Page 43 of Forever Mine

“Second,” he continued, “it’s my understanding that interspecies mating doesn’t produce some weird hybrid or anything. God only places one animal spirit in each of us, so there will be a fifty-fifty chance of Oscar being wolf or tiger when he comes of age. Only time will tell. We don’t even know for sure that’s the case. He could just as easily be half human. And it really doesn’t matter. He’s just Oscar, and we’ll love him unconditionally no matter what he is.”

I started to cry again in his arms. My mate loved my son. I had never even dreamed it would be possible. I didn’t think I could ever return to the pack because no one would ever accept a half human child, but Liam was telling me he already had. He would protect me and my son. It was so much more than I had ever hoped for, more than I deserved.

For too long I had felt like a shell of myself, only existing and never really living. The last few days with Lily and Liam had already begun to change that. They were changing me, or maybe they were helping me just find myself again. I felt like Maddie Collier, not the weak, broken Janie Winthrop, and I liked it.

“Come on,” Liam said. “I won’t fully relax until we’re back on pack land. Hate to wake Patrick up this late, but I really think I need to warn him.”

“Patrick? Not Kyle?”

“Well, Kyle will need to know too, but Patrick’s his security Beta. He’ll be the one that needs to know of the Order of the Verndari most.”

“Annie said they were some sort of shifter guardians, that they protect our kind, not harm them.”

“That’s what the creepy guy told me too, except he also said that there was a group of them changing things up and wanting to research on us to better humanity.”

“What?”

“Yeah, that’s why I freaked out and had to get you and Oscar out of there so fast. He told me it wasn’t safe for us, that we couldn’t trust those people, and I don’t know if that includes Jacob and Annie or not. I hope not. I mean, Jacob did send the guy to warn me, but still. I don’t know if we can trust them, Mad.” He lifted my chin till my eyes met his. “I know you trust them, but right now I really need you to trust me.”

I nodded without hesitation. I did trust him and I wasn’t sure if I should trust Jacob and Annie. They had been good to me, and my gut told me I should, but I was so confused. I didn’t even notice Liam’s head descending towards mine until it was too late.

His lips lightly brushed mine, like he was testing the waters. When I didn't pull away he increased the pressure. Hot need burst through me and I wrapped my arms around his neck, guiding him closer, urging him to take more, and he did. I opened my mouth to him and his tongue swept inside, slowly memorizing every crevice he found there. He was delicious and made my mouth water and beg for more. The intensity of the kiss increased and I didn’t shy away. When he finally pulled back, grinning like the young boy I once knew and loved forever ago, we were both breathless.

“Can we go home now?” he asked softly, and all I could do was nod.

We got back in the car and drove in silence. There was really nothing more left to say. The lull of the road had my eyes drifting shut and I fell asleep into a blissful, empty void that wasn’t filled with demons and nightmares for once.

When the car came to a full stop, I stretched and slowly began the process of waking up. My body was stiff, but I felt rested. I wasn’t sure how long I had been out, but thought for a moment I should offer to drive some and give Liam a break.

“Hey, sleeping beauty, it’s time to wake up.”

I smiled without opening my eyes. I yawned and stretched again, taking in a deep breath. Familiar smells surrounded me and put me on full alert at the same time. Wolves! I shot up, fully awake, and looked around.

“We're here? Already? How long was I out? Did you drive through the night?”

The sun was bright and high in the sky. Oscar giggled from the backseat and I looked back to see him safely strapped into his new booster seat. He wouldn’t need it much longer, but it gave me comfort that he was safe and he never seemed to mind, but when? How?

“Was I really out that long?”

“You were snoring so loud, Mommy. Liam and I were laughing at you. You even drooled a little. Even with Mimi’s pills you don’t sleep that hard.”

Liam grinned as I turned horrified eyes towards him. “What? It was cute.”

To my embarrassment he leaned over and gave me a quick kiss on the mouth. I know my face was a brilliant shade of red as my cheeks heated in memory of the last kiss we’d shared. I really hoped I hadn’t dreamed that kiss. Since we were very obviously in pack territory I knew everything had to be true. Oscar made a sound of disgusted from the back seat.

“Eww, you kissed my mom!”

Not helping any.

Liam took it all in stride, as he seemed to do with just about everything. “Better get used to it, kid. Come on, let me show you around and introduce you to everyone.”

Suddenly I started to panic. We were here. We were really here, and I hadn’t told Oscar a thing. We needed to sit down and have a long serious talk. Why hadn’t I told him all along? He deserved to know his heritage, but I couldn’t risk a small child in the human world talking too much.

“Um, Liam, before that, Oscar and I need to have a talk. There’s, uh, some things he really needs to learn before we introduce him around.”

“You mean about the wolves?” Oscar asked. Nothing that had ever come out of his mouth had shocked me so much.

“You know about the wolves?”

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