Say My Name

by R K Knightly

  "That, I cannot answer," said the stranger. "Just let him know someone is here to meet with him. Someone with a common purpose and a proposition for him to consider."

  The man nodded his head at the stranger and linked his superior to get in touch with their Alpha. The stranger was soon let through and presented with the leader as he shifted from wolf to human at the edge of the forest.

  “What is it you want with me?" the man asked as he pulled the basketball shorts up his legs.

  "I want to see if we can't work together on something," the stranger said. "In the end, if things go well, we both get what we want."

  The man looked at the stranger for a moment, scanning their features to test for any lie in their words.

  "Okay," the man said. "I'm listening."

  ∞∞∞

  'I'll be coming tomorrow, first thing in the morning,' Liam's father said into the phone. 'Since it's not safe there, I'm leaving your mother here. She's sad she will not be able to meet your mate, son, but it's for the best.'

  "I understand, and I don't want Mom in danger as well," Liam said. "If it wouldn't be physically painful for me and bother me to distraction, I would have sent Elle to you in the mountains so Jeremiah wouldn't be able to get to her."

  'The rogue wolves...they admit it was Jeremiah who sent them?'

  "Yes," Liam reaffirmed. "We caught their leader and it's…it's not good. Not only is he a hired rogue, but also one of Elle's cousins."

  His father swore loudly over the phone and Liam had to agree wholeheartedly with every cuss word that spilled forth.

  'He's fucking family to her?'

  "Yes," Liam said.

  'But...but why?'

  "He blames Elle's father for getting him exiled from Blackriver pack. He won't say why, but it had to be serious for a family member to turn on one of their own blood."

  'Fucking ridiculous. What kind of soap opera pack is that boy running over there?'

  "I don't know, but the man obviously isn't in his right mind," Liam said shaking his head. "I haven't told Elle everything, but I wanted to let you know before you decided to come visit. Didn't know if you'd still be keen to."

  'Oh, I'll be there, you'll see. I can't wait to meet my daughter in mating in person and kick Jeremiah's scrawny ass from here to the Atlantic for trying to take her from you. That fucker better watch himself or he'll be made rogue and I'll disband his fucking pack.'

  "Easy, Pops," Liam said with a small smile. When his Dad got worked up, he had a colorful way of talking. "He's mine to fuck up since he's after my mate."

  'How is Elle doing anyway? Is she okay with your stubborn ways? Have mercy on the poor thing for having to deal with your ass twenty-four seven.'

  "She's great besides this damned clusterfuck that happened this evening." Liam paused. "Listen, Dad. I've got to go and see her. She's probably worried sick. We weren't at home when the attack happened and she's feeling responsible for it."

  'Alright, kid. I'll see you tomorrow. Have Caleb pick me up this time. You know I hate fucking driving, and Blake and Trace both drive like a bat out of hell. Gonna give me a coronary one of these days.'

  "Fine. I'll let Caleb know your itinerary as soon as I go see Elle," Liam told him.

  Liam walked out of the study in his home and locked the door behind him. He made his way toward the stairs and took them two at a time. He was met with the two warriors he had left Elle with at the top. They were standing outside the bedroom looking a little like statues in a museum.

  "You may go," Liam told them. "But I want two warriors stationed at each entrance of this house until our enemy has been dealt with. No one is to come in or out of this house without my say so. Even if it's Blake, you mindlink me or something. Blow fucking smoke signals for all I care. No one comes in or leaves without my knowing. Got it?"

  The men replied with a "yes, Alpha", and walked down the stairs to take their position on the front porch of the home. Pretty soon, the back entrance would be covered by another two warriors as well as the four that were watching the house from afar. Eight pairs of eyes on the house at all times. Sixteen keen werewolf-enhanced peepers. A few lines of defense to get through. It wasn't enough for Liam to feel truly confident in his mate's safety, but it was a fucking start.

  Chapter 29

  "Elle, sweetheart. You awake?"

  Liam bent over the huddled form of Elle, whose body was curled up in a fetal position on their bed. She looked no bigger than a child with her small limbs, minuscule curves, and long, inky black hair covering her face in a silky-smooth curtain.

  "Liam?" Her muffled voice called out softly.

  Liam smiled and pulled back her hair gently so he could see her face.

  "Is everything alright? Are they gone?" Elle asked, blinking up at him.

  "Everything's being taken care of so don't you worry," he told her as he sat on the bed next to her. "There were three rogues left, but they're all in the cells under lock and key."

  "Good," Elle said as she pushed off the bed to sit up. "Did they come here for me?" The hesitation on his face was enough to answer the question.

  "Yes, angel. They did."

  Elle sighed and buried her face in her bent knees.

  "Is everyone okay? No one died, right?" she asked, her voice muffled again, this time by the flesh of her thighs.

  "Everyone's fine. Just a few flesh wounds is all," Liam explained. "Elle, I have to talk to you about something. It's important."

  "What is it?" she asked, pulling her face from her knees and looking at him.

  "Do you have...or rather, do you remember a relative of yours by the name of Jackson Kincaid? Maybe a cousin?"

  Elle frowned, her brows crinkling in the middle with her concentration.

  "It...sounds familiar – like I might have known someone by that name when I was quite young. Why?"

  More hesitation.

  "There's a man in the cells who says he's your cousin. He said his name is Jackson, and claims to have your last name," Liam told her. "He told me that Jeremiah hired him and his group of rogues to find you and bring him back to him. The man...he seems unhinged in his mind."

  Elle thought a bit, worrying her lip with her teeth before opening her mouth to speak.

  "My father had a brother named James," Elle said. "He's dead now, but I remember Uncle James had a few kids. Two boys and a girl. Their mother, my Aunt Cindy, stayed with us for a while after Uncle James was killed. One day, she up and vanished along with her kids. I was quite small at the time, maybe only six or seven years old. Two of the kids were older than I, the oldest being about 14 or so. I remember asking my father about where they went, but he always got this...this look. Like he was angry at them for disappearing. He told me that Aunt Cindy went to live with some other relatives on the west coast, but I always wondered. Maybe it was one of her children and they really didn't move west. Who knows?"

  "Do you know at all if there was any bad blood between your family and theirs?"

  "Not that I'm aware of," Elle said. "If you hadn't mentioned it just now, I probably wouldn't have even thought about them. It was over ten years ago."

  Liam sat back and wondered if "Jackson" was a right old fraud or if the man was speaking the truth. He was incarcerated for the time being, so it didn't seem reasonable that he would lie. He had no reason to, but still...

  "Can I go see him?" Elle asked, pulling Liam from his musings. "Maybe if I saw him, I'd recognize him and-"

  "No!" The answer was vehement. Liam didn't know why, but that sounded like a horrible fucking idea right about now. Call it instinct, call it being an overprotective Alpha male, but he just knew that would somehow be a bad idea. "It's disgusting down in the cells and the men reek of filth. And it's a little…well, it’s currently a little bloody down there. I had the guards...take care of the other two men."

  Elle didn't have to ask what "taking care of" consisted of. Though she was a peaceful person in general, she didn't feel sorry in the least
bit for their demise. They wanted to take her and, as a result, wounded some of her pack.

  "Good," Elle said, her voice almost a low growl. "I hope they rot in hell."

  Liam's brows rose in surprise and he fought back a chuckle. She was becoming protective of the pack, which was a good thing.

  "My father will be here sometime tomorrow," he told her, trying to bite back the chuckle bubbling up in his throat. "But because of the attack, my mother will be staying at home. I'm sorry you won't be able to meet her, but my father is looking forward to making your acquaintance. He's most taken with you already. Threatened to kick Jeremiah's ass for us. I told him I'd think about it – just to humor the man a little."

  Liam spoke a little more about their increased security around the house so Elle wouldn't be surprised in the morning, and asked that if she needed to leave the house for any reason, to mindlink with him so he could arrange for her safety.

  "That's not really going to be necessary, is it?" she asked. "What if I'm only going over to Colleen's?"

  "You'll be escorted everywhere until this...this situation with Jeremiah is taken care of," he told her. "That's one of the reasons my father is coming. As a member of The Council, he has the rights to cross onto any pack's territory. If you'd like, he could take a message to your parents for you."

  Since Liam had gotten her the iPhone, she had been trying – in vain – to rack her brain. She wished she could remember her parents' cell phone numbers. Since everything was stored digitally these days, it was more difficult to remember phone numbers, unless it was your own, of course. So far Elle could remember the first five digits of her mother's phone number, but the rest was a blur.

  "I'd like that," Elle told him as he finally slipped into bed with her. "I don't know if I should say much or just let them know that I'm safe. What do you think?"

  Liam thought about that. If Elle had been his own kid and had gone through all those atrocities with her fated mate, he'd probably be breaking down the door to Jeremiah’s home once he found out she had been hurt by him.

  "It's probably best to just let them know that you're safe for now," Liam told her. "If your father gets wind of the type of mate Jeremiah is – or was – I fear for his safety."

  "True," Elle said, her lips pulling down in a frown. "He might try to fight him if he finds out how I was treated." She sighed. "I do wish I knew who this Jackson guy is though. I feel like if I saw him, I might recognize him, or at least see some similarities between him and my Uncle James."

  "You don't remember what any of the kids looked like at all?" Liam asked as he pulled Elle into his arms. After the day they both had, he would forego any loving just to be close to her and listen to her breathe.

  "No," Elle said. "Weird, right? I can remember Aunt Cindy and Uncle James, but the kids...it's like their faces are a blank."

  "Did you get along with them?"

  "I think so," Elle said with a small shrug. "I mean, I don't remember having any fights or anything with them, so I assume that we were cool. But I don't remember any of the fun we must have had either."

  They laid in silence for a while and after a bit, Liam thought Elle must have fallen asleep. He sat there thinking and finding it odd Elle remembered so little about her cousins. Maybe she was wrong and had been younger when they had left. What one might remember at six, would be that much blurrier at four or five.

  "Liam?"

  "Angel, I thought you had fallen asleep," Liam said and placed his head into her neck.

  "I know you don't want me to meet with this Jackson, but I'd like to," she told him. "I have a feeling that if I could just see him, everything would fall into place. Maybe that's ludicrous, but it's...it's just a gut feeling that I have."

  "I...I'll think about it," he told her grudgingly. "I don't like it, but I'll try to keep an open mind."

  That was untrue. He hated the idea of Elle even being in the same zip code as Jackson. If he had the ability, he'd drill a hole to the center of the Earth and drop Jackson in it so he could rot there. Or burn. Or melt. Fuck...wasn't there magma, that lava shit, in the center of the Earth?

  "Go to sleep, baby," Liam told her and closed his eyes. "It's been a long fucking night for both of us."

  Neither of them said anything more, and soon Elle was breathing deeply, eyelids fluttering in the throes of a hopefully peaceful REM cycle.

  For Liam, after the threat to his loved one, it took him much longer to find the solace of sleep.

  ∞∞∞

  "You must be Elle," the tall man said to her. "Such a tiny thing you are, my dear. How'd you end up with my giant of a son?"

  Elle liked Liam's father immediately. Conley Stark was an older version of his son. He stood at Liam's height of six foot six and had the same jet-black hair and startling blue eyes. The only difference was the smattering of grey the man maintained in his long, slicked-back mane of hair.

  "Be careful of his big feet, sweetheart," he told Elle, going in for a hug. "He may squish you like a bug under those damned things."

  Liam rolled his eyes at his father from behind his back. Then Conley picked up the small woman and gave her a nice hard squeeze before setting her back down. Elle squeaked out at the bear hug, and immediately felt dizzy when set on her feet again.

  "Pop, try not to break my mate," Liam told him. "I promise I would care for her just the same, but your whole visit would be moot if you ended up squeezing her lungs flat so she suffocated to death."

  "Nonsense, boy," Conley said. "I've come to visit you and your lovely girl here just as much as I've come to kick some Blackriver ass. Speaking of asses, I was sorry to hear about your past, Elle. It's a nasty type of wolf who would treat his mate as such, and I'm certainly glad you found my boy here. He's a little rough around the edges, but he's alright."

  "Yeah, so-" Liam attempted to interrupt.

  "Quiet, son," Conley interrupted. "Let me get to know my new daughter in mating. I can talk to your insubordinate ass any day of the week. So, tell me, dear, how old are you?"

  Elle was amused and embarrassed, but found herself answering every one of Conley's questions, even the ones bordering on ridiculous. Liam played host and got his father and Elle drinks as the two chatted amiably. He couldn't help the small smile tipping his lips as he heard his father ask Elle all about her life at Blackriver and her journey to Plumbrook.

  "Elle, I'm heading over to Blackriver in the morning," Conley explained. "Liam mentioned you wanted me to give a message to your parents?"

  "Yes, I wrote up a note," she told him as she pulled it from her pocket. It was folded up so it was the size of a business card, and she handed it over to Conley. "I thought it best to write them a note instead of just having you tell them I was safe. With the note, they'll know it's really me. From the handwriting."

  "Wise decision," Conley told her. "I know I'm an Elder in The Council, but it's always best not to trust strangers. They don't know me from Adam and such."

  "Pops, you gonna continue to interrogate my girl or can we have that chat now?" Liam asked his father. He wanted to speak with him about his trip to Blackriver the next day. Liam wanted him to have some security as a precaution, and his father was acting like it was unnecessary.

  "Back off a bit, boy," he told his son. "You get this sweet little thing for the rest of your life. Let a father get to know his new daughter a bit before you start aggravating me about "necessary precautions" and how your old man can't take care of his own damned self."

  Liam gave up. The man was impossible to reason with. Though his father was probably going to talk himself hoarse pretty soon, so there was that.

  Elle chatted a bit more with Conley and then begged off, stating she needed to get started on dinner. As soon as Elle was humming away in the kitchen, Liam escorted his father back to his study to have a talk.

  "I'll be fine without a God damn army battalion behind me, Liam," his father told him gruffly.

  "Two warriors is not-"

  "It'
s two too many, but as I'm willing to compromise just to shut you up, you can send Caleb with me," his father told him.

  "What's it with you and Caleb? You got some sort of bromance going on with my Gamma?"

  "Yeah. We bond over old 80's rock ballads and leave curlers in our hair overnight before giving each other mani-pedis," his father said, rolling his eyes so hard that he thought he caught a glimpse of his own brain. "I like Caleb. He's unmated but not a complete whore like Trace. Blake's got his motormouth mate Colleen, and heaven forbid if anything happened to him over at Blackriver. She wouldn't have to stab me to get even, she could just talk me to death."

  "Fine," Liam said. "I'll send Caleb with you. But if he starts complaining about having to babysit your geriatric ass-"

  "Geriatric, please! I got more game on my worst day than you got on your best," his father told him. "But do me a favor for your octogenarian old Pops here."

  "What's that?"

  "Make me a grandpa before I wither away from old age," he teased his son.

  Liam just smiled.

  "At least there's something you and I can agree on."

  Chapter 30

  "A pleasure to meet you, Alpha Bluth," Elder Stark said to Jeremiah with a curt nod. It was difficult for him not to want to up and whip the boy until he bled. "I hope my visit isn't an inconvenience."

  Jeremiah blinked his irritation away. He knew what the man was probably there for, and he knew his son had probably gotten him up to speed with what was going on. He hadn't heard from the rogues he had sent to bring Giselle back to him, so he assumed they were either dead or had flaked out on him. Either was a definite possibility.

  "Not at all, Elder Stark," Jeremiah said with a gruff jerk of his head. "As I have important business to attend to, I will have my Beta see to your needs during your...visit."

  Jeremiah nodded at Carter, who stepped forward to give the older man a tour of their facilities.