Page 2 of Nita's Redemption

Chapter One

NITA’S CHEST FILLED with joy while she watched the children running around the trailer park. Although a trailer park might not be the word to use, since the God Zeus had come and done his version of renovations. Not that she’s complaining, mind you. A quick look over her shoulder, she felt her lips twitch at the sight of her own upgraded abode.

“I saw that.”

She had heard the older woman approaching. Lorna was sort of the mother to all the shifters, yet she had every reason to hate Nita. Well, not hate her, but who her sperm donor had been. “You saw nothing, Lorna Loo.”

“Hmm, if you say so, Nita Bee. So, tell me, how are you doing now that the holidays are over, and we’re not inundated with a bunch of demi-god Ravens and that crazy God?” Lorna sat down next to Nita on the swing without asking permission.

“I’m fine like I’ve always been, Miss Lorna.” Nita didn’t turn to look at the older female. Although older was just a term since the female didn’t look old in the human sense. Yes, she was in her late seventies or eighties if Nita had to guess, but she didn’t appear to be much older than a human of forty years, give or take. Which was the way of shifters. Nita wasn’t sure what she would be like as she aged, or if she’ll aged at all since she had demon blood in her veins.

“Don’t Miss Lorna me, young Nita. Are we still ignoring the fact that you can shift into whatever you want?” Lorna flicked her hair over her shoulder as she leaned forward to peer into Nita’s eyes.

Nita envied Lorna and her light red hair and light eyes. Her own eyes were bright blue, which were so much like her sperm donor’s that she hated them. If she could, she’d gouge them out, but alas, she was pretty sure they’d grow back the same, or she’d be blind for like ever. Neither of which sounded like a plan that worked for her.

“Look, it’s not like I’m any different now than I was before. Yes, the cat, or bird, or whatever, is out of the bag, but for me, I’m the same. Do you look at me differently knowing that I’m fucked up mentally...that I’m probably just like him?” She didn’t have to say what him she was referring to. Just thinking of Seamus Marx had her stomach twisting.

A low growl came from the older female shifter. Nita wasn’t scared of her. In fact, there wasn’t anyone she was truly worried about hurting her, not even Zeus, the God of War. If it was her time to face death, then so be it. Yet, hearing Lorna growl made her lips twitch, slightly.

“Don’t you dare grin, child. I do not, nor have I ever, looked at you differently. You are the greatest protector of all the children. Yes, Jaklyn and her Ravens are as well, but you, you are too. I know you are always watching when the children are out. I know you think you are not worthy, but that is simply not true. Nita, you are not your father’s child. You are not that monster’s anything. You are simply you. Yes, you have abilities that differ from the rest of ours, and I’m sure there are still things you can do that you haven’t shared with us.” Lorna held up her hand, stopping Nita from speaking. “No, do not deny it. The fact you can shift into a dozen ravens, or a house cat, or the damn mailman, if you so choose, is amazing. Whatever else you can do, you will share when you choose. Until then, just know that me and the rest of the pack trust you. We trust you with our lives and those of all the children. If that doesn’t tell you how much we love you, then I don’t know what will.”

Lorna’s words made Nita’s heart swell. Hell, her eyes burned, and she wasn’t a crier, dammit. “Dang it, female. Why you gotta bring out the big guns like that?”

Nita allowed herself to be pulled into a hug for a moment, then she hopped to her feet. She looked down at the ground and noticed she didn’t have any shoes on. Sure, it was getting warmer out, but humans still wore pants and jackets this time of year. She was supposed to be acting normal, for goodness’ sake. “I need to go do human shit, Lorna Loo. You good?”

Lorna nodded as she too got up from the swing. Unlike Nita, Lorna wore a long sweater like cardigan over a tank top and jeans with some sort of slip on shoe that Nita wouldn’t be caught dead wearing.

“I see you staring at my attire, girl. One day, you’ll come to appreciate the comfort of these things. Until then, you continue wearing those tight jeans and running around shoeless. One day, you’ll be bemoaning the fact your tootsies are thicker than your heels.”

Nita blinked once, then twice. Her gaze went to Lorna’s feet, and then at her own, shrugging. “If you say so. You know they make these things that shave all that dead skin off. Kind of like a cheese grater for the feet, don’t you?”

It was Lorna’s turn to blink a couple times. Staring at Nita for a beat until she gave a huff and began the long trek to the other side of the park toward her own Godly renovated double wide. In fact, all the other trailers were quite a distance from Nita’s, which was how she liked it.

When she’d been brought into her half-sister Jaklyn’s pack, she’d been a child with no choice where she would live. They quickly learned she couldn’t sleep close to the others. Luckily, her half-sister Jaklyn recognized Nita’s need for space and gifted her a trailer near her and her two mates which was farther away from the others as well. Although she hadn’t stayed there long either since she was all kinds of messed up in the head. Anyone with eyes, and the ability to sense danger had known she was like a powder keg about to blow.

The demoness named Bakra visited her often, uncaring that Nita hadn’t or rather couldn’t speak of her past. After one tumultuous night where Nita had nearly shredded her own skin off, Bakra had finally tossed her hands in the air and growled in a language that was foreign to Nita. She had clearly been speaking to the other demoness females who had come and gone several times during her short time in the trailerpark. Many instances Nita wouldn’t see them, but she’d hear Bakra talking with them. She hadn’t told the female she could hear their conversations even though they were conducted in her mind since that would probably get her into trouble. Bakra had stared at Nita’s bloody arms and chest once she’d finished her inner convo and smiled a slightly scary twist of her lips. Not that Nita was scared of anyone or anything, but then Bakra whisked her away. Nita knew it was because she’d sensed the torment within her.

Now, she was an adult, and had carved out a place further away from the others, yet still close to the pack. As a shifter, she needed the connection. It was the other parts of her that were different from the wolves that needed to have a place of her own. She more than craved space. She needed it, or she feared what she could do to them without realizing until it was too late.

“Hey there, Nita Bee, where are you off to looking good enough to eat?”

She kept walking, ignoring the bastard. Shifters were supposed to mate for life and be faithful to the Fated. That was what she thought. However, the fucker following her like a slavering pup had a female with a pup on the way, and still he pestered her like he thought she’d drop to her knees or back for him. Not gonna happen. Hell, he was lucky she didn’t gut him from stern to stem. In fact, she would’ve doubted he had a stem if he hadn’t a pup on the way.

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