Page 59 of Fat Betrayed Mate
And now she's going to lose Silvercreek, too, unless I can convince Fiona to trust me.
I step out of the treeline, making enough noise to announce my approach without startling them. Both heads turn toward me, and I see the exact moment Fiona's expression shifts from surprise to defiance.
"Don't," she says, scrambling to her feet and positioning herself between me and Maisie. "Don't try to stop us."
"I'm not here to stop you." I raise my hands, keeping my voice gentle despite the urgency, clawing at my chest. "I'm here to bring you home."
"This isn't our home."
"It could be. Itshouldbe."
"Thomas!" Maisie breaks away from her mother and runs toward me, her small arms wrapping around my waist in a hug that nearly breaks my composure. "I'm glad you found us. Mama's been crying, and I don't know how to make her feel better."
I kneel to her level, keeping one eye on Fiona's tense posture. "Your mama's scared, sweetheart. Sometimes grown-ups cry when they're scared."
"Are you scared too?"
The question is so direct and innocent that it catches me off guard.
"Yeah, kiddo. I'm scared, too."
"Of the bad people?"
"Of losing you both." The words slip out before I can stop them, carrying more truth than I intended. "I’m scared of not seeing you both anymore, that’s all.”
Fiona makes a sound that's half sob, half laugh. "Thomas."
I stand slowly, my attention shifting to her drawn face. "Fiona."
She wipes her face, but the tears keep coming. "Don't do this, Thomas. Don't make this harder than it already is."
"Then don't run." I take a step closer, noting how her hands shake as she crosses her arms defensively. "Whatever has you so terrified, we can face it together."
"You don't understand—"
"I understand that Edward Wright is thirty miles away with enough firepower to level a small town. I understand that he's specifically hunting for you and Maisie. And I understandthat your chances of survival drop to zero the moment you leave pack territory."
Her face goes white. "How do you know about—"
“The hunters we captured talked." I keep my voice steady despite the rage building in my chest. "We know what he's planning, Fiona. We know why he's here. And you know, too, I think."
"Then you know why I have to go." Her voice breaks on the words. "I won't let him hurt anyone else because of me."
"And I won't let him hurt you because of some misguided sense of nobility."
"It's not noble, it's necessary!" The words explode out of her, six years of suppressed fear and fury finally finding a voice. "Everyone who gets close to me ends up in his crosshairs. My mother, my—" She cuts herself off, glancing at Maisie.
"Your what?"
"My family. It doesn't matter. The point is, I'm poison, Thomas. Everyone I care about gets hurt."
"That's not true."
"Isn't it? Look around you. Look at what's happening to Silvercreek because I'm here."
I want to tell her that Edward Wright's hatred runs deeper than her presence, that his violence would find targets with or without her. But she won’t believe me. This isn't about logic—it's about guilt and trauma and the lies her father taught her about her worth.
"Fiona," I say carefully, "you're not responsible for his choices."
