“That’s not fair,” Maddox said. “I’m still the same person. I haven’t changed. I just revealed more of myself to you. And like I said before, I’d never, ever intentionally hurt you or Tiffany.”
“I get that. I do. But this is too much to process.” I looked at Ava. “A family of dragon shifters would be shocking to anyone.”
Ava shrugged. “I fainted. But Beth, I promise you, Maddox is still the man you fell in love with. He’s not someone else because he has a part of himself that you didn’t know about.” She smiled at Maverick. “They have control of the animalistic sides of themselves. They aren’t raging beasts. They’re sentient and intelligent. Hell, sometimes I think their dragons are more intelligent than the guys are.”
Maverick rolled his eyes but nodded. “She’s probably right.”
“I can’t accept it.” I still hadn’t left the bathroom doorway or gone any closer.
“Artemis is a part of me. I can’t give it up. It’s not like I’m a prince who can abdicate the throne. He’s a package deal with me like Tiff is with you.”
“That’s a huge false equivalence,” I said. “Not the same at all. Tiffany is a baby. Artemis is a damn beast. I can’t trust a dragon!”
“Then you can’t trust me.” Maddox’s eyes filled with tears.
But I nodded. “After this? You springing this on me? No. It’s true. I can’t trust you.”
Ava leaned forward as if to say something, but Maverick put a hand on her back.
Enough was enough. “This is too much, Maddox, I’m sorry, but I’m not up for something like this. We have to break it off.”
He looked like he was ready to vomit, but he didn’t fight me. “I’ll do whatever is best for you. I love you, and whether you believe it or not, so does Artemis. He chose you.” The tears in his eyes fell, but I’d cried myself out in the bathroom. “You’re breaking our hearts,” Maddox whispered. “Artemis didn’t think you’d reject us.”
It majorly creeped me out, the way he talked about them as if they were two separate beings. It was too much. His words didn’t sit right with me.
“I understand if you need to go.” His voice sounded so broken it made me wonder if I was overreacting, but my fear couldn’t be ignored. I nodded and turned toward the door. At the last second, I looked back.
Maddox stared down at me. “I love you, even if you can’t love all of me.” He walked forward, but I didn’t run this time. I didn’t think he’d hurt me, not in his human skin. He kissed the top of Tiff’s head before he turned and walked down the hall toward the kitchen. A few seconds later I heard the back door slam shut.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to Ava and Maverick. Hailey had big crocodile tears rolling down her cheeks.
As fast as I could, I ran out the door and down the steps. My hands shook with adrenaline and fear as I strapped Tiffany in. Being out in the dark, knowing dragons were out there and could’ve been stalking me made my heart pound, and fear danced along my spine.
My window was cracked, and the night air streamed in as I drove a bit too fast down the driveway. In the distance, a roar reached my ears. It was faint, but I could’ve sworn it sounded like pain. Not anger. Like he was heartbroken.
My hands shook as I turned toward home. Heartbroken dragon or not, I had to get the hell out of there.
20
Maddox
The week passed like a turtle on downers. I’d been trying to keep myself busy, so I didn’t have to keep thinking about Beth, but it had been hard. Every time I turned around, I thought I spotted her or Tiffany. To distract myself, I picked up a few extra shifts at the station. That didn’t help much at all, since that meant I was out and about more, imagining that I was catching glimpses of her. After work, still miserable, I headed up and mowed my mom and dad’s lawn and then my grandparents’. I offered to do Axel’s, but he said he’d just done it. It was hard to find enough to keep me distracted.
Bethany had rejected me. She feared me. She saw me as a beast, an animal. She couldn’t love me for me and that hurt. More than I expected it to. It just solidified that this would never have happened if I wasn’t a Kingston. I knew my family wasn’t to blame, but if they weren’t shifters then I wouldn’t have been one either. I hated to think that way, but how could I not? I hadn’t chosen this life. I hadn’t been raised in it. It was thrown on me when I was nearly eighteen.
In some ways, it was amazing. I was a part of something special. A step above the rest. And most of the time I was happy to be in this life, to have a dragon. To be in this family.
This week, all I could see was the downside. All the negatives. The danger. The lack of privacy. It all piled up on me. All I wanted was a normal life. The dragon thing could be cool at times, but right now it caused me to miss the woman and child I’d fallen in love with.
Artemis was quiet and he’d been that way since Saturday. Five days now. He was devastated, not that I blamed him. Bethany had ripped out our hearts and stomped on them. Artemis chose the wrong mate, and there was no such thing as choosing someone else, as far as we all know. I asked everyone in the family, even Rico and Stefan. They all said no, that once a fated mate was chosen, that was it. Neither of us would ever be comfortable with another mate again.
My family has been walking on
