wouldn't."

"I can see why you are mad." I said as I looked at the grassy ground. 

"I just want to spare you a lot of heartache. By you being a half-blood, I don't know what you will have to face really."

At that moment, my head began pounding like a really bad brain freeze. Grabbing my head, I bend over, a groan leaving me. I could hear my mom's voice, but it wasn't quite reaching me. I could feel my temperature rising. My skin was burning. In the distance, I could hear the howl of a wolf. It was so loud like it was coming closer and closer.

"Get her on the ground."

Someone was speaking. The howling never stopped.

"You deal with them. I'll watch Amelia and your mate." 

Whose voice is that? 

The howling was near my ears. I could feel the presence of others. Smell them even. The taste of danger was in the air. Mom. I needed to protect her.