Page 2 of Bullied Mate

“Andres was loving the beach too much. I found—” Guilt. Shame. A whole medley of emotions slammed right into me. I hung my head. “Well, I didn’t find much.”

Her eyes opened fully.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I couldn’t find him.”

Disappointment wrecked that smile to pieces. Gods have mercy on the soul of the man who was supposed to be my father.

Curse his absence. Curse his gall for abandoning us—and for ditching my two half-brothers.

“All I found was an empty crypt,” I spat, “and an empty farm. Nobody had been there for years.”

She lifted her head slightly. While urging her to lie back down was useless, I did it anyway. Etta joined her side, doing the same. Mom relented—but I knew she’d be back at it again once she was given the opportunity.

Love once poured elegantly from this frail woman. Now she was beaten to hell and back in a hospital bed while I dished about a deadbeat bastard and his insistence on avoiding us for the past forty years.

Forty years, I thought.What kind of man does that?

I rubbed my mother’s hand. “I’ll be better than him. I promise. And when you get better, you’ll get more time with Leo. He adores you.”

A question lingered in the adoring gaze she granted me.

More sighs could have come up, but I shoved them down for the time being. “No, she’s gone too.”

Etta settled into the chair next to the bed. “Anybody who abandons their family is a joke.”

“Jazmin is a complicated woman.”

“Is that Leo’s biological donor?”

I studied Etta with furious curiosity as I chortled. “What did you call her?”

“A biological donor. She didn’t stick around to take care of him, but she birthed him, right? That’s what I’m gathering.”

I nodded.

She nodded emphatically. “Yep, that’s a biological donor. Same goes for your father. What a coward.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone put it in those terms.”

“Is it bad?”

I shook my head. “Honestly, I think it’s hilarious. Fitting, even.”

But despite the joke providing a temporary reprieve from the pain, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was inheriting more from my mother than her smile and personality. It felt like I was carrying on a burden.

The burden of being abandoned by our own mates.

Etta soothed my mother with a wave of her hand. In minutes, the serene expression returned to her face. Heavy lids guarded her pale eyes. The lashes fluttered slightly.

“She needs to sleep.” I kissed her hand. “I should gather Leo and take him to the park. Since we’ve been here for three hours, by your watch—” I cast a teasing glance at Etta’s wrist. “Well, I’m sure he’s restless.”

Etta smiled gently. “Come back any time, but don’t forget to rest yourself, Xavier. You need it too.” She turned to my mother. “…For the days ahead.”

No truer words had been spoken. They lashed my heart with their severity, though I was sure Etta didn’t mean for them to be quite so harsh. As I stepped into the hallway, I carried them with me, tuning in to the sounds of the health clinic.

Nobody else was being kept for days on end in this unit. Of course, Raven kept her pack safer than pirates with magnificent piles of gold. Treasures like those in the Silverdawn pack were hard to find anywhere else.

Especially those in the form of beings who weren’t from this realm.

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