"Peanut b.u.t.ter is a major food group," I defended with a smile, making her laugh. "While I was at the store I picked up some chocolate for the trick-or-treaters."
"Oh, thanks," she said. "I"ll pay you back."
"Don"t worry about it Gram," I said.
She set down a steaming cup of hot chocolate in front of me and added a dollop of homemade whipped cream and chocolate shavings, she topped it off with one large marshmallow.
"Mmm," I said sipping it. "Mom, always tried to make this for me but she could never get it right."
"It takes a grandmother"s touch," she said and sat down in front of me with her own mug.
"So," I started. "What is it you need to tell me?"
"I don"t know where to start," she said and stirred her hot chocolate.
I looked into my own mug and said, "Caeden"s in on it isn"t he? He told me the first day of school that he wanted to tell me something but he couldn"t because he promised you he wouldn"t. He said you wanted to be the one to tell me."
Her eyes darkened. "Caeden"s a good boy but he shouldn"t have said anything."
"He didn"t. He said that you would tell me when the time was right," I immediately came to his defense.
She took a deep breath. "Sophie, you"re special. We"re special. Me, your parents, you."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"We"re... There"s no easy way to say this, Sophie," she said and stared into her own steaming mug of hot chocolate.
"Just say it," I said. "Like ripping a band aid. Quick and fast should lessen the blow," I joked.
"We"re not human," she said.
I laughed and spewed some hot chocolate on the counter top. "What do you mean we"re not human? Of course we"re human." I grabbed a napkin to mop up the mess I had made.
"We"re werewolves... Well, the proper term is shifter. Werewolves are evil, unholy, where we"re not. There are different kinds of shifters we just happen to shift into wolves."
"Are you off your rocker?" I screamed. I couldn"t believe she was continuing with this nonsense. This was ridiculous.
"Sophie, calm down and hear me out. Haven"t you ever been able to smell things, or hear things, or move faster than normal?"
"No," I said too quickly and she knew she had me.
"It"s because you"re special," she said simply.
"I"m not special," I said. "You"re telling me I"m a monster."
"You"re not a monster. I"m not a monster. Neither are your parents," she said calmly.
"But you"re telling me I"m not human! Oh my G.o.d! Caeden! Is Caeden a shifter?" I gasped.
"Yes," she said. "He"s the Alpha."
No, no, no!
"Bryce?" I squeaked. "Charlotte?" Could quiet little Charlotte be a werewolf? Shifter? "Chris? Bentley? Logan?"
"All shifters," she said. "They make up the Williams pack."
"Pack?" I said. "Wait, wait just a minute... How can I be a shifter? I"ve never changed before?" I said thinking I had stumbled upon a solution to my problem. I couldn"t be a shifter if I hadn"t actually shifted. But that would make Gram crazy. I guessed a crazy Gram was easier to deal with than me as a wolf.
"Male shifters have their first change on the first full moon after they turn sixteen. Females have their first change on the first full moon after they turn eighteen."
"You mean to tell me that in January I"m suddenly going to become a wolf?" I asked crossing my arms over my chest in a defensive stance.
"Yes," she said. "You will."
"You"re crazy!" I said. I buried my head in my hands.
"You"re dad become Alpha of the Beaumont Pack after your grandpa died. But then your father fell in love with a girl from a rival pack, your mom. So, he ran away with her, it"s why they"ve never come back here. He appointed his second in command, Roger Williams, as the new Alpha. The pack is now the Williams Pack and not the Beaumont Pack. When Roger was killed his eldest son, Caeden, became the new Alpha."
"Stop it! Please stop it!" I cried. She quieted and let me take in all the information. "Rival pack? So, you mean there"s another pack here?"
"The Grimm Pack. We were once all one pack, still led by the first wolf shifter, a Beaumont. The Grimm"s never liked being led. They"re evil and so are the ones that choose to follow them. They don"t value human life, or shifter life for that matter, they consider themselves G.o.ds. But we"re not G.o.ds, we"re protectors, it"s our duty," said Gram like we were simply discussing politics.
I covered in my ears. "This isn"t real! I"m dreaming! You"re lying!" I cried.
"No, I"m not," she said simply. "You"re a shifter, Sophie."
"Why tell me now? Why didn"t my parent"s tell me when I was younger?" I asked.
"They"ve renounced what they are to protect you. That"s why they ran away in the first place. Your mom was pregnant with you. The Grimm Pack would never have allowed you to exist."
I decided to play along even though I still didn"t believe her. "Then don"t they know I exist now? My last name is Beaumont."
"They think you"re adopted, that"s what I told everyone to protect you. They think you"re merely human. They also don"t know that Garrett and Christine ran away together. They think your father married a human woman and that"s why he left."
"What about my mom?"
"They think she"s dead. She faked her death to protect you. Her own parents don"t know the truth," she said folding her hands on her lap.
"How do you know, then?"
She quirked her lips. "Your father and I were always close. He was my only child. I told him that I didn"t care what he had to do as long as he kept me in his life. His father didn"t know. He was a stickler for the rules but your father"s departure from Alpha was what did him in. He was already sick and that was the last straw."
"This is crazy! You"re crazy!" I said standing. Before she could move to stop me I ran out of the room, grabbed my keys, and left.
I drove and drove and drove. I knew I was wasting gas but I didn"t care. I had to get away. I finally pulled into the parking lot of Target and got out and walked through the store. After three laps of the store I went back to my car and leaned my head on my steering wheel. My phone kept ringing but I ignored it.
I sobbed. I didn"t want to believe Gram"s words but it all made sense to me. I had always had fast reflexes and been able to hear and smell things that I shouldn"t be able too. My feeling of belonging here? Caeden? Did I only like him because I sensed that we were the same? I didn"t want to believe that one.
The sky began to darken but I couldn"t make myself move. My chest ached and finally, to my relief, my eyes ran dry. So, I just sat there.
I picked up my phone. Two missed calls from Gram and five from my dad and one from my mom which was probably still my dad just trying a different tactic.
I sighed and leaned my head against the head rest. I didn"t want to go back to Gram"s. I didn"t want to have to face her. I wiggled around in my seat and decided if it came to it I would sleep in my car. It wouldn"t be super comfortable but I could manage.
Suddenly my pa.s.senger door opened. Shocked, I gasped. How stupid of me not to lock my doors.
Caeden slid in and closed the car door.
"What are you doing? Get out!" I screamed trying to push him out of the car. Unfortunately my tears decided now was the time to return and streamed down my face in a torrent and all the strength left my arms. They sank like noodles to my sides.
He gave me a sad look. "I"m sorry," he said quietly.
I sniffled. "It"s all true isn"t it?"
He nodded his head. I cried harder.
"My whole life has been a lie," I sobbed.
He held out his arms to embrace me. At first I didn"t want to find comfort in his arms but I finally ceded. He held me to his chest and pulled me onto his lap.
"I"m sorry that you"re upset but it"s such a relief for you to finally know," he said as his fingers tangled in my hair.
He held me until I finally stopped crying.
Embarra.s.sed I started to pull away but he just held me tighter. "I"m sorry for being such a cry baby."
He chuckled. "If I hadn"t grown up knowing what I was all my life I probably would have acted much like you. I don"t like surprises. I guess it"s part of being the Alpha. You like to be in control." He cleared his throat like he wanted to say more but was stopping himself. I untangled my legs from his and moved over to my seat.
"What are you not saying?" I asked.
He cleared his throat and pointedly looked out the window.
"Caeden?" I demanded. "Just tell me. My family has kept so much from me. I can"t stand it if you do too."
He sighed and ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. "I don"t want to freak you out."
"I"m already freaked out! I"m not human! And apparently neither are you!" I cried throwing my hands in the air.
He ran his fingers through his hair again sticking it up in every direction. "I"ll start with the easier to process."
"Okay," I said taking a deep breath.
"You"re the female Alpha of my pack. For two reasons. Reason one, you"re a Beaumont and it"s in your blood..."
"And reason two?"
He gulped and took a breath. "You are..."
"I am?" I prompted him.
"You are my mate," he whispered.
"What," I said. "on earth does that mean?"
"It means you"re my mate. It"s never happened before. It"s one of our legends, that a few of us find our mates, we"re meant to be together. We"re made for each other," he said looking into my eyes. The truth shown, like a beacon in the dark, in his bright blue eyes.
I started hyperventilating. "You"re telling me that there"s some kind of weird wolf voodoo going on that tells us we"re supposed to be together."
Caeden shook his head. "That"s not it. Not entirely at least. Don"t you feel attracted to me?"
"Yes," I admitted reluctantly and blood flooded traitorously to my cheeks.
"I didn"t even know what was happening at first. Like I said no one has ever found their mate before, not that I know of at least. The pull to be with you is worse for me because my wolf has already been released. It"ll be harder for you to once you shift," he sighed.
I buried my head in my hands. "So, you only like me because of this?" I said and threw my hands in the air. "It figures! I finally like a guy and he only likes me because of this stupid wolfy mate thing!" I ranted.
He grabbed my hands and held them still with one hand while the other grabbed my chin so I had to stare into his two endless blue pools.
"I had feelings for you before I even knew what was going on. I like you for you. In fact my feelings are stronger than what the mere insignificant word like can encompa.s.s. But I"m not going to push you into anything. I want to date you, get to know you; I want you to fall in love with me not the wolf."
"But you already know that I have feelings for you," I said.
"There"s a difference between knowing something and hearing it. So... do you want to date me?" He asked and he truly seemed unsure of my feelings.
I hesitated. I had feelings for Caeden, strong feelings, that was undeniable. I wanted to be with him more than anything. But I didn"t want to take his choice away from him either. That seemed cruel.
"I don"t want to take your choices away," I voiced.
"You"re not. I choose you. Despite the bond I would choose you. You"re everything for me. You"re smart, funny, caring, and beautiful, shall I continue?" he asked leaning closer to me.
I laughed. "No," I said. "I get your point. I am pretty wonderful," I said jokingly and flipped my hair over my shoulder.
He laughed. "You"re perfect."
"Far from it," I said.
"For me you are. Just like I"m perfect for you. Or so says the legend. We"re made for each other. You know, the vampires have soul mates so it makes sense that we should too, I wonder why it hasn"t happened before?" he stated.
One word stared blaringly at me. "Vampires? There are vampires?" I gasped going into shock yet again.
"Yeah," he said. "There are shifters, werewolves, sorcerers, and vampires. I"ve heard about fairies but I"ve never actually met one," he said rubbing the back of his head.
"Vampires?" I said again.
He rubbed my arm soothingly. "I know it"s a lot to take in."