"I heard that." Her dad narrowed his eyes. "No counter praying."
"What, are you afraid that God will pick favorites?" Her mom batted her eyes.
"Women." Her dad threw up his hands.
Emmy snorted and headed over to the table.
****
After a massive breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and yes, bacon, Emmy stared at her phone with her eyes narrowed. She knew that she had to call Sebastian. Still she was so terrified that her palms were slick with sweat. And to think, she'd thought that she was scared when she had to tell Sebastian that she was pregnant. This was so much worse. After all, she was facing something that she didn't understand and had yet to come to accept—werewolves.
Oh, buck up, already, she told herself as she paced around the bedroom. Groaning, she scrolled through her cell phone's directory and saw Sebastian's name. She squeezed her eyes shut and hit call.
The phone rang. Never before had the sound of a phone been quite so terrifying. As she prayed he wouldn't answer, she sank down onto the bed.
Unfortunately, that was when Sebastian picked up.
"Emmy, thank God," Sebastian said as a way of greeting. "I've been worried sick about you."
"Sebastian." She was surprised by the rush of happiness she felt at the sound of his voice, especially after how nervous she'd been about talking with him.
"I'm so sorry about everything, sweetheart," he said.
Her bottom lip quivered. "Tell me it isn't true. Tell me that you aren't a…a…werewolf."
"You know that I can't do that. I am what I am." He was sorrowful. "But I promise I won't hurt you. I'm not dangerous."
So it was true. He was a werewolf. Despite the fact she'd known it already, she felt like she'd been shoved off a cliff and was hurtling toward the ground. If she'd been standing up, she would have worried about falling on her face.
"I see." Her chest heaved.
"What convinced you that I'm a werewolf?" he asked.
"I saw Jake." Her heart ached. "He changed into a you-know-what. That was all it took."
The image of werewolf Jake lunging straight at her plagued her mind. She flinched.
"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Sebastian sounded furious. "If he so much as touched you, I'll rip him apart limb from limb."
"He didn't lay a hand on me." She chewed on a nail.
Still that didn't change the fact that Jake's imagine would be burned in her brain for the rest of her life. She'd forever remember his anger, the way he'd turned toward her with fury in his eyes. And then there were his claws and long, sharp teeth. If he sank those fangs into her body, she would be dead almost instantly.
"I'm glad he didn't hurt you," Sebastian said, drawing her from her thoughts.
"Me too." She groaned. "That was the scariest moment of my life."
"I wish I could have been there to protect you," Sebastian said. "And even now, I miss you."
"I know." Though she missed him too, she couldn't bring herself to say it. "But I'm scared, Sebastian. You lied to me. I don't know if I can trust you again."
"I can explain everything." Sebastian's voice dripped with pain. "Please. Give me a chance."
Her dad's words echoed in her ears. "I think you need to discuss it with him and give him a chance to be a proper parent. If you don't, it's not just you who'll be missing out. It's the baby as well." A chance. Her whole life, she'd believed that love was an uncontrollable emotion. But this was the first time she realized that love was a choice. She had to choose it, even though it would be much easier to turn her back on him for forever.
And at that moment, she made her choice.
"I'll give you a chance to explain, but you have to answer all of my questions." Emmy's fist clenched at her side.
"Oh, Emmy, thank you." Sebastian groaned in relief.
"Just tell me everything." She wasn't in the mood to be thanked.
Sebastian sighed. "I'll talk. Don't worry."
"Good." Emmy longed to get the answers that he'd kept from her. "Now tell me, were you bitten by a werewolf? Is that why you are the way that you are?"
"This isn't a movie," Sebastian said. "Real werewolves are born, not made. I could bite a human a thousand times, and it wouldn't do anything."
"Except kill them," she muttered.
"Well, yes. And on that note, I've never killed a human," Sebastian said firmly. "I never will either."
"But what about when the full moon comes out?" She could imagine him running amuck, ripping people to shreds. "Don't you lose control?"
"Once again, movie theme." She could picture him rolling his eyes. "I'm always myself, even when I change."