“Fuck no! You’re mine. End of discussion as far as I’m concerned.” My wolf preens a bit at his words and I mentally shake my head at her. She’s a damn hussy where he’s concerned, I swear!
It only takes a few hours to make it to where his GPS has taken us. We travel up a graveled, mile long driveway before a small cabin comes into view. I inhale a deep breath as I mentally prepare myself to meet the in-laws. Here goes nothing.
Maverick
I’m fixing to meet my parents, the ones who discarded me as easily as last night’s trash. As we pull to a stop, I’m astonished when I notice Paxton’s motorcycle in the driveway. He comes out onto the front porch with Landry’s hand in his. “Colton thought you could use a friend,” Paxton instructs.
“Colton would be right,” I say as Connelly squeals in my ear as she jumps off from behind me. The women meet in the middle, hugging each other as if they haven’t seen each other in years. Something in the background captures my attention, I lift my head up and see two people, wrapped in each other’s arms. The woman has tears streaking down her cheeks. I stand there, immobile, taking in all that is my parents. I can see myself in each one of their features. I have my father’s nose, ears and brows. Everything else however, that’s all my mother. Her blonde tresses are the same exact coloring of my own; I run a hand through my hair as I take this in.
“Maverick,” my mother says on a sob. “You are so handsome.”
“Hello,” I lowly whisper, suddenly unsure about taking on this task. Paxton makes his way over to me and slaps a hand on my shoulder in solidarity.
“You’ve got this, my friend,” he says encouragingly to me. Do I? Because right now, I’m not sure of that at all. But I’m grateful that my friend is here, even though I don’t know what danger my parents are facing. Looking around, I’m trying to see if a third person is anywhere to be seen. A person comes around the corner, a female, one who is similar to me in appearance. We could be twins that’s how much we favor one another.
She walks toward me and I hear Connelly growl before I feel her move to my side in a protective, defensive stance. “It’s okay, love,” I whisper in her ear, even though I’m not one hundred percent sure that’s the case. “Besides, I’m supposed to protect you.” I chuckle a little at the look she gives me, almost as if to say, ‘No, my job is to protect you.’
“Who is she, Maverick?” My love asks me, still keeping her protective stance in front of me.
“I’m thinking that’s my sister,” I whisper back, still in awe over having a sibling. I know it’s not her fault that she exists, but it still hurts to look at her. What was so special about her that they kept her in their home, and what was so wrong with me that they discarded me?
“Excuse me,” she whirls around with her fists firmly planted on her hips. Now, we haven’t been together long enough for me to interpret all of her gestures, but this one, yeah, I’m reading it loud and clear. She’s pissed on my behalf. She must see the hurt in my eyes at the revelation, she turns back around and marches up to my parents. “You need to explain, and do it quickly. Otherwise, we are turning around; leaving, and you can deal with your own mess.” I’ve never been so proud as I am in this moment. It’s a nice feeling to have someone stand up for you the way she is for me.
“Connelly, we were sent here for a job. Maverick can’t just tuck tail and run because this is hard for him,” Paxton attempts to explain.
She turns on him, her eyes wild. She points her finger at him and informs him, “You, Paxton, stay out of this. He’s hurting, I can feel it here.” She takes her outwardly stretched finger and jams it into her chest. “I will not allow these people to hurt him ever again. Understood?” She turns her glare on each and every one of them as she turns her head, emphasizing her point with the glare she’s sending their way.
“Do. Not. Threaten. My. Parents,” my ‘sister’ growls. The ground begins to vibrate beneath me; I reach out and grab a hold of my motorcycle to keep my balance.
“Leigh, watch your temper,” our mother fearfully quivers out the words. “This is why we’re sought out; you can’t control your powers.”
Next thing I know, we’re surrounded by animals of all kinds. Birds are circling our heads, bears are stomping their paws, battle cries of the wild are encompassing us. “Connelly,” I hiss, “call them off. Now, love.”
“Not until she calms down,” Connelly snidely remarks. The ground stops shaking and Leigh, as my parents called her, looks at my mate in awe.
“You can control the wild? That’s amazing!” Leigh states to my mate.
“That’s not all I can do.” Connelly raises an eyebrow; I feel as if a challenge has been issued and groan. When women are riled up, there’s no telling what sort of damage will occur. Countries have fallen, world domination… the list is never ending. Shifters have unwittingly caused many wars with their temper tantrums. If people only knew the turmoil we’ve caused, they’d shiver and eradicate our kind.
“It’s a showdown at the OK corral,” Paxton humorously laughs.
“Not helping matters here, Pax,” I grumble.
“I thought it was on point.” Paxton gives me a mischievous look. “All we need is some Jell-O, bikinis and a kid’s pool and it’s on.”
“Paxton!” Landry shoots him a death glare. “I’m gonna fuck you up if you make another comment.” When Landry shows her canines, it’s obvious how serious she is about this.
“We should take this inside,” I state, walking over to my mate, placing my hand on her lower back. I give her a slight shove toward the door. She digs in her heels, her eyes never leaving Leigh’s, as I push a little harder to get her moving.
Connelly
I make sure my eyes stay glued to miss royal pain in the ass Leigh as Maverick shoves me toward the cabin. “I can walk on my own you know,” I mumble as we breach the door.
“Just helping to keep you focused, love,” he lies. I know it’s a tall tale full of fibs because I can hear it in his tone. He’s really trying to keep me away from precious baby sister. She needs to quickly learn not to threaten me with her gifts, I’ll give them back ten-fold. I don’t play games when it comes to the matters of the heart where it pertains to my mate.
Eventually, we all make our way inside and Maverick’s parents indicate for us to take a seat in the living room. Maverick sits in the recliner and pulls me into his lap. I know he needs me to ground him right now, but what he doesn’t realize, is I need him just as much. I nestle into his chest, never letting my eyes waiver from the in-laws nor that of his sister. I keep my eyes laser focused on them and my ears open to all movement. No one is going to surprise me in any way.
“You have a very fierce and protective mate, Maverick,” his mother expresses with a twinkle in her eye.
“That she is, Rowina,” Maverick responds. I see her wince at the use of her name. His father, whom I’m presuming is also Rowina’s true mate, stiffens.
“Show some damn respect to your mother, Maverick,” he says.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” Maverick asks, and I’m proud of him because it comes out sarcastic. See, we are rubbing off on him and his mild-mannered ways. We will make him a smartass yet. “I’ve never met you, either of you before today, yet you think you deserve the respected name of mother and father. Not happening.” I sink further into him as his entire body begins to shiver.
“Who I am is your father, young man.” Oh shit, he’s thinking he has the right to scold my mate. Yeah, I don’t think so.
“Do not speak to him in that manner. Respect and loyalty are earned, neither one of y’all has garnered that as far as I’m concerned.” I square my shoulders, ready for a showdown of epic proportions.
“I’m thinking we need to tamper down the hormones,” Paxton inserts. “There’s only so much us bystanders can handle before our panthers surface. Maverick’s my friend, as is his mate, I can’t idly sit by as they are subjected to this family display which they’ve never been included i
n.”
“What is it that you’re wanting from Maverick?” Landry interjects. “And just so we’re clear, we’re here for them, not y’all.” Her last words are nearly growled out and I sense that what Paxton just said is accurate; their panthers are ready to extinguish any threat they perceive to their ‘family’ and that includes the two of us.
“We mean no harm, to any of you.” Rowina justifies, “we only need help with Leigh. You see, she’s not, shall we say, great at holding her abilities at bay. They are tied to her emotions, and I’m afraid it’s drawn some unwanted attention her way. She is being hunted by the humans.”
This draws my attention. “How on earth would her powers be discovered by humans?” I spit out the last word. Human hunters are scary, they don’t care that we are people as well as carry spirit animals. All they care about is that we are the best of prizes for their capture. Bragging rights, so to speak.
I see Rowina glance at Leigh and watch as Leigh drops her head, her cheeks turning red. “We tend to go to town later in the day to avoid a lot of interaction with the humans,” Rowina says, “and one day, we went a little too late and there was an incident.”
“What incident?” Maverick asks. His voice is deceptively calm, but I feel the tension radiating through his body so I sink into him a little more to try and calm him.
“There was a classic car show and food vendors. Apparently, some of the attendees had drank a little more than they should have and one of them smacked Leigh on her bottom,” Rowina replies. “When she turned around, we found ourselves surrounded by four men who were drunk. They started saying inappropriate things to the two of us, and when two of them grabbed me, Leigh lost control.”
“They weren’t going to touch you, Mama,” Leigh states. The blush covering her cheeks is from anger now, not embarrassment and I feel my heart soften slightly at what she endured that day.
“We were fine, Leigh,” Rowina stresses. “I had it under control.”
“How? They were holding you! Papa was still in the store and I didn’t see anyone we knew around that could help us!” Leigh’s voice has gone shrill and I see items on the wall begin to shake.
“Control, Leigh,” the unnamed man commands. I feel the alpha power roll off him and resist the urge to cower at his tone.
“Papa, I can’t! This is all my fault,” Leigh cries out.
“Kash, calm yourself, mate.” Rowina places a calm hand on his knee. So, now we know Maverick’s father's name, one puzzle piece is answered. Now, we need to put them all in their place and figure things out.
“You’re an alpha?” I ask Kash.
“Was,” he emphasizes the word. “I was before I had to make a choice between my clan and my mate. I already lost my son, I couldn’t lose everything that meant the world to me. Rowina ensured our son’s survival the best way she could. I felt guilty that I hadn’t found her sooner and raised Maverick, helped protect him, with her.”
“So, instead of finding him; you just what, replaced him?” I shrug my shoulders, not caring if I’m showing even an ounce of disrespect.
“I wasn’t a replacement, I was an uh-oh baby,” Leigh informs us.
“Don’t say that, neither of you were accidents, you were both made from the love of true mates,” Rowina sadly responds. I see her wipe a tear from her eye and dammit, as much as I want to hold what they put my mate through against the two of them, I can see that they were affected as well by the fact he wasn’t an integral part of their lives.
“Let’s hold off on the family drama and figure out what we’re going to do to get Leigh somewhere safe,” Paxton asserts, and I’m thankful to him for this. You can cut the tension in the room with a knife, and it’s a bit uncomfortable.
“I need to learn how to control it,” Leigh says. Her voice is small and she’s curled into herself.
“I can help with that,” I reply without thinking. I feel Maverick’s gaze on me and give him a look. “You know I can, mate,” I state.
“How, um, how can you do that?” Leigh asks me.
“I also have the gift of psychokinesis. It’s a more elaborate form of telekinesis. I’ll help you learn to control it.” An instant cease of war on each other is lifted with that statement alone.
Maverick
“Very good, Leigh,” I praise. She was eager to come out and get started with the lessons. We left the others inside, coming up with a viable plan of escape from this town without Leigh and the parentals being discovered. We’ve had to work for the last hour to try and remove her from her emotions while using the powers gifted upon her.
“This is harder than I thought it would be,” she pants out. Sweat is beading on her forehead which is wrinkled in concentration. “You know, Mama and Papa love Maverick something fierce. Their biggest regret in life was letting him go.”
“This is a conversation to be had with Maverick, Leigh,” I insist. I feel like I’m gossiping behind my mate’s back with this line of talk.
“You should know this too, though. You see, Mama had to fake Maverick’s death to ensure he lived. She couldn’t have been found with him or all of our lives would have been in danger. By the time I was conceived, they’d already reunited and went into hiding. From both the coven and the clan. If it had been discovered that there wasn’t one, but two hybrids in existence, we’d never have a moment of peace. They debated about finding him, but figured that him being thought of as dead, was his best chance at survival. The prophecy surrounding him, you and y’alls friends must come to light. Otherwise, all shifters, vampires, and humans are doomed. Please say you understand where they were coming from,” she begs of me, not only with her words, but her eyes as well.
“I have to do what is best for my mate, Leigh. If he finds himself of a forgiving nature, of course I’ll give it my all. But, if he concludes that he doesn’t want any relationship after this is all said and done, I have to support him in that. I need you to understand where I’m coming from, it’s nothing personal.”
“Will he ever forgive me?” Leigh hesitantly asks.
“Forgive you for what?” I’m confused by her question.
“For existing. Can he ever forgive me for that?”
“Leigh. None of this is your fault or doing. You’ll never be able to control your emotions if you keep putting others’ faults on your shoulders. It’s not fair to you, or your special gifts.”
“I don’t know if the guilt I carry will ever leave. I’m no more special or wanted than he is. I just have always wanted to meet my big brother. I want a relationship with him, I’ve dreamed of what it’d be like to have him in my life.”
Maverick
“I would be honored to have you as a part of my life… our lives,” I say to my sister, overhearing her conversation with my love. “I will never blame you for being born, Leigh. You are special, and I too would like a chance to get to know you and our parents better. Which is why we’ve all concluded that you three will come and live with me and Connelly.”
My mate looks up at me with startled eyes. “Um… what?” She shockingly asks. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Maverick?”
“It is what’s best for all parties concerned. Plus, when we have pups, they’ll need some grandparents.” I can see the sting of my words and rush over to comfort her. “That didn’t come out right. I apologize, love.”
“It’s okay, I understand where you’re coming from. It just hits me here and there that I’ll never have my family again.”
“You have family, Connelly,” Landry states as she joins us outside. “We may not be blood, but we’re family all the same.”
“My mate is wise,” Paxton interjects. “Family are those you love, not those who carry the same blood line.”
“Well aren’t we a family of misfits.” Connelly bursts out into laughter as she says this. “Because we can’t forget Esmerelda or Charisma.” I fight not to let my eyes roll; it’s something I never did before but being around my mate and Paxton’s, I have finally fig
ured out that it has its uses and this is one of them. Never in my life did I think I’d count a witch as part of my family.
“No family is perfect,” I state. “But we forgive each other’s faults and learn to coexist. Now, let’s get our family packed up and hit the road. I want out of this town as soon as fucking possible.”
“Look at you using curse words like a big boy,” Paxton teases.
“I’ve learned from the best,” I say squeezing Connelly affectionately.
Connelly
It’s been nine months since we brought Rowina, Kash and Leigh to live with Maverick and myself. It’s been a learning curve, there’ve been some minor disagreements, but other than that, it’s been interesting having parents around. When Charisma and Rowina reunited, it was a moment filled with tears. But, then Esmerelda joined in and the three of them are thick as thieves.
Landry and I laugh over the phone at their excursions. Those three are like the Golden Girls minus Blanche. Although neither of us is willing to say which we think would be Sophia. Nope. We both like our heads right where they are; on top of our necks! Of course, having three maternal figures in and around has been a bit challenging for me. Each of them has offered suggestions during this pregnancy, ranging from the mundane of ‘make sure you’re getting enough rest’ to the absurd, which was Esmerelda’s favorite line to spout at me.
Since only Rowina has had children, I’m a bit suspicious of Esmerelda’s and Charisma’s comments, but I take them with a grain of salt and talk it over with Maverick if I’m unsure. Esmerelda and Charisma have me wearing a variety of crystals to protect our baby, and they both regularly go around our house chanting. Poor Maverick has given up saying anything to them; he just shakes his head and walks away.
Maverick: Rogue Enforcers Novel Page 10