When they located their room and she got the door open, the first thing he noticed was the bed. Singular. One huge king-size bed dominated the room, which was a thousand times more plush than the last one they’d shared.
“One bed,” he pointed out unnecessarily.
“And a couch.” She sounded positively cheerful. “Dibs on the bed.” Crossing to it, she made her point by pulling down the comforter and folding back the sheet.
A sharp rapping sound at their door. They both froze.
“Expecting someone?” he drawled.
Checking her pistol, she shook her head. “I haven’t even notified anyone that we’ve arrived.”
“Just a minute.” He checked the peephole. A tall, slender man with red hair stood out in the hall. “Come here and see if you recognize this guy.”
Stepping aside so she could peek out, he watched as her expression changed from worry to surprise.
“It’s my cousin Ian.” She frowned. “I don’t know how he knew we were here.”
“He probably was watching the lobby. What now? Do we let him in or pretend we’re not here?”
Reaching for the chain and undoing it, she shot him a worried smile. “They’re going to have to find out about you sooner or later. Might as well be now.”
“All right.” He stood back as she opened the door.
“Ian,” she cried out, as the tall red-haired man wrapped her in a hug. “It’s good to see you after all these years.”
Instead of responding, Ian stared at Mac. His brown eyes contained no hint of friendliness.
“Who’s this?” he asked in a voice full of suspicion.
Looking from Ian to Mac, she licked her lips. “He’s a friend.”
“A friend?” Ian exploded. “Surely you know better than to bring a friend along to something like this.”
Mac crossed his arms, still saying nothing, waiting to see how Kelly would handle this.
She looked down. Then, to Mac’s surprise, crossed to him and took his hand. “We’ve…we’re… I’ve spoken the words of binding with him,” she said, rushing the words. “So he’s a little more than just a friend.”
“He’s not one of us.”
She glared at her cousin. “I’m aware of that. Yet we are bound. I brought him here because I have no choice. You know how it is.”
Ian reared back, jaw clenched. “Does he…?”
“No.” She pleaded with her eyes. “I’ll tell him in my own time.”
Mac glanced at her, no doubt curious, though he apparently knew better than to say anything.
Immediately, Ian’s freckled face cleared. “True. And it’s not my problem, actually. Or my place to comment. So congratulations.” Smiling at Mac, he held out his hand.
“Mac Lamonda.” Mac shook.
“Ian McKenzie,” the other man said, his tone easy with the slightest hint of a Scottish burr. “I confess, lad, I was wondering if I’d have to fight you.”
“Yeah.” Mac chuckled. “I thought the same thing.”
Meanwhile, Kelly caught an undercurrent of insincerity, though whether on Ian’s part or Mac’s, she couldn’t tell.
“What’s going on, Ian?” Keeping close to Mac’s side, Kelly studied her cousin. “Is everyone here yet?”
“Your mother is. She’s the one who sent me to get you. She wants to see you before the big meeting tomorrow.”
Kelly’s entire face lit up, making her breathtakingly beautiful. While he pondered this, his chest tight, she shook her head at him. “Do you mind waiting here?”
“Of course not,” he answered immediately. “You haven’t seen your mom in twelve years. I wouldn’t want to intrude.”
“Intrude?” Ian boomed. “You’re her mate, lad. How can you possibly intrude? Come along.”
Mate? Stunned, Mac was about to correct him when he caught a look at Kelly’s face. She appeared to be begging him with her eyes not to argue.
So he didn’t. If she wanted her cousin and the rest of her family to believe they were mated, that was fine with him. In fact, it might even help them trust him enough to let him have his children back.
But now Ian was studying him closely. “You look familiar,” he began.
Kelly laughed, the sound completely fake. “That’s because he used to be married to Maggie Douglas, our cousin. While she didn’t come around the family much, you may have seen him around once or twice at family get-togethers.”
“No,” Mac put in smoothly. “He wouldn’t have. Maggie was shunned by her family after marrying me.”
The suspicion back in his gaze, Ian looked at Mac. “Why are you still alive?” he asked bluntly.
“Ian!” Breathless with nerves, Kelly stepped between them. “He was married to Maggie, but they never spoke the words of binding.”
The red-headed man never took his eyes off Mac. “Let me get this straight. You were married to one Tearlach and now you’ve mated with another?”
“I agree it sounds weird.” Mac strove for the same lighthearted tone as Kelly had used earlier. “I know it is kind of strange, but what can you do?” Putting his arm around Kelly’s slender shoulders, he pulled her close, giving her a loving look and a kiss on top of her head for good measure.
Eyeing the two of them, Ian relaxed. All except his jaw, which remained tight. “I guess you’re right. We have little control over what the fates have planned for us.” It sounded like a warning.
Though Mac didn’t believe in the notion of fate, he smiled and nodded. Not wanting to bring up his children, he thought maybe Ian would mention them. After all, if all the Tearlachs were getting together, his kids had to be around here somewhere.
“Come on.” Ian opened the door, giving Kelly a conspiratorial wink. “Let’s introduce your mate to your mum. I can’t wait to see how she reacts to this.”
Next to Mac, Kelly heaved a quiet sigh. “Let’s,” she replied.
As they strode down the hallway to the elevator, Mac resolved to stay as much in the background as possible. Ian might believe Mac and Kelly were mates, but he should have let the first reunion between Kelly and her mother take place in private.
Once they were inside the elevator, Ian slipped in his card key, but didn’t punch in a floor. At Kelly’s curious look, he smiled.
“Our mothers are sharing the penthouse suite on the VIP floor. We’ve rented several of them, including a large banquet room for our meeting tomorrow.”
Eyes wide, Kelly nodded. On impulse, Mac took her hand and squeezed, offering reassurance. Her grateful smile was so brilliant he had to fight the urge to kiss her right there, in front of Ian.
Noticing, Ian chuckled. “True love. How sweet.”
Kelly tilted her head. “Have you not yet found your mate, Ian?”
“Nope. And no hurry there,” he said easily. “I’m perfectly happy the way things are.”
Mac smiled, aware he couldn’t say he felt the same, though he did. After losing Maggie, he knew he couldn’t bear the same kind of loss ever again. Therefore, Maggie would have been, in reality, his one true mate, his only mate. He tried for a half smile, wondering why this thought felt so foreign, then shrugged it off.
If it helped him get his children back, he’d pretend to be just about anything. Including the mate of a woman he barely knew.
The elevator doors opened and they stepped out.
“This floor doesn’t even look like the same hotel,” Kelly said. “Even the carpet’s nicer.”
Ian grinned. “Wait until you see the suite.”
As they walked the length of the long hall, Kelly began twisting her hands together. Noticing Mac watching, she gave him a tremulous smile.
“I’m nervous. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my mom. I’m wondering what she’ll think of me.”
To his mild surprise, he found himself pulling her close to comfort her. “What do you mean? She’s your mother. Even if you’d gotten multiple piercings and tattoos and dyed your hair blue, she’d still love you. I
’m sure she’s been missing you as much as you’ve missed her.”
“Wise man you have there, lass,” Ian put in. “Your mum raised you to be strong, just like all our mums did. When you’re a Tearlach, you have to be prepared for anything.”
Mac wondered why that was so and even why they still believed it. Maggie had told him the same thing, though always with an ironic shrug and a little laugh. She’d seemed to find the entire Tearlach thing kind of amusingly annoying, and he had to confess, because of her outlook on it, he’d never put much credence in such nonsense.
Until they’d grabbed his children, that is.
Near the end of the hallway, they stopped in front of the last door on the left. Ian paused. “Are you ready?” he asked Kelly.
Pulling away from Mac, she straightened her shoulders and nodded. “Yes.”
Ian tapped on the door, using what sounded like some sort of code. Three sharp raps, then two. Then he repeated the entire thing.
The door opened. A teenage girl with a shock of red hair held it open for them. “Welcome,” she said, her accent Australian. Ian stepped aside, indicating with a sweep of his hand that they should precede him.
Kelly took a deep breath, glanced at Ian and did exactly that.
Her first impression was of a crowded room. Some of the people looked familiar, others only vaguely so. She didn’t see her mother at first, and while she searched every face in the room, her heart pounded so hard she thought it would burst.
“Kelly?” The soft voice came from behind her, the wonder in it breaking her heart.
Kelly spun, staring at the lean older woman with joy. Her mother Rose’s blond hair had begun to silver, though she still wore it long and straight, cascading over her shoulders and down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were still as green in a pale, perfect face, and if there were a few more lines and wrinkles, that was natural considering the passage of time.
She held out her arms and Kelly walked right into them, her heart splintering in half.
“Mama,” she murmured, over and over, suddenly a child again and hardly able to bear it.
Smoothing her hair, her mother whispered her name. “Oh, my Kelly. How I’ve missed you.”
At those words, Kelly felt a surprising flash of anger. She’d never understood how any mother could send a child away—only sixteen years old—to fend for herself, alone. Even though her uncle had ordered this, a small, lonely part of her believed her mother should have resisted. Kelly knew she would have, had she been in her mother’s shoes.
No matter what the danger, she believed she’d have kept her child at her side.
Though she didn’t understand, had never understood, now was not the time for such questions.
“A reunion,” her mother said brightly, her eyes bright with tears.
Since Kelly’s throat had closed up from her own emotion, she simply nodded and hugged her again, holding her a tad bit too tightly.
When they broke apart, her mother looked at Mac. “Who is this?”
Instead of answering, Mac looked at Kelly.
Kelly’s stomach clenched, but she lifted her chin and made the introductions.
Rose nodded. “Pleased to meet you,” she said, before turning again to her daughter. “I take it this relationship is a serious one? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have brought him here.”
“Yes. We spoke the words of binding a few days ago.”
Rose’s perfectly shaped eyebrows rose. “Really? He’s not—”
“Tearlach,” Kelly said. “I know. But I was attacked and he saved my life, so I saved his. I had no choice in the matter.”
“I see.” Her mother nodded, looking dazed. “Your attack was not reported to me. I’m glad he was there to help you. I honestly had no idea you were serious about anyone.”
This proved too much for Kelly to let pass. “I had no idea you knew anything about me at all,” she said, her voice tight.
“I know everything about you, from what dog you’ve rescued last to the name of your friend in town.”
“You couldn’t be bothered to contact me in person, yet you had me spied on?” Kelly’s voice rose.
“Of course I didn’t.” Her mother’s mouth went tight. “If you’ll excuse us,” she said to Mac, taking Kelly by the arm. “We need to speak privately.” And, without asking if Kelly wanted this, she led her to another room.
Her room, a private bedroom, was empty. Rose closed the door and then patted the edge of the bed. “Have a seat, honey. Make yourself comfortable.”
Kelly crossed her arms, ill at ease and unable to articulate exactly why. “I’d rather stand, thanks.”
Shrugging, Rose sat, perched on the edge of the bed like a bird about to take flight. “You’re angry with me.”
“Wouldn’t you be?” Kelly retorted. To her mortification, tears stung the back of her eyes. “If our situations were reversed?”
“You were never alone and the family you were sent to live with was well vetted. The Smiths always kept me apprised. They did a good job raising you.”
“I left as soon as I turned eighteen. Does that tell you anything?”
Rose studied her with sadness in her face. “You weren’t happy?”
“How could I be? Everyone I loved was gone, taken away from me. I didn’t even have family with me while I grieved over Daddy.”
“Neither did I,” Rose pointed out gently.
“But you were an adult. I was just a child. I was heartbroken and confused.” She moved closer, studying her mother intently. “You never once called or even wrote me a letter.” Her voice broke and, resolutely, she steadied it. “As far as I was concerned, you might have been dead, too.”
“Oh, Kelly.” Rising, Rose crossed the room and tried to pull a resisting Kelly into her arms. “You know I, out of everyone in the family, couldn’t contact you or any of my children. It wasn’t safe. I’m so sorry. It broke my heart, too. But I only did what was necessary to keep you alive.”
Kelly let herself be held, and even brought her arms up around her mother’s slender shoulders to hug her back. “Tell me what really happened, Mother. Why was it so imperative that we all go into hiding and never reveal our true nature?”
Rose shook her head, half smiling, though tears flowed from her eyes. “You’ll learn all this tomorrow, at the big meeting. This time we have together, I want to be all about me and you. Tell me about that young man of yours. It seems awfully troublesome that you’ve just become mates mere days before the big meeting.”
Kelly sighed. “Neither of us knew anything about that.” Taking a deep breath, she told her mother the truth, relaying the entire story. When she’d finished, she looked up to find her mother studying her.
“You don’t think this was a setup? The Protectors had to know he was married to Maggie.”
“Even if they did, what difference would it make to me?”
“True.” Looking thoughtful, her mother gazed into the distance, as though listening to another voice, one that was inaudible to anyone but her. “Well, either way, Ian and the others will keep a close eye on him. Is he armed?”
Shocked, Kelly shook her head. “No, of course not. He wanted a gun, especially after we were shot at on the way here, but I wouldn’t give him one, of course.”
“Shot at on the way here?”
“Yes.” Kelly told her what had happened. “I don’t know what they wanted.”
“You, honey. They wanted you. Since they’ve grabbed the two girls, you’re the only other female of childbearing age left.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m sorry.” Rose winced. When she spoke again, her voice was soft but full of steel. “They are taking all the young females in order to start their own breeding program. That’s one theory. The other was even worse—much more sinister.”
Her mother took a deep breath before hugging her again. “Sorry to go on like this. I’m just trying to explain.”
“Explain what?” Kelly asked
.
“Why we did what we did. These people, whoever they are, will stop at nothing to achieve their goal. That’s why it was essential that we split up, and imperative that we all hide our true natures.”
“I thought it had something to do with something Daddy did,” Kelly began.
“Your father tried to stop this—it’s why he was killed. Of course, the breeding-program thing is only one of several possibilities. The meeting tomorrow will give you greater details.”
A breeding program? That didn’t make sense. Her mother had said that was only a theory, and that the others were worse. She wondered if the others made more sense.
“But I don’t get why,” Kelly said. “I just don’t understand.”
“Tomorrow,” Rose repeated. Taking a deep breath, she cupped Kelly’s face in her hands. “Are you certain you’re safe with your young man?”
There were very few things that Kelly actually was certain of, but oddly enough, this was one of them. “Yes, I am.” She lifted her chin proudly. “We’re truly bound together. And honestly, if he was going to try and hurt me, he’s had numerous opportunities before now.”
“He had children with Maggie. You know they’ve been taken. Don’t you think there’s a secret agenda with him?”
“Oh, there is. I’m well aware of what he wants.” Kelly gave her mother a grim smile. “Though he doesn’t know I realize it, he means to get his children back. And really, I can’t say that I blame him.”
Rose’s mouth tightened. “You do understand that’s not possible, don’t you? They’re Tearlachs. As such, his children have been put into the same system you went into. They are in hiding, where they’ll remain until they are adults. They are Tearlachs, after all. He has no right to them.”
“He’s their father,” Kelly said. “If he doesn’t have the best reason of all to be with them—”
“They must be protected,” her mother cut in.
Kelly couldn’t see the point in that. “But—”
“No buts.” Rose squeezed her shoulder affectionately. Softening her tone, she said, “Come on, let’s rejoin the others. We’ll talk again tomorrow, after the big meeting. You’ll understand better once you have more information. The big picture, as it is.”
Pack 11 - Wolf Whisperer Page 11