Chapter 138

Alaric’s POV

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting Meadow to say to me. But anything would’ve been less surprising than this.

Anything.

“What?” I pulled back to look at her properly—at the wild look in her eyes, the tears that had gathered but refused to fall. “What do you mean you killed your mother? Why would you say that?”

“I…” Meadow’s bottom lip quivered. “I can’t… I didn’t know how to tell you so I just—” Her breathing turned shallow, and with the way she was trying not to cry, I could tell that she was about to have a panic attack.

My chest tightened. “Hey, hey, look at me, baby,” I rasped, gently gripping her chin so she was looking at me. “I’m here, alright? There’s nothing you need to be scared of. You can tell me anything. You know that.”

Meadow nodded fiercely as tears slowly slid down her cheeks. “I know, I just—”

“Want me to take you home so we can talk about it?” I asked, pushing her hair away from her delicate f