of them might find their true mate, and yet here you are. You have been a part of this family since long before you met my son. I’m so happy for the two of you, and can not wait to get to know you better.”
Wyatt blinked rapidly. “That’s... that’s...”
As he sniffed back tears, I wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
“And I made you this years ago.” From the bag, Mom pulled a beautiful crocheted afghan. “If I had clairvoyance, I would have made it orange, but my favorite colors at the time were green and blue, so...”
Wyatt took the heavy blanket and hugged it. “It’s so beautiful!”
I felt the blanket. It was a much better quality yarn than most of the blankets she made for the house. “Mom, how long have you been saving that?”
“For eleven years. Since you were eighteen. You made me wait long enough! But it was so very worth it, Wyatt.” She beamed down at him, and he hid his face in the blanket. “And I have this for you, Jordan.”
She grabbed several papers from the counter and handed them to me. I glanced over them, then read the title and byline again. “Is this... is this your story, Shelby? The one you sold?”
Shelby shrugged. As proud as my sister was of her accomplishments, when it came to actually sharing her work, she was a little self-conscious. “I wanted to wait until it came in the magazine.”
Mom kissed her head. “But why limit our celebrations? We can celebrate now and later.”
Wyatt leaned to read over my shoulder. The words she was able to put on paper... Long, winding sentences and bright, clear descriptions... This was Shelby’s inner world, where she wasn’t frustrated by the slow transfer of thoughts from mind to speech. Even in her bear form, where her mind speech flowed as smoothly as water, she was rarely this eloquent.
“This is beautiful, Shelby.”
She blushed.
“I’m so proud of you.”
“It’s not bringing home a mate, but it’s pretty decent.”
“No pushing your accomplishments aside. I didn’t earn a mate. He’s a gift. The best gift I’ve ever received. I know this piece didn’t come easily to you. You earned every acknowledgement. Don’t diminish what you’ve done.”
Wyatt cleared his throat in a moment of silence. “Thank you. Thank you for welcoming me. Thank you for being so kind to me. I... I’ve not had a family in a long time. It’s nice to be hugged.”
The breaking of Mom’s heart was almost audible. Closing my eyes, I tried not to imagine what Wyatt’s life had been like before The Haven Center... or the Novaks. He would tell me when the time was right.
Mom pressed her hand to her lips. “Oh. Oh, my dear.” She bustled over to wrap him in her arms. “You can have all the hugs you want. I’m going to cut the brownies. Anyone want a brownie?”
17
Wyatt
Back at Jordan’s house, we snuggled under my new blanket, which was the heaviest, softest thing I had ever owned.
Jordan tucked the blanket around us more snugly. “How do you feel now that you’ve met Mom and Shelby?”
“I like them.”
“They can be a bit much. I was worried about them overwhelming you.”
I wove our fingers together, marveling at how big and strong his were, especially in comparison to mine. “No, they were so nice. They treated me as if I was family... I like them a lot. I hope they like me, too.”
“Are you kidding? Do you remember how many hugs Mom gave you? They adore you.”
I pressed my ear close to Jordan’s chest, letting the beat settle and ground me. “I... I have trouble processing people’s intentions.”
“Do you want to talk about it? You don’t have to if it’s too hard.”
“Yes... it isn’t easy. But I want to talk about it. With you.”
Jordan’s breath tickled my hair. “I would love to hear it.”
It took me a while to find the words to start, and even then, they didn’t feel like the right words. But the right words would probably never come. I just had to say something. “When I was eleven... You see, I grew up in Ukraine. My family, they were good people, but not exactly nice people, if you get what I mean.”
“Explain it to me.”
“They... they did a lot of illegal things.”
“So... they were criminals?”
I shrugged. “Sometimes. Wow, I didn’t realize how ingrained it was to not talk about this... Us kids were told never to talk to anyone about it outside of the family. And I