Robert stood. “Then first stop is back at your place. We can go from there.”
Mark nodded.
Robert touched him, and everyone was back at the house, except Draecyn.
Valen held Gina, ready to take her upstairs. “She fell asleep. I think it’s the baby.”
“It is,” Morrigan answered.
Mark moved to Valen and took Gina with a smile. “Thank you.”
“She took care of me. And she’s made me feel welcome. Hell, like part of the family already.”
“Good, I hope you mean that. I’ll be right back, then we can figure out what to do about your mother.”
He nodded.
Mark hurried up the stairs and tucked Gina in. Man, he wanted to stay with her, take care of her while she went through the craziest pregnancy ever.
Robert touched his shoulder. “Want to stay with her?”
Mark shook his head. “No, I need answers. Druciela can take care of her.”
“What about Cora?”
He groaned. “No offense, but I’m not sure I can trust her. I mean, I know she’s not with the doppelgangers, but I don’t know her anymore.”
“Her heart is in the right place. That’s about all I can tell you. However, Kindra is a little different. She doesn’t seem to know what she wants.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure she ever has.” Mark looked back at Gina. “Let’s go, but she’s not staying here. I don’t care if Cora stays here, but Kindra won’t.”
“A jail cell sounds like a better idea, but I may take her to the Council to stay in one of those. She wouldn’t be able to cast anything.”
“I doubt she has the ability to cast anything to get her out of a cell. Besides, aren’t they all warded anyway?”
“We’ll figure that out once we get your son and her in the same room. And just in case, we’ll keep an eye on both.”
“I was going to suggest that.”
“Standard procedure.”
Mark touched Gina’s face. “Be back soon, love.” He headed downstairs.
* * * *
Valen swallowed hard, then took a step toward Robert as they came downstairs. “You may not trust her, but give my mother a chance, please. She’s not all bad. Just easily controlled.”
“Valen, as much as I don’t want her in my life, I don’t wish her to suffer, either. We need to find her and see if we can help her. Then we’ll figure out where she can stay until everything goes down.”
“Morrigan says she’ll need to be there for the confrontation, if she joins us. Otherwise, she’ll continue to fade.”
“Only if she chooses to let me cleanse her, but she’s let Gerard in, and it will be far harder on her than it was on you, Valen,” Morrigan explained.
“She’ll have to make that choice,” Valen answered. “But she’s always done everything for me, and if she sees me turning against them, she will too. Especially with Cora here to talk some sense into her.”
Cora snorted. “I don’t know about that. I can’t make her listen to anything. Neither could Mark.”
“Because he brainwashed her,” Valen answered, heat in his voice. “She’s starting to wake up and see what was really going on. He was in her head the whole time.”
Mark sighed. “Let’s just find her and figure out if we can save her.”
Valen threw his arms around Mark and squeezed. “Thank you.”
“Hey, final say isn’t mine, kid. And right now we don’t know what’s real or not in her head. We have to be careful,” Mark warned.
“Yeah, I know. Doesn’t stop me from hoping for the best.”
Mark managed a smile. “You should. Sounds like she raised you right.”
“For the most part.”
Cora patted his shoulder. “You should go. Kindra may get skittish and run back to him.”
“We’re going,” Mark said.
Robert touched them both and they were gone. It was just the mage, and his father with Valen.
“How did you know she’d go to the overlook of the falls?” Valen asked.
Robert lifted a shoulder. “Took a glimpse of your head before taking us.”
“Why here?” Mark asked, his eyes narrowed.
“Said this was one of the places you took her to make her fall in love,” Valen answered. “That after you got your first car, you took her out here, on a road trip. I guess you camped nearby after spending all day at the falls.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Mark muttered. He leaned against the rail, facing away from the falls, and closed his eyes.
Valen didn’t know how to help him. He didn’t know what to say. Then he saw his mother and the look on her face as she hurried toward them.
Her eyes were locked on Mark, who still hadn’t opened his. Tears slid down her face, and she made a sound.
She still loved him. Some part of his mother loved his father. The one he just met.
* * * *
Kindra hadn’t expected Anders to be standing there with her son. Why should he? She did everything in her power to help Gerard win.
Her heart broke as she made her way to Valen, but then she saw Anders and hurried her pace. Self-hatred and guilt rolled through her, but that didn’t stop her from running.
His eyes opened as she threw herself at him.
He caught her shoulders, holding her back with his jaw clenched. “Don’t, just don’t. I may be compassionate enough to want to save you for our son’s sake, but there is no way in hell you can show up and think anything I once felt for you is still there. It’s not, it never will be again, and I’m not even sure you can be saved.”
The heat in his voice tore through her, but she deserved the accompanying pain. He gave her so many chances to do the right thing, and she continued to do everything wrong.
Her knees gave out. Then someone touched them both and they were gone, to some home out in the woods she didn’t even recognize.
She looked up at the blond mage and her memory of the day she met Anders’ mate came back to her. At that time, she was helping Gerard.
“You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” she screeched, backing away until she was pressed against a wall.
“No, but I wasn’t going to bring you to Mark’s home, where his mate is. When I was in your head before I saw the signs of full manipulation from another party. It seems that is broken somehow, and that’s good, but that means I don’t know where you stand.” The mage shook his head.
“Who are you?” she squeaked.
“Robert McCallister. The man you knew as Anders Woeller is now Mark. He became a werewolf to save his life. The life you ripped apart, and Gerard nearly ripped from him.”
She met Anders’—Mark’s gaze and tears filled her own. “I wasn’t strong enough to resist him. And when I did he would hurt me. I can’t tell you how sorry I am, but the more I become one of them, the less his influence holds. And now I’m sitting here full of guilt he managed to block.”
“I don’t care. It’s too late for that. Right now, we need to stop them,” Mark said, a hardness in his voice that had never been there while he was her Anders.
“Mom, are you still willing to have the rest of Gerard’s bullshit pushed out of you? If so, say the words and we know probably the only person who can fix what that thing did to you and me.”
Kindra hugged Valen. God, he looked so much like Anders. He was so much like him. She wanted to be a good mother, but she’d never been. Valen would have done better under Anders’ roof. God, why did she let Gerard into her head?
She turned to Mark. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Then don’t, because nothing can change the past. And honestly, I found the one I’m supposed to be with, and she isn’t you.”
Her eyes closed. “Just do whatever you need to fix me. Please. I want to be there for my grandchild and I don’t want to be one of them. I didn’t see what they were doing, what they were capable of.
I don’t know how things got to where they did, but I want to stop them, if possible.”
“It is,” Mark said. “You’re not going to like it, though.”
“Is it becoming a wolf?” she asked, hope leaking in. Maybe if she were like him he would change his mind. Maybe.
“No, and even if they did make you a wolf, I would insist you go to any pack but mine. There is no way in hell I want to deal with you that much.”
That hurt worse than anything she’d ever felt, and she couldn’t blame him. Hopefully this woman was far better to him than she’d ever been. There were so many things wrong with her choices over the years. Most of them were for her parents, or for Gerard. The only thing she ever fought for was Valen. That was it.
Robert cleared his throat. “I’ll be back. I’ll bring a couple mages and the woman who can potentially undo whatever the doppelgangers did.”
He disappeared.
She frowned at Valen. “Doppelgangers?”
“Yeah, they aren’t just little people, they become that person, or the clone of their victims when they come to a place. That’s what they are.”
“Makes sense.”
“Mark…I know you don’t trust me, but it wasn’t all me.”
“Yeah, got it. Just means your love for me wasn’t strong enough to overcome everything. But hey, it seems your parents are the reason you thought you loved me in the first place. So what’s done is done.”
“You don’t have to be so harsh.”
“I could be worse, Kindra. You did put a knife in me.”
She nodded. “I wish I had control then. I would have put it in Gerard.”
Robert came back with Cora, two other women, and two more men.
Cora took one look at Kindra and took a step toward her. “Do you get it yet?”
“Yeah, but who is this?” she asked.
“This is Tremaine, and he will ensure you stay in a safe and unfindable place until we find these things. Then you may be needed there.” He nodded to the curly, dark-haired man. Next, he pointed to the man with icy blue eyes and tattoos. “Preston.” Then he held his hand toward the woman she didn’t recognize. “Morrigan, who will do all she can to remove the corruption Gerard and his people left inside you. And Druciela who got Cora away from Brightwater bay.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes,” she assured.
“Mom, it’s painful, really painful, and they say it’s going to be worse than what they did to me.”
“I don’t care. Whatever I have to do to prove I choose you. I’m done letting other people decide for me. Just do it.”
Mark nodded and walked away.
She wanted to reach for Mark, but she was the one who threw him away. What a fool she’d been, and for years. If only she could go back. But it was too late for that.
She knew where they had been before being sent through the portal, but not how to get there.
Morrigan stepped toward her. “Are you ready?”
Kindra let out a strained laugh. “Doubt it, but that hardly matters. It needs to be done.”
“Bravery I can appreciate. You may want to sit for this. Maybe even lie down.” Morrigan frowned. “Actually, lie down. That’s probably for the best.”
Robert started toward a hall. “I’ll take you to a room you can use.” He led them through a door to a guest room.
“Thank you.”
Robert dipped his head and left the room
Mark stepped in and moved to the corner. She lay down, and Valen sat on her opposite side and took her hand.
Then Morrigan touched her hand, and all she knew was pain.
Chapter 26
One part of Mark thought he might feel sorry for Kindra when he saw her. Nope. Not really. Anger boiled under the surface. Not full rage, thankfully.
And maybe if she hadn’t tried to throw herself at him like she was ready to fall back into his arms, he wouldn’t be so ticked. But she burned that bridge, then set off a nuke on top to decimate any chance at a reconciliation.
He headed back to the living room and flopped into a chair. He thought about calling Gina, but the way she was growing, there was a good chance she needed sleep.
Why hadn’t he thought to make sure there was someone there to help her? He dropped his head and dug the phone out of his pocket. He wound up dialing Emily.
She answered after a couple rings. “Hey, Mark, everything okay? Robert filled me in on Gina. Need any help?”
“Actually, yeah, I was hoping you and maybe Clint could head over to hang out with her. Everyone who was at my house are now at a cabin in the woods. I have no idea where we are.”
“I do, but don’t worry about that. Clint and I will head over to Gina in a few minutes. But how is she?”
“Sleeping, and a warning, she looks about six or so months pregnant.”
“Wow, that is moving fast.”
“That’s why you need to be there. I imagine she’ll be having the baby soon at this rate. I just don’t know when. And right now, we’re dealing with the bitch who helped get us into this situation.”
“The pregnancy?” she asked.
He sighed. “No, not that. But with the doppelgangers. My wife.” He groaned. “Tell me Robert filled you in on that part of the story.”
“Yeah, how long ago was that?”
“Fifty years ago. This would be easier if they had all died back then.”
“I get it. I’ve been there. I’ll make sure Gina is well cared for.”
“Thanks. Tell her I’ll be back soon. I can’t imagine they want me here while they question Kindra. I know I should feel some sympathy, but I don’t. Not even a little.”
“You don’t have to. No one ever said you did.”
“Yeah. Hey, tell Clint hi for me. I may need to spar soon.”
“I’m sure he’ll be ready when you are. He is getting tired of Lincoln kicking his ass.”
He chuckled. “I can imagine.”
Robert came down the stairs. “We need to talk.”
Mark sighed. “I need to go. Thank you for helping Gina.”
“Anytime, Mark.” She hung up.
Robert planted his ass in front of him. “Gerard no longer taints her thoughts and memories. She isn’t wrong. She was manipulated at every turn. I delved into her head while she was asleep, and her memories have shifted into reality, showing a heavy dose of Gerard pushing her motivations and changing memories. She nearly broke his hold a few times.”
“Don’t, Robert. Isn’t it enough I’m trying to help her? I don’t care how influenced she was. If it was true love, she would have found a way around it all.”
“Not necessarily,” Preston answered. “I can think of a couple who took more than two hundred years to find themselves back together. Do I think that was the case with you? No. But she is the mother of your child, and you did love her once. So give her a chance to at least apologize, even if she can never fix anything.”
He groaned. “That means you need me here when she wakes up?”
“Would be for the best. And if Emily calls to let me know Gina needs you, you will be there in a heartbeat. However, right now, she’s sleeping.”
“Yeah, and that’s why I called her.” He sighed. “I’m not sure what I can do to help.”
“Just be here for Valen and listen to Kindra if she wakes up. Her head is a mess.” Robert lowered his voice. “Right now, she’s full of regrets, but she’s considering going back to Gerard if Valen won’t accept her, because she’ll have nothing left. Valen needs to believe you when you say you want to help. It will give her a fighting chance. And right now, I think that might be the most important factor we have.”
“I hope she really is worth the trouble.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “And that’s hard to say because I know Valen wants her around, but I’m hoping he’ll want to start over out here. Of course, I know nothing about his life, or what he really wants, other than he’s having a
kid. God, this is fucked up.”
“Unfortunately, there has been a lot of that going around for the last few years. But it seems that things tend to work out for the best for the most part. Hopefully it will continue to.”
“Yeah, agreed.”
Robert nodded to the hallway.
Mark turned to find Valen heading his way. “What would you have done if you knew about me?”
Mark let out a sound full of pain. “I would have fought to keep you. I should have anyway. God, I’m a fool.”
“You’re not. I wish I had known the truth earlier.”
Cora joined the conversation. “I wish I could have told you about Mark, but I thought he’d died. I didn’t want you to ask your mother or Gerard because I feared what Gerard would do.”
“Not Mom?” Valen asked.
Cora let out a breath. “She would have told Gerard like she did everything. It’s why I stopped relying on her when I tried to leave the many times. If I could have done what Mark did, I could have stopped all of this.”
Mark sat forward. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that we can’t change the past,” Mark said. “And really, who knows what would have happened. I know you aren’t happy, Cora, but this is your chance for a fresh start. I have a mate who fills my life with happiness, and now my son, who is having his own child. I have to say, I like where we are. At least, I will once we deal with the doppelgangers once and for all.”
“And what if we don’t manage that?” Valen asked. “What if my wife never understands why I sent her away?”
Mark shook his head. “Don’t ask what if. It will work out. It has to, because I sure as hell won’t let them win after all this time has passed. Neither will Robert, Preston, Tremaine, or anyone else who will help, and trust me, there are plenty of us.”
“While we wait for her to wake up, can you tell me about your pack?” Valen asked.
Mark smiled. “Sure, I can do that. I’m an enforcer, and our Alpha is a good guy.” Mark told him everything he thought of and answered all the questions Valen came up with.
* * * *
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