Page 19 of The Dragon's Captured Heart
“Now, tell me what’s going on.”
“Actually,” I said with a deep breath, bracing myself. “I needyouto tell me something. Without lying and without telling a half-truth.”
“Don’t I always?”
“I don’t know. Do you? What do you know when it comes to me surviving Noa’s death?” I asked.
Clouds gathered in her eyes. The same blue-green eyes I sported. It was often like looking in a mirror when we locked gazes as we did now.
Until she turned away.
“You knew,” I accused.
There was no response.
“I can’t believe this.” I ran a hand through my hair, searching for what to say. “Mom, youknewall this time? Are you serious?”
“Knew what?” She was deflecting, and we both could tell.
“The reason I survived. The only reason I could have,” I hissed, trying not to acknowledge the other elephant, the one only I knew about.
Madison was going to have a field day.
“Callum,” my mother said, trying to soothe it.
“No!” I shouted. “Don’t try to paper this over.”
“Why do you care now? It’s been years,” she said.
“Why?” I stared agog at her. “Are you serious? I’ve spent those years mourning her, all the while thinking I was a freak, that something was wrong with me because I was still here. And nobody told me.Youdidn’t tell me.”
It hurt more than I cared to admit to realize everyone around me had deceived me. They knew. Theyknew, and not one of them had spoken up.
“You hid it from me. You hid the truth. Howcouldyou?”
Tears were leaking from those same blue-green eyes now. “I’m sorry, my boy. I’m so sorry. I was just … I was just trying to protect you. You’re my son, and you were hurting. I did what any mother would have done. I didn’t want to make it any worse. I thought it wouldn’t matter. She couldn’t be brought back after all. You could have at least been spared the further suffering.”
My jaw fell open. “Spared?Spared?Do you want to talk about being spared? How about sparing me from the suffering I’ve experienced for the past twoyears? How everyone around me has looked down on me as some sort of freak for surviving when she didn’t? Now I know it’s because they probably thought I was a coward for not pursuing her murder to try to bring whoever did it to justice. I feel like an idiot. Everyone knew but me! I’vebeen living under a rock. You could havesparedme that. Now, everyone just thinks I was some shitty mate who didn’t give a fuck enough to go after whoever murdered her.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Callum.” My mother was a strong woman. She wiped at her tears now. “I should have told you. I should have made sure you knew. I see that now. I was wrong. I was just trying to do what I thought would make you hurt less, that’s all. But I was wrong.”
“Yes. You were,” I said, shaking my head.
Madison had been right. My family was screwed up, too.
But not in a bad way. My mother had done what she did because she thought she washelpingme ease my suffering. It wasn’t for herself.
“Can you forgive me?”
I looked up, shocked by the fear in my mother’s question. “OfcourseI can,” I said, giving her another hug. “I’m upset, and that won’t fade right away. But I know you were doing what you thought was best. Just promise me that you’ll tell me the truth from now on. Let me hurtproperly. Not that I plan to lose another mate, but you know what I mean.”
She smiled through the tears. “I do. And I promise I will. You’re my boy, but you aren’taboy, and I need to remember that. It’s tough, though. You’ll always be my little boy.”
“I know,” I said, as always, moved by the amount she cared.
“Where did all this come from anyway?” she asked. “Why the sudden confrontation?”
“Someone else told me,” I said. “I didn’t know if I believed it because I assumed you would have told me if it were true. So, I had to see what was going on to make sure she wasn’t right.”
