Chapter 115

Morgan backed up a little as he raised his hands up in surrender. “I was worried about you.”

“Bullshit,” my mother spat back. “You wanted to control, or run, or come with us, but you are not Amy’s father. You don’t get that right. You are her stepfather, and after today, that is even up in the air.”

“Hey,” Morgan tried to push back, but my mother was having none of it.

“Hey nothing. When Shannon shifted, what did you say to me?”

“I can’t remember, it was so long ago.” He wouldn’t meet her eyes, but I saw the anger there.

“Don’t lie to me. It was less than three months ago. You were so proud, don’t you remember? You rubbed it in that Shannon shifted earlier than Amy. ‘Look at how fast and strong my daughter is. I wonder when Amy will get here.’ Yeah, that BS like we all don’t know that stronger wolves take longer to shift. Amy surprised all of us by shifting as early as she did,” my mom tossed out.

“Well, maybe she isn’t as strong as you think she is.” Shannon’s voice came from the door. Even now, she was still healing from the beating she got.

“Or maybe I just have to prove again how strong I am?” I offered, and Morgan glared at me, and Shannon whimpered, then went back inside.

“Amy!” Morgan started, but my mother raised her finger.

“Amy nothing.” She pointed at him. “What did you say on the day of Shannon’s first shift, Morgan?”

“I can’t… I can’t remember.”

“You said that Shannon and you deserved the full day to run and get acquainted with each other. That your wolf craved it. And that I should be a good dutiful wife and not expect you home, nor expect to join you on the run because I wasn’t her true mother. Right?”

“Well, I guess…” He trailed off as my mom started laughing.

“You are a pathetic piece of shit.”

“Ainsley…” Morgan tried to grab her, but she let out a growl.

“Don’t you dare fucking touch me. Ever again.”

Morgan whined. “You can’t mean that.”

“But I do. I asked you that day for the same courtesy, and you PROMISED that you would give me this day. Yet you barely gave us a fucking hour before you started howling at the top of your fucking pathetic lungs.”

“Ains,” Morgan tried again, grabbing her, but she caught his hands.

“I said don’t touch me.” Her eyes were full of fire, but I knew this served a new purpose. She was severing ties with Morgan right this second, so that he knew going forward they were going back to the original agreement. “You broke your promise.”

“I didn’t mean it.” He tried, but she shook her head.

“It’s too late. We had an agreement at the very beginning of this arrangement, didn’t we? That we would respect each other’s wishes and uphold any promise we made to each other.”

“You can’t mean…” Morgan trailed off as he truly focused on my mother’s face. “It was one promise.”

“What was the agreement, Morgan?”

“That we would keep our promises, or else we would…” His words trailed off as his head shook.

“This relationship is over.” My mother’s words cut him. I watched as he froze.

“You can’t mean that.”

“I do. We can stay married, but everything will go back to the beginning. No contact. Different rooms. You gave up your right to this relationship when you howled the first time.” My mother growled one more time before she pushed past him and into the house, leaving me and Morgan in the backyard.

I just witnessed a death of sorts. I knew Morgan loved my mother in his own way, but when she said it was over, I watched a little sliver of his soul die. He crumpled in a way only a man can when he faced losing the one he loved.

He looked up at me, and his eyes shifted from lost to angry instantly. I raised my eyebrow and tilted my head. “Say what you need to say, Morgan, before I lose my sympathy and decide to take what you’re about to say to heart and rip you apart.” I smiled slowly, and he lost his mind.

He tried to attack me, but I shifted to the side. “You!” He screamed as he charged again.

“I said say what you need to say.” I held up a hand. “But if you so much as nick me, I will kill you.” I felt my voice shift lower with each word. And I think the tiny portion of his brain that still fears the darkness caught the threat, even if his anger clouded his mind, because he stopped.