Page 51 of My Boyfriend Marks Trees
“Not yet. While I’ve always known what I am, I found out only recently that some who carry the gift don’t shift until their teens, meaning I gave up too quick.”
“She’s nothing like you,” her scratchy reply.
“She will be,” an ominous statement.
Barry shoved Charlotte into the room, but before he slammed the door shut, he smiled and said, “Count yourself lucky I’ve decided to let you live. After all, a child needs some siblings.”
“No.” She recoiled.
The sadistic bastard laughed. “Not tonight. Tonight, the moon calls, and I must answer.”
With that, the door slammed shut, and she heard the lock engage.
Greta stared at her wide-eyed, but rather than console her, Charlotte flew to the window in time to see Barry emerge from the house, naked. As he approached his gang huddled over the hunks of meat—the bodies torn to pieces—he changed.
Changed into a wolf and she knew in that moment she had to escape. That night. And disappear.
“Is Greta a lycanthrope?” Athena asked, snapping Charly back to the present.
She shook her head. “No. She’s just a little girl.”
“Whose father is a werewolf. She might not have changed yet, but she has his genetics, meaning she might eventually shift.” Athena had a serious mien.
“What would you even know about it?” Charlotte blurted out.
“Because I’m a werewolf, too,” Athena stated.
Charlotte blinked. “You’re like Barry?” She took a step away.
“Oh for fuck’s sake, I’m not going to suddenly go four-legged and eat you. Your ex and his pack might be psychos who kill, but that’s not the norm for our kind.”
“How would you know?” It hit Charlotte suddenly. “You know more wolves.” The revelations kept happening. “Your sister, Ares, your mom…”
“Ares and Selene, yes. Mom, no. We inherited our lycanthropy from Dad.”
Charlotte put her face in her hands. “I can’t. This is too much.”
“Now’s not the time to fall apart,” barked Grams.
“Are you a werewolf?” her sarcastic reply.
“No, but my grandbaby will most likely be, and I’m fine with it.”
Charlotte glanced at Grams. “But they’re wolves.”
“So what? Will you love Greta any less when she starts to change?”
“Of course not. I probably won’t even fight when she tries to eat me.” Her lips turned down.
Athena snorted. “For god’s sake, no one’s eating you, unless it’s my brother, and that will be the kind of eating you like, not the OMG-I’m-dying kind.”
A hot blush flushed Charlotte’s cheeks.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, Ares and the others aren’t ravening beasts.”
“Maybe not in their human shape,” Charlotte pointed out.
Athena rolled her eyes. “Even as wolves, we don’t lose control and kill wantonly.”