Secrets, Secrets

*Hezzlie*

I took another shower after Rowan left. He got called away to do some sort of work I probably couldn’t understand if he stopped to explain it to me. It’s odd, knowing he’s looking forward to seeing me again soon. When I was here before, I thought he hated me so intensely that he wouldn’t want to ever see me again, even if it was to boot me out the door. I have a better understanding now of the turmoil he was feeling in sending me away to get his sister back. I think it has something to do with the mate bond. I can feel his emotions a lot differently than I could before he marked me.
After my second shower, I dress in a pair of jeans and a sweater, put on a little make-up, and head out to find my mother’s room. It’s past the time she would normally get up, so I’m hopeful I’ll find her awake. Thankfully, the mansion isn’t nearly as large and confusing as the castle, and I’m able to find her room.
The door is open, and I hear her singing one of her favorite tunes and know that means she’s getting ready for the day. I push the door open a little and stick my head in. “Hey, Mama.”
When she turns to me, her eyes are wide, and her smile is so bright, I can’t help but giggle. She sets down her lipstick and rushes me, and I wrap my arms around her. I know she’s going to cry and hope she hasn’t put her mascara on yet. She’s sobbing, and even though she’s talking, I can’t really understand what she’s saying.
After a few moments, I whisper, “It’s okay, Mom. I’m all right.”
She pulls back, with tears cascading down her cheeks. She has her hands on both sides of my face. “I was so worried about you. I thought I might never get to see you again.”
“I’m fine. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere again, I promise.” I hope that’s a promise I can keep for her because I have no desire to ever live anywhere other than the mansion with my mate. But I just don’t know what’s going to happen with the impending war.
“I heard you had to fight to get out of there,” she says, wiping her eyes.
I step away from her, practically prying myself loose from the one arm she’s now moved to my shoulder, and get her a tissue. “I did, but it’s okay.” I hand her the tissue and she dabs her eyes. Her mascara is running, and she’s going to have to start all over on her makeup. I feel bad about that.
“How did you get away?” She moves to the mirror and mutters about her face as she grabs a wipe and takes off what she needs to in order to fix the mess her tears have made.
“You have to stop crying before you try to fix your face, Mom,” I remind her, snickering. She sits on a stool in front of the vanity, and I sit in a nearby chair. “Aiden and I managed to get away. I brought my friend Abby, and he had help from a guy named Tony.”
“Didn’t the guards try to stop you?” She sniffles a few times, and I hope that means she’s done crying.
“They did, but we got past them.” I manage a smile when she turns to look at me, but like usual, she can tell I’m keeping something back.
Mom arches an eyebrow. “How did you do that? I’m sure your brother is a very good fighter, what with him being the prince and all, but you’ve never had to fight a day in your life.”
She doesn’t know about some of the bullies I dealt with at school, and I decide now isn’t the time to tell her that I’ve had a few fights in the past. I take a deep breath. “Magic, Mom. I have some magic.”
She stares at me with her mouth hanging open. “You do?”
I nod. “Yeah. I guess I got it from you.”
Her mouth snaps closed and she blinks a few times before turning back to the mirror to work on her eyeliner. “That’s interesting.”
She’s hiding something. I can always tell when she’s lying to me. That’s one of the good things about growing up with a young mother and no one else. We have always been best friends, and Mom isn’t good at lying to her friends.
“Mom?”
She doesn’t turn to look at me.
“Mom? Do you have it, too?” I know that Dean and others have asked her in the past if she had any powers from her parents, and she said she didn’t. I thought maybe she just didn’t know–like I didn't know that I had powers. But now I’m starting to think that maybe she’s been aware all along that there’s something different about her.
She ignores me until I say, “Mom?” one more time.
Then, she lets out a sigh and turns toward me. “I have… a little.”
“Show me.” It’s not a question. I need her to show me what she can do so that I can compare it to my own skills.
She sounds irritated as she sets down her eyeliner and turns toward me. Lifting a hand, she pulls together a ball of light that looks very similar to mine, except instead of being a yellow glow, hers is light blue.
It also doesn’t seem to be as large as mine, but I think that might be because I am also part wolf. I lift my hand and show her, and her eyes bulge. “Oh, wow,” she mutters. “Look at you, honey!”
I shake my head and put the light out. “When did you discover you could do that?”
She looks sheepish again as she extinguishes her powers and turns back to the mirror. “I don’t know.”
“Liar.” I growl at her, and it sounds a little too wolfish. She turns to look at me. “Mom?”
“Fine! I’ve been able to do it for years–since you were a baby. But I didn’t know what it was, and it scared me. Kind of like your wolf dreams. I didn’t want anyone to know and think there was something wrong with me, so I never used it. I honestly don’t even know what I can do.”
I think about my own skills. “You can do a lot, Mom.”
Again, I have her attention. “Like what?”
“Like… this.” I stand, take a deep breath, and let my hands fall to the side. I close my eyes and lift my head, and in a moment, I’m floating. I hear Mom gasp but don’t open my eyes until I’m close to the ceiling. I can sense it. I open my eyes to see her standing there with her hands over her mouth.
“Hezzlie!” she says “Don’t fall!”
I almost giggle at her, it’s such a motherly thing to say. “I won’t,” I assure her and bring myself back down slowly so as not to alarm her. “I floated myself and my friends over the warriors that were guarding the bridge,” I tell her. “I also used a blast to knock one of them out of our way at the gate.”
“You did?” Her eyes are so wide, I’m afraid she might fall off her seat.
Nodding, I tell her, “I did what I needed to do to keep us safe. I didn’t kill anyone. At least, I don’t think I did.”
She takes a deep breath. “I’m glad for that. I mean, I want you to do what you need to do to be safe, but I can’t imagine the guilt you would feel if you killed someone.”
I think about Rowan and his men. They probably did kill some of those other wolves. I wonder if it makes it hard for him to sleep at night. I nod again. “I will do what I need to, Mom. I have to keep all of us safe, and my father… he’s an evil man.”
“I know.” She stands and takes my hands in hers. “I’m so sorry, Hezzlie.”
“Sorry? For what?” My forehead furrows as I try to figure out what she’s talking about.
“I should’ve never let him talk me into going to that hotel with him. I was young and stupid, and he was so… handsome. So powerful.”
“I don’t blame you for that, Mom. If you hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have been born,” I remind her.
“That’s true, and I’m certainly not sorry for that. I just wish I would’ve married a nice man and had you then, that we could’ve had a regular family without all the hardships we’ve been through and without the threat of him coming after you again.”
“If he wants me now, it’s because of my powers,” I tell her. “He probably wants Aiden more than he wants me.”
“Why did your brother come back?” she asks me.
“He’s in love with Rowans’ sister, Mara,” I explain.
Mom nods and moves back to the mirror to finish her makeup. It’s a bit hard to look at her and not snicker at the moment because she only has one eye lined. “Well, I’m just glad to have you know the truth about me now, honey. I hate having secrets between us.” She finishes her eye and turns to look at me with a bright smile. “I like it better with no secrets between us, baby.”
I take a deep breath and say, “Well, then, there’s something else I need to tell you.”
Mom raises an eyebrow. “What is it, baby?”
I have no idea how to tell her the truth–but I need to. She deserves to know everything–including the fact that her daughter is part wolf.