Chapter 21 – A Mother’s Sacrifice

I lowered Chloe to her feet, and she clung to me for a moment until she regained her balance. Not that I was complaining. She could hang onto me for as long as she wanted.

Much too soon, she let go of me and looked around. In addition to the gravestone, a marble bench with immaculately kept flower beds on either side occupied the space. Her attention was focused on the massive, marble stone.

Emma Masterson

April 1891–January 1915

“Emma was my mother,” I said softly, hands tucked in my pockets.

“I’m sorry.” She looped her arm through mine.

I nodded but didn’t make any other movement. “She was twenty-four when Jax and I were born. In that day and age, that was old for a woman to be having her first child. My biological father thought something was wrong with her.” With a disgusted huff, I shook my head. “He was a strict man, always demanding obedience and perfection. He was impossible to please.”

I moved to sit on the bench, and she sat next to me.

I tucked my hands under my legs and stared straight ahead. I’d brought Chloe here so I could tell her more about who I was, but speaking of my mother and biological father was never easy. Even though I didn’t have any real memories of my mother, I felt a connection to her I couldn’t quite explain. Maybe because I knew she’d had a rough life and had died way too young. I wished I could’ve known her or somehow helped her.

“Everything I know about my mother, I learned from him.” I nearly spat the word. “I watched him for years before I ever spoke to him.”

That had been Jax’s idea. I’d wanted to confront our father, but Jax insisted we wait. Bide our time for just the right moment. I couldn’t deny that the effect had been spectacular.

“My mother realized what a jerk my father was, but back then, divorce was unheard of. She had no money and no way to get free from his abuse. So, she started to plan a way to escape, and she was days away from her freedom when she learned she was pregnant.” My voice was full of painful bitterness.

“Oh, Trent,” she whispered, her voice reflecting all my pain.

“Leaving her husband was scary enough, but being a single mom?” I shook my head. “She stuck around, determined to be the perfect wife and mother. But there was no pleasing that man, and she knew she couldn’t raise us in his home. One night, after he’d passed out drunk, she gathered what she could carry and fled.”

I blew out a breath and stretched my legs. “She wasn’t expecting to go into labor early, but she did. Thankfully, she stumbled upon a group of men heading east. They took pity on her and helped her leave town.”

Sean had told us this party of our mother’s story, and despite how painful it had been to hear, I was grateful he’d shared it with us.

“When they stopped, she wandered off to find someone to help deliver her babies. The men left without her. She collapsed on Sean’s front porch.” I stood and paced. “Sean took her in and found a nurse to deliver the babies. Triplets.”

“Triplets?” She hesitated, then said, “Colt.”

“Colt.” I nodded. “Nowadays, it’s risky to have multiple births. Back then it was a death sentence. She bled out.”

“Oh, God.” She covered her mouth with her hands.

“With her dying breath, she made Sean promise two things. To take care of us and to keep our names. Trenton, Jaxon, and Colton. We were named after the three cowboys who helped her flee.” I took a deep breath. “And because he was carrying a century’s worth of guilt, he agreed, thinking that taking care of us would somehow absolve him of what he’d done. He said we were his second chance. His redemption,” I said.

“Redemption for what?”

I turned toward her and gave a small smile. “That’s an entirely different story for a different day.” I returned to the bench and sat. “My mother didn’t realize what he was when she’d made him promise to care for us. I’m sure she would’ve done things differently had she known.”

“The portrait in the living room… that’s her? Your mom?”

I nodded. “Sean had it commissioned the night she died. He wanted to memorialize her so we would at least know what she looked like.”

“That was sweet of him.” She rested her head on my shoulder, and I wrapped my arm around her. The fact that she was willing to be close to me like this gave me hope. “If she died when you were born, how do you know all of this stuff about her?”

“When we were old enough, Sean told us what he knew about her, what she’d told him that fateful night. And then Jax insisted on tracking down our biological father.” I ran my fingers up and down her arm.

“That’s what you meant when you said you watched him.”

“Yes. We spent months following him. He was exactly as Sean had described him—drunk and mean. It wasn’t until he’d been in the town square with his new wife, berating her publicly, that we made ourselves known.” I released her, and she straightened. I took her hand, laced our fingers, and rubbed my thumb along her knuckles.

“Were you… human when you approached him?”

“Yes. We were seventeen, weeks before our eighteenth birthday. It was one of our last human acts.” I smiled faintly remembering how gleeful Jax was that day. I had been, too. “Of course, he didn’t believe us that we were his sons, but we gave him a good scare.” I chuckled. “And then we returned to Sean.”

“And became vampires? Did you know all along what Sean was?”

“No.” I sighed. “He hid it from us until we were sixteen. He said he wanted us to have a normal, human childhood. We had the best nanny in the world. But we knew Sean wasn’t like us. He was always disappearing at random times, he’d never eat with us, and he’d never play outside with us when it was sunny.”

“But you can eat normal food. I’ve seen you do it.”

“Yes, normal food doesn’t harm us, but it doesn’t help us, either. It just tastes good. Especially bacon. The crispier the better.” I laughed. “Sean’s really never been a big fan of human food. I have no idea why.”

She scrunched up her nose. “Right. The heightened senses. So, at sixteen, Sean told you the truth?”

I wasn’t stupid—I knew Chloe wasn’t okay with me being a vampire. Even though she was allowing me to explain, I knew she was struggling with the truth. How would she react when she learned how I’d become what I am? Would she be even more disgusted? Would that be her breaking point?

“And then what? You asked him to change you?” she asked. She abruptly pulled her hand from mine and stood. Crossing her arms over her stomach, she hugged herself. The appalled look she gave me said it all—she’d figured out that I’d chosen to become what I am.

“We owed everything to Sean. Without him…” I paused. How could I ever make her understand why I chose to become a vampire? “I’m not sure we would’ve lived past our first birthday. And Jax being fiercely loyal, there was never a doubt in his mind about what he wanted.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Colt was repulsed by Sean.”

“And you?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“I was torn. I wanted to be with Sean and my brothers, but I knew no matter what choice I made, I’d lose someone.” I approached her.

She stood frozen as I put my hands on her shoulders.

“The morning of our eighteenth birthday, we awoke to find Colt gone. He’d left a note saying he couldn’t bear to be around murderous monsters, but that he loved me and Jax, so he’d rather leave than make us choose.”

She stared up into my eyes. “Trent. I’m so sorry.” The sincerity in her gaze made my knees weak. “You never saw him again?”

“No. He made it abundantly clear in his letter that he didn’t want us to go after him. We respected his wishes, but it wasn’t easy. Knowing our brother was out there somewhere…” I shook my head, the all too familiar grief and regret making an appearance.

To this very day, I hated that we hadn’t tried harder to find Colt, to convince him we were still the same brothers he’d grown up with and loved. Becoming vampires hadn’t changed who we were at our core.

“A year later, we received word that he’d died in the war,” I said. “We never got to say goodbye, but at least we finally knew what had happened to him.”

“I’m sorry,” she said again.

I dragged my hands down her arms, gently disengaging the hold she had on herself, and took her hands in mine. “None of us knew that Sean had already made the choice for us. He refused to change us, which made his guilt even worse. He felt responsible for Colt taking off, but Jax and I know the truth. It was our fault. Our arguing had pushed him away.”

“It’s not your fault.” Tears pooled in her eyes, and she squeezed my hands.

The sight of tears in her eyes broke my heart. My past wasn’t exactly rainbows and sunshine, but I hadn’t meant to make her cry. Time to shift our conversation to something a little lighter, show her some of the good things about being a vampire.

“Come here.” Dropping one of her hands, I tugged on the other, and she followed me away from my mother’s grave. I stopped a few feet away and turned her so her back was to my chest. “Look.”

We were on top of the mountain that was behind my house. She gasped and took a panicked step back, away from the steep edge.

I wrapped my arms around her. “I won’t let you fall,” I whispered, my breath blowing across her neck.

She shivered. “If Sean refused to change you, how did you become a vampire?”

Clearly she wasn’t going to let the subject drop and just enjoy this moment. I had promised her answers, and I wasn’t going to go back on my word.

“Jax saw how hard Sean was taking Colt’s absence, and he knew it would be twice as hard when we eventually died, and like I said, Jax wanted to be immortal. It was all he talked about. Days after Colt left, Jax got himself into trouble. He stumbled home beaten and bloody and moments away from death.”

She gasped. “He forced Sean to turn him?”

“Yes.” My tone was clipped. “But before he’d let Sean save his life, he made me promise to change with him, and then he forced Sean to turn me first.”

“Jax forced you to become a vampire?” The outrage in her tone was palpable.

“I could’ve said no.” I pulled her a little closer, my arms tightening around her. “But I’d already lost my mother and one brother. I couldn’t lose Jax, too. So, I agreed.”

“Do you regret it?”

“There’s only been one time in my entire existence when I regretted my choice.” I gathered her hair and draped it over her shoulder, exposing her neck. She stiffened. I half groaned, half growled at the smell of her blood pumping through her veins. Her fear only made her scent more enticing. “I’m not going to hurt you, Chloe.” I pressed my lips to the back of her neck.

Her heart raced out of control, and I had to ease away from her much too tempting neck.

“The day of Rachel’s funeral… the look on your face when you learned the truth.” I inhaled sharply. “In that moment, I despised what I was. I’d never wanted to be human as badly as I did that day.”

Chloe spun around, rose up on her tiptoes, and pressed her lips to mine. I froze. I wanted nothing more than to kiss her back, to show her how much she meant to me, but she was just finally coming around and I didn’t want to freak her out.

With a hell of a lot of willpower I didn’t know I possessed, I held her out at an arm’s length. “You’re not ready for that, or what happens next.”

She scowled. “I have been kissed before, Trent.”

I narrowed my eyes. “And I’m not ready to hear about you and other guys.”

She stared at me for a long moment. Then, hesitantly, she closed the distance between us. I didn’t push her away this time. Instead, I took her face into my hands and brushed some flyaway strands of her hair behind her ear.

I pressed a tender kiss to her forehead, and she leaned into me. The fact that she was being so agreeable right now made my self-control slip more and more with each passing second. My lips lingered on her forehead, and then, slowly, I dragged my hands from her face and down her arms, slipping them around her back and yanking her even closer.

“You have no idea how hard it’s been to be with you and have to hide what I am.” I moved to kiss her cheek. “To want to give myself to you so completely but not be able to.”

Her heart rate sped up. I kissed the corner of her mouth, then pulled back. She groaned.

I chuckled and traced her bottom lip. “Soon, Chloe. I promise.”

Now that she knew the truth about me, I could kiss her without guilt. As soon as I told her the rest, of course, but that would happen over the next two days. And once she knew everything, I’d kiss her like she’d never been kissed before.

“We should head back to the school. It’s almost four,” I said.

“Already?”

I held out my hand, she took it. Scooping her up into my arms, we were back at my house faster than she could put her arms around my neck. I set her on her feet, and we walked like normal people toward my truck. Better to be safe than sorry. Knowing my luck, Old Man Moore would be lurking again. I opened the door for her, and she climbed into the passenger’s seat.

“Thank you for giving me the chance to explain,” I said.

“You’re welcome.” She placed her palm on my cheek. “But you still have a lot left to tell me.”

I grinned. “I know. And I will.” I removed her hand from my cheek and placed a kiss to her palm before stepping back and closing the door.

By the time these two days were over, Chloe would know everything there was to know about me, and she’d either love me or hate. Either way, my life was going to drastically change.