At the same time this was happening, Maia starting screeching, “You haven't even tried to speak to me! You are no more interested in me.” Then Maia realized what had happened, “You! You manipulating bitch! You found out he’d found his Mate and was buying her a house, and you just couldn't believe that he would replace you.”
Malina only emitted a gurgling sound, looking to Maia desperately as she’d begun to claw at Maverik’s hands around her throat. Maia realized that she couldn’t breathe. Maverik was very slowly strangling her.
“Daddy?” Maia said quietly.
Maverik did not respond; he was lost to his Wolf. His Wolf intent on finally getting his revenge, slowly, savoring every single moment. Maia stepped forward, reaching out to tentatively touch his shoulder, but Riley pulled her hand back, “Wait, Maia, he’s not himself.”
Maia didn't reach out again, but she tried to speak to him, “Daddy, she can’t breathe. You need to loosen your hold.”
Maverik didn’t respond at all.
Valerie didn’t care that the woman couldn’t breathe, but she didn't want Maia to have to watch her own mother die, so she pulled away from Daniel and slowly approached Maverik. As she got closer, she could see the woman had begun to struggle again, but just a little. Valerie stood beside Maverik and whispered his name. He didn’t respond. The woman was actually looking to Valerie now, her eyes pleading. Valerie smirked at her, but Maia’s voice saying, “Daddy, please,” made her realize that she had to help.
Valerie placed a hand on Maverik’s shoulder, who snarled a bit more. She wasn’t sure if it was directed at her personally, but she assumed he was so lost in the woman he saw as a threat that he didn’t even realize who was touching him, so she spoke to him. “Maverik, you need to let her go.” He definitely snarled at her then. Her Lioness answered, “Do not snarl at me, Mate!” He stopped snarling, but did not release Malina, who was struggling to stay conscious. Valerie increased her touch, rubbing his shoulder, moving to stand nearer to him, turning her body toward his, “If you bite me, I swear I will kick your ass, Wolf!” she told him in hushed tones.
The damn Wolf gave her a half-assed smile at that remark; she was encouraged then that she could reach him.
“Maverik, you need to let her go. She’s Maia’s mom; you can’t want your daughter to see you kill her mother. Let her go,” she implored again.
Maverik’s hands twitched, he slightly relaxed his grip, but just for a second before his Wolf snarled and tightened his hold again.
“Daddy, please. I know she deserves to be punished, but please don’t kill her. You let her live once, and it was the worst thing for her. Let her live again; it will turn out the same,” Maia stepped closer and put her hand on his other shoulder.
She leaned her head against him and rubbed her cheek on him, “Please, Daddy,” she begged.
Slowly, he leaned his head against the top of Maia’s, and then Valerie reached out to place her hands on top of his, slowly pulling his fingers apart.
He allowed her to loosen his grip, and Valerie put herself in front of him, her back to Malina, pressed her chest to his, and started walking him backwards. He resisted only a moment before seeming to realize that Valerie and Maia both had hands on him, soothing him. Trying to help him regain control of his Wolf. Then he allowed them to move him backwards. When they’d moved him back to stand near the table, Bam took up a position next to Maia, who gladly gave him her spot so that she could approach Malina who was now kneeling, trying to catch her breath as she leaned against the wall.
She knelt beside Malina, “You’re lucky he didn’t kill you; you need to leave now.”
Malina, rubbing her neck, looked defiantly at Maia, and when she spoke, her voice was raspy, “Don’t speak to me that way! I will not stand for it. I am your mother!” She stopped to cough and swallow a couple of times before continuing, “How could I have known that he was buying a home and was too excited to wait ‘til tomorrow to have it delivered if he hadn’t told me? Obviously we spoke.”
Maverik snarled, his voice growly, when he shouted at her, “Liar!”
Valerie looked into Maverik’s eyes. She wanted to believe him, but Malina knew too much to not be telling the truth. And she’d been played enough recently by her newly ex-fiancé to want to take a chance on being played again. “Then how did she know you bought a house? How did she know that you couldn’t wait ‘til tomorrow? How did she know, Maverik? She knew and yet none of your clan did? I’m not an idiot. Do you really think I’m stupid enough to fall for more lies?”
“Valerie, I swear, I ain’t spoke to her. I hadn’t seen her since I almost killed my brother on my front lawn more than ten years ago. I swear, Valerie.”
Valerie looked at him for a second before she shook her head and pulled away from him, then turned and started down the hall toward the front door.
He stood there barely controlling his Wolf, his heart hurting, not being able to answer her, but needing desperately for her to believe him.
“No, no, no, no,” Maverik started chanting, realization of what was happening beginning to sink in.
Desperately, he swung his eyes to Kaid, who asked, “Maverik? How’d she know, man?”
Then all hell broke loose.
The kids were upset. Cristie was crying as Sadie held her. Remi had crawled into Avaleigh's lap, and his eyes were steadily shifting between his usual black and Dragon orange as he glared at the woman that had everyone upset. Kaid and Daniel had placed themselves strategically around the room between their Mates and Maverik, whose Wolf was trying to kill the obviously psychotic woman claiming to be his Mate. Bam had moved beside Maverik to try to soothe him. Goldy was back beside Sadie, where she was trying to keep a sleeping Daisy asleep and calm a crying Cristie.
Delilah decided she had had enough. She stepped forward, “Give me the bitch. Maverik, go get Valerie!” Delilah ordered at the same time she lunged forward, grabbing Malina and lifting her from the floor where she still knelt. And she continued with her orders, “Maia, see to your father and stepmother. Riley, see to Cristie. Mother Sadie, take Daisy upstairs, so she will not awaken. I will take care of this, this evilness.” She reached out and placed her hand around Malina’s already bruised throat. Maia looked from Delilah, whose eyes were shifting from violet to ice blue, to Malina, the woman who had given birth to her, but never bothered to do more than that and had always made her daddy’s life a living hell. She had been the reason her daddy left. And on that thought alone, she decided that, yeah, Delilah could deal with it. She took a step back and let Delilah take over. She asked her, “Please don’t kill her, Aunt Delilah.” Then she calmly told Malina, “You will not do this to him again. You will NOT hurt him again!”
“You don’t understand, Maia. I deserve to be happy, too. And we were Mates; we are Mates. We can be again,” Malina insisted, still under her delusions. “He called me!” Malina cried, “how else would I know he’d bought a house for us?”
“Oh, Hell No!” Maia shrieked, again, “There’s a reason for you knowing. He would not have called you; I just have to figure out how the hell you found out!”
Then Maverik came back in the room with a very subdued Valerie wrapped in his arms again, more tightly this time. “Darlin’, look around you. These are my people; they know I don’t want Malina. They know she’s not my Mate; you are. You are all I want.” He pressed his lips to her temple as he held her to him as tightly as he could, her face pressed against his chest, his Wolf afraid to let her go because she may run again.
Maverik was trying to reason with Valerie, who kept repeating over and over again, “Well, then, how did she know?”
Delilah chose that moment to start dragging Malina across the kitchen, heading out the back door. Kaid realized what she meant to do and took out after her, “Delilah! Monster, wait! You can’t kill her.”
Delilah snickered, “Of course I can. It will be but a minor inconvenience. Sister Avaleigh, please warm my dinner for my return. I w
ill be a moment or two.”
And then Maverik’s phone rang where it sat in his back pocket. And so did Malina’s purse. Each time Maverik’s phone rang, Malina’s purse echoed it.
Everybody got quiet, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. Bam stepped forward, slipping Maverik's phone out of Maverik’s back pocket. He hit the speaker button and answered it.
“Hello?” he said, and the voice answered, “Dad?! Dad, Mom’s missing. You need to be on guard. I’m not sure if she knows where you are, but she went through all my stuff.”
Maverik answered him through the speaker feature that Bam had activated, “Matty, she’s already here, son. But thanks for the warning.”
Maia, across the room, had dumped her mother’s purse out on the table, and when she found Malina’s cell phone, she held it up, looking at it. She looked up at Maverik, “Keep talking to him, Daddy.”
Maverik started to tell Matty what had happened, while Maia was steadily scrolling through her mother’s phone. Only once did Malina try to object, and Delilah’s Dragon made her presence known so clearly that Malina stopped struggling and immediately started whimpering. She was terrified for once; she had an Ice Dragon’s hands on her, one around her neck, and the other holding her hands together behind her back.
“Aha!” Maia said, smiling; then, she pushed a button, and turning her back, whispered into the phone, “Can you hear me?”
Her voice clearly came across Maverik’s phone, and Matty responded with a “Hiya, butthead!”
Kaid snickered, Bam did, too.
“I don’t know how,” Maia turned and addressed Valerie, “but she managed to bug my brother’s phone. Each time he made or received a phone call, my mother was listening in. That’s how she knew about the house.”
“I told Matty. He called earlier today while I was house shopping, and he knew. He was the only one I told,” Maverik lowered his head, cheek resting against Valerie's as he explained. “I didn’t call her, Valerie. I only want you; please believe me,” Maverik told her, holding his breath. Valerie closed her eyes, leaning a little into Maverik, though not ready to fully give in. Her Lioness was still feeling wounded and slightly vulnerable. Maverik rubbed his cheek on her again.
“I’m sorry, Dad. Damn! I called as soon as I realized she was missing.”
“It’s okay, Matty. It’s not your fault,” Maverik told him.
“Monster?” Kaid said to Delilah, “she’s turning blue again,” he indicated Malina with his chin.
Delilah looked at the woman in her hands and then shrugged, “So?”
“So maybe you could let go of her throat, so she can tell us how she managed all this,” Kaid tried again.
Delilah curled her lip in disgust before yanking Malina around to face her, “If you insult Maverik or his Mate, my Dragon will have you for dinner. Do you feel my intention, female?”
Malina’s eyes got even bigger than they had been.
Delilah loosened her grip slightly and Malina took a deep breath, trying to think of anything she could say to get herself out of this.
“Don’t even try,” Bam told her. “We all know about you. About what you did to Maverik. No matter what you say, nobody’s gonna believe you.”
Then Bam spoke to Valerie, “Do you know what she did to Maverik?”
Valerie nodded, then whispered, “Yes. Maia told me this morning.”
Maverik’s eyes jumped to Maia in question. But then Riley made it worse, “It’s awright, Mav. I went and got her when Avaleigh called saying they couldn't find her. I brought her right home.”
“Couldn’t find her? You couldn't find her? When the hell was this? Before or after I called to check on her?” Maverik yelled at Avaleigh.
“Well, actually, it was about the same time,” Avaleigh told him sheepishly.
Before Maverik could respond, or anyone could say anything, Malina, having had a few moments to breathe and gather her thoughts, broke into the conversation, “You are still my Mate! You owe me! I had these kids for you. And Renegade has never been nice to me. After you left and we could be free to be together, he wasn't interested anymore. I should be happy, too! When Maia disappeared, and Slade’s body was found, I knew it had to be you. I knew that Matty didn’t have the heart to kill like that. And I knew that Renegade hadn't been in the village that night; he was with one of his whores. So that only left you. I watched and I waited, and then Matty left his phone on the couch one evening when he got in the shower, and I found messages from you on it. I just downloaded a mirror app, made a mirror image of his phone on mine, and each time his phone was used, mine rang, so I could listen in.” She raised her chin in the air haughtily, “I was patient. I listened to phone calls, read texts. Then I searched the area and the names of some of the places you mentioned and figured out where you were. Small towns like to gossip, so when I got to town I just asked where Maverik lived; then I came to find my daughter and my Mate. We will be a family again.”
“No the fuck we won’t!” Maverik yelled at her, “And you did not have these kids for me! You had them for Renegade!”
“It doesn't matter that he’s their father; I had them because you wanted them,” Malina yelled back.
Bam was steadily shaking his head, while he glared at Maverik.
“Mother, you are a fucking delusional lunatic,” Matty told her across the speaker phone that Bam still held aloft.
“I am not delusional, and you will treat me with the respect I deserve!” she yelled at Matty on the other end of the speaker phone.
“Mom, this is the respect you deserve. After all you’ve done, even for you, this is a new low. Dad? If you will just keep her there until I can get there; I’ll get her out of your way. I’m coming now.” As Matty said this, they could hear a car door slam.
“Drive safe, Matty,” was all Maverik said.
Bam ended the call, and they all turned their attention to Malina, who Delilah still held with her hands behind her back.
She started screeching at Maverik, “You will not mate this filth! She is not even a Wolf! I’m here, I will be the Mate you always wanted.”
“Valerie is the Mate I’ve always wanted. The ONLY Mate I will ever want!” Maverik bellowed at her.
Valerie removed herself from Maverik’s arms, and he reluctantly let her go. She walked over to where Delilah held the woman in her control, “Let her go, Delilah,” Valerie quietly requested.
Delilah dropped her hold on Malina, who immediately made to lunge at Valerie.
Valerie smiled, a smile of satisfaction, drew back her fist, and punched Malina so hard that Malina went down immediately, completely unconscious.
Delilah snickered, “I will dispose of this problem,” she said, reaching down with one hand to lift the unconscious woman from the ground.
“Aunt Delilah?” Maia started.
“Yes, little Wolf?”
“Can you just, like, tie her up or something? I mean, she is my mother, and I’d rather not have her killed…” Maia explained.
Delilah grunted, clearly not impressed that her Dragon wouldn't get to come out to play.
Chapter 17
Kaid and Goldy had secured Malina pretty well with bungee cords from Maverik’s pickup truck bed and placed a gag in her mouth because she wouldn't shut up. They sat her on the couch in the living room, and Delilah had immediately taken a seat so close to her that their thighs touched. She leaned against Malina until she looked at Delilah and Delilah let her eyes shift to ice blue, then, said with her Dragon’s rumble in her throat, “If you say one word, I will kill you. I do not care who you are mother of. Do you understand me?”
Malina nodded and shrank away from Delilah’s touch. As Malina went to scoot away from Delilah, Bam took a seat next to her, effectively blocking her in.
“Hello, Malina,” he said.
Malina looked at the Bear, who sat to her left and was keeping her pressed against the Dragon to her right. She was feeling a bit trapped as she looked around
the room for any ally at all.
The rest of the clan was in the living room now, including Valerie, who had yet to sit. Maverik had hugged her and wrapped her in his arms again because he was afraid she would again try to leave.
“Are you going to tell him, or do you want me to?” Bam asked her, bringing her attention back to the massive Bear shifter.
Malina couldn't answer him; she was gagged, so she couldn't run her mouth anymore. But she looked at him like he’d lost his mind.
Bam watched her for a moment; then, he closed his eyes, reaching out for her Wolf. Suddenly his eyes popped open; his mouth opened in surprise. “You don’t know. You really don’t know!” he said.
Riley sat across the room, on the arm of the wing-backed chair that Maia sat in, glaring at her mother. “You okay, Maia?” he asked her while still glaring at the woman across the room.
She nodded, but said nothing.
“You sure, sugar?” Riley asked gently. “She is your mom; no one would blame you for being upset.”
Maia looked up at him, “Yeah, I’m upset. I am! I’m upset that it wasn’t enough for her to rip my daddy apart once and drive him out of my life; she tried to do it again! To worm her way back in and to drive a wedge, so he lost another Mate. I’m upset that a woman that cold and calculating is even related to me! I’m upset that she’s here! I’m upset that all my life, she didn’t care about me. She didn’t care about Matty. Or even Miller. All she cared about was herself, her clothes, her looks, her money, her status in the pack. And I’m wondering how the hell did I even turn out to be halfway normal with her and Renegade for parents. You’re damn right I’m upset, but not for the reasons you think!” she answered him, tears of anger in her eyes.
Maverik's Ashes Page 15