Page 51 of Forever Mine

Maddie

Chapter 16

I couldn't reconcile what they were saying with the loving parental figures I had lived with for the majority of the last eight years of my life. There was just no way that Jacob and Annie could be involved in something like that. Kidnapping shifters? Experimenting on them for research? That's basically what they were talking about. I tried to contain my fury at the insinuation that my loved ones could be involved in something so sinister.

I knew the moment I could get away, alone, I had to call Jacob and Annie. I had to get to the bottom of this and I couldn't believe hearsay. I needed to hear it from them. I needed them to explain to me what was going on. They had admitted to being guardians, Verndari, but they said they could never hurt our kind, so this didn't make sense.

I sat quietly while Liam finished talking with Patrick. Elise had finally stopped asking a million questions, though I could still see them churning inside her. I had been open and honest with them, even confessing what Oscar most likely was. It had been even easier this time. I didn't cry once. I was becoming numb to telling the story and in a way, that felt good. It wasn't controlling me anymore and made me feel stronger each time I told it.

As the conversation moved into small talk, I reminded Liam that we shouldn't leave Oscar for too long. It wasn't right to just drop my kid off on his mom like that, so we said our goodbyes and headed back to the Alpha house. As we pulled up I was suddenly struck by a thought that hadn't yet hit me.

“Um, Liam,” I said, biting my lower lip, unable to broach the subject without completely embarrassing myself. “What's the plan for tonight?” I finally blurted out.

“What?” He looked confused.

“Oscar and I need a place to sleep tonight.” I tried to sound sensible.

Inside I was a bundle of nerves. Did he expect me to stay with him? Did I want to? What kind of impression would that be for Oscar? Where would Oscar sleep? We had always shared a room. I mean, we didn't have to, there were plenty of other bedrooms in the house, but even when he was still in the nursery, I had slept on the floor beneath his crib. From the second I decided he was mine and I was keeping him, I struggled with beingway from him. The guilt of those early days when he first came home and I was terrified, struggling to connect with him, still weighed heavily on me.

“I don't have a place for us yet. I still live at Mom's,” he said apologetically, looking embarrassed. “But there're plenty of rooms there, especially since Kyle and Elise have moved out. Of course, you're welcome to stay in mine,” he said, grinning from ear to ear at the thought and causing me to blush. “But I understand if you're not ready for that yet. Whatever you're comfortable with is fine with me.”

I always knew he was one of the good guys. Not feeling pressured to take things to a level I didn't know if I was ready for meant the world to me. I knew it wasn't because he didn't want me in that way. When we were sitting on the couch upstairs at Elise's and I had touched his leg, he had shifted, and there was no mistaking how badly he wanted me.

“Hey,” he said before getting out of the car. “Why don't we grab Oscar and go for a drive? I'd like to show you something.”

“Okay,” I said, wondering what he was up to.

He didn't get out of the car as I exited and walked up to the house. I turned to question him but he just smiled and waved me on from the driver’s seat. I knocked on the front door. Lily opened it and laughed.

“Girl, you do not need to knock around here. Mi casa es su casa.”

I followed her inside and back to the living room where Oscar was happily playing with the baby and watching cartoons, something I'd rarely ever let him do. He couldn't have been happier.

“Hey, Mommy,” he said with barely a glance.

“Hey, buddy. We're going for a ride around town, want to come?”

“Nah, I'm good.”

I stared at him with the mom face, but it only met the back of his head as he went back to playing. Mary walked in just in time to see the exchange.

“Go on, he's fine,” she encouraged. “Zander is staying the night and I already made up the twin bed in the nursery because they want to room together. I do hope that's okay?” She asked, but I didn't really feel like it was a question.

“Oscar, come here a minute.”

He huffed but obeyed. “You okay sleeping with Zander in the room without me?”

“Mom,” he said incredulously. “I'm seven, I'll be okay. Can I stay or do I have to go with you?”

I smiled and hugged him, kissing the top of his head. “You can stay. Just do me a favor and stop growing up so fast.”

“Never gets any easier with that problem,” Mary assured me. “All you can do is hope and pray that they are truly ready to fly when they leave the coop and that they always know they can come back home.”

Guilt shot through me. I knew she meant me. I would have to face my parents. I nodded and thanked her again for watching him before heading back outside to find Liam still sitting in the car waiting.

“Where's the kid?” he asked. I knew he knew his name, but he had been affectionately calling him “the kid” or “the boy” since he'd met Oscar.

“We've been ditched,” I said sadly.

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