She didn't know

8

Ally

"Momma, are you okay?" Xale whined, sliding off of the bed.

"I'm fine, Bubba. We need to have a little talk though, okay?" Leaping to my feet I rush to his side and pull him over to the couch with me. Slipping him under my arm I kiss the top of his head and chew on the inside of my cheek as I try to come up with the words to say everything I need to without scaring him.

"Has everyone been nice to you?" The first thing I can think of, I whisper as I glance around the room. Are there cameras in here?

Nodding, Xale smirks and turns to crawl into my lap. "Daniel gave me chocolate."

His words pull at something in my heart and it only causes the voice in my head to scream louder that Daniel's our mate. "How about you tell me what happened, okay?"

A shiver runs through his body and Xale tucks his head into my neck. "A stinky wolf tried to hurt you, momma. He tried to take you. I got so scared, my wolf was angry and he made me change. Daniel and his friends they, they helped. Daniel hurt the mean wolf really bad and his friends took him away. Then he carried you here and Kelly helped you. We used my blood and stitched you up. Kelly let me help. Are you so proud of me, momma? I was so brave, even when Daniel asked me to change back into me I did it. It hurt so much the first time but it only hurt a little the second time. I'm strong, right, momma?"

Frowning, I cup Xale's cheeks and stare down into his eyes. My heart is racing in my chest. "What do you mean, Daniel asked you to change?"

"From my wolf to a human, momma. Weren't you listening?"

Sighing, I lift Xale to his feet in front of me and grasp onto his shoulders. "Now's not the time for make believe, tell me the truth Xale. Did a wolf hurt me and they scared it away? What did you do? Did you run? Did they find you and bring you here too? People can't turn into wolves, Bubba. You have to be honest, okay? What happened?"

Shaking out his arms and shoulders like he's about to have a tantrum for the first time in years, Xale groans out loud and rolls his eyes. "I am! I'm a wolf!"

"Xale! No more lies, tell the truth. Did they hurt you? Did they tell you to say this?" I plead for him to confess what happened.

"No! I promise. I can show you." He grunts, wiggling out of my hands. "I'm telling the truth. Watch."

Leaning back in to the couch, I cross my arms and stop myself from rolling my eyes. Annoyed, angry and more anxious than ever. Why's Xale lying for them? What did they do or say to make him tell me this?

Getting down on his hands and knees Xale looks up at me one last time before starting to shake, his face turning red from how hard he's trying to do whatever it is he thinks he can do. Shaking my head I go to push myself up when fur starts to sprout in patches along his arms and face. Confused, scared even, I sit back down with wide eyes.

And then his face changes and my world tilts upside down.

Xale, my son, my human sons face is changing. Teeth as big as my thumb growing from inside his snout that's pushed out of his face. His beautiful face. Oh my god.

Reality kicks in at the same time the thing that was once my son tries to step towards me and a blood curdling scream tears from my throat as I claw at the cushions of the couch to put them between me and that thing. What the fuck is going on here?

Loud banging and growls ring my ears as I cover my face and hide, terrified. Whimpers and whining similar to Boomer's tugging at my heart strings, I peak between my fingers and choke down the scream that threatened to push its way from my lips. Wolves circling the thing that was once my son. I want to reach out so bad, I want to protect him, but I can't. I don't even know if that's still my son.