Free Blood Mate: A Paranormal Romance by Natalie Kristen Page A

and smiled as she opened the fridge door. She pulled out a
nice, round blood pie and put it carefully into the microwave oven.
Nana had baked it specially for her this afternoon.
    As she dug into the steaming
pie, Bryn glanced at the curtains fluttering in front of the small
kitchen window. She swallowed her pie and frowned. Was Jett still
standing beside the tree, watching her house?
    Even from this distance, she
could see his tall, powerful figure leaning against the tree and see
the light reflected in his intelligent, sharp eyes. With a huff, she
drew the curtains and faced away from the window. No looking, no
peeking.
    He was free to stand outside
her house. He could stand anywhere he wanted. He was a free man—who
wasn't mated to her. He was none of her business.
    Bryn washed up the plate and
checked all the locks before snapping off the lights. She would go
to bed and not dream of Jett.
    As she made her way to her
room, she passed her grandmother's room and saw that the door was
ajar. The flickering light from the television illuminated her
grandmother's sleeping form. Nana had fallen asleep in her chair,
and left the television on again.
    Bryn tiptoed into the room and
switched off the TV. She pulled the woolen shawl over her
grandmother's bony shoulders and lightly kissed the top of her head.
    Nana stirred and blinked
sleepily at her. “Bryn, you're home.” She gave her
granddaughter a big smile. “Did you...”
    “ Yes, Nana, your blood
pie has been put to bed.” Bryn patted her stomach and smacked
her lips. “It was delicious! Mmm-mmmm!”
    Nana grinned with delight.
“Good, good.” She put a wizened hand on Bryn's cheek.
“You're a good girl. The best granddaughter.”
    Bryn knelt beside her
grandmother. “No,” she whispered, blinking back sudden
tears. “I'm not. I...I made you worry, Nana. I broke your
heart, and I never said sorry...”
    “ Shhh, shhhh.”
Nana hushed her, and pulled Bryn into her arms. “You've done
so well. I'm proud of you, Bryn. So very proud.”
    Bryn let a small sob bubble up
from her chest. “I'm sorry, Nana...”
    “ Bryn, what...”
    “ No, I was stupid, Nana.
I was so stupid and selfish. I'm sorry,” she said,
straightening up to look straight into her grandmother's eyes. It
was time to let it out, let it go. She had to acknowledge her
mistake, own it, live with it. And make up for it.
    Nana touched her cheek.
“Bryn...”
    “ No, Nana. I never
apologized for what I did. What I did was the most cowardly, selfish
thing anyone could do. A boy left me. He got me pregnant and left
me. So what did I do?” She laughed harshly, angrily at
herself. “I slit my wrists. I killed my baby and I tried to
kill myself, right here, in my home, in my bedroom. I didn't think
of you. I thought of no one but myself. I thought I could punish
him by dying, punish him for leaving me. But the only one I hurt was
you. He was a cad, a scumbag. He wouldn't have cared if I died.
But you...” Bryn swallowed hard. “I hurt you so much,
Nana. I know that. Please forgive me, Nana. If I'd died...”
    Nana gripped Bryn's face in
both her hands and thumbed away her tears. “My Bryn,”
she whispered fiercely, her eyes shining. “I would never have
let you die. Never.”
    Bryn smiled through her tears.
    Nana was the strongest, most
incredible woman she knew. Nana never gave up. She never gave up on
Bryn. And she had refused to let Bryn give up on life.
    Bryn gazed into her
grandmother's eyes, and in a blink, she was brought back to that
terrible, harrowing night.
    The night she tried to kill
herself.
    Six years ago.
    It was Nana who discovered
her, lying in a pool of blood in her bedroom.
    She had been barely conscious,
barely alive when her grandmother broke down the door and stumbled
into her room. She couldn't remember hearing Nana's screams but she
saw the stark horror and grief on Nana's face.
    But despite her shock and
terror, Nana remained strong. Nana knelt in that spreading pool