Filed To Story: A Claim of Fortune Book PDF Free by Jaymin Eve
Finley’s expression gave me hope, as he made no pretense of shying away from that truth. “I’ll be in therapy until I’m healed enough to never take my trauma out on Emme or anyone I care about again.” He shrugged. “If that takes a lifetime, then so be it.”
Dr. Karen looked pleased by his response. “Your determination is an excellent start,” she said, “and the fact that you’re here, willing and ready to open up to Emme, is the next step. You’re not hiding from it any longer, and I’m already convinced that we can cut our therapy back to twice a week soon.” When he nodded she continued.
“Today, Finley wants to take you through some of what he experienced growing up. We’ve spoken in detail about forgiveness, and what it can take to genuinely demonstrate remorse and show signs of change. Part of what he’s revealing here today will hopefully help you understand him better, and explain the reasons he reacted so negatively to your rejection of the quintet.”
“Even though my past is no excuse,” Finley cut in, and Karen only smiled at his interruption. “I’m not excusing any of my actions, but I do hope that if you learn more about my past, it might bring us closer together.”
“I’m ready to hear whatever you have to tell me,” I said, wishing we were doing this in private, even though I sensed a professional in the room would be helpful.
Finley let out a deep breath. “Okay, great.” He paused and wiped his hands down his jeans, and no one interrupted as he got his thoughts together. “My mother was an addict,” he finally said, and I turned to give him my undivided attention. “At first it was alcohol with additives, but after the birth of my younger brother, she moved on to shiftex.”
I flinched, having heard of the highly addictive powder, which was the only drug to alter a shifter’s brain chemistry.
“When I was growing up, my father worked for a large factory, doing mostly forklift operations, and was gone for long hours. As fathers go, he was absent but not abusive.”
In my opinion, remaining absent when your children suffered at home was a form of abuse. He had a duty of care to his children, and to his mate also, who clearly needed help.
“Mother, though, was always abusive,” Finley continued, his voice flat. “It started small, just like her addiction. She hated being alone, so she’d wake me at all hours of the day and night, even when I was young and napping. She’d wake me in the harshest ways, by slapping my face or dropping a full cup of ice-cold water on me. I still don’t sleep well, even though years have passed since I was roused from sleep like that.”
He had been looking forward, his eyes glazed over as his mind drifted to the past, and I jumped when he turned to me suddenly. “The only night I’ve ever slept well was when we packed huddled around Kellan. I feel safe with my pack, and especially you.”
My heart was in a stranglehold as I stared into his whiskey eyes, captured once again by the swirls of pain in their depths. “I’m here if you need me,” I said, clearing my throat. “If you need me to watch over or sit next to you while you sleep, I can be that shifter for you.”
The corner of his lips curled up, and the hammering of my heart eased. “I might take you up on that offer.”
He returned to staring ahead. “One of the worst memories of my childhood was the feeling of being abandoned over and over again by the very shifters who were supposed to love, protect, and shelter me. From missing birthdays and school trips, to starvation when I was locked in my room for a week. There wasn’t a day I didn’t suffer under my mother, until eventually I gave up caring.”
Finley spent the next thirty minutes detailing so much of his fucked-up past that I felt queasy by the time he was done. “The night my mom flipped out and killed Dad and Tommy, my brother,” he rasped, his voice strained, “I ended up killing her before she could finish me off too. After that, I started to actively search for my pack. Well, once Kenzo dragged me out of my bear form. I was determined to find a family, and honestly, they’re everything I could have hoped for.
“Hunter took in a broken teenager and supported my dreams of playing hockey. I’d never played much in a league, but I could skate better than I walked, and with Hunter’s connections, I was soon trained up. Kellan joined me not long after, and for the first time in my life, I was content in my world.”
My throat was dry as I considered that I was the first negative to come into his world since his mother, and I blew it all to pieces. No wonder he’d said that I reminded him of her.
“How did you find your pack?” I asked, desperately trying not to fall apart.
“There’s a scent match registry,” Finley explained, and while I vaguely knew about that, I wasn’t aware it could be used by the general shifter population to find their packs. “After your first shift, your scent is loaded to the registry, and if you want them to, they will provide information on the candidates who could be a match. Or those who would make a strong quintet. Meetings are set up, and everything goes from there. I met with two packs before Hunter, and as soon as that asshole’s arrogant face appeared, I knew he was my brother. My bear knows his pack.”
Karen nodded. “Yes, our beasts are often in tune when we are in denial.” She leaned forward in her chair. “Now, our time is almost up, but before we wrap for today, don’t forget you wanted to explain what happened when she arrived in Golden Claw.”
I thought I had a fairly strong understanding of why my arrival triggered Finley, so I was curious about what else he wanted to tell me. “My entire existence after my family died was wrapped up in finding the place I belonged,” Finley reiterated. “In my pack I found the acceptance and support I’d been denied for most of my life. I’d really had no one before that -even my brother and I were kept apart by my mother’s jealous and narcissistic rages. After their deaths, my pack was my family, and I was excited by the prospect of a final piece to our quintet. Only you… rejected us. It was like being thrown back to when my mother destroyed me. When I was alone and without an anchor in my fucked-up life. I was that damn broken cub, at the mercy of another who didn’t want?-“
He choked up, and I shifted toward him, grasping his hand. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered, my voice rough from my unexpressed pain. “I’m so damn sorry. I was scared and uneducated when I was dragged here, and I wish I could take back those early actions that hurt you.” As painful as it was, I didn’t look away from him for a second. “It was never my intention to hurt any of you, I just wanted to survive. I’d been running on survival instincts for so long, I almost forgot that there were real alphas with real feelings on the other side of the pack I feared-who had done nothing wrong and shouldn’t be punished for the actions of others.”
Finley’s eyes darkened, and I squeaked when he reached out with his free hand and gripped the base of my chair, dragging me around until we were face to face. I wanted to glance at Karen to gauge her reaction, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from him.
“You did nothing wrong,” he rumbled, sounding pissed but not at me for once. “Your reactions make perfect sense, and I should have focused more on figuring out why you were scared and running, rather than hating you for scars you didn’t cause. Even a fucking idiot could see you were terrified, and not just a normal sort of terror, but a deep-seated fear that comes from true suffering.” He moved closer until I could count every one of his thick, dark lashes. “I won’t make that mistake again. I promise. I will be here with and for you, through every dark step. You won’t ever be alone again, Emme. That much I promise-” I lost control and cut him off.
With my lips.
Against his.
Holy fuck.
EMME
Before Finley even had a chance to process what I’d done, I tore myself away and sucked in a deep, ragged breath. Even as my instincts-wolf
-pushed me to close the distance once more.
Stop it, I growled at my beast, and she just shook her head as if to say,
That wasn’t me.
The shock on Finley’s face was almost my undoing, and I frantically searched for a way to repair the damage I’d created with that stupid, stupid, move. “I am so damn sorry,” I forced out through my tight throat. “That was… I just… there was so much happening and I temporarily lost my mind.”
Holy fuck. I was acting like a fumbling teen who had never been kissed. I would be so fucking mad at myself if I’d just derailed the progress Finley was making.
He still hadn’t moved, his eyes blazing as he stared at me. Shadows danced in the whiskey depths, darkening the color to a burnt gold, and I braced myself for his response.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated, my voice breaking.
He lurched forward, both hands cupping my face as he held me in a stare so desperate and needy that it sent my heart into palpitations. “I’ve waited so damn long,” he breathed, and then his mouth was on mine, and terrible idea or not, I kissed him back.