“You have a very generous heart. That young man didn’t deserve what you gave him. Perhaps Mr. Foster can be the father your Lucas wasn’t.”
“I can’t believe I’m telling you any of this. It must be the blood loss.” Bianca laughed. “Please forget everything I just said.”
“Done.” Kane smiled tightly and nodded. “Now, here we are.” Kane led her over to the table and pulled out her chair. Bianca sat. Pearl choked, coughed, and covered her mouth with a napkin.
Hayden’s eyes widened. “Bianca, hi, why is your shirt all bloody?”
Bianca did her best to give a reassuring smile. “I had a little accident, and your dad helped me out because he’s such a nice man.” Hayden’s mouth dropped, and then he giggled. She bit her lip to keep from laughing. I bet I’m the first person to tell the kid his dad is a nice man.
Jack was more serious than his brother was and sat glowering at her. Bianca gave him a little smile. “How are you this morning?”
“I wish you’d come back. I don’t think I get to play as much when you’re not in charge.” Jack’s grumpy scowl made her realize he looked the most like his father.
Taking a drink of the juice pearl poured for her, Bianca nodded. “I’ll come back soon, but I can check up on how things are going Wednesday night.”
Pearl glared at her son; then she turned to look at Bianca. “Oh, you don’t have to do that. You know how boys are. Take the time you need.”
Bianca shrugged. “I’ve missed the kids, all of them, and it’s time I got back to the business of living.”
Kane cleared his throat. “And if you take my advice business will thrive. Everything will be easier for you if you ask Foster to do right by you.” Kane turned away from her and looked at his children. “Boys, Chessa Archer, has been found, but when you see her again be kind because she’s a bitten now.”
Milk shot out of Jack’s nose.
“Jack!” Pearl scowled. “That’s very rude.”
Royal didn’t appear to care as he ate his pancake, but Hayden sat forward in his chair. “Really.” Hayden looked at Bianca, not his dad.
“Really.” Bianca nodded. “And she’s having a hard time. We didn’t know this could happen to her.”
“Wow, I don’t have any bitten friends.” Hayden peeked at his dad. “Since I was friends with her before can I still hang out with her?”
Confused, Bianca turned to Kane. He glared at his son, growling softly. There was a change in him and the anger alive in his expression made Bianca shiver. She’d never seen someone give a child such a hateful look. “I know what I’ve said.” Kane’s voice distorted as if he were wolfing out. “But Chessa Archer is an exceptional girl, think of her as a born.” His eyes glowed, and Hayden sank back in his seat, ashen.
Bianca fumed. “Your son didn’t say anything wrong. Don’t scare him.” She’d never liked human elitists and dealing with wolfy prejudice made her just as queasy. Taking a pancake, she drizzled syrup on it trying to ignore the sudden discomfort. Keeping my mouth shut has never been my style. Screw it. “Boys, you both know we are inclusive at the center. Is there some special—racism happening?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Jack said sheepishly.
“Can you both help me to understand? I want to protect everyone? I hope you aren’t part of the problem, right?”
Neither boy spoke as they looked down at their plates. Bianca’s gaze found Kane’s. The mayor’s dark scowl and glowing eyes made her cringe, but she straightened her back and forced herself to look him dead in the eyes. “I will protect my child. When she returns to school how can I prevent discrimination? What advice can you offer me, one parent to another?”
Kane sneered, and his eyes narrowed. “I’d suggest you homeschool. Let’s go, Ms. Archer, we need to get you back to the hospital, and I think I’ve lost my appetite.”
Bianca looked over at Pearl. “Thank you so much for everything. You helped me a lot last night.”
“Of course, any time you need to talk please feel free to come back and see me.” The fearful expression on Pearl’s face sent Bianca’s pulse racing.
Kane wasn’t gentle as he jerked Bianca to her feet. She cried out in pain. A warm trickle of blood oozed from under the bandage, and she managed to snag her purse off the back of the chair as Kane hustled her out of the house so fast she hadn’t eaten a single bite.
Twelve
Kane ignored Bianca’s pain. Reminding her staying human hurts will help me convince her to accept the bite.
Bianca shuddered. “I can’t take too much more of your temper—ouch—I think my stitches came apart.” She trembled in his hold and Kane paused. Jerking free, she stumbled but regained her footing. “I wasn’t judging your boys, kids only act on what they know, but any bitten discrimination at the center ends now.” Sweat beaded on her forehead, and she breathed hard. Blanched, her blue eyes appeared huge. Guilt troubled him for a rare moment, but he pushed the feeling aside.
“Noted.” Kane opened the passenger door of the SUV. “Come along, Ms. Archer.”
“After that little tantrum, no thanks, I forgot who you are for a second. Don’t worry that won’t happen again.”
Kane growled. “Get in!”
The sound of tires on the drive turned his attention away from Bianca. A very distressed Law Foster sped toward them. Bianca rushed to the side of the vehicle and stumbled toward the pickup. Law jumped out, transmuting as he moved.
“Keep your hands off my wife.” His deep voice distorted with the change and his eyes glowed.
“Calm down, Mr. Foster. It’s broad daylight, and we are in town.”
“I don’t give a shit. Bianca, get in the truck.” Law’s muscles bunched in preparation for his attack.
Bianca stepped between them. She put her hands up. “Law. Look at me. He’s not worth it.”
Law’s attention remained on Kane. His eyes glowed yellow with rage.
“I’m okay, and I’m so sorry. I—I shouldn’t have left the hospital. Please, just get me back there.” Real weakness trembled in her voice and her knees buckled. Law had her in his arms before she hit the ground.
Kane smelled Bianca’s blood. He’d damaged her, far more than he’d intended.
“This isn’t over,” Law bellowed as he stomped to the passenger’s side of the truck and settled Bianca in the seat. He gave Kane a single hate-filled glare before he went over to the driver’s side and got in. Revving the engine, he reversed and whipped the old Chevy around spitting up gravel as he fishtailed down the driveway.
Kane sighed, leaning against the SUV, as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He dialed.
“Hello,” said Chuck Gibson
“It’s Kane. Let Foster speed today and spread the word. Make sure he gets to the hospital.”
“You got it,” Chuck replied. “Anything else?”
“Get the militia and comb the woods for Chessa Archer.”
“But wasn’t she found. Tobias—.”
“She’s run off again. Tell Montgomery to stay home; he’s such a bitten hater I don’t want him around the girl.” Kane hung up.
He watched the sunrise over the bluff for a moment before he dialed again.
“Masterson.” Randal sounded sleepy.
A man with more scruples would never ask what I’m about to ask. “One task and I will release you and your line from the blood debt I inherited when my half-brother died.”
“What do I need to do?”
“You have to help one of my wolves get close enough to bite Bianca Archer.”
“No.” Randal sounded pissed off, but wide-awake now.
“The debt you owe me will be clear. Your sons won’t owe mine anything. Bianca won’t die.”
“I don’t know that for sure. I’m not hurting someone who’s been my friend since I was a kid.”
“That’s why I need you to help me with this. Foster and his people won’t let a strange wolf get close to her, but you could lure her away. Mr. Masterson, y
ou have a trust that’s precious to me.”
Randal made a rude noise. “What did she ever do to you?”
“This isn’t a punishment; it’s mercy.”
There was a long pause. “You swear she won’t be killed?”
“I swear to you the man I send to bite her will die if anything happens to her. I just need him to have access. A single nip and she’ll be stronger and safer.”
“I’ll do it on one condition.”
Kane barked out a short, humorless laugh. “You aren’t in the position to bargain.”
“Fine, it’s no then if—“
Kane interrupted. “What do you want?”
“Who is Bianca’s biological father? You said it wasn’t Tobias, so who is it?”
Kane gritted his teeth. “What good is that information to you?”
“Besides my wife, Bianca is the closest thing to family I have in this world.”
“What if there’s a good reason the man wants to keep his identity secret. Telling her will cause her more pain. No good can come of her knowing.”
“Hang on.” Randal paused. He wasn’t speaking into the phone. “Good morning, nothing, just work. Have a good day.” There was another pause. Randal sighed before resuming the conversation. “How are you so sure?”
“Trust me, Mr. Masterson, nothing happens in this town I don’t know about and the truth about who fathered her won’t make her happy. Let her believe her werewolf father is dead; it’s far kinder.”
“I won’t tell her if I agree with you, but I will tell her if she ever needs the information.”
Kane sighed. I can’t believe I’m going to give him the name. “Kane Wolfe.”
“What?”
“Now you know why she—and the town—can never know who her father is, and why it’s so important she be bitten. I have many enemies, and most would kill a human without remorse. You have what you wanted, now give me what I want, and your debt is clear.” Kane hung up.
He shook as the strangest buoyancy replaced some of the darkness in his soul. He’d put the truth out into the universe and if Masterson let his connection with Ms. Archer slip at least his—daughter—would know. My daughter. Thinking of Bianca that way was so strange, but her existence explained why his connection with Jossy never severed. After Joslyn had revoked his protection, he’d suffered. For three blissful months, she’d belonged to him. Anger made me the man I am today.
Kane turned and punched the window of his SUV; the glass shattered. He gazed blankly at the destruction. For the first time in far too many years, he gave the human side of his soul some headspace as he pulled several shards of glass out of his fist.
I suffered Joslyn’s human malady with her. I endured her grief mingling with mine our first months apart. I knew her agony birthing the girl and experienced her forgetting me—us as she enjoyed motherhood. When she lay withering as cancer consumed her, I stayed awake at night hurting with her. And when she stopped breathing I was there for that too. She was mine.
Joslyn wanted to keep his child from him—from his world, but fate had other plans. He refused to wait until disease took Bianca away too.
Thirteen
Joy wrapped a scarf around her neck to hide the scars. Too many people had stared the first day she’d come out of hiding, and she wasn’t ready for more curious eyes today. Her mother had saved a trunk of her things; she wore a cute top and jeans Janna freshly laundered. Being in her old clothes showed her how much weight she’d lost living with Tobias’ barbaric pack. She hadn’t been willing to fight for her food, so she’d ended up with little or nothing most nights. Taking a deep breath, she looked in the bathroom mirror and scrutinized her wild, dark curls. What I wouldn’t give for straight hair. She sighed. Grabbing a large makeup brush, she leaned closer to her reflection and gave her cheeks some color. Joy stood back glaring at the fake woman reflecting back and tried to remember a time when she enjoyed dressing up.
A knock on the door startled her. “Hey Joy, it’s Chessa.”
Relief stole through her, and she yanked the door open, grinning. “I’m so glad you came home.” Then Joy noticed a dark haired girl and Trax standing behind Ches. “Let’s go find Law.” She pushed down her anxiety because Chessa needed her. The teenagers followed her. “Who’s your friend?”
“Trinity is my best friend. She’s a born, and I had no idea.” Chessa giggled. “I don’t know if I should be happy or pissed she never told me about werewolves.”
“Happy,” Trinity said. “At least I never accidently bit you or something; you wouldn’t have believed me anyway.” Both girls giggled.
“Whatever, Trin.” Chessa shook her head, but the smile never faded.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Eve was coming out of the kitchen. She stopped and gave Joy an awkward look as they passed. “Hey,” Eve called out.
Joy turned around. “What’s up?”
Eve smiled, but her narrowing eyes and shrug turned her express tight with malice. “Your brother needs a wolf, not a human. No alpha stays alpha with a weak mate by his side.”
Chessa growled. Trinity put her hand on Chessa’s arm, and Trax took a step forward.
Joy put her hands on her hips, pursing her lips. Her eyes narrowed. “Law doesn’t want you, get over it. Where is he? I’m sure he’d love to join this conversation.”
Eve crossed her arms over her chest. “He’s not here.”
“I wouldn’t bring up your hateful bullshit again; that’s a good way to end up pack-less. Where’s Nik?” Joy said.
“Law wouldn’t dare punish me for saying what everyone is thinking. Nik’s in the workshop. Just think about what I said. If you love your brother, maybe you should help him.”
“I could kick your ass that would be super helpful.” Joy watched Eve scurry away. She turned around to look at Chessa. The girl stood panting, caught mid-transformation. “Don’t worry about that horrible woman. Law loves your mother.”
“Let’s find Nik.” Joy walked passed Paige and ignored her lingering stare as she led the kids to the porch and out to the driveway. The girls whispered to each other as they walked. Was I ever that innocent and young? She’d done her girlish whispering with Paige, and now they were strangers. I’ll never have my life back. Her throat tightened.
A cold breeze nipped at her bare arms. The fresh aroma of fall filled her lungs as dry leaves rolled across the path in front of them. Smoke came from the workshop’s chimney. She hurried inside, delighted by the warmth, and ran directly into Nik. Shirtless, he glistened with the sweat of honest, hard work. His gaze met and held her’s rousing butterflies in her stomach and making her mouth go dry.
“Hey beautiful,” he said softly.
“Hey.” Joy managed and licked her lips looking away from him to find composure. Her heart hammered in her chest. Why does he affect me like this? “Chessa’s back, could you call Law? Trax would like to stay. You’re in charge right now, you decide.”
Nik scowled. “You know Law will say yes.” Nik looked at the boy. “Welcome back.” He returned his attention to Joy. “I’ll call him.”
Nik pulled his cell phone out of his pants pocket. He slid his thumb on the glass before putting the device to his ear. “Good news, your woman’s cub has returned with a whole pack of teens.” There was a pause. “A girl and that boy, but only the boy wants to stay.” Nik looked at the kids. “Yeah. Um, yeah.”
Joy went over to stand by the woodstove. She rubbed her cold hands together and took advantage of the distance from Nik to calm down. How am I going to survive this winter when I go into heat? She’d cringed under Clint’s touch. In those first years, she’d closed her eyes and imagined she was with Nik. Do I want things to go beyond my imagination?
“I’ll tell her,” Nik said. “Sure.”
Joy turned around. Nik’s hard, beautiful body captivated her. She watched his muscles ripple as he picked up a log. Crafting rustic furniture brought the farm a nice sum of money. Nik’s work is the
finest. Those strong hands make beauty out of nothing. How would they feel against my skin?
“Joy—Joy!” Chessa snapped her fingers in front of Joy’s face. She hadn’t even noticed the girl come over. Chessa grinned.
Heat rushed to blaze in Joy’s cheeks. “Sorry.”
Nik looked up. “You kids go tell Janna to find Trax a room.” He set some tools aside on his workbench. Joy didn’t move. The teens took off out the door and as soon as they were gone, Nik walked over to her. “You want me as much as I want you. Admit it.”
She couldn’t speak passed the lump in her throat. How do I tell him I’m scared? “I—I can’t.”
Nik walked across the room and unwrapped her scarf dropping it aside, touched the scars gently, before kissing her neck. He put his arms around her, and she let him. “Can’t what?” The sound of him inhaling made her pulse race. “You’re the only woman I’ve ever wanted like this. You make me lose control.” He nipped her earlobe. “I want you so bad it hurts.”
Joy stood frozen. Flashes of Clint’s abuse made her blood run cold. A soft sigh escaped her, and she closed her eyes. “I’m afraid,” she whispered opening her eyes to gauge his reaction.
Nik stopped kissing her but didn’t let go. “You’re safer in my arms than any place else on Earth.”
Joy pushed away from him, but he moved toward her, and she backed into the corner. Nik’s scent filled her, and the strangest peace chased away the darkness in her soul. His eyes smoldered with emerald fire, and he trapped her with his body, but instead of scaring her his nearness soothed her as he wrapped his arms. I am safe. The realization shook her, and she clung to him like a life raft.
She hadn’t expected his strength but could sense the wolf inside him snarling and snapping to be free. Fever for Nik raged in her soul, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him. Desire clouded her mind until she was high on him. His firm kiss intensified and Joy closed her eyes relishing the sensation as his tongue darted between her lips. Drunk with desire for Nik she groaned and ran her fingers through his hair.
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