Seducing The Wolf - By Marisa Chenery Page 0,52

Now here is where you're going to think I've lost all my marbles, but I really haven't. Royce is different. I mean really different. He's a werewolf, Dad. Not the scary werewolf from horror movies though. He can only change into a wolf, and his eyes glow, and he can make all the sounds a wolf does. I'm getting off track with all that, but Royce knew I was his mate the first time we met and he smelled my scent. To make a long story short, he claimed me as his mate and our souls have joined together, which means I don't like being away from him and he doesn't like being away from me. That's why I've been so out of sorts for the last couple days when I've been here working. And since I am his mate, that means we're basically married. So you have a new son-in-law."

As she spoke her father's face lost all emotion. When she stopped talking he just continued to stare at her, not reacting to anything she had said. Billie began to worry that maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to just dump it all on him like that. "Dad? Are you going to say anything at all?"

"Royce is a werewolf?" His voice held no emotion either.

"Yes. I know it's hard to believe. I know I didn't believe him at first when he told me, but seeing him go wolf was more than enough to convince me he wasn't crazy. He is willing to show you if you don't think I'm telling the truth."

Her father slowly shook his head. "That won't be necessary. I believe you."

Billie hadn't expected him to be so accepting, nor had she expected him to look so sad about it either. He seemed to withdraw into himself. "Dad, you're scaring me here. This is not at all how I pictured you would react."

He sighed deeply. "I guess it's time you knew. I wanted to keep this from you, but after hearing you tell me Royce is a werewolf, you should know."

"Know about what?" Billie felt a chill run down her spine. She couldn't help but feel that what her father was going to tell her next would have a profound effect on her life as she knew it.

"It has to do with your mother, Billie."

"What about her? She took off when I was a baby and that was the last you heard or saw of her."

"That is only what I told you when you were old enough to start asking about your mother."

"You mean that isn't what happened?"

"No. I'm afraid it's much worse than just your mother abandoning you as a baby. You see, your mother has her own gift as you do, except with her she can see things before they actually happen. Unlike you, she isn't a strong person. She always hated her ability to see into the future. It affected her. It didn't come to her very often, but when it did, sometimes it wasn't something she wanted to see. Once you kids started coming, her gift seemed to go away. She was happy that she no longer had it. But it really hadn't gone away. When you were about a month old, she had a vision. I don't know exactly everything she saw, but it caused something to snap inside her." Her father's voice cracked with the emotion he was now feeling. Once he brought himself back together he continued. "I came home from the gym one day to find all hell had broken loose. Your brothers were screaming, yelling at your mother to stop. I found Keegan desperately trying to pull your mother off of you. She had a pillow over your face, Billie. She was trying to smother you. If I hadn't have come home when I had you would have died that day."

Billie gripped the arms of her chair until her knuckles turned white. "Why did she do it? What did she see?"

"After I pulled her off you, she kept repeating over and over again that she couldn't allow her baby to turn into a wolf."

All the blood drained out of Billie's face. "Where is she now, Dad?"

"She's in a place where she can be looked after properly. She never came back mentally, and there was no way I could leave her alone with you ever again."

"She's in a mental institution?"

"No. It's more like a home for people who have mental conditions. She is well taken care of."

"She's been