by Jodi Vaughn
He nodded.
“Jaxon, I told you no one ever leaves.”
“Well, I’m not exactly no one. And we’re getting the hell out of here. I’ll go outside and check the perimeter. While I’m outside, you need to talk to your mom, convince her to leave with us. Tell her I can provide you both with protection from the Arkansas Pack Master.” He was making promises on Barrett’s behalf. He was going to catch hell from his Pack Master, but there was no way around it. He’d take the consequences.
“Jaxon…”
He pressed his fingers to her lips to silence her. He saw the uncertainty in her eyes and heard the tremor in her voice. He also knew underneath that fragile shell lay the girl he had fallen in love with as a teenager. She was only other person on this earth that would complete his life.
He wasn’t about to let her go.
“Trust me,” he whispered.
She blinked, and a tear slid down her silky cheek. He swept his fingers across her cheek and wiped away the wetness.
“I trust you, Jaxon. I always have,” she whispered.
A lightness, a feeling he’d never felt before, filled his chest. This was going to work out. They were going to work out. Everything was going to be okay.
The sound of a car pulling into the driveway caught his attention, and he jerked his head toward the kitchen window.
“It’s okay. It’s just my mom.” She looked at him. “I need to talk to her alone.”
He nodded. “I’ll be back after I survey the fence.”
He gave her a quick kiss and bounded out the back door before her mom pulled around back.
He ran toward the fence, using the thick cover of trees to conceal himself. He ducked behind an oak tree just as the car stopped near the back door. He watched briefly as a small woman carefully got out of the Mercedes and looped her purse over her arm.
From this distance, he could tell that Ginny resembled her mother. She was blonde and beautiful just like Ginny. But there was something missing from her face—it was devoid of any smile lines. Even her eyes were dull, as if her soul had been eaten away many years ago.
He had to get them out and fast. He wasn’t going to let Ginny end up dead—or worse, end up like her mother.
Chapter Twelve
Ginny held her breath, bracing for her mother’s reaction when she walked in the door.
Caroline Boudier opened the door and stepped inside.
Ginny’s gaze swept over her mother, and she was reminded just how much her mother looked like her, except Caroline Boudier was nothing like her. Not where it counted.
“Hello, Ginn…” Her mother’s words trailed off. She closed the door behind her. She squinted in the dim room and then flipped on the light switch.
Her gaze landed on Ginny’s face. Concern flashed through her eyes, and then her mother shook her head and sighed. “I see your face is bruised. What did you do this time, Ginny?”
Ginny bristled at her mother’s question. Usually she didn’t feel any emotion when her mother chided her for getting beaten. But now, after being around Jaxon for a few short hours, her emotions were rising from that deep place where she’d buried them long ago. Jaxon had apparently awoken the beast within.
“What if I told you I didn’t do anything?” she countered.
“He doesn’t hit you for no reason.” Her mother placed her expensive bag on the quartz counter and looked up at her.
“What if I told you I lied to him?”
“Then I suppose you know better than to lie to him. Lying has its consequences. You know that, dear.” Caroline sighed heavily, walked over to the cabinet, and pulled down a coffee mug. She popped the coffee pod into the coffee maker, placed a mug underneath, and pressed the button.
“When did it happen to you?” Ginny swiped her lip and glanced at her fingertips. No blood. Which meant her body was healing quickly from the beating.
“When did what happen?” Her mother drew her tired gaze up to her.
“When did you decide it was okay for a man to hit a woman? What the hell happened in your head to make that okay?” Barely concealed anger pulsed just beneath the surface of her veins. She curled her fingers into fists and met her mother’s surprised gaze.
“You don’t understand. It’s survival.” Her mother narrowed her eyes and reached for her coffee cup.
“It would have been better if you had killed me when I was born.” Ginny spat the words out, unable to conceal her anger or her hurt.
“That’s probably true.” Her mother took a sip and then sighed. “Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve.”
Stunned at her mother’s words, Ginny took a step back. “You’re more fucked up than my father or my husband.”
“We are all dealt certain circumstances in this life. We must bear them as best as we can.” Her mother set her coffee cup down and waved her hands around the room. “Besides, you don’t have it bad here, Ginny. You live in a mansion, drive a Mercedes, go shopping every day. You don’t have to work, you don’t want for anything. All you have to do is run an errand for your father or John every now and then.” She shrugged her slender shoulders. “Sometimes I think you are just ungrateful.”
“Sometimes I think you turned into a monster. My father, your husband, killed your own mother. He broke her neck in front of me, and you don’t even care.” She stepped toward her mother. She clenched her trembling hands into fists.
“My mother shouldn’t have stayed in that house.” Caroline shook her head. “I don’t know what possessed that woman to not take you and leave when she had the chance. But no. She stayed there, knowing full well that he knew where she lived.”
“She wasn’t some woman. She was my grandmother. She thought she could keep me safe.” Ginny’s heart clenched as she thought about her grandmother.
“I’ll admit, she kept you safe for a brief while.” She shook her head. “She never should have sent me that letter informing me of your wedding and mating to that werewolf, what’s his name? Started with a J. Jack or something.”
“Jaxon. His name is Jaxon.”
“Your grandmother should have known that Edward would intercept that letter. That he would come looking for you. You are his only child, his only heir in this world.” Her mother lifted her chin.
“He’s a monster,” Ginny hissed.
“He’s still your father.” Her mother looked away.
“Mother, if you could leave, and be promised safety in another state, would you go?”
“There is no such thing as safety. Edward Boudier owns me, and he owns you. He even owns your husband. Don’t ever forget that.” Her mother glared and wagged her finger in her face.
“You’re a coward.”
“I’m a survivor. And I know when to count my blessings and to be grateful for what I have.” She lifted her chin and glowered.
Ginny barely recognized the woman standing in front of her. “For years, growing up, I would always ask my grandmother about my mother. I longed to have a mother.” She shook her head. “All she told me growing up was that my mother and father were killed by intruders with silver knives. It never made sense to me why someone would do such a horrible thing to good people like my parents.”
Ginny walked around the kitchen counter. She needed distance from her mother.
“Finally, one day my grandmother told me the truth. It was a week before my wedding to Jaxon. She told me that my parents were both alive but my mother had hidden me with her to protect me from my father. She said that my mother gave up her freedom for me.”
“Ginny…”
Ginny held up her hand to silence her mother. She had a lot to say, and she was going to damn well say it.
“Do you know what my father did as soon as he saw me?” She cocked her head. “Do you?”
Caroline sighed. “You’ve already told me this story before, Ginny. Why must you drag up the past now?”
“We’re going to talk about it because you never wanted to hear the story. Now you will h
ear the story.” She curled her fingers into fists. “Your husband, my father, grabbed my grandmother, your mother, and broke her neck. Right in front of me. Then he put two silver bullets in her head to make sure she was dead. Do you know what your husband said to me after that?”
She wasn’t going to give her mother a chance to answer. “He stepped over my grandmother’s body and grabbed me. He said that I could come with him and he would leave Jaxon alive, or if I refused, he would have him killed within a day. Our wedding day.”
“The past is the past. We must focus on the present,” Caroline said firmly.
“I came to know what a monster my father really is. I have a husband who is as cruel as my father is in every single way. Now I’m beginning to think they’re not the only monsters in my family.” She glared. It was all she could do not to slap her mother’s stoic face.
“Are you done being dramatic? If so, can we please have some coffee in the dining room so we can go over your schedule? There are a lot of upcoming social events that require your presence in New Orleans.”
“I’m not going.” Just saying those words had a lightness dancing around in her chest.
“You don’t have a choice.” Her mother picked up her coffee mug and walked in the direction of the dining room.
“You mistake me, mother. I’m not going to be here to be able to attend those functions.” Her heart hammered in her chest.
“Do you have a trip planned that I’m not aware of? Milan? Paris, perhaps?” Her mother kept walking.
“I’m leaving. I’m leaving today, and I’m leaving with Jaxon.” The words themselves empowered her, and she could feel her body trembling with excitement, motivation, and sheer determination.
Her mother made it to the dining room and stopped. She slowly turned and fixed her wide-eyed stare on her. “What did you say?”
Ginny licked her lips and lifted her chin. “I said I’m leaving and I’m leaving with Jaxon. I know you’ve lived like this for so long that you don’t know how else to manage. But there is another life out there. A life without fear, a life without terror, and a life without pain. He has told me that he can get us out, take us to Arkansas, and we will be under the protection of their Pack Master, Barrett.”
“Barrett Middleton?” Her mother sucked in a breath and glanced around the room.
“Is Jaxon here? Tell me he’s not in this house.” Her mother’s face went pale, and her gaze flitted around the room.
“Not in the house. But he is outside.”
“You selfish bitch.” Caroline slapped Ginny across the face.
Ginny sucked in a gasp and palmed her face. Her mother had never raised a hand to her, ever. It had always been the men in her life.
“Make him leave now. There’s still time to fix this before John finds out.” Her mother grabbed her by the arms and shook her like a rag doll.
“Get your hands off me.” Ginny shook off her mother’s hard grip. “I’m leaving and I’m leaving today. If you want to stay here in this hellhole, then stay. But I refuse.”
“You don’t know what you are saying.” Caroline shook her head violently. “John will track you down and find you. When he finds you, he will kill you. You have to know that.”
She did. She knew that all too well.
Her chest ached and her skin crawled as a thin sheen of sweat cropped up over her flesh. She couldn’t stay here another second even if she wanted to. She couldn’t. She’d go insane.
Jaxon had given her hope, and it was that thin thread that she was clinging to.
“You can’t go.” Her mother’s eyes went wide and she ran in front of her, trapping her in front of the dining room. She put her hands on her hips, preventing her from going any farther.
“You can’t stop me.” Ginny tried to walk around her mother.
Caroline grabbed her arm, digging her long nails into Ginny’s flesh.
Ginny snatched her arm out of her grip, shocked and angered at her mother’s display of aggression. She’d never seen her act like this before.
“What the hell has gotten into you?” Ginny cocked her head at her mother. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She had a very bad feeling.
“You are no daughter of mine. My daughter would do anything to protect her mother. She would sacrifice herself for the good of the family. I can’t let you walk out that door.” Caroline narrowed her eyes.
“A real mother would protect her daughter. You might have been that kind of mother a long time ago, but not now. Now you think of only yourself. You’re no mother. You’re sure as hell not my mother. My grandmother was more of a mother than you,” Ginny said.
Caroline’s hand came down across her cheek. The echo of the slap against her skin echoed in the empty room in the dark morning.
Ginny gritted her teeth at the hard sting of pain that set the nerve endings on her face on fire. She cradled her cheek in her hand and narrowed her hard gaze on the woman.
“You can’t leave. I won’t let you.” Caroline’s eyes grew wide and frantic, like a caged animal ready to attack. Her chest heaved rapidly as her breathing turned to a pant and her nostrils flared.
“You can’t stop me. I’m leaving today or I’m going to die trying.” Ginny lifted her chin and turned to head to the bedroom to pack a few things. If she was leaving Louisiana for Arkansas, she needed to make sure that her father would be stopped.
“You selfish bitch!” Caroline screeched.
Glass shattered.
Ginny spun around at the crash. Her china setting lay on the floor in a thousand shards. Her mother picked up another china plate off the dining room table and threw it on the floor next to Ginny’s foot.
She met her mother’s hate-filled eyes and shrugged. “I always hated that pattern anyway.”
She turned to walk away. She’d always stayed and taken the abuse, believing she was protecting her mother. She’d always thought she was doing the right thing, being a good daughter. She’d listened to her mother’s advice about how to act, what to do to avoid getting beaten by her husband.
Now she realized she’d been lied to. Now she realized that she’d died the day she’d left Jaxon. But today she was going to get her soul back. Today she was going to choose life.
She felt the blinding sting of something sharp between her shoulder blades. Then the pain.
She coughed and struggled to catch her breath. Panicked, she turned around. She caught her reflection in the mirror above the buffet table. Her mother had stabbed her with a silver fork.
Her mother stared at her with wide eyes. She held up her hands and shook her head. “I can’t let you go. You know that.”
“So you try to kill me?” Pain gathered in her back and spread through her chest.
“The silver fork won’t kill you if I pull it out.”
Ginny tried to reach around and grab hold of the fork. But the angle was wrong. She couldn’t grab it. Pain and fear and panic raced through her body. Her breath came in short pants and she could feel her heart beating fast, so fast she thought it would burst.
“I can’t breathe,” she struggled to say. Her legs tingled, and she knew in a few more seconds she’d be on the ground and incapacitated. She was trapped.
“Don’t fight it, Ginny. Once you pass out, I’ll take the fork out. You can heal your body from the silver.” Her mother’s voice was eerily calm and not like anything she’d ever heard.
She grabbed her mother by the collar of her perfect unwrinkled white button-up shirt. Her mother’s eyes were unfeeling and dead. She had the feeling she was looking at something from a horror movie.
She stumbled and fell against her mother, shoving them both against the wall. Unable to stand, Ginny crumpled to the floor. She expected to hear her mother’s voice, full of condemnation for messing up her shirt and shoving her. Her mother was always concerned with appearances. She was much like John in that respect. She’d often wondered if her mother should have married John instead of her.
; Unable to sit up, Ginny rolled to her side and braced herself for her mother’s wrath.
She looked over at her mother. Her stomach knotted. She screamed.
Her mother’s body was pinned to the wall by the silver antlers flanking either side of the buffet table. The antlers had gone through the back of her head and come out between her eyes.
Ginny had always hated those antlers. She hated having anything silver in the house. It was bad enough having sterling silver flatware. John knew the antlers intimidated her, scared her and their guests. So he kept them hanging on the wall. He would often shove her face close to the cold silver horns when he got angry to show her what it would be like it she displeased hm. He’d threated to hang her on the antlers like a side of beef until she died slowly from silver poisoning.
Her mother had been more fortunate than to suffer a slow and agonizing death. The silver had penetrated her brain and killed her instantly.
Blood dripped down her face in thick red trail. Her eyes were still open, her mouth slightly ajar as if she couldn’t believe her fate.
Her mother was dead.
There was no coming back from this.
Ginny crumpled to her side on the floor and screamed.
Chapter Thirteen
A chilling scream erupted from the house.
Ginny.
Jaxon raced for the house, sprinting across the driveway. He bounded into the kitchen, but the room was empty. He hurried farther into the house, his booted heels echoing loudly against the hardwood floor.
“Ginny!”
“Jaxon.” Her voice cracked as she spoke.
He entered the dining room and his stomach turned. His gaze landed on her small form lying on the floor. She was lying on her side, facing away from him. Blood dripped down her shirt and onto the floor. Something silver was sticking out of her back
Nausea and fear curled in his gut.
A silver fork.
He couldn’t find her just to lose her all over again. It would destroy him. He wouldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t.