-Seth-
I’m afraid Molly’s talk with Andrew hasn’t gone well. I’ve not linked her yet, but I can feel her frantic emotions coursing through our bond. I’m about to go to find her when I smell her approaching the office.
“What happened?” I ask as soon as she enters the room.
“I said too much,” she says, her bottom lip quivering. “We’re going to have to tell him the truth soon. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything, but goddess, I really messed it up.”
Molly flops down in a chair across from my desk. She’s tried so hard to keep the things our family has been through from the kids. Not necessarily because they shouldn’t know, but so much of it wasn’t appropriate at their younger ages. She deeply regrets ever using Andrew’s powers for our own gain, though.
“I told him I wanted to use his powers for good this time,” she whispers as she leans forward, placing her head in her hands. “What the f**k is wrong with me?”
I sigh. This is all so complicated. “He’s fifteen. I think it’s time we tell him everything from that time. It’s not like the other kids. He’s going to be king. He has to know.”
She doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t have to. So many things went so terribly wrong when they were small. We did the best we could to protect them. We all did, including Randall, but unfortunately, we lost him. Worse, Molly still blames herself.
Don’t get me wrong, we all love David. We’re glad Celeste got a second-chance mate, and he’s part of the family. But Randall… that loss still hits everyone hard. Everyone loved him, and I mean everyone.
I walk around my desk and squat down in front of my mate, looking her in the eyes. “It wasn’t your fault. It was a terrible situation that Lucas and Jacob orchestrated. You did your best with what you had available to you.”
“I shouldn’t have used Andrew,” she sighs. “We don’t know what he saw in her head.”
It’s been years, and she’s still beating herself up over it. “There was no other alternative. You did the right thing. Even if he DID see something, it clearly hasn’t broken the kid. He’s a well-adjusted young man.”
She nods like she agrees, but she always does that when we have this conversation. It’s like she’s trying to convince herself she did the right thing, but still doesn’t believe it. It took her years to move past the fact that she killed my uncle, Lucas. That was easier for her, though, because Molly didn’t. Sage, her wolf, killed Lucas. Molly didn’t have control over her, and she wasn’t really trained. Molly didn’t get her wolf until I marked her, and the spell that was hiding Sage lifted. She didn’t have her full magic until she used Andrew to see her biological mother’s thoughts and discovered a spell that was locking her magic back.
“Go get Andrew,” I tell her softly. “I think it’s best to have Dad and Benjamin in here. He needs to know about that truth first, so everything else will make sense.”
“Now?” she blinks at me.
I nod. There’s no sense in putting it off any longer. He was right when he said he’s going to be king, and we’re keeping too many secrets from him. I never wanted to keep secrets from him, but it was necessary when he was younger.
Fifteen minutes later, we’re all gathered in my office. Andrew sits on the couch between his mother and me while my dad and Benjamin sit across from us.
“Am I in trouble?” he asks.
“No,” Dad tells him. “You were right. You can’t be king if we don’t tell you everything.”
Benjamin sighs. “Is this truly necessary?”
I nod. I had agreed years ago to keep the truth from the kids after Benjamin requested it. I was surprised it was him who brought it up, but he felt that the kids knowing how his sons died wasn’t important for their development. He was right, but they will eventually hear it from someone else.
“Lily, your mom’s biological mom,” I begin, glancing at my mate. Maybe she shouldn’t be here for this, but I know she won’t leave. “She wasn’t a good person. Honestly, she was a horrible person, but she hid it pretty well. When you were just over a year old, someone broke into the palace. Your mom woke to you crying and Cora having shifted.
“I was traveling, and I, in no way, communicated with your mom. It made it seem like I was behind the attack.”
“What?” Andrew asks, terror in his eyes.
“He wasn’t,” Molly tells him quickly, placing her hand on our son’s arm. “But I was very, very pregnant with Tyler and terrified.”
Dad leans forward, trying to take some of the blame off me. “Your Grandma and I helped your mom leave the palace and get to Lunar Falls. Molly then took you to the Rogue Land with your Papa Randall, and Lily hid you all in a cabin in the woods.”
I nod. “It all sounds crazy now, but then, it was terrifying. I got there in time for Tyler to be born, but we were attacked, and Grandpa Randall died.”
Molly sniffles, and I watch as Andrew’s green eyes glance at his mother, making sure she’s ok. He knows she’s not, so even while trying to wrap his mind around everything he’s learning, he reaches over and places his hand on hers.
“It took quite a while to realize that I had an older brother I didn’t know about. He was David’s son, and David was the one who realized. He didn’t know about Jacob, either. It was… it was a mess. After that, we all agreed not to keep secrets.”
“But you’ve kept secrets from me,” Andrew says.
“Yes,” I admit, taking over for my mate. “But not with the intention to never tell you. You were too young to understand before.”
“Jacob is the only man I’ve ever met who had magic. It is possible, but it’s not common. He tried to kill you, and I think I’ve been afraid because of that.”
I sigh, realizing that Molly is delaying telling Andrew why we called him here. Reaching over, I squeeze my son’s shoulder. “When we realized Lily was involved, we put her in a cell. She wasn’t cooperating, and we realized we were not getting the whole truth from her. I want to be clear, your mother and I agreed to do this. But she took you to her, and had you touch her so she could see Lily’s thoughts through you.”
I can feel the anxiety radiating from Molly. Her lip quivers, knowing that Andrew finally knows the truth. My son looks up at me, his brow furrowed. “So?”
I smile. This kid is good to his core. He doesn’t care that his mom used his powers, which is everything I’ve always thought. He’s the heir to the throne, and with that comes certain responsibilities and duties. He understands that we have to do things we don’t always want to in order to keep the kingdom safe.
“What happened to him?” Andrew asks.
“I killed him when we got the chance,” Dad speaks up.
Andrew nods, unaffected by the entire thing. Teenagers. You never know how they’re going to react.
“I shouldn’t have used your powers like that,” Molly says, the words rushing out. “I’m so sorry.”
Our son looks at her, in complete and utter confusion. “Yes, you should. That’s what they’re for. It was clever, really. Is that why you stay away from my magic?”
She nods slowly. “Your magic is so beautiful, Andrew. I want to see Cora’s now, and Tyler’s.”
“Cora’s is like a rainbow,” Andrew snorts. “And it’s chaotic, but somehow still organized.”
I smile. “Sounds just like Cora.”
“Why are Grandpa and Pops here?” Andrew finally asks, looking at the two older men sitting across from us. No one seems more uncomfortable than they do.
“Long ago, we agreed to keep a secret from you, and that it would be the first you find out. It changes everything you know, and how you’ll handle anything,” Benjamin tells him. “We couldn’t make your mom wait, though.”
Andrew nods, looking between the two. “Is this about Lucas? Everyone gets quiet when he’s brought up.”
My dad slowly shakes his head. “No. This is not about Lucas. I’ll let your parents explain that when they decide the time is right. This is about Benjamin’s sons, the ones who were killed.”
“You know that Calvin grew up in hiding,” Molly says gently. “Everyone thought he was dead.”
“Yeah, I know,” Andrew says. “Everyone thought he was weird, and everyone thinks I’m just like him.”
Benjamin smirks at that. “You are just like him. You’re not weird. The two of you pay attention to everything. It’s good.”
“Calvin and your mom were both hidden to save their lives, because his two other sons had been killed,” Dad says slowly. “The part you haven’t been told about is how I was the one who killed them.”
Aksara