The Bonding Chronicles Ch. 08

"Anita?"

"Yes, Sara?" The woman again gave Sara a playful bump with her shoulder.

"What am I missing from that summer? It started off so good, but everything changed after that first full moon."

The older woman looked at Sara and took a deep breath. She knew this would be difficult to explain.

"We could all see how much it hurt you not to be able to shape shift. You were so happy and full of life, we wanted that for you, but knew that was a gift we could not grant." The older woman looked wistful as she prepared to continue. "It affected your father most of all. He was so proud of the girl you had become, and was so hopeful for the life you might share."

Sara bristled at Anita's words, but forced herself to calm down and listen.

"Your mother knew what we were, and knew that there was a chance you were like us. They argued for weeks about it, but eventually she understood that if you were like us you would never be happy in human society. I can't imagine the pain your mother must have felt to send you away, knowing that you may never live with her again.

"They agreed that if things were not going well here that you would go back to live with your mother. After that first full moon your father knew he was losing you, but felt powerless to stop it. That's the only reason he put you through all of those silly rituals, and made you drink those horrible 'potions.'"

Sara chuckled, sensing from Anita the same sarcasm that Sara felt towards the rituals. "If Xander felt that way, why didn't he ever tell me? Instead he pulled away and treated me..." Sara looked at Anita with a bit more poignancy before she continued, "He started treating me like he treated you and his other mates."

Anita chuckled before she responded, "Is that why you think your father doesn't love or value us? Family is the most important thing to him. Though I guess from a twelve year old perspective I can understand why you would think such a thing. The fact is, while your father loves us very much he is also the alpha of not just his family, he is the alpha of the whole community. The dear man tends to overcompensate, fearing that other families will think he plays favorites. As a result, he tends to keep his distance from us during the day, but he is a very attentive and caring mate in private.

"Because of who, and what you are, he felt forced to distance himself from you. He saw it early on, the looks from the other families. They thought he was using his position to bring you into the community, and that you had no right to be here. After that first full moon he realized how miserable it would be for you here without some of our gifts."

Sara sighed, "So that's why he was so desperate to bond me with Brandon."

"Every day when I see Mercedes it breaks my heart to even have an idea what that poor girl is going through. While your father wished it would have worked back then, I think he is relieved now that he has seen what Brandon has become. No woman deserves that, not you, and not Mercedes."

Their expressions became somber, and as Sara remembered the skinny young woman who had chased after Brandon she understood what Anita meant. "Why don't you guys do something about him? He can't be good for the community."

Anita chuckled and put her arm around Sara's shoulder. "Your mother in laws have had plenty of these conversations with your father, and trust me when I say he has his reasons, and his plans to address it."

"Fair enough." Sara said with a melancholy tone. She still didn't understand how it could be so complicated. She shrugged to herself as she settled into watching the young men compete for her attention.

"So how do you like being bonded? Is Andrew a good mate?"

Sara sighed as she thought about him. "Andrew is amazing. Looking back on my life before we found each other, it's like looking at a different world. A boring, sad, lonely world."

"He sounds wonderful, you two sticking around? It would be a pleasure to meet the enticing young man." Anita had not intended to, but she gave a bit too much inflection on the word enticing.

"Once he is done with Xander, we should be leaving. It's just too difficult for me to be here right now."

Anita gave Sara a comforting hug. "I understand, dear girl. Just think about what I told you and try not to judge your father too harshly."

Sara knew that she needed to reconsider everything that had happened, but she needed time to process what she had been told. Her anger and pain was too much a part of who she was now, and it would take time for those wounds to heal.

"Thank you, Anita."

The soft spoken woman kissed Sara on the cheek and hopped up onto her feet before saying, "You're welcome. Now, I think I hear a few tasty birds begging to be eaten by my precious little kittens."

With that Anita dropped off the wall and sauntered back into her house. Sara marveled at the easy going attitude of the kind woman, and realized how much of herself she saw in her. She could feel Andrew's calm presence in the back of her mind, and knew he was doing OK, which came as a relief.

She thought back on the conversation and as she watched the boys continuing their competition she realized something she had never known before.

Her mother knew what she was.

***** Junior's Lament *****

William always enjoyed the escape that weekend's provided. He got to get out of the house, play games with his friends and not think about school. Football was going great this year, and he had solidified his place on the team. Bruce was always coming down on him, but everyone else seemed to like him, so fuck Bruce.

He cradled the football in his arm as he came up to his house. While he was getting home just in time for dinner, he was nervous because he had been out all day. He took a deep breath as he opened the door and sighed with relief when he saw his father's chair was empty. He could almost hear his father's voice bellowing out, "Where the fuck have you been, boy." as William scanned over the beer bottles that were scattered around the vacant seat.

"Hey, mom. Dinner ready?" His stomach grumbled as he hurried across the living room, eager to change out of his sweaty clothes.

"William, come in here please." His mother's tone was curt and hearing his full first name brought a shiver down his spine.

"Sure, mom." He walked into the kitchen, his eyes casting around the room with nervous attention as he struggled to think of what he could have done.

William realized she must have worked the early shift when he saw she was still wearing her smock from the diner. The year's had not been kind to his parent's. The hard struggle of life showed in his mother's cowed shoulders and dull eyes. William cherished his mother, knowing how hard she worked and the sacrifices she had made to keep them afloat.

"Did you attack a boy at school on Wednesday?" Her glare cut right to his core, and he knew he was in trouble. For a moment he wondered why she had waited until today to punish him for this, and then he looked at his father's empty chair and knew the answer.

"No, why would you think that?" He looked as pathetic as he sounded as he shuffled his feet.

His mother sighed and set down the spoon she had been using to stir their dinner. "Your principal called. Said you've been bullying kids at school again. She said that she couldn't prove it, but she knew it was you. Is that true, did you attack a boy at school?"

"Mom... I didn't-" He was about to press his luck with a blatant lie when his mother cut him off.

"William J. Hathaway! Don't you lie to me now. Did you attack that boy?" Her face turned a light shade of red with anger, which was something he hadn't seen from her in a few months. She must have been pretty pissed off.

"Yes, but you don't understand."

"Please, William. Explain this to me. The principal told me this kid was barely five feet tall and had just moved here. She said you hurt him really bad..." Her eyes welled up as she shook her head before continuing. "What could that kid have done that caused you to almost break his ribs?"

William swallowed back his regret. He had never meant to hurt Andrew as much as he had, but the kid was just so small and fragile. "Why did he have to say those things." William wondered as he looked into his mother's upset face.

He was trying to think of what to say, flailing for something that would include just enough truth to be believable, but bent enough to fulfill what his mother wanted to hear. He was floundering in that moment when the front door opened and his father came into the house.

"Go get cleaned up for dinner. We will finish this conversation later." His mother looked towards the entrance to the living room.

His father came in through the doorway before William could make his escape. The large man stopped and looked at the scene, his soft muscles flexing beneath the layer of fat that had built on his once athletic body.

"What's going on here?" The grizzled man asked, causing his son to look towards the floor and his wife to flash a nervous smile.

"Nothing, sweetie. Will was just gonna change and shower before dinner. That's all, baby."

"Don't spoon up that bullshit and think I'm dumb enough to eat it. Junior, what the hell did you do now, boy?" His face was already getting red in anticipation of the answer.

"I got-" His confession was brought short by his mother's interruption.

"It was nothing, sweetie. Here, how about I take that and you go watch the game." The words flowed from her mouth in fast succession.

As she took the case of beer from her husband, William attempted to flee the room. She was just turning towards the refrigerator when her husband grabbed her son by the collar and pushed him against the doorframe.

"Answer me, boy. What did you do?" His eyes were cold as he peered into his son's frightened gaze.

William could smell the alcohol on his father's breath, and knew he must have stopped off at the bar before coming home.

His mother's voice was frantic as she said, "I said, it was noth-"

"SHUT UP BITCH! I'm not talking to you." His face was red as he glowered at his wife. Turning his attention back on his frightened son he said, "Dammit, Junior. I'm not going to ask again."

"I beat up this cocky little fucker at school who thinks he's hot shit. OK?" William's voice was loud but a little high pitched. His fear combined with the adrenaline of the moment and mixed his emotions all up.

His father's grip lightened as he studied his son's face. "Well, shit. That doesn't sound so bad."

"William, Junior shouldn't be-" His mother's eyes looked terrified as she was cut off by her husband's intense tone.

"Dammit, woman. I'm trying to have a moment with my boy." The warning in his expression was clear; he wasn't going to tolerate another outburst.

"What did this little shit do?"

William swallowed as he considered what to say, knowing that his father wouldn't accept a lie he settled on the truth.

"He started dating that weird girl, Sara Mitchel. I guess she didn't like how Zack had been treating her boyfriend so she threatened him or something. That coward is actually afraid of her, so the players all started leaving that little bastard alone. Then that fucker started strutting around the school like he didn't have a care the goddamn world. Fuck that, I ain't gonna put up with no little bitch hiding behind his woman's skirt."

William Sr. clapped his hand on his son's shoulder and gave him a proud smile. "That's my boy. Good job so-"

"No Will, your better than-" Her statement was cut off as her husband stormed across the kitchen. "No sweetie, it's just..."

William thought that at some point he would get used to the sound of his father slapping his mother across the face, but he never did. His eyes welled up as he watched his mother crumple to the floor, his father towering above her. He could hear his father yelling at her in the kitchen as he rushed to the upstairs bathroom.

"GOD DAMMIT, BITCH!" The voice was punctuated by the sound of another loud slap, followed by the pleading sobs of his mother. He turned the shower on and sat on the toilet, shaking as he continued to hear the yelling and crying from downstairs. William knew that his father would be hitting her in the stomach by now, because no one would see the bruises there.

Tears streamed down his face while he clutched his knees and rocked on the toilet, feeling as helpless as a child. "Why did that little fucker have to say those things. None of this would have ever happened if Andrew could have just taken his hits like a man." William thought to himself as he choked back his growing anger.

"God damn you, Andrew."