The Dragon's Fate - Roxie Ray Page 0,58

would change? The secrets I’d have to keep from my family, my friends? It would be one thing if this were our home, and I didn’t have the past I did with Damon, and my parents and sister hadn’t moved with me. But for them to do all that and then me turn around and keep such a massive secret?” She was moving into a really big freak-out now. “And I’ll remind you that Hayden is seven. How long do you think we could keep who and what you are hidden from her?” It’s not like we could tell her. She’s seven, kids don’t do well at keeping secrets. What if she let something slip and it got back to Damon that his daughter was talking about shifters? He’d use it against me to get custody in a heartbeat.

“Hang on, Briana, calm down. We can deal with all that.”

She was too far into having a very obvious meltdown to listen to me, though.

Her fear was gone, and anger and confusion filled the air. “I can deal with a lot of shit. I have dealt with a lot of shit. An abusive husband, a nasty divorce, and yet I got through it. What really has me pissed off is that you lied to me. You chose to keep things from me. And not just the shifter thing, because you can’t control what you are, I’m not even mad about what you are. But it was your choice to lie and keep things from me for weeks.” She turned and walked back toward the truck. I followed and let her vent her spleen.

“And the fated thing! You said we’re just compatible but are your feelings genuine, or if it’s just some mystical voodoo and you feel forced to be with me?”

“No,” I said firmly. “I don’t feel forced at all. As a matter of fact, it was my choice and it’s always been my choice. You know how I looked near death there for a while?”

She nodded with her arms crossed.

“That was because I have major father issues, and also I had a relationship way in my past that screwed me up. It made me think that I could never have a fated mate, never be a husband or a father. So, I tried to break the fated mate bond. I was at the cusp of doing it. You never would’ve seen me again.”

“What happened?” she whispered with wide eyes.

“Our clan witch,” she flinched when I said witch, “Sammy, gave me visions of what our life would be like if I gave in to the bond. It was incredible. Beautiful and happy and…” I trailed off, at a loss for words. “Perfect.”

I stepped forward again. “What matters is that I love you, Briana Wallace. I’m in love with you. And I love Hayden to the moon and back. I made stupid choices trying to handle everything myself, but I know better now, and, in the future, I’ll work harder on this being a team effort, not me fixing everything for you.”

She sighed. Her eyes had definitely softened when I told her I loved her. She had to know it was true. “I need time to think, some time away from you to just think about everything.”

She walked around the truck and got in the passenger seat. I walked with heavy legs to the driver’s side. When I got in, she looked out the window and didn’t speak again until we were nearly back at her car at the bar. “It isn’t because of you being—what you are, even though that is trippy as hell. It’s everything that comes with it.” She finally looked at me. “Having to lie and keep secrets. You keeping things from me, especially things that directly affect me and my daughter. That’s what has me the most upset and questioning. I can handle a lot, but when it comes to Hayden…”

“I understand,” I whispered. “You have to make the best decision for her. But just know, there are spells we can do that would prevent her from telling anyone once we decided to tell her. We have to do them for our own children as well.”

She blinked. “I’ll take that into consideration. I want to talk to Skye and think.”

I parked beside her car and turned in the seat. The ache had returned to my chest. Our bond was pulling and not in a good way.

“I care for you still,” she whispered. “I’ll call you. Please, give me