Voiceless - M. Sinclair Page 0,11

was normal for our animals to be able to interact on such a connected level. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it, but hell, it was really getting to me. It didn’t help that I wasn’t exactly a normal fox shifter.

Something that had made my parents furious. I knew their hatred of the supernatural community stemmed from a much larger issue, but I often felt like they had taken it out on me. Originally, at least from what I’d been told, they’d been rejected by my uncle’s skulk in New York because they had attempted to make suggestions.

He’d been power hungry and jealous, so he’d kicked them out. I didn’t buy it. None of it rang true, and while I’d been around six at the time, my memories of my uncle were all very positive. I hadn’t heard from him since and when we moved north to Maine, I essentially cut off most communication with supernatural community members, including family.

It didn’t help that the town we moved into hated the supernatural community. It was actually headquarters to one of the largest human-led hate groups in the country. So we had kept our identity a secret. I’d been severely punished, once locked in a room without food for two days, whenever I’d done anything to threaten that. Which was where my abilities beyond being a shifter came in.

You see, no one understood why I couldn’t talk. I knew there were ways for me to communicate past sign language and written words, but that required magic and was useless when it came to humans. Something that led to me feeling very isolated over time.

It wasn’t a physical ailment of any kind either, not a throat injury or anything, and when I did try to speak it wasn’t painful -- just nothing came out. Human doctors had found nothing wrong and I’d never gone to a supernatural one, so I had no idea what their theory would be. As a result, it made humans think that I was doing it for attention. My parents played into that, always telling their friends I was making the choice not to talk. It was such bullshit.

Maybe it was because I could telepathically communicate with others. I had to imagine both of them wanted to avoid accepting that because of what it would mean for their marriage. Afterall, neither of them could do it.

My ability was somewhat limited. Formed only when I had an emotional connection with the other, but it was rather useful when I could use it.

It was also the tell-tale sign that I’d emotionally distanced myself from my parents. Upon my fifteenth birthday, I could no longer communicate with them that way. Over the next three years, my life had grown somehow more lonely, leaving me without any communication besides those that took the time to read what I wrote or could understand sign language.

You can, of course, probably imagine why I had wanted to leave so badly.

Instead of trying to focus on their daughter, my parents immersed themselves in the human lifestyle. Trying to impress others while hiding their scandalous truth. I tried to tell myself that their lack of caring didn’t bother me, that I was putting it behind me. I wasn’t positive that I fully believed myself.

However, in the spirit of moving on, I turned my body into Dylan and rested my head against his large pectoral muscle. Inhaled deeply to absorb his firewood scent and loving how his arms tightened around me.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked. His voice rough and somehow even sexier than last night.

I nodded and nuzzled further into him.

His chest rumbled as his fingers brushed through my tangled mess of vibrant hair. Maker. I wasn’t making a very good impression, was I?

I needed a shower. And to pee. I totally needed to pee. When the bedroom door opened, Lena was standing there in a massive robe and slippers, offering me a smile. I was glad she didn’t seem surprised to find us like this because I didn’t want to move.

“You can use the bathroom, shower is free and stuff,” she offered. “I’m making breakfast as well. Honestly, you probably have about five minutes until the others show up.”

Others?

Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she left, causing Dylan to let out a curse before releasing me. I was going to ask him who she meant but figured I would find out. Grabbing my bag, I made a semi-shy exit into the attached bathroom both bedrooms shared. I