Chapter 25

• “I am not naive enough to not understand what happened. I know you lost control of yourself. I understand you weren’t in your right mind. I don’t blame you for what happened. Maybe I blame myself for thinking I could stop you?” She sighed. “But that doesn’t mean it didn’t affect me. I have nightmares over it. And when I look at you, I keep remembering how afraid I was. And there was no stopping you. If Darren didn’t arrive when he did, I’d be dead. I regret that Darren showed up, because then my precious son had to suffer with the curse.” She closed her eyes and then opened them slowly. I could see her hands trembling. “I don’t hate you, and I don’t want to be afraid of you. But I am scared. We sleep in different rooms. We haven’t been together in years, and you deserve to have a real relationship. You—”
• “I deserve you. I have been faithfully waiting for you, and I know you’re doing the same. We might not be fated mates, but we are connected. I don’t want anyone else ... I want you. I want us to heal. What can we do? Let’s take baby steps and work on us. Allissa is here now, and we won’t have to worry about Darren as much. I never realized how much of a blessing she could be until just now. But with her here, we can focus on each other and getting back to what we once were. I want to try, if you’re willing.” I could see Milo wanted to reach for her, but he retracted his hand to his side. I couldn’t imagine his pain either. He was hurting, knowing he had injured her and now she was afraid of him. I understood both sides, and I really felt for them.
• Funny, that I could feel for them under the circumstances. Just moments ago I found out they had killed my entire family and planned to kill me. It wasn’t that I had forgotten about it but that they were Darren’s parents. Despite everything that wouldn’t change. I knew what it was like to go without my parents and I didn’t want Darren to be at odds with them. I didn’t want him to hate them because of me. I guess, because I had Darren, I was able to make this work. What happened was in the past. The present and future were what would matter now. Winifred let out a hesitating breath, interrupting my thoughts.