Shapeshifter |book l|

Chapter 8

"How are you Mrs. Shaw?" Kol asks, pulling back from the hug and looking at me.

My mother hooks her arm around his and leads him inside, "Same old thing. You should see this lovely quilt I made." They disappear into the house, Kol shooting me a crooked grin. My mother had always adored him-he seemed to have that affect on people.

I look out across my mother's porch towards the large lake across the street and cute farm houses scattered around it just like hers. I see the old tree swing barley hanging on remembering when we had first gotten it and my brother had went too high and fell out of it, breaking his arm. Although it was frightening at the time I couldn't help my smile and giggle at the memory.

I take a breath of the fresh air one last time before I turn on my heels and walk into my childhood home.

My mother and Kol are seated in the living room. Kol sitting in my dads old chair underneath a huge mounted elk and my mom adjacent from him in a love seat. I take the seat next to my mom who's in a deep conversation about football with Kol. My mother had always been a big fan of the sport.

I stare at Kol as he's engaged and smile. He was so smooth with his actions and words-I could see him as a king, ruling the supernatural world and keeping it in check. Although it was frightening now I had a good feeling that it would all be worth it in the end.

"So, I assume you both have many questions." My mother says, ending her conversation with Kol.

I nod my head and swallow anxiously, "Dad was a werewolf. How?"

My mother nods, taking a slow sip of her tea then looks at me, "It was a shock to me at first also. He came to me one night when I was pregnant with you. He was covered in blood and had bruises all over his face-I just assumed he had gotten mugged because where we lived at the time robberies weren't uncommon.

He kept mumbling about an animal biting him on the neck and before you know his grandma shows up and is spreading a book out in front of us and telling us the stories of how werewolves and vampires came to be," My mother's eyes shift to Kol as she says the next part, "She told us about the lycans too and how that ended."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "How does she know so much about this?"

The memories I had of my grandmother when I was young was her attending my brother and I's soccer game and reading us bed time stories. I didn't see her as being a lady who believed in the supernatural.

"Your fathers ancestors were filled with Vikings and vagabonds. The book and stories were just handed down through the years."

I look at Kol to see him taking this all in with a calm facade, but I could only imagine what he was really feeling inside.

"Now the night your father first transitioned we had been prepared. Just south of this house is an underground cellar that was built for bomb protections near World War II. We had put chains on the walls and layered the door with wolfsbane and herbs that fended off unwanted guests. I watched him turn through a peep hole in the door," She grabs Kol's knee and lightly squeezes it, "He told me that while I talked him through it it eased his pain. I'm sorry for what is to come but it gets better over the years, your body gets used to the pain."

Kol nods and stands to his feet, "I just need a minute." I watch his back as he walks out the backyard and onto the patio.