“Mom. This isn’t the place for me. There has to be somewhere else. Axel said something about the cousins?”
She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, baby. The cousins can help, but they can’t teach you what you need to know right now. If there’s a chance that you can get a handle on your wolf without your cousins’ help, then you have to try.”
She was clearly mistaken. My emotions were all over the place, and I didn’t feel one bit like myself. “There’s no controlling this. I get so angry, and then—it’s just bad. I’m afraid of what I’ve become.”
Dad said something in the background. There was a rustle before I heard his voice. “Princess. I’ve talked to your mother’s family, and your brother is right—they could help, but I don’t think it’s the best place for you right now. We’ve kept you away from them for a reason. Right now you have some freedom, even if it doesn’t feel like it. If you got to them in the state that you’re in right now, I’m worried for what they’ll do to you. If there were another place, a better one, then I’d tell you. But Michael is there for you. He’s a good guy. You can trust him.”
“I thought you were mad at him.”
“I was, but I also am your father and have to put aside any anger to figure out what’s best for you now.” He paused. “You know I wouldn’t leave you somewhere without going over every option. Right?”
I sighed. “Yeah. I know that.” But what was up with the cousins? I thought we moved here to be closer to them.
“Listen, Michael wants me to give it time, but I need to see you for myself. I negotiated him down. We’re coming for a visit in two days. Can you hang until then?”
“Sure,” I said, and hoped it wasn’t total bull. Soft taps came from my door. “I gotta go. Someone’s here.”
“I love you, kiddo. We all do.”
“Love you, too.” I ended the call and plugged my phone in to charge. I was stalling and I knew it. I didn’t want to know who was on the other side of the door.
“Tessa,” Meredith’s voice came from outside. Three more knocks. “Tess? It’s me. Can I come in?”
“Is it just you?”
“Yes.”
I was relieved it was only her and disappointed at the same time. We were going to have to stop running away from each other at some point. “It’s open.”
She stopped at the foot of my bed and shoved her hands in her pockets. “I heard class didn’t go so well.”
I half-laughed. “You could say that.”
“Well, at least you got me out of Meta.”
“How?”
“Mr. Dawson pulled me. He’s worried about you.”
I guessed now was as good a time as any for that apology that I owed her. Taking responsibility for your actions was part of growing up, but that didn’t make it easy. “About earlier…I’m sorry I snapped at you.”
She held up a hand. “Don’t even worry about that. We all snap sometimes and I was way out of line. I don’t know what happened between you and Dastien, but you can trust me. I won’t tell anyone. I swear.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I know it’s none of my business, but you might feel better if you talked to someone about it.”
We sat there for a moment in the quiet. Bottling it up was making it worse. I looked back at the poster hanging over my bed. Meredith had dealt with crazy just as long as I had. A different breed of crazy for sure, but she’d understand better than anyone I’d met.
So I totally spilled my guts. The only problem was that once I started talking, I couldn’t stop. From my past, and embarrassing lack of friends, to moving to Texas and meeting Dastien—even about my visions. She sat on my bed and listened, with a blank look on her face.
When I finished, she didn’t say anything for a minute. I chewed on my nails as I waited.
Finally, she leaned back on the bed and let out a huge breath. “Wow. No wonder you snapped. What Dastien did is unforgivable. Inexcusable. And completely unlike him. I mean, it’s unbelievable. After I met you I didn’t believe all the stuff about you seducing him, you just seem more real than that. But I thought it was at least consensual.” She got up and started pacing beside the bed. “Why would he do that? What was he thinking! To risk his life and yours…I can’t believe it. It doesn’t make sense.”
I opened my mouth, ready to defend myself, but she held up her hand.
“No. No. I believe you. But I’m blown away. I can’t imagine what you must be going through right now. I thought you were just having trouble adjusting, but your reactions make so much more sense now.” She collapsed on the bed.
I don’t know what I’d expected when I started telling her my story, but for some reason, I didn’t think it’d be sympathy.
“And I have a working theory about your visions.”