Page 13 of Rejected Broken Mate

Wendy stirred her drink. "For Poppy, it was really figuring out if she was a witch or a shifter."

"You knew she wasn't going to be human?" I asked.

Ashley spoke up. "When shifters have children, the percentage of them being human is about ten. But the percentage drops when you combine a witch and a shifter."

I felt stupid not knowing this, but the girls never made me feel bad about my questions. If anything, they made me feel better about asking.

"We don't expect you to know that," Wendy said, smiling at me. "But the chances are low. Kids show signs at a young age, but you can also feel it in them. It's like a connection that you can't exactly put together."

Ashley nodded. "When Ivy was born, I felt a snap knowing who she was."

I looked at Michael. I felt a connection, but not like they were describing. I suddenly felt that my love for Michael wasn't as strong as what they had with their kids, and it never would be.

"Laura, you're a great mother," Ashley quickly added. "Being a human doesn't change that."

I nervously laughed, grabbing my smoothie. "I don't know if that's true."

"Michael loves you," Wendy said, smiling at me. "I can see it in his eyes. Being a human doesn't mean that what you guys haven't isn't special. If anything, I think it's better. You can't hear your kids scream in your head how much she hates you."

I gave her a sympathetic smile. "I hope you're joking."

"No, Poppy loves to pull that card out. And because she didn't actually say the words, it doesn't count. Ayden loves it," she said sarcastically.

"There is a lot that I don't know," I explain, "And I feel I should. How do I tell Michael? How do you break that news to someone who's never been around it?"

Both of them had wide eyes. "You haven't told him?"

I shook my head. "I don't know how to. I hardly understand it. How am I to get him to?"

We all looked over at the kids. Poppy was standing at the top of the playground, yelling down at Michael, who was on the ground. He looked like a human, but then again, so did Poppy.

"How long are you planning to wait?"

I looked over at Ashley as she adjusted Ivy in her lap. "Normally, kids know sooner than six. Hasn't he heard his wolf speak to him?"

I nod my head. "Yeah...this was before I even knew. I should have told him at the ER, but couldn't wrap my head around it. I had no idea he was one."

"He's going to be confused," Wendy explained. "No matter what you say….he won't really understand because it's never been spoken about. If you want him to know, you have to tell him."

"How am I supposed to normalize this when this doesn’t feel normal? I’ve hardly been around shifters myself.?"

They both gave me a sympathetic smile.

I rubbed a hand over my eyes.

"If you don't mind us asking, how did you have Michael? Didn't his father tell you who he was?"

Miles popped into my head. I knew what night it was that I ended up pregnant. It was the night the condom broke. This was two months before we broke up. And with finals around the corner we knew we wouldn't see each other as much.

I remembered how I was supposed to pick up the plan B, and I forgot. Miles even reminded me twice to do so. And yet, I hadn't. I kept forgetting between classes and trying to work on my final essay and a damn project.

The weeks flew by, and it wasn't until I was clutching the damn pregnancy test that I remembered I never got the pill. And then Miles ended things. And suddenly, I was all alone and pregnant.

I couldn’t tell them the truth. I already lied and told Miles it was someone I dated so I needed to continue the lie.,“It was a guy I was seeing at work from my first job straight out of college. We had only been dating a few weeks before I found out I was pregnant.

Wendy tilted her head. "The guy never told you?"

I almost snorted. Of course, Miles didn't tell me. He didn't want to reveal that much about himself. He made sure the relationship was about sex and nothing more.

---