A Knight's Purpose (Book 1) ✔️

Chapter 29 - Trap of the Past

I pause with my hand on the page.

"Do you mind if I ask you something first?"

Maia nods as she settles deeper into the couch, pulling a blanket around herself.

I take a deep breath before speaking slowly. "Do you remember your parents?"

She freezes at the question.

"I know it's a difficult question for you so if you don't want to answer you don't have to, but I'd really love to hear what you remember about them. If you don't mind." I shut the book slowly.

She chews on her lip and nods. "Um, I remember a little bit. My mom had black hair and my dad the best smile. Her name was Sarah and his was Dan. I think they sang me to sleep at night but I don't really know. That's just something I tell myself."

She pauses to tuck her hair behind her ear bashfully.

"I know they loved me. I can remember them always saying to be good. But that's it." She shrugs.

I give her a small smile. "Would you like to hear about them? I can read to you after. It's a short chapter."

She frowns at me. "You didn't even flip through the book. How do you know it's short?"

"I know the author so I've read the book a number of times," I laugh at the half truth.

She nods. "Then, yeah, I think I'd like to hear some more about them."

I give her the biggest smile I can muster and set the book on the back of the couch, folding my hands.

"Well, what can I say? Your parents loved you and each other so much it hurt to look at then sometimes. Your mother's name was Sarah but your father's name was Darnure. He only went by Dan because his name sounded silly." I chuckle, remembering the way he'd hung his head in defeat when he'd conceded I was right and that Dan really was a better name.

"Your mother was a beautiful Brazilian woman and the quietest black panther you will ever meet. You quite look like her, you know. They met when Dan and I decided to get away from the snow and head down to Chile. We were staying at the same lodge in the forest and when we discovered another shifter we invited her along on a run. And that was it. Your father ran with her once and that night he told me she was it for him." I let myself smile at the memory for the first time in a long time.

"We stayed two weeks and when we left your father asked Sarah to come with us. She said no." I laughed. "He was so flustered. No one had ever said no before so it took him until we were almost home to realize how stupid he was being. He turned around and went back while I returned to our territory up north."

I look up to see Maia hanging on my every word.

"He returned home with her as his wife two years later and they built a home full of love. They even gave me my own room for whenever I stayed though I told them I didn't need it." I can feel tears start pushing at the back of my eyes.

"They were there for three years before you were born. And you were happy. They sang you to sleep every night and you woke them by screaming the next morning. I'd just stopped by for a visit so they could go on a date the day we were taken." I clear my throat. My tears suddenly gone.

I glance at Maia and she's frozen. "What do you remember?"

She flinches a little. "It's all a blur. I remember fear and cages and saying goodbye. And then I'm on a street corner crying into a pair of arms. Camden."

I frown. "Do you want to hear more? I haven't told Camden so it's not like he's keeping the truth from you, but if you'd rather wait or hear it from him I understand."