"You have no idea," she murmured, her expression turning distant. "I didn't have the best childhood; my birth parents gave me away when I was a baby, and I spent years in and out of foster homes until I was finally adopted by the D'Ancantos. But we were never a touchy feely family, we never hugged or... Everything was formal between us."

She pulled in a deep breath and closed her eyes, rubbing at them with damp fingers. "And then with my mutation, I never had the chance for something like this. Remy tried, and everything he did was perfect, but it could never be like this. I couldn't risk hurting him." If only she'd known how the world would change, maybe she would have taken more chances.