would. I offer him the sheet, and he raises his brows at it. “Nothing my family has is going to fit you. I’m sorry.”
He wraps it around himself, tucking it into the front like he’s walking around in a towel. “We should go in as wolves. What if it’s a trap?”
The back door flies open, and Jonah shifts immediately, baring his teeth. My mom stumbles backward into my father while Jonah growls at her. She presses her hand to her chest, staring warily at me. “Kinsey?”
Jonah shuffles past them into the house in his wolf form. I move forward, wrapping my mother in a hug. My father pats my back, checking over his shoulder at the huge russet wolf prowling through our small house. I pull away immediately. I’d love the time to reconnect with them, but there’s something much bigger at stake. “Lydia Greystone has done a paternity test, and she says I’m not yours.” My voice breaks, and as if on cue, Jonah comes traipsing out of the house and nudges me with his head. I sink my fingers into his fur for comfort.
“Oh, Kinsey,” my mom sniffles, face morphing into pained anguish. My father holds her upright, lips in a thin line. I gaze between the two of them. They both look defeated but not as if this is news to them. My father, especially, would be freaking out if he hadn’t already known what I told him.
“Come inside,” he beckons.
Jonah nudges me again and shakes his head. I look back at my parents. “You don’t understand. Lydia Greystone is coming for me. She’s petitioning to have me killed.”
A growl rips from my father’s throat. His body heaves, and he hunches over, but my mother grabs his face. “Hold on. We knew this might happen someday. Calm yourself. We have plans in place. Look at me.”
His yellow eyes return to normal, and he breathes out deeply. He shivers until his shoulders settle, effectively shaking off the shift. “I’m good. I’m okay.”
Jonah licks my palm, and I peer at him. He leads me to the clothesline, and I hold the last sheet up so he can hide his shift. When he’s a fully naked human, I hand it to him so he can approach my parents with a little bit of dignity.
“Mom, Dad, you know Jonah Livestrong.” They both eye him suspiciously. I grab his hand, and he squeezes. “We’ve mated, and—”
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure nothing happens to Kinsey,” Jonah butts in, “but we need to know what we’re up against. Time is of the essence. I wish we could’ve been introduced under better circumstances, but please, we need to know everything you know now.”
“Lydia Greystone will have a fight on her hands if she dares step on this property,” my mom snarls, her sharp teeth elongating.
My eyes round. Damn. My mom is kind of badass. I’ve been wondering where I got my spunk from, and apparently, she’s been hiding this side of herself.
My dad grips her shoulders. “Kinsey, honey. You’re mine in all the ways that matter. If I ever had to tell you this, I was hoping it would be under different circumstances. I’m sterile, Kinsey.”
My heart drops. A sterile shifter? The truth kicks me upside the head. Of course. A mated pair has to bear shifters. If they don’t, they’re more than scrutinized. “You used someone else.”
Mom nods slowly. She clenches her chest and then reaches up to grab my father’s hands. “I couldn’t let anything happen to him. Your dad and I are true mates, but when we figured out I couldn’t conceive, we had to do something. We were desperate.”
“Who’s her father?” Jonah asks.
“I am,” my father growls.
“Biological,” Jonah mutters, grimacing. “Who’s her biological father?”
Tears track down my mother’s face. “He was your father’s best friend. We knew we could trust him. It’s just—” she breaks off.
My father rubs her shoulders. “It’s Shane Greystone.”
This revelation knocks me back a few steps, and I stumble into Jonah. “The alpha’s brother?”
Mom nods. “It took a few times; we didn’t know if it was your father or me. Then, we were blessed with you. If I’d been the sterile one, there was no helping us. It killed your father, but we knew we had to do it to save ourselves.”
“Lydia suspected something,” Dad growls. “That’s where the rumors started. We tried to be careful. Shane never would’ve said anything, but after the rude whispers, we had to stop seeing