Reluctantly Lycan Read Free Page B

habits and they worried him.
    “Mom.” His eyes were cast down and his voice apologetic.
    “Do not say you’re sorry. You have every right to be angry with me.” She glanced back at him and gestured for him to sit.
    He moved to the nearest chair and sat down. “Why did you lie? You’ve always said how important it is for us to be honest with each other.”
    “It was easier for me if he was dead. I wished he was.” She put out her cigarette and waved her hand as if to get the secondhand smoke away from her son.
    “I want to know the truth.”
    “Kaden and I were supposed to be together. Our people wanted it, I wanted it. I think he did, too. But… he was wild, untamed.”
    Untamed? What was he, a horse? Jak shook his head, thinking his mother’s wording odd. He kept quiet, waiting for her to finish.
    She gave a small, bittersweet smile. “ I found out I was pregnant. A pretty big deal. My eighteenth birthday was coming up and it would stop us from going through the bonding ritual.” Suddenly, she placed her hands over her face and laughed, this time all bitter with no sweetness. “This makes no sense to you.”
    “Were you in a cult?” Jak gasped.
    Marala reached out and grasped her son’s hand. “We’re descended from a long line of wolves. Lycans.”
    “More lies, Mom?”
    “I’m not lying. Your time is coming. On the first full moon after your birthday, you will transform. It’s beyond your control. Women do not go through their transition until they mate with the male they’re meant to be with.” She twirled her wine in her glass before taking a sip. “That’s why I never changed. Since I was pregnant and ran away, I never bonded under the moon with your father.”
    “That is disgusting and you’re insane. I can’t believe this. Should I call someone to take you away in a straightjacket?” Jak’s anger returned and he stood up, knocking his chair back. “Forget I asked. I wish he had never returned. I wish he was dead.”
     
    Kaden raced out of the city. His form had bulked up and he barely fit in the Jeep now. He was midway through a shift and there was no stopping it. As soon as trees came into view, he veered off the road and parked his vehicle. Thankfully, the run down part of the city Mara had lived in was near the outskirts.
    His spine crack ed and his mouth arched open as he fell to all fours and ran as fast as he could into the woods. Foreign scents assaulted his senses and disoriented him in the strange forest, but he didn’t stop. Thick, black fur hid him against the dark backdrop of the night. Even his pitch eyes aided with stealth. He could have ripped out the throat of anything that crossed his path, but stealth made it easier.
    Cool water chilled his large paws when he bolted through a creek. It helped a little, better than a cold shower. He burst into a clearing, stopped, and shook his entire body to shed the excess water. Then, he lifted his head and howled over and over again.
    Several hours later, he awoke face down on the damp ground. He’d fallen asleep with his muzzle resting on his paws, but at some point shifted back into human form. Mud covered his body along with the occasional leaf stuck to him. He was buck naked in the middle of nowhere, in a place he didn’t live.
    “What did she do to me?” He groaned, rising to his feet. The walk back would be a long one and he didn’t think another shift so soon was a good idea. Besides, it would give him time to think.
    For a long time, he’d been furious with her. Mara had left for no reason that he could discern and without telling him she was pregnant. As much as he had denied it, the girl had broken his heart. The pain and anger kept him from tracking her down. He couldn’t bear the insult of begging.
    He sighed. Seeing her stirred something old and primitive. All these years and she was as beautiful with that mane of hair as she always had been. Her scent though, now that had become more intense. If that boy,