Say My Name

by R K Knightly

  He was only able to get them to agree to a meeting when he swore them both to secrecy on his name. He already knew from Elle that her mother had guessed she was with another Alpha and she was game, but it was harder for her father to come to terms with it.

  "Mom?" Elle asked before embracing the older woman who was standing next to a handsome older gentleman with glasses.

  "Elle, baby," her mother cried. "It's so good to see you again!"

  Chapter 36

  The group was deep in their conversation when the food arrived. Elle had been so intent on talking with her parents that Liam had ordered for her, knowing what she liked.

  "I still can't tell you everything," Elle told her. "But at least you see me and see that I'm happy."

  The smile on her face was wide, breathtakingly beautiful, and if it had been anyone but her parents, Liam would have been jealous of the person – or persons – that made her that gleefully happy. But he knew how much she had missed them.

  "And you, Liam," her father said, a bit gruffly. "You are an Alpha."

  Liam nodded and took a sip of his beer. Elle had introduced them officially soon after embracing her mother and father.

  "Yes, sir," he said respectfully to his father in mating. "Plumbrook, but as you know, that is on the QT."

  Her father looked doubtful, if only for a moment, before continuing.

  "Gis – I mean Elle," her father began.

  That was another thing. They were to speak about her only as "Elle" so that word didn't get back to Jeremiah. Liam smelled no foreign wolves in the place beside themselves, but there were ways to mask a scent through witchcraft and the like.

  "She told her mother of your previous mate," Roger said to Liam. "I was sorry to hear of that. Very painful. I remember my brother's wife after he passed. Inconsolable she was."

  "Yes, it was a very difficult time," Liam said somberly. "I didn't ever think I would get a second chance, even if it was with a chosen mate instead." He paused. "My first mate was...unwell and would have weakened our pack through me. I – I honestly can't say I wished for a different outcome as I have Elle here, but I can say I wish things had been different."

  "It's not as rare as one thinks, getting a second chance," Mary Ellen said. "If one's mate has passed on, or both sides have chosen another, then and only then can a secondary bond to another take place as a true second chance mate. Until Jeremiah takes another female to mate or dies, he will always have a bond to Elle." She sounded worried at that, and glanced over at her daughter.

  "We can only hope for a peaceful resolution to this conflict," Liam said. "I vote for no bloodshed, but...Jeremiah has already tried to take Elle back."

  This was something he hadn't mentioned to the Kincaids during their phone conversation. He hadn't wanted her father to go berserk and try to ram down Jeremiah's door without thinking of the repercussions. The Kincaids both looked at him, her father's face a storm cloud on the horizon.

  "What do you mean?" he asked, his voice a bit unsteady.

  Liam told them everything about the rogues and let Elle take over after he mentioned imprisoning Jackson in the cells.

  "Why didn't I remember what I went through as a child?" Elle asked her mother, who glanced at her father anxiously.

  "It...the child psychologist said that might happen," Mary Ellen told her daughter. "Sometimes reliving things makes us put a block in our minds against the – well, the more traumatic things we experience. When a few months went by and you started to ask who Jackson was when the doctor started to talk to you, it was apparent that you had built up your own set of defenses mentally."

  "She tried to bring them back out, but you were stubborn," her father told her, almost proudly. "As you were happier without the memories, we figured it was just as well that you hid them from yourself."

  "Jackson is being executed tonight by guillotine," Liam told the table softly. The piano music coming from the stage ensured that no one would hear them. They all flinched at his words.

  "Guillotine?" Mary Ellen asked, surprised. Liam shrugged at her. It did sound a bit medieval, but death by execution was ugly no matter which way you sliced it.

  "It was better than your daughter's death sentence by Blood Eagle," he told them.

  They both blinked over at their daughter. They seemed surprisingly familiar with the term.

  "It was a decision I made under...under duress!" she exclaimed as low as she could. "I took it back. Not that the bastard deserved my mercy."

  Liam placed a steadying hand on her mid-back and rubbed soothingly.

  "Relax, baby," Liam told her. "No one's judging you."

  Mary Ellen looked from her daughter to Liam, her eyes glistening with happy tears when she saw his calming gesture working on her. It was the calling card of a strong bond between mated wolves.

  "You sounded beautiful up on stage," Mary Ellen told her daughter, in order to get past the weepy display. "Would you sing again? Now?"

  Liam was sure the audience would like another song, but he wasn't sure if Elle was ready for one. When he looked over at her, he saw a wide smile take over her face. He stood corrected.

  "Of course," she said. "As long as David is okay with me taking center stage again."

  Elle got up and walked over to David at the piano. She waited for the song to play out before going up to him. Immediately, David told the audience he was taking five and conversation started up amongst the patrons, including the Kincaids and Liam.

  "You're good for her. I can tell," Mary Ellen said to Liam. "Old fussy britches over here thinks so too. He's just too Papa Wolf to admit it out loud though."

  It meant a lot to Liam to have her parents' approval. It wasn't necessary at this juncture, but he was glad to have it nonetheless.

  "You hurt my daughter, I won't care if you're an Alpha," her father said, almost growling. "I'll put your ass in a sling nonetheless."

  Liam nodded, understanding. He'd be the same with his kids when he had them. Before he could say anything back to the man though, a static pop from the microphone took them by surprise and the whole table's attention was focused onto the stage again.

  David began to play again. It was another slow tune. Liam immediately recognized it after the first few words as Flashlight by Jessie J.

  People who had them took out lighters, waving them in the air until the hot metal burned their fingers and they laughed at their own stupidity.

  Elle finished the song out to applause. If she’d had back-up singers it would have been like a professional performance. The applause didn't last long before David segued into another song. This one was surprising. It wasn't as slow as the other songs Elle had sung, and was a definite rock anthem.

  It was Here’s To Us by Halestorm, an unlikely and risqué selection for a family place. It was met with approval, though, and many in the crowd sang along to the words.

  The majority of the audience was singing along with Elle by the end of the song and raising their glasses in a mock toast. Liam beamed when the whole crowd yelled 'Tell 'em to go fuck themselves' and laughed when they cheered at their own nerve.

  "She's great," he heard someone say off in the distance.

  "I love this song," another person commented.

  "Think she's single?" a male asked. Liam almost snorted.

  Definitely not, puny human.

  "I saw her with an older couple and a man who has about six inches on you, bro," his buddy said. "I'd steer clear. Even if that's her brother or whatever, the dude's fucking scary big."

  His amusement at their repartee took form in a low chuckle at the second guy's advice and he found Elle suddenly back at the table and looking down at him with a cocked head.

  "What's so funny?" she asked as she sat back down to finish her plate of pasta.

  "Your adoring public, angel," he told her. They either wanted to fuck her or be her it seemed, and he was having none of the former, though he couldn't really blame them. "I'll tell you later." Her father was b
arely showing his approval of Liam so he didn't want to push the paternal wolf any further by telling her – out loud – that she had a few male admirers that weren't keen on just hearing her sing for them.

  About a half an hour later, plied with food and drink, the two couples parted ways with promises to keep in touch and more phone calls if they couldn't see each other somewhat regularly.

  As they were walking back to Liam's car, Elle hummed.

  "You called them behind my back, you sly dog," she accused teasingly.

  "Guilty as charged," Liam admitted. "But I didn't just bring you out here to hear you sing and reunite you with your parents. I wanted to give you this."

  He pulled a small box out of his jacket pocket. It was dark velvet. He opened it with a whine and a pop. Elle's eyes flew up to his, large and unblinking.

  "We are as good as married in our culture," Liam told her. "The bond forged through marking and mating is irrevocable and complete, and it's stronger than any marriage in the human world. The only thing tying humans together is a scrap of paper and their promise to let nothing come between them. That – and this."

  He presented her with the ring before pausing and taking a deep breath.

  "I know you enjoy performing," he told her. "I could see it in your eyes when you were up there. I don't know when this whole thing with Jeremiah will be resolved, but when it is, you could come here and perform as you wish. With that being said, I don't think I'd be able to handle that without something a human would recognize to signal your being "off-limits". I want you to wear this ring, if you would. As a sign of our love, our undeniable bond to each other-"

  "And a physical barrier so no one else tries to claim me for themselves?" she finished with a smirk.

  "A little bit," he admitted with a dashing half-smile. "Okay. A lot, but even if you weren't going to come here regularly, I still would have bought it for you and wanted you to wear it. So...will you?"

  "Yes," she said softly. "Of course, I will. I love you."

  Liam breathed a sigh of relief and slid it onto her finger. It wasn't a flashy ring, for Liam knew she would have hated that. But it was symbolic to him. Three garnet plum blossoms – big, medium, and small – with diamond accents in the middle. It was feminine, sweet, and had cost more than some of the flashier rings he had seen when he picked it out.

  After the ring was placed perfectly on her hand, Liam cupped her face and brought his mouth down to hers in a long, lingering kiss. Her hands slid around his neck, pouring herself into the kiss as well. He pulled away after only thirty seconds, breathing hard.

  "Angel, if I keep kissing you like that you're going to end up conceiving our first child right here in the middle of a tavern parking lot," he told her with a shaky laugh.

  "If I haven't already," she told him, laughing.

  Her words brought him up short.

  "You..."

  She shook her head.

  "Too soon to tell," she told him. "Though if we keep going at it like this, it won't be much longer."

  She may as well have been having a naughty chat with his dick because he certainly was ready to make that a possibility tonight.

  "Baby, get in the car already before I lose my shit and take you right here."

  Chapter 37

  "Jackson Kincaid, formerly of Blackriver and Massena packs," Liam began. "You have been charged and found guilty of crimes against children and the Luna of Plumbrook Pack. You have the choice to speak freely if you so wish. Have you any final words before justice has been meted out?"

  There was a soft grumble amongst the crowd of wolves, none of which were pups.

  "You may have conquered this rogue, Liam Stark, but you cannot win against Alpha Jeremiah," the man told him calmly. "The bond between true mates can never truly be broken and Jeremiah is set on having her." He paused. "If you wish death on your pack because of my little cousin, so be it. Their blood will be on your head."

  The noise from the crowd became louder as many of the wolves found it egregious for him to speak to their Alpha in such a way. No respect, not even for his own flesh and blood cousin.

  "If you wish to anger me and discipline you to the Luna's first choice of punishment, please, continue to speak in such a fashion," Liam told him calmly, though he was shaking with anger. "I have no qualms seeing you suffer as you should, wretched creature that you are."

  "You would set Blood Eagle on me?" Jackson almost sounded amused. "You are certainly the match for my bloodthirsty little cousin." He looked over to Elle who was seated in the front row of seats next to Blake, Trace, and Caleb. "How are you tonight, sweetheart? Enjoying the show?"

  "Don't you dare talk to her," Liam growled. "You are beneath her, rogue, and no family to her. Now, if you have said your piece, we will commence with the execution."

  "I could talk for a bit more," Jackson allowed. The man was truly vile. He didn't seem to take his own mortality into account at all, much less the pain he was putting his mate through when he passed on. "But I doubt you would like anything I have to say so I will leave you simply with this: Do not count on even those around you for there are some who are not to be trusted amongst you. Those with treasonous intentions."

  "He's lying," Blake muttered to Elle. He couldn't believe anyone would want to harm her. She looked fragile but was a proper bulldog beneath her feminine exterior.

  "Maybe not," Elle murmured back. She was sure there were one or two she-wolves that would have liked to see her gone so they could take her place.

  "Jealous females," Trace said, eyeing a few in the crowd he deemed low enough to wish their Luna dead. Or at least out of the way.

  "Bring him to kneel," Liam ordered the Head Guard.

  The man pulled Jackson upright and Elle felt her stomach lurch uneasily. She may have been beaten bloody at times, but she had never witnessed a death. Well, not one she knew of. Parts of her mind were still a mystery to her, even after some of her memories had resurfaced in the cells with Jackson.

  The Head Guard forced Jackson to his knees a couple of feet away from the lunette, the half circle that would close in around his neck. He then forced his torso so it was horizontal, or parallel, to the ground. The Head Guard then closed the lunette around him and locked it in place so Jackson was unable to move.

  Elle fought against the wave of nausea bubbling up from her stomach. She wanted to shut her eyes but knew she couldn't. She needed to show to all the pack that if she was strong enough to lay down the law, she was determined enough to follow through on the sentence.

  After Jackson was tightly secured, the guard backed away and Liam stepped forward. As leader, he was to see to every execution, just as he was to render wolves rogue when – and if – he had to. Admittedly, this was Liam's first execution and he was none too keen on exacting justice in such a manner. Violence outside of defending his female and pack was abhorrent to him in many ways. It was one thing to be filled with the rush of adrenaline during a battle, and an altogether different thing when there was no immediate outside danger.

  All was silence. Even the woods around them seemed to stop and listen for the blade that would take Jackson's life.

  It may have been ten seconds or a full minute, but by the time Liam pulled the rope to let the blade go, Elle was stricken frozen as she watched the blood splash onto the ground 20 feet in front of her. The head of Jackson Kincaid made a thump, then a sickening splat into the basket below it.

  ∞∞∞

  Elle was mute. Again.

  Not in the same way. She just didn't have anything to say about what she had witnessed thirty minutes before. She was no closer to sleep, though Liam wished she would get some rest.

  Or at least fucking talk about this.

  "Angel, please speak to me," he begged softly. Her eyes shifted to his, the same lifeless look in them as she’d had 29 minutes ago.

  "What do you want me to say?" she verbalized almost plaintively.

  "Fuck, anything. Everything," he told her. "T
ell me what you're feeling at least." He sat down on the bed next to her, close enough to touch her skin.

  "I...I don't know what I feel," she said honestly. "Some relief, some sadness. Shit-tons of disgust at what I just witnessed. You're lucky I'm not going full Exorcist and projectile vomiting split-pea soup."

  Liam's own skin turned a bit green at the thought, though he had been feeling pretty sickly right after he had done the deed. Not something he would admit to anyone besides Elle, though. Colleen would have a field day if she found out. Start calling him "Precious" or "Lil’ Liam" or something else emasculating and untoward.

  "I'm not a fan of the method we used, but it was probably cleaner and less vomit-inducing than your first idea." He gave her a look.

  That was true, if not slightly concerning for Elle. She hadn't had a bloodthirsty bone in her body before this and she certainly wasn't feeling the love for execution right now. She blamed her emotions at the time she had spoken with Jackson in the cells.

  "Do you think it was true? What he said?" Elle inquired.

  "About a treasonous wolf among us?" Liam asked, lips thinning to a line as he thought. "It's a possibility. Which is why I have very few people I truly trust, you and Blake being top of the list. Even Caleb doesn't know everything and I've known him since I was small."

  Elle tried laying down, but the nausea kicked in and she quickly shot upright again and walked toward the door.

  "Where are you going?" Liam asked as she opened the door to the bedroom and walked into the hallway.

  "Getting some hot tea," she called back at him. Mint tea would be nice. Soothing for the stomach. And it was getting quite chilly at night.

  After she fixed her tea, she sat in the living room, cupping the mug to warm her cold hands. It was the second week of November and the temperatures had dipped low enough for snow. She looked out the window, hoping to see some of the fluffy white stuff. It would do her good to see it falling right about now. Cleansing somehow.