Matefinder by Leia Stone Page A

the future she saw for you and Drake. You wouldn’t make it to
your fifth birthday without being captured and drained for your blood if she
hadn’t done what she’d done.”
    I breathed out shakily. “She sacrificed
herself. My mom, Beth. She was her best friend?”
    Sylvia nodded. “Beth and Ruby met in
high school and then went off to college together. Became instant friends; they
were inseparable.” Sylvia was touching her temple and stared off, lost in her
thoughts.
    “So Ruby was a powerful future seer,
but she couldn’t see that if she stuck me with Beth and Tom for parents, that I
would be beaten. That my mother would be abused and called fat and lazy by my
no good father?” I stood up, angry.
    Sylvia’s face softened. “There is a
heavy price to pay for changing the future. Maybe she thought that fate was
better than being captured, tortured, and killed at five years old before you
could even learn to protect yourself.”
    “Drake drowned! My childhood was
taken from me! I should get to choose my fate. It’s my life.” I turned to Kai.
“I’m going for a run. Don’t follow me.” I felt magic infuse my words as a
command. Kai looked hurt. I fled the house. I burst out of the front door
crying, and collided with Emma.
    “Oh, Aurora, I’m sorry.” She laughed
and then saw my face. “What’s wrong?”
    I stripped down in front of her and
changed into my wolf. Without asking, she stripped down too and followed me. I
could hear her bones slowly cracking as her change took longer. If Kai had
followed me I would have been mad, but something about Emma’s energy soothed
me. I didn’t mind. She stayed a good distance behind me as I ran. I didn’t go
my fastest, but I was running hard. I could hear Emma panting behind me. She
didn’t try to talk to me through the pack bonds and I loved her for it. She
seemed to know I needed space, but didn’t want me to be alone.
    I ran and thought of my mother, Beth,
and all we had been through. Did she just love me and treat me like a daughter
because Sylvia messed with her memories? No, I couldn’t believe that. I thought
of the sacrifice Ruby made and I got angry. Part of me was grateful Drake and I
were placed with my mother because otherwise I wouldn’t know her. Another part
of me wondered if Ruby’s seer abilities were that good. What if the future changed
and she did all of that and there had been another way. I never bonded with my
father Tom. It’s like a piece of me knew he wasn’t my real father. When Drake
died and my father blamed me, he began drinking. That’s when the abuse started.
    If Ruby hadn’t put Drake and me with
my mother, then my father never would have started drinking and abusing us. I
could have saved my mother from all of her heartache. I stopped at the top of
the mountain and howled long and deep. Then I curled up next to a large pine
tree. A moment later Emma trotted over to me. She nuzzled me with her nose and
curled up next to me.
    ‘Are you okay?’ Kai sent to me.
    ‘I’m with Emma,’ I replied not sure if I was okay or
if I would ever be okay. If this Matefinder gene was passed down to future
generations then I didn’t want children. I didn’t want to curse them to a life
of being hunted. If I didn’t want kids, then Kai might not want me. Emma’s soft
and submissive presence put me at ease. We lay there a long time, curled up
together.
    After a while, I stood up and shook
off the dried leaves stuck to my fur.
    ‘Ready to head back?’ Emma asked me. It was the first
thing she had said to me since she followed me on my run.
    ‘Yes,’ I told her. ‘ Thank you,’ I
added. She gave me a nod and we slowly trotted back to Kai’s house.
    It was late and everyone looked
asleep. Emma and I shifted and got dressed. She gave me a quick hug and my
vision changed. I was looking at a movie screen in my mind. Emma’s belly was
swollen with pregnancy and I was walking down an aisle littered with red rose
petals. I looked at