Mission accomplished. See you at home.
She smiled. “You won’t have to wait with me. Hank just messaged to say everything’s taken care of and he’d see me at home. Or he’s headed home. Either way, you won’t have to wait long.”
“Glad to hear it.” Birdie drove with both hands on the wheel, firmly planted in the ten and two positions. “I mean, glad to hear he took care of those hoodlums. Not that I won’t have to stay. I’d be happy to do that.”
“I know.”
But she didn’t have to. The squad car was parked outside the garage.
Birdie dropped Ivy off in the driveway. Ivy thanked her, scooped up the wedding dress box and went in. As sweet as Hank’s aunt was, it was a relief to be away from the constant wedding chatter.
Hank met Ivy at the door with a smile, but his eyes held an endearing amount of concern. “Did she wear you out?”
A little, but Ivy wasn’t about to disparage the woman who’d just gifted her with a wedding dress. “No. Your aunt is lovely.”
He snorted as he stepped out of the way to let her inside.
“Really, she is.”
“Looks like you did some shopping.”
“We did.” If only he knew what was in that box.
“So did I.”
She frowned at him. “You went shopping?”
He dug a little velvet box out of the pocket of his jeans and handed it to her. “See for yourself.”
She set down the box she was carrying and opened the one he’d given her, even though she already knew what was in it. The ring. She sucked in a breath when she saw how wrong she’d been. It was a ring all right, but not the little one she’d picked out. It was the expensive one she’d loved but known was too much. “You crazy man. You bought the big one.”
He nodded. “You like it?”
She swallowed and swiped at her eyes, feeling the heat of building tears. “It’s beautiful. But it’s not the one I pointed to.”
He took the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger. “It’s the one I thought you should have. You seemed to like it best.”
She had, but it had been so expensive she hadn’t dared let him know. Apparently, she’d failed at that. She glanced at the ring, but her gaze came up to stare at his handsome face a second later. “You’re really something, you know that?”
He smiled. “So are you.”
She leaned in and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“I’m so glad you caught those guys.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. There was so much pleasure in being in his arms, safe and protected. It was such a rare feeling in her life that she almost started weeping for real.
Reluctantly, she broke the embrace and picked up the wedding dress box. “I’m just going to run upstairs and put this away, then I’ll be back down and I want to hear all about how you took down the Jenkins brothers.”
“You want a beer?”
He really was the man of her dreams. “More than words can say.”
With a grin, she jogged up the stairs to her bedroom and shut the door. She put the box on the bed and freed the dress from the wrappings, her heart fluttering a bit as she shook it out. Up until Hank had given her the ring, it had been the most beautiful thing she’d ever owned.
She hoped neither one became the symbol of a horrible day. The ring could be returned, but the dress, she wasn’t so sure about. She sat on the bed and clutched the gown to her, the lace soft and perfect in her hands.
Hank was amazing. So much more than she’d dreamed of. Maybe…more than she deserved, although after life with her father, maybe Hank was her reward for not killing Clemens.
Whether or not Hank loved her, Ivy knew she loved him. How could she not? For all his gruff exterior, he’d warmed up fast and shown her a side of himself that was caring and concerned and fiercely protective.
One thing after another and he’d proved what kind of man he was.
When she’d almost died at the hands of the Jenkins brothers, Hank had gone after them and taken them out of the picture.
She’d told him about Charlie and he hadn’t blinked an eye. She could only imagine what kind of amazing father he would be. Someday.
He was a generous lover. He’d made her breakfast. Bought her flowers. And then there was the ring he’d picked out. The ring he’d thought she should have. She stuck her hand out and splayed her fingers, not quite able to enjoy the glitter of the diamond now seated there.
All that when she’d expected him to judge her for her last name and treat her like something to be endured.
He did not deserve the trap Clemens was setting for him. Nor did the Merrow pack deserve the war that would follow if Hank refused to marry her, which would be perfectly within his rights if he found out the truth before they were married.
Her cell phone rang, snapping her out of her head. She let the dress fall limp over her lap as she checked the screen. Her mother’s number. Which meant Charlie. Her heart leaped. She swiped to answer. “Hey, baby! It’s so good to hear your voice.”
Sobs answered her. “Mom, you gotta come home.”
Pain stabbed her in the heart. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
The crying increased, and all her son could manage was, “Grandpa.”
Rage rose up in Ivy. A lifetime’s worth. But it was her mother’s instinct that drove her to her feet. The dress fell to the floor, forgotten. Enough was enough. Whatever the consequences, she was done abiding by her father’s rule at her son’s expense.
She stared out the window, seeing nothing but her own, golden-eyed reflection. “I’m coming, baby. I’m coming.”
Hank popped the top off Ivy’s beer, set it next to his, then leaned against the counter while he waited on her. He’d changed into a fresh shirt and tossed the old one out as soon as he’d gotten home. He might have healed from Wade’s nails slicing him, but his T-shirt was a lost cause.
He also didn’t want Ivy to worry that he’d gotten hurt. Shifters healed fast, but if she’d seen the dried blood and the torn shirt, it would have upset her. Poor woman had enough to deal with after nearly being poisoned to death.
Those damn Jenkins brothers should be counting their blessings she hadn’t died. It was the only reason they were still breathing.
He glanced out toward the street. The sun was about an hour from setting. Maybe they’d sit on the back deck and have their beer out there. It would be nice to unwind with someone like that every day. Especially someone like Ivy. He smiled. Thinking about her did that to him. Thinking about life with her made it impossible not to smile.
Ivy stormed down the steps, her saddlebags over her shoulder. His smile vanished at the anger dancing in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
She didn’t stop moving. “I have to go.”
“What?” He stopped leaning and stood up straight. “Where?”
“I have to get Charlie. He just called me crying. I don’t know what my father’s done, but I’m not leaving my son there a second longer.” She bit the words out, her emotions visible in her face and stiff movements.
“It’s almost a seven-hour drive.”
“I’m not asking you to go.” She headed for the garage.
“Hold on a second, will you?”
She paused, her hand on the door handle. “Why? My father is terrorizing my son. I’m not waiting another second. I’ve already waited long enough.”
“Because I might have a better solution.” He pulled his phone out and dialed.
Her mouth opened, but she said nothing and closed it firmly, popping her jaw to the side. Visible tension held her ramrod straight as her lips thinned to a hard line. She was trembling the slightest bit. Hank guessed that was rage.
Hugh Ellingham answered on the third ring. “Sheriff Merrow, what can I do for you this fine evening?”
“I need a favor.”
“Name it.”
&n
bsp; “I need the Ellingham plane.”
Less than two hours later, they’d landed at McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport. Ivy had thanked Hank profusely before they’d left, but had gone quiet on the flight, pulling into herself. Introspective, but never without losing the fire in her eyes. He’d seen that in soldiers about to go into the field.
He understood and left her alone.
She was preparing to go to war.
He just hoped she understood she wasn’t going alone. He wasn’t about to let his fiancée face Clemens Kincaid by herself, even if the man was her father. Especially since the man was her father. Ivy didn’t seem to have much love for the man, and Hank had a pretty good idea of why that was, based on what Ivy had told him and what Hank had inferred.
Clemens ruled his pack and his family with an iron fist and an outdated sense of place. None of that made too much difference, except for how it affected Ivy and Charlie. And if the man had hurt Charlie, Hank was going to kick his ass. Alpha or not, consequences be damned, Hank was not going to let the man harm the child who was about to be Hank’s son. No way in hell.
The poor kid must miss his mother beyond words.
Hank had only known Ivy a few days and already couldn’t imagine being away from her. How much worse was it for a little boy with Clemens looking after him?
As soon as they deplaned, Hank rented a car from the lone rental agent and got them on the road.
“It’s a little tricky in the dark. Country roads aren’t well marked either.” Ivy plugged the address into the GPS and went quiet again.
Occasionally, she’d glance at her engagement ring, then frown and stare out the window for long uninterrupted periods. Mostly she seemed lost in thought, her mouth bent in a permanent frown.
Whatever was going on in her head made him hurt for her. He glanced over, wishing there was something he could do to help. To fix things. “You all right?”
“No. But I will be.”
“Once we get Charlie.”
She nodded and rubbed at her eyes.
“You want to give me some recon? What are we walking into here?
“My father is a mean SOB who believes his word is law.”
“Is he armed?”
She glanced at Hank. “It’s Tennessee.”
“So yes.”
She stared through the windshield. “He prefers his fists.”
Hank could handle a little hand to hand. He nodded. “It’s going to be okay.”
She barked out a harsh laugh. “I wish I could believe that, but I know better. I’m a Kincaid. I know how these things play out.”
“Except this time, you’re not on your own.”
Ivy put her hand on the door handle and turned to face him. “Hank, if I don’t get another chance to tell you this, I just want you to say that you’re the best man I’ve ever known. Thank you for everything.”
That sounded like goodbye. Hank stared at her. “What do you mean if you don’t get another chance—?”
“Hank, my father is a conniving, manipulative man. In place of his soul there’s an empty, black pit.” She was shaking. “There is nothing good in him, and there never will be. I only left Charlie with him because he forced me to.”
“Just like he forced you into this marriage. I get it. But I did a tour in Iraq and a tour in Afghanistan. It takes a lot more than an alpha werewolf with an overblown sense of importance to scare me.”
“Well, he scares the hell out of me. Has for most of my life.” She turned away and stared out the window. “But I’m done with that now. Done with his threats. I don’t care what he does to me, but if he’s hurt Charlie—”
“You really think he would hurt his own grandson?”
The sharp, bitter laugh came back only to be choked off by a sob. “You have no idea what this man is capable of.” She bent her head. “Or what he’s capable of getting others to do.”
“You think he was behind the Jenkins boys?”
“No. Getting me married off to a Merrow was his number one plan. Killing me would ruin everything and leave him stuck with Charlie.” She sniffed and took her hand off the door handle.
“Stuck? With his grandson?” Hank’s hackles went up as he followed the GPS instructions to turn right. “What aren’t you telling me?”
She swallowed and a single tear spilled down her cheek. “I’m really, really sorry, Hank.” Her voice had the soft, deflated tone of guilt. “It was never my intent to deceive you, but my father said he’d leave Charlie out alone in the middle of the woods on the night of the full moon if I told you the truth. I couldn’t risk my son’s life for the feelings of a man I had never met.” She glanced at him. “I wouldn’t risk my son’s life for anything.”
“I can understand that.” His hatred for Clemens grew a notch. Arranged marriages weren’t untypical in pack life. Hank’s jaw tightened. “But not how your father could threaten his own grandchild. That makes him more of a monster than I’d imagined.”
“You’re starting to understand.” She seemed small. Like she was trying to pull away from him.
“Why didn’t you take Charlie and run?”
“Too dangerous. My father would have hunted us down and made an example out of us. No one shames Clemens Kincaid. It’s bad enough that Charlie…” She swallowed the rest of her words and went quiet.
Hank wanted to touch her, but kept his hands on the wheel. “Bad enough that Charlie what? I know you’re keeping something from me. There has to be more. Like why leaving Charlie alone in the woods on the night of a full moon is such a threat. Whatever it is, I’m not going to be mad. Just tell me.”
“I don’t want to. Because I don’t want you to hate me.”
“Would you rather I hear it from your father?” He couldn’t guess what she thought was so terrible.
She clasped her arms around herself and retreated against the door, cringing a little as she spoke. “Charlie…can’t shift.”
The words punched Hank in the gut. A kid who couldn’t shift? He knew immediately why she’d pulled away from him. Why she’d kept this from him. Clemens must think he was really about to get one over on the Merrows. Hank kept his voice calm, even though that wasn’t what he was feeling inside. “I thought you said Charlie had gone through his first turning.”
“No. You asked if he’s just had his first moon. I only said that he had, right after his May fifth birthday. Not that he’d actually turned.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I didn’t want to lie to you, Hank. I thought a vague answer was better than a lie.”
“Except I took it to mean—never mind.” Ivy didn’t need him adding to her guilt. He understood her reasoning and her deep-seated desire to protect her child. “Why can’t Charlie shift?”
She shrugged, her eyes bleak with misery. “I don’t know. His father was a wolf. There’s no real reason. It just happens sometimes.”
“It does.” It was rare, but it occurred every few generations. In the old days, those children were considered cursed, a blight on their packs. They were turned out. Left to the elements. Which was exactly what Clemens Kincaid was threatening if he couldn’t pawn the child off on the Georgia pack. Hank looked through the swath of light created by the headlights, embarrassed by the history of his kind and barely able to control his anger. This wasn’t something a mother should have to deal with.
“I get that this changes things,” she said softly. “I’m really sorry to have led you on, and I want you to know I understand why you won’t be marrying me. I have no hard feelings toward you. I just hope you don’t hate me.”
He felt her hand on his leg. He looked down from the road. Her palm was on his thigh, face up. Her engagement ring squarely in the middle.
“Hate you? For something your father forced you to do? I’m in love with you, Ivy. Don’t you know that? Put that ring back on.” He glanced at her. “It’s time to get Charlie.”
Her eyes rounded. “You…don’t care…that Charlie can’t shift?”
&
nbsp; “No. I mean, I care, but only because it must be making the kid’s life miserable. Especially with Clemens for a grandfather.”
“But it means you’ll never be able to be alpha. Not with a firstborn son who can’t succeed you. It means you’ll be known as the father of a…mutt.”
Anger stirred within him. The slur held more derogatory meaning than any other a were could be called. “Anyone calls Charlie a mutt in my presence, there’s going to be hell to pay.”
He pulled into the driveway at her parents’ house and turned the car off. The place was big but artless. The goal of the house seemed to be size, not class. It was a two-story brick monstrosity with white columns and arched windows and a front porch that ran the length of the house. Sort of a plantation manor without the charm. He twisted on the seat to face her. “Do you care if I never become alpha?”
She gave him a strange look. “Of course not, but don’t you care?”
“No. I can live without it.” He realized he could. He already had a great life. Being alpha wasn’t going to change that. “So long as I have you, that is. And Charlie. Okay? I love you.”
Eyes liquid with emotion, she nodded. “Okay,” she whispered. “I love you, too.”
He nodded, feeling the fire in his belly building to a dangerous crescendo. “Good. Let’s go get our kid.”
Ivy stood on her parents’ front porch, Hank at her side, wondering what she’d done right in her life to end up with a man like this. If she let herself think about it too much, she’d probably break down and have a good long cry, but there wasn’t time for that. Not when Charlie needed her.
Hank rapped his big fist on the Kincaids’ front door. The brass knocker, a wolf’s head, was in need of polishing.
“Patsy, get the damn door.” Clemens’ shout reached beyond the house walls to scrape down Ivy’s spine like the tines of a sharpened fork.
Hank reached out and squeezed her hand as Ivy’s mother answered the door. She looked gray and worn. The smell of roasted meat and vegetables wafted out.
The Werewolf Meets His Match (Nocturne Falls Book 2) Page 14