Page 50 of Beast

I turned away, drawing strength from the bond I shared with Tomas. I had to find my own path, and I knew it was with Tomas—if he could accept everything I still had to tell him.

I took a deep breath as I approached him, worrying this conversation could be the beginning of the end.

“Tomas. I lied when I said my dad had never physically abused me. He slapped me when I confronted him about my uncle and then he held a gun to my head.”

“What?”

I could see his face change. I’d seen it before when he went into a rage, and now I knew the blood drew up to his face when he was ready to transform into his wolf.

“No! Don’t do it. Stay the way you are. It’s in the past. I needed to tell you. I needed you to know the truth because our lives are going to be different from what they were in the past. We will not be this way with our children as our parents were with us.”

It was then it dawned on him. As if my words had a different meaning, he softened as he tilted his head and his eyes widened.

“Children.”

I shrugged. “Who knows? We’ve not been using any protection. We’ve been here for weeks. We want to spend the rest of our lives together. So, yeah, children.”

It was like I was trying to convince him more than myself, or maybe it was the other way around.

“Children?”

He nodded as though he was trying to wrap his head around the idea as he enveloped me in his arms gently. The rhythm of his heartbeat was comforting as it slowed down. No more was itracing like it must have been when I told him about Dad. It was calming down like the idea of us having kids gave him pleasure.

The truth be known, it scared the living daylights out of me, but the idea of spending my time with my mate gave me a sense of purpose and meaning in the world.

We both knew that the future would be a long and difficult road, but together we’d find our way. I wanted to believe my dad would leave the island and no longer bother us, but I couldn’t see it happening forever. Maybe Mom for once could protect me somehow. I built a new life for myself, surrounded by people who loved and cared for me. And as I looked back on the past, I realized that it was only through facing my fears and confronting the truth that I was able to find true happiness.

And most importantly, we had each other. That was all that mattered.

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