by Cynthia Eden
She sniffed and crossed the threshold. “I can’t talk to my daughter in wolf form. She doesn’t change—”
“Yeah, I fucking know. Big damn deal.” Jude shut the door behind her. Too quietly. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared.
Her mother—Theresa—blinked and glanced over at Erin. “You told him? And he’s still with you?”
Oh, yes, her mother was full of love and maternal instincts.
Erin felt her blood heat. “He’s still here.”
“Standing here, big as day,” Jude murmured. “Not planning to go anyplace.”
In a flash, her mother attacked, jumping back, and thrusting her claws right up to Jude’s throat. “Don’t even think about hurting her. Just ’cause she’s weak, you can’t—”
“Get away from him.” Not screamed. Not shouted. Erin gave the demand coldly, despite the fire in her gut, and she felt the rip of her claws tearing through her flesh.
Her mother’s head swung toward her. “Erin? What are you—”
Jude threw her back. A hard toss with his hand that had Theresa flying through the air and slamming into the floor. She scrambled up, fast, crouching, snarling and spitting.
Erin hurriedly stepped in front of Jude. “Don’t come at him again.”
Her mother’s face went slack with surprise.
Looking at her hurt. Erin sucked in a breath. “I don’t know why you’re here, and I really don’t care.” Lie, lie. “But you are not going to attack Jude. He’s done nothing but help me, and he doesn’t deserve that shit.”
Yellow eyes slit. “You care for him?”
The silence behind her was thick. Good thing Jude couldn’t see her face right them. “What I feel for him is not your business.”
But her mother saw too much. Always had.
After a moment, Theresa rose to her feet. Tossing back her hair, she said, “You’ve grown up hard.”
Yeah, because being abandoned by her mother should have made her grow up easy. A growl built in Erin’s throat.
Jude’s hands came down on her shoulders. Squeezed.
She stiffened. He shouldn’t touch her. No. Don’t do that. Don’t show her any weakness.
Too late. Her mother’s gaze had already noted the telling move.
“Attached to her, are you, tiger?” She smiled and seemed satisfied. “I hope you’re a fighter.”
“I am.” Close to a snarl.
“Good.”
Her eyes raked Erin. “Long time, baby girl.”
Baby girl, her ass. This wasn’t some movie-of-the week reunion. “What do you want?”
A shrug.
Red lights danced before Erin’s eyes. “Then get out.”
Jude pulled her back against his chest. “Easy.” Breathed in her ear.
But she didn’t want to be easy. She wanted to scream. To rage. Like she’d done years ago.
The yellow eyes dropped. “Been looking for you,” Theresa said, lifting her hand to rub the back of her neck. “You disappeared on me. I got…worried.”
What? “You left me years ago. You knew where I was.” She hadn’t moved until her dad died. “Not like I was real hard to find.” Theresa had never come looking for her. Not once.
Still gazing at the floor, her mother said, “Not then. I…watched you then. Had to stay far back. You would have caught my scent.”
It wouldn’t have hurt more if someone had carved her heart out with claws right then.
“Lost you…a few months back.”
What? All that time? All that damn time, her mother had been close by—and she’d never contacted her. Why?
Theresa glanced up. Her mother had to see the question burning Erin alive because she said, “You didn’t fit in my world.”
Like Erin didn’t know that.
“I didn’t fit in yours.” Another shrug of Theresa’s shoulders. But this time, the move seemed…tired. Sad. “But I still…wanted to make sure you were okay. I-I needed to see you.”
Erin shook her head. Jude felt solid behind her. Strong and steady—just what she needed then. “You threw me away.” A whisper, one she hadn’t meant to voice.
That stare bored into her. “Had to. You couldn’t shift—”
She flinched.
“—and the pack would have torn you apart. No way were you strong enough to handle what they would have thrown at you.” Theresa’s shoulders set. “I did what I had to do in order to protect you.”
Erin stared at her mother. At the tense expression on her face. The steady hands. And she said, simply, “Bullshit.”
Theresa’s jaw dropped.
“You didn’t leave me on that doorstep because you wanted to protect me.” Not buying that. Not for a minute. Jude’s hold on her tightened. “You did it because you were ashamed of me.”
She saw the hit in the slight widening of her mother’s eyes.
“You think I didn’t know?” Erin asked, stomach knotted. “You think I didn’t see the way you looked at me?” Not a proud mama. Never that. Always pushing her into the shadows. Away from the others who might see her.
“You were supposed to be like me!” A scream of fury and pain that broke fast and hard from her mother’s lips. “Supposed to shift and fight—just like me!”
“But I wasn’t just like you.” Sadness there. “I was like my dad.”
Theresa’s head jerked. “I should have been mated to the alpha! He loved me! We were supposed to be together, but then I screwed everything up and—”
“And had me.”
Her mother’s mouth snapped closed but she gave a grim nod.
Honesty, at least.
“You had me,” Erin continued, “and you didn’t think I was good enough for the pack—or for you.” This hurt.
“I wanted to be with him,” a stark whisper. “I loved him.”
Erin knew the him hadn’t been her father.
“He saw me,” Theresa said, voice soft. “Such dark, dark eyes that saw into me so well.” Her shoulders sagged. “He didn’t look at me the same way after he learned about your father.”
And what? That was Erin’s fault? Her father’s? Erin bit back the snarl that rose within her.
“When I got pregnant,” her mother said, “he knew I wasn’t his mate. Knew that somewhere out there, another woman waited…only a matter of time.” A tear trickled down her cheek. “I lost you.”
Not real hard to lose something when you threw it away.
“But first, I lost him.” She swiped away the tear with the back of her hand. “He left the pack before you were born. I-I kept thinking he’d come back, but he…turned his back on everyone. On me.”
Just like Erin’s mother had turned away from her. The woman wasn’t going to be getting any sympathy from her.
“Why did you come here tonight?” Jude’s gravelly voice.
Her mother blinked. “To…see Erin. I caught her scent at Mort’s. I wanted to…talk to her.”
“And what? Make up for lost time?” he demanded. “Or just jerk her around some more?”
Theresa’s hands fisted. “I wanted to make certain she was happy and safe. I didn’t know what you were to her, I was afraid—” She exhaled. “Shifters go after the weak.”
Weak. Was that how her mother truly saw her? Erin glanced down at her hands. Her claws were gone.
But they could come back in a second’s time.
“Other hybrids were in the pack,” her mother said, swallowing, “but you were the only one who couldn’t change. You were in danger, you were—”
“When I was fourteen,” Erin said softly, cutting through her words, “the girls in the pack jumped me.”
“What?”
“They thought I was weak, too.” They’d taunted. Teased. Then attacked her with claws and teeth.
But, luckily, they’d been in human form.
So she’d wiped the floor with their asses.
Erin met her mother’s shocked stare. “They were wrong about me, too.” She’d bet s
ome of them still had the scars to prove just how wrong they’d been.
“Y-you never said—and they didn’t—”
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry.” She’d always tried to protect her mother. Stupid really. Theresa was the last person on earth who needed protection. “They didn’t tell—well, I guess because they didn’t want everyone knowing the little freak had kicked their furry butts.”
They’d left her alone after that. No more teasing. No more taunts. She’d thought she was fitting in—
Until she’d been forced out.
Her spine straightened. “So don’t talk to me about being weak, okay? I know why you left me, but what I don’t know is why the hell you’ve come back now.” Or why she’d been coming back. Spying, all these years.
She’d never known. It hurt.
“I…missed you.”
She wouldn’t weaken.
“I wanted to see how you turned out.”
“And when Dad died? When I stood by his grave, crying, alone, where were you?”
No answer. She hadn’t expected one. Enough. “The reunion’s over, mother. Time for you to go.” Hopefully, before her mother decided to go after Jude—or her—with claws and teeth.
Theresa held her gaze, then gave a grim nod.
Erin and Jude stepped away from the door.
Her mother hesitated. “Things are…good for you. I know you used to be a lawyer—”
“Still am.”
“—but now you’ve got a mate.” A smile. Wistful, dammit. Her mother had been given a wonderful mate. “A strong shifter, someone who can—”
“My mate is a fucked-up wolf shifter, a hybrid like me who kills and tortures people because it gets him off.”
The smile vanished. Horror took its place on her mother’s face. “A-a hybrid…wolf?”
“Erin.” Jude’s tense voice. “Don’t. There’s something that I need—”
But she just rolled right over him, the rage too much to hold back. “So don’t think I’ve walked off into some sort of happily-ever-after la-la land for wanna-be shifters. I’ve got a mate, all right, mother. A mate who thinks he’s my perfect match in every single, sick way.”
Chapter 15
“She doesn’t know, does she?”
Jude led Erin’s mother outside and closed the door behind him. A thud shook the motel room wall. Huh. Wonder what Erin threw. “Ah…Doesn’t know what?”
“That she’s yours.”
His brows rose. Oh, but he hoped the door and walls were thicker than he’d thought.
He grabbed the woman’s arm and hauled her away from the room. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I?”
His jaw locked.
“I smell her on you. Smell you on her. That’s the way with mates. Like she’s under your skin and you’re under hers.”
He wouldn’t deny it, because Erin was under his skin. In his very blood. “Then you tell me…how is it possible for a woman to be a mate to two shifters? One a wolf and one a tiger?” Because it wasn’t possible. No way.
“Erin’s not your usual shifter. Maybe the rules don’t apply to her.” Her fangs flashed as she said, “Or maybe that asshole who’s claiming her is dead wrong.”
Good emphasis on dead.
“I want to be with her again,” she told him. “I know I’ve screwed up, but I miss her. I’ve missed her for years and I want back in her life.”
“That why you’re in Lillian? Hunting the locals? ’Cause you’re looking for her?” This setup wasn’t making sense to him.
“Yes.” A hiss.
He just stared at her.
“Hunting the local idiots was just bonus.” Her hands went to her hips. “I didn’t hurt anyone. Just had some fun.”
Right. The kind of fun that had led the gnome to his shotgun. Jude figured he owed the wolf before him for that. Another damn scar on his body.
But, curious now, he asked, “If I’d been after Erin at Mort’s, if I’d been going to have some…fun with her, what would you have done?”
“Ripped your throat out.” Said immediately.
Good to know.
“I know I’m messed up,” she told him with a straight stare. “And I know I’m not the mother she needs.” The woman wet her lips. “But I need her.” Her hand dove into her back pocket. When her hand came back up, she shoved a bent business card at him. “When…if she ever wants to talk to me, give her that number, okay?”
Not waiting for his answer, she spun away from him and marched toward the line of cars waiting in the parking lot.
After five feet, she stopped. “You gonna get that bastard claiming to be her mate?”
“Count on it.”
She tossed a quick glance over her shoulder and the smile on her face was pure Erin. “Good. Do me a favor—rip his throat out for me.”
Then she jumped into one of the cars and spun out of the lot.
“Will do,” he whispered, watching her go. Ripping the bastard’s throat out was the plan, after all.
The early morning sunlight burned her eyes. Thanks to her mother and the not-so-small matter of a murder, last night had been a real bitch. Erin marched away from the motel room, her bag clutched tightly in her hand. Coming back home had been exactly as hard as she’d thought it would be.
And just when she’d thought her life couldn’t get any more screwed up…
“Erin.” Jude grabbed her arm, jerking her to a stop. She blinked, trying to shove her way out of the pity party and focus on him.
“Company,” a breath of a whisper from Jude.
She followed his gaze and saw the gleaming curves of a BMW sweep into the old lot. Erin caught a glimpse of the driver’s face.
Judge Harper. “He must have another meeting,” she muttered. A meeting at the motel. No big surprise for the judge. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” She was more than ready to hit the road.
The BMW jerked to a halt, and Harper shoved open his door. He sprang from his car and his gaze instantly zeroed in on her. “Jerome! Erin Jerome! Wait!”
Great. Erin took a deep breath, aware of Jude stiffening behind her. Pasting a fake smile on her face, she asked, “Something I can do for you, judge?”
He stalked toward her. As usual, he looked all determined and cocky and confident—then he stumbled. The judge jerked to a halt and stared down at her.
She lifted a brow and stared right back.
“I-I had to find you. Cartwright told me you were leaving.” A heavy pause. “I went to Katherine LaShaun’s house.”
Erin blinked. “What?” The last thing she’d expected.
“I had to go! When I heard about the body”—his nostrils flared—“I needed to see for myself what was happening out there.”
Yeah, she’d wanted to see the scene, too. But she hadn’t been allowed on sight.
Harper’s eyes darted to Jude, then back to her. “Erin, can we talk, privately?”
“No.” The instant answer came from Jude and from Erin.
Harper’s lips thinned and he dragged a shaking hand through his already tousled hair. “You and Greer have to understand. Trent’s death wasn’t my fault.”
Oh, what? Was it hers?
“The wife recanted, she—”
“Even without her testimony, there was more than enough evidence to convict.” Flat, cold. “We both know that Trent was abusing her. The guy was guilty as the devil, and we had the chance to stop him.” But he’d walked.
Then, well, died.
“We did.” The judge rocked back on his heels, and for a moment, he didn’t look as strong or as fit as he’d appeared in the past. He looked…tired. “I guess he’s stopped now, though, isn’t he?”
“I guess he is,” Jude said, voice like a cool breeze.
Death had a nice way of stopping folks.
Harper flinched. “I didn’t know this would happen. I just—I just made the only judgment I could.”
&
nbsp; Erin didn’t know what to say to the judge. After a moment, he turned away from her and shuffled back to his car.
Erin watched him, aware of Jude’s strong presence at her back. Harper felt guilty. She could see it, feel it. Guilty enough to seek her out.
And he’d come—to what? Neither one of them could go back and change the past. Too many ifs in the world. If he’d convicted Trent…if she’d worked harder to prove the bastard’s guilt…if Sylvia hadn’t faltered…
You couldn’t go back.
The judge knew that and so did she.
Harper stopped at his car. He glanced back at her. “I know what they say about me.”
On the take. So many criminals walked right out of his courtroom with barely a slap on his wrist. “Do you?” She murmured, but Erin knew he heard her.
“I want those bastards who break the law to pay,” he told her. “Just like you do.”
Then why didn’t they? Why did so many ease past him?
He pulled open the driver’s side door. “I do the best I can, Jerome. Guess it’s not always good enough.” His eyes narrowed. “Don’t you ever have regrets?”
Too many. Erin gave a grudging nod.
“Is the bastard ever gonna leave?” Jude murmured in her ear and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
A ghost of a smile curved Harper’s lips. “I thought you might.” Then he climbed into his car.
Erin leaned against Jude. Damn but the man felt solid.
Harper drove away with a soft purr of his engine.
“You ready to get the hell out of this town?” Jude asked after a moment of silence. The thick, uncomfortable kind of silence that made her want to squirm.
“More than ready.” Before she had any more unwanted visitors from her past. Like a certain detective she’d prefer to avoid. Talk about regrets. Erin swallowed and tried to shove the past away. “We didn’t get any closer to finding the bastard, did we?”
He turned her toward him. “We’re gonna catch him, sweetheart.” Absolute certainty there.
But when? Before or after he killed someone else?
“We will catch him,” Jude repeated.
And, once again, Erin forced herself to nod.
Once they were in Baton Rouge, Erin tried to get back into her routine as fast as possible. But, her routine had an unexpected addition.