A Hunter's Rite
"Come on, Harper," my mother urged. "Tell them."
"I…"
My words died in my throat, and it felt as though my airways were closing up. I looked back and forth between my mother and my mates, unable to find the voice I needed to relay my words. They looked equally as horrified, and through our bond, I could feel a swirl of their emotions raging through me like a tumultuous storm.
There was a mixture of horror and worry, confusion and disbelief. I could no longer tell which emotions belonged to whom― or if they even originated from me.
I merely shook my head, my mouth gaping and closing like a fish out of water, struggling to breathe. When my mother's laughter broke the silence I had caused, I felt as if someone had gutted me.
"She's still reeling from the experience," my mother said, swooping in to save me the trouble of explaining myself despite being the one to put me in such a situation in the first place.