The Shadow Wolf - G. Bailey Page 0,6
around, and Shadow runs off down the beach as I wrap my arms around his shoulders.
“Why are you out here at five in the morning?” he softly asks me. “In fact, you sneak out here every morning, and you hardly sleep. Talk to me.”
For a second, I want to tell him everything. I want to explain that I’m pregnant and I come out here for fresh air as I feel sick every morning. I want to explain that I’m scared of sleeping in case I see any dreams of my future, which at this point, is so complicated and scary that I don’t want to see anything.
How can I tell him everything that is going on in my head? How could he possibly understand how messed up I am feeling?
Would Mason and Liam ever forgive me if I told Alex everything first? This is something I need to tell them all together, and I’m terrified. Tears fall down my cheeks in my hesitation, and Alex frowns, cupping my cheeks tightly in his hands. “What is going on? Whatever it is, I will fight it for you. The darkness doesn’t get to steal you from me, Tassie.”
How can I tell him the truth? Oh god.
“Alex...I don’t know how to—” I stop when I hear the thrum of a car engine and the crackling sound of the wheels against the sand. Alex doesn’t look happy, but he drops his hands, using one to link our fingers as we watch the Jeep drive into one of the empty parking spaces. I slip on my Converse shoes, ignoring the sand digging into my toes as we walk over. My mum gets out of the car, sunglasses resting on top of her head and her blonde hair plaited over her shoulder. Wearing a white tank top, jeans, boots and a beige jacket, she reminds me of the few photos I saw of her. All my memories are jagged in my mind now; each one feels fake now I know the real truth, and I hate that she has taken that from me.
“No god here to protect you?” Alex coldly asks my mum.
“You wouldn’t hurt me, because I am Annie’s mum and—”
“You don’t get to call me that anymore. My name is Anastasia. Only Phoebe—you know, the baby you left—calls me that,” I snap, interrupting her. “And Phoebe calls me Ana more often than not because she can’t stand to say the nickname as it reminds her of you and me. Bethany told her it. It reminds her you are gone...but oh wait, you aren’t.”
“I understand you are angry, but I wondered if you would come with me on a small trip into the city,” she asks, tears brimming in her eyes.
“Not alone, she isn’t,” Alex coldly replies.
“I would never hurt Anastasia. I’m her mother,” she pleads. “I just want to talk.”
“You hurt me when you left!” I shout at her, and she flinches like I slapped her. Holy crap on a cracker, pregnancy hormones are making me a little angrier than usual. I don’t even want to hurt her. She might have left us, but I’m not a nasty person. It takes me more than a moment to calm down, and I realise my hand is shaking in Alex’s, and his eyes are watching me in confusion. We have known each other a long time, nearly spent every day together, and I love him, and he loves me. And Alex knows something is wrong, something is different, other than my parents. I can see it reflecting in his eyes, and for a second, all I want to do is escape. To escape the truth.
And unfortunately, the only way to escape right now is with my mum. A small part of me wants to hear her side of the story, to get her alone and to see if this was all her idea, like I had planned to do. The same part of my heart fears how quickly she could crush me like a bug with only a few words. “I will come with you.”
“Are you sure?” Alex questions me, but he doesn’t stop me like he would have done when we first met. I love that we have both gotten to the point we can trust each other in our decisions. It makes me feel guilty for not telling him about the pregnancy yet, for hiding a really big part of our future because I’m scared of the reaction. Hell, I don’t even know who