Werewolf Compilations novel Chapter 85

I nod and dash off, not wanting to be stalled any longer while James is in my bedroom alone. I rush up the steps and collect myself in a flash before gently opening the door. He is sitting on the bed again with something in his hands. My heart thumps hard when I realize it's the diary. He doesn't look up from the pages when he asks, "Where did you get this?"

I feel the door against my back. "I found it in the house."

"Where?"

Not sure if he is upset or not, I proceed cautiously. "In the library."

"The one that is blocked off by a bookshelf?" He finally looks up at me, only making my heart race even more. "You went into a blocked off room and took her—what—her diary? Does that not seem like a boundary to not cross?"

"I was upset. I was looking for anything to distract myself. You're the one who just showed up in my bedroom unannounced."

James closes the diary and tosses it beside him on my bed. "Your bedroom is different than my dead mother's diary, Rae. And if I remember clearly, you came into my bedroom unannounced first. Now how much do you know?"

"About your mother?"

"Yes, about my mother. You've been reading her struggles for entertainment for a while now."

I step forward. "Entertainment? That diary is the only thing that gave me a sense of clarity. It was someone to relate to while you stomped all over me."

There is a moment of silence as James looks to be off in thought. I stand at the door watching him, waiting for something. The sight of him on my bed is bizarre to me, some weird mix of my old life and my new one. They don't belong together.

"You're just like her, aren't you?" He says, more relaxed than before.

I move away from the door, closer to him. "At the beginning, maybe. Not anymore."

"Why's that?"

I am careful with my words. "Your mother didn't heal, did she?"

James sighs shortly. "No."

"I don't know if she ever forgave your father. He let her in and she just took it and tried to act like everything was normal. Then after the baby—"

"What baby?" James cuts in.

I thought he knew. Maybe I've gone too far. "I-I'm sorry."

"No, Rae. What baby?"