Beaufort Creek Shifters (10 book series)
The Wolf’s Secret Twins Chapter 12

Virginia

I wasn't one for thinking about knights in shining armor, but it was hard to resist that sort of thinking when Slater was acting like one. Happiness joined me with every step on the dirt road. I felt like I was floating my way toward the school instead of walking,

encouraged by the sting of the bite Slater had left on my right shoulder.

Never in my life had I thought I would end up with someone like Slater. I'd always hoped, for sure. I'd always prayed. But for it to actually happen? It felt like I was dreaming. The way he accepted the twins, the way he accepted me, made me feel that much more comfortable about admitting the truth to him.

I bit my lower lip while rubbing my elbow. Crap, that was something that I had to do soon, wasn't it? If he kept on thinking he was stepdad, that just wasn't fair. And my kids deserved to know the truth too. One of those ill-begotten memories came out of the woodwork to taunt me.

At the time, Anthony had been four years old. He hadn't been aware of our situation, or how his grandparents had sold him out with his mama. Adhara was taking one of her many naps that afternoon, during the same time her brother should have been napping with her. Dirk had come in. Dirk had stomped right across the floor to grab me. Dirk had spat in my face and cast me off like I was yesterday's newspaper. Dirk, Dirk, dirty Dirk had been so bad to me and to us that it made me shiver in the afternoon sun just to think about it. My poor boy had witnessed everything. He'd asked if Dirk was his father, questioned whether or not he'd be mean someday, and I fought the urge to cry myself silly. But I'd held it together for him and calmly explained that his papa was a little off his kilter, but generally a good man.

I hope I get to meet him someday, Mama, the memory of Anthony said in my head. I want to know if he looks like me.

Tears pricked my eyes that I swept away quickly. Now wasn't the time for that crap. It was all in the past. It was all things that didn't need to be talked about or remembered. We had a good future ahead of us with a man who was committed to our happiness and safety. Nothing would ever stop that from happening, and I would make sure of it.

I just had to bide my time while he got everything together. Feeling sentimental, I pulled out my phone and studied the texts he had sent this morning, the ones swearing that we would be a family together wherever we ended up. He pledged that he would get us an unregistered car with fake plates, hide it at the edge of the Bravecrest property, and then we could take off from there, kicking up the midnight dust.

My kids were no strangers to running. Perhaps it would be an adventure for them. Because this time, they'd be going with me and their father. With every truth on the table, we would be unstoppable.

I sagged slightly as I tucked my phone into my pocket. A whole damn week-what were we supposed to do until then? Keep faking our smiles? Keep pretending to be happy in a place that hated us?

Once I reached the school door, I wiped the mournful expression from my face, put on my gentle mom smile, and went inside. Cool air swept over my body, caressing my skin just like Slater. It took all my strength not to shiver as I recalled his touch. Sneaking around at night was great and all, but it was hard when I wanted him in the morning or the afternoon. It meant I had to wait.

Waiting can be exciting, I thought. Maybe he can spend the night soon.

I was getting ahead of myself. My sweet knight would be with us when he was good and ready. If we rushed, then we would get caught, and I didn't want our situation to explode. Things had mostly calmed down since that dreadful meeting and Bentley had been handled.

No use poking at an agitated rattlesnake.

Some loud crying caught my attention. Granted, a kid crying in a mixed-age classroom like Francine's wasn't usually a big deal, but my mother senses were going off pretty hard as I approached the door. My heart skipped a beat when the crying registered as the kind of crying I'd heard a lot of during plenty of sleepless nights.

Nights that I wanted so much to forget.

"Adhara," I whispered shakily, and then darted inside, locating my daughter with her brother's arms around her shoulders. She was cradling her left eye and crying hard enough to turn her face strawberry red. "Buggy, what's wrong? What happened?" Sobs choked her up. She trembled while trying to lower her hand, revealing an eye that was puffy and swollen. I gasped and dropped to my knees, fishing through my pockets for something, frantically trying to get my bearings.

"Did you fall? Did you fight?" I snapped my head around. "Where's your teacher?"

I found Francine near the door leading to the playground outside. The other kids were outside playing-but Francine was fuming indignantly at a woman who had her back turned to me. I felt the snide attitude rolling right off her shoulders-the way she carried herself, the uppity stance, and the way she tapped her foot with annoyance. She might not have been wearing riches, but I could tell she was used to being treated a certain way by people.

I knew her type because I served her type.

Slowly, I rose from the ground and went to the mini fridge that Francine kept behind her desk. Sure enough, there were miniature ice packs in there piled next to a few teething rings. I grabbed a couple of the ice packs and brought them back to my daughter, kneeling again in front of her.

"What happened?" I asked Anthony. "Don't be afraid to tell me the truth, okay?"

Anthony glanced nervously in the direction of Miss Britches who was talking Francine's ear off in heated whispers. I caught a few nasty words, some of them directed at us, but chose to listen to my son instead of marching over there. Having the full story under my belt would help loads.

I offered my son a gentle smile and took his hands. "Come on. Be strong for your sister. Tell me what happened."

"Shannon came up and-and-" His brows knitted together. "She kicked Adhara in the shin, called her a bad word, and then punched her."

Anger shot through me like a thousand volts of electricity. I was appalled that a child would do such a thing-but I had to guess that the very same child who'd done it was being sheltered by a mother with a nasty attitude and a gossip problem. The same mother who was currently arguing with Francine.

Red was all I could see when I glanced at Francine with that mother again. The mother was now waving her hands, her voice growing louder, her concern only for the fact that her daughter was now sitting out of recess as punishment.

I could hear everything now. She wasn't even bothering to whisper anymore. "...and I'll tell you another thing, Miss Elwyn-"

"It's Mrs. Shaw now, Celia."

"Whatever, Francine. It's a title you're supposed to earn as a good teacher, and I'll tell you something. I'm not about to sit aside while those drama-crazy Walshes go on tearing our pack apart. No, ma'am!"

Francine stood up a little taller. "I won't tolerate any gossip in my classroom, Celia. And I won't tolerate your daughter beating up another student. I don't care what you think of Virginia and her children-you're not going to get away with bullying them."

Warm wings wound around my shoulders. That was comfort. That was love. A woman like Francine had plenty of reasons to resist defending us. She had an entire classroom of students of various ages who she took pride in teaching. Defending Adhara and Anthony, and defending me in the process, would cause turmoil.

Yet she was doing it anyway.

I calmly stepped toward them, hearing that their argument was growing louder, noticing the tension thickening in the air as they clamored to be heard over one another. I stepped between them and held up my hands toward Celia, giving her a motherly frown that shocked her into taking a few steps back.

"Well, if it isn't the deceiver herself," Celia scoffed while recovering her stance. She didn't seem as confident now with me here. "I hope your daughter is suffering."

"Why?" I asked in a low voice. "Did she do something to hurt you? Your daughter?"

She gaped at me. Then she looked me up and down like I was a leper offering her one of my fingers. "The Duffs told me exactly what kind of woman you are and what your drunk grandfather did to them."

"And what was that?"

"Well, you know-"

I stepped toward her. "I know what, Celia?"

"Your grandfather screwed them out of cash. That's what!"

"And how does that involve you and your daughter?"

She stammered over an explanation. Because she didn't have an explanation. People like her just wanted to be at the center of the drama for the power and the thrill of control. None of this involved her, yet she insisted on sticking her gigantic nose in it. I pointed a finger at her. "Celia, I've met your type before. And I don't mean that we've run into each other at meetings, no. I've seen every variation of you in town."

She frowned and propped her hands on her hips. "I don't see how that-"

"People like you and your daughter just want to kick the underdog because it makes you feel good. And why not? It's nice to feel powerful." I wagged my finger at her. "But that doesn't mean it's okay to do, and you know that."

"I don't have to listen to you."

I shrugged, continuing my slow advancement, backing her into a corner of her own making. "You don't. That's true. It's also true that I don't have to take abuse from you or this pack just because of a few sour opinions." I paused for effect and glowered at her. "Only low-life scumbags bully people based on rumors."

"Francine," Celia said with a shaky tone, "are you really going to allow this?"

Francine stepped up beside me. "You brought this on yourself, Celia."

"Listen to me, Celia," I stated firmly. "You can say whatever you want about me. I don't give a damn if you talk crap about me. But my daughter?" I gestured behind her. "You better leave her alone. You tell your daughter to leave her alone. Because if you don't"-I shifted the nails on my right hand to claws-"I'll be coming for you. Is that clear?"

Celia stared blankly at me while I walked around, changed my hand back to normal, and collected my kids. Archie ran up to hand us Adhara's things, the sweetheart. My heart lurched at the thought of these children having seen that stupid argument and lecture. They didn't need to worry their little heads about this sort of stuff.

But that was just our reality now. The masses were more committed to turning us away than to making sure that shifters in their own pack were safe and welcome. It would feel good to blow this miniature town with my head held high. Adhara looked horrified as she took my hand. "Mama, I'm sorry."

I bent to hug her. "Baby, it's not your fault. Don't you dare think this is your fault." My throat tightened with sorrow. "It's actually mine."

When I stood up, Francine walked us to the hallway. I glanced back at Celia who was standing frozen in the classroom clutching her pearls. Real pearls, no doubt. Sheesh, the woman couldn't possibly act more like a victim.

"Fran," I whispered, "I'm going to take the twins out of your classroom."

It was early, but better now than later.

Francine frowned sympathetically. "No, don't you dare. I'm sending Shannon home for the week so your kids can feel safe."

I shook my head. "It's just going to make things worse for you and your family. We can't tell you how much we appreciate your support, but-" Anthony took my hand and squeezed it. Bless his kind heart. "I just don't want to risk anything else, okay?" "Please, reconsider."

"Nobody wants us here, Fran," I said through tears that were caking up my throat. "It's better for us to leave if that's the case. There's no use fighting so hard. I'm tired. Gods, I'm just so tired."

Francine held my shoulders lightly. She stopped for a second when she ran her thumb over my right shoulder-where the mark was located.

"You can't go," she argued. "Archie loves spending time with your family."

The tears started falling, started staining my shirt and soaking through the fabric. I was tired of fighting and crying. I was tired of this whole mess. I just wanted my kids to be safe and have a happy life. Didn't these people want the same for their families? How could they keep being so cruel?

Francine and Elias seemed to be the only parents willing to look past the gunk and crap to see the people who existed within.

I wiped my face. "We'll be just fine. Don't you worry about us."

"You can't stop me from worrying, Virginia."

I smiled weakly. "I'll get back to you about the school stuff, okay?" Bold lies were needed to keep people off my trail. If too much information got out... "Just give us some time. We'll take the week."

Francine took a deep breath before giving me a quick nod. "There's always a place for you here." She looked down at the twins. "How about you come over this weekend? Archie would love to have another sleepover."

The twins nodded and then said goodbye to Francine and Archie. It hurt to see the children upset. Even Archie seemed to be mourning the loss of us, despite me saying I would get back to his mother soon and regardless of her invitation for the twins to stay over. Maybe he secretly knew something was up. Maybe a lot of them knew more than I thought.

Regardless, I had to make the right decision. Our future depended on what I did right now. And right now, I had to protect my kids. I had to protect myself and my budding relationship with Slater. If I failed at those things, then that meant I was a failure as a mother,

a mate, and a shifter.

I couldn't risk that.