Beaufort Creek Shifters (10 book series)
Daddy’s Innocent Mate Chapter 16

Francine

You're an idiot, I murmured mentally while jumping into the tree. You're a lying, selfish, reckless idiot.

Elias didn't say anything as I swatted the parachute lines away from his jumpsuit. Though most of it had unlatched, some of the lines had come dangerously close to being wrapped around his neck. He probably hadn't noticed during the chaos of his tumble. I had about twelve heart attacks while watching him fall from that plane while racing toward the area where I knew he would land.

He hadn't even landed in the target, the misguided fool. Inconsiderate, I said as I swatted his shoulder. Liar!

Elias wailed when I dug my claws into his knuckles. He glared at me over his shoulder, which looked like it might have been injured, and then his features melted into pure regret. After a moment, he lowered himself carefully to the next branch. He repeated his movements with precision, cautiously going from one branch to the next until he got to the ground. I leaped after him, landing gracefully to his right.

He teetered toward me. I shifted into my human form and caught him, carefully easing him toward the ground so I could shift and run toward the warehouse where I knew Wendell was rallying the troops to find Elias. They would need someone to lead them out here.

Elias reached for me. "Baby, wait."

"Don't call me that."

His fingers curled with defeat. "I'm sorry. I just-"

"You just lied to me."

The horror of that statement hung in the air. Truth be told, I wasn't one to hold grudges. A great lesson from my mother was to let people do as they wish and adjust my boundaries to their process. That didn't mean I never stood up for myself. It just meant that I could leave any time I wanted to leave.

Troy would be disappointed. Archie would be too. But that wasn't my problem anymore.

Elias wasn't my problem.

I took a shaky breath and stood up as straight as my spine would allow. "I'm taking my things out of your house and-"

"Fran, no. Please. Don't-"

My hand shook when I raised it to quiet him. "-and I'm moving back into my apartment."

"I can change. I promise I can change."

"I gave you every opportunity to improve yourself, Elias. I gave you patience. I leaned into you and trusted you. And you just-" Tears flooded my vision. My nose burned with the unshed expression of betrayal. I swallowed it all. "You lied to me about your adrenaline crap, and you lied to me about Geraldine."

He leaned forward with a frown. "What are you talking about? I never lied about Geraldine!"

"You're still lying." I shook my head. "I'm getting Wendell for you and then I'm heading home. Archie is with Isaiah, by the way."

"Fran, please..."

My throat tightened up. While I knew it was okay to cry, I didn't want to cry in front of Elias. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction. Men like him never changed. I shouldn't have ever given him a chance.

"You were trying to rekindle your romance with her," I explained in a shaky voice, "before the raid happened. Yolanda told me all about it."

His features twisted with terror. "Wait, about that-"

"She told me that you two were trying to make it work for Archie." I chuckled bitterly and shook my head. "I can't believe you never told me that, Elias. You lied to me. You kept her picture in your home for you, not for Archie."

"I swear, I would have told you eventually. It's just that-"

I glowered at him with all my might. "It's just that you're selfish and inconsiderate, and you didn't want me to leave you. Is that it? Am I hitting the mark?" I gestured back toward the warehouse. "Because you sure as hell didn't hit yours."

Disbelief splashed his face and forced him back into the trunk. He slumped with defeat, elbows digging into his thighs while his legs went lax. Every bit of him gave up just then. And I didn't care. These were the consequences of his actions. Now he had to sleep in the bed he had made.

I shifted into my bobcat form and sprang onto a new path, sprinting in the direction of the warehouse. Once Elias was safe with Wendell and his team, I would head back to handle my business-and I would spend the rest of my life in the safety and steadiness of my solitude.

***

There wasn't an alpha between these two farms who could convince me to stay with a liar. And it wasn't just one lie-it was a whole bed of lies. Elias had refused to be open with me from the very beginning. If we were supposed to be true mates, then wouldn't he want to be honest with me?

Perhaps I had gotten it wrong. When Troy and Laurencia told me about the mate bonds, and when Jada had explained her experience, I had gotten the impression that mates developed their bond over time. It wasn't so much instant as it was a rapid development. With connection came responsibility. Elias should have told me the truth, and he shouldn't have made a promise he couldn't keep. Those actions alone were enough to send me right back to the house where it all started.

It hurt to walk inside. It hurt to walk past Archie's bedroom and realize it would be the last time I would be making this walk. I grabbed a suitcase from my closet-from Elias's closet-and set it on the bed. The dresser held most of my clothes. I just needed some basics to get through the week until I could send someone to grab the rest of my things.

As soon as I had a pair of yoga pants and a loose blouse on, I went about packing. I didn't want to take my time, but my limbs felt like they were struggling to move through ice water. A frigidness had taken over. I couldn't shake it, no matter how much I moved around.

The light knock at the door gave me my thirteenth heart attack of the day. I flipped around and held up my fists, prepared to knock Elias out of the way if he tried to stop me.

But it wasn't Elias standing in the doorway. It was his son.

Archie looked threatened by my stance. I dropped my defense immediately and sank into the bed, staring down at my bare toes. I hadn't even pulled on socks. I just went right to packing. There was no hiding it either. Archie knew exactly what I was doing. "I told you to stay with your uncle," I whispered, trying to keep my voice from cracking. "I told you to stay put, Archie."

"Mommy, why are you leaving?"

My heart ached. Did he just call me mommy? Why in the world would this kid do that right when I had made my decision to go? "I'm not fit to be your mother, Archie."

"Yes, you are." He flew across the room and threw his arms around me, trembling. "Don't leave me. Please, don't go. I'll be good. I promise I'll clean my room, and do all the dishes, and I'll never complain about the trash again!"

Tears flooded my face. Did he think I was leaving because of him? I could never... "Archie, no. It's not you. It's-" I hiccupped.

Resistance was utterly useless. I was sobbing uncontrollably, shaking violently while pulling Archie into my lap. I hugged him tightly like he was my child who had been lost for years. Was this how it felt when Elias finally got his son back? Dear gods, I couldn't even imagine the pain.

But I felt all of it right now, the pure heartbreak of the situation. I couldn't leave this child. I couldn't leave Elias.

I had become too attached.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled. "Your father and I had a disagreement. I got scared. I wanted to go back to my apartment because I was too afraid to face the truth."

"So, it wasn't because I was bad?"

More tears came. I was showering this poor kid with my blubbering mess. I shook my head, insisting repeatedly that he had done nothing wrong. Nothing at all. He was a good child-no, he was a perfect child.

I traced his braids that his father had done and smiled tearfully, holding on to him as long as I could. Maybe Elias was afraid too. He'd kept things from me, truly important things, but I could see the fear in his actions. I could see how he resisted giving in because caring about me was scary.

I knew because I had just admitted that fear to my son.

My eyes snapped open. Did I just call Archie my son?

I should have been frightened by the thought. Perhaps I should have been cautious of forming such a connection with a kid because I didn't think of myself as mother material. But the bond between us had grown significantly. Much like the backyard at my old apartment, the flowers and grass had sprung up overnight, crowding the walkways and taking over the side of the building.

If I dug deeper, I would find even more fertile soil for Elias. While his garden with me was mostly comprised of weeds, many of them were dandelions and wild violets, pollinators that were important for bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Our collective garden fed me in ways that I hadn't realized until I tried to leave it all behind.

And now that I could see it, I couldn't leave it.

Archie slid out of my lap and wiped his nose. "I'm sorry I snotted on you, Mom."

"No, it's okay. I did the same." I smiled while wiping away his tears. "Let's go clean up and make some hot chocolate, okay?"

He grinned, showing off beaver-like front teeth before darting out of the room. In just a split moment, he was right back to being a wild ten-year-old with a love for chocolate. And, if I stuck around, I hoped to see him blossom into a wild young man. As long as his father could be honest with me, I didn't see why not.