by Sydney Addae
Ethan saw shock, confusion and disbelief cross his mate’s face. By mentioning her mother, Brenda now had Vanessa’s attention. He prayed to the Goddess that she’d allow him to explain.
“Hold strong, Ethan, it’s not over yet. The mating bond is strong,” La Patron said.
“I’m here too, Ethan,” La Patroness said. “She won’t take your mate. Silas set it up so I’ll merge with Shyla and deal with the breeder. But you’ll need to be honest and share your heart with her. The timing isn’t ideal, but now that the door is open she needs to walk through and accept you for who you are.”
Ethan exhaled, straightened and watched.
“First I’m going to address Jersey and then how you know my mama. Tell me what do you know about Jersey? Hell, how do you even know about it? Tell me right now,” Vanessa yelled, visibly shaking.
Ethan was afraid she was losing it. They hadn’t linked yet. Speaking from his heart to hers was the best he could do. “No matter what she says, it’ll be okay. I’ve got you. I love you.” He repeated the words over and over.
“I set up New Jersey.”
“Bitch!” Vanessa lunged.
The officer stopped her.
“Listen,” Brenda said, taking a few steps back. “Priscilla was sure you were a breeder, but once you became an adult she couldn’t convince you to go in for tests.”
Vanessa held up her hand. “Hold up. My mama did not okay you kidnapping me. That’s a lie.”
“I didn’t say she did. But she tried to get you to take a vacation with her and you didn’t. She said you were busy and didn’t push. If you think back a moment you’ll know I’m telling the truth,” Brenda said.
“What I know is you’ve been snooping in my background and came up with some interesting conclusions,” Vanessa said, crossing her arms.
“Jim took you. I trusted him to make sure you weren’t hurt and to watch over you. He followed you here and —”
“Did you just say Jim, my ex-fiancé, kidnapped me?” Brenda asked, eyes wide.
Holding his shoulder, Ethan walked over and touched her back.
“Oh my god, I forgot you’re bleeding.” She looked at Shyla. “Did you call the ambulance?”
“Yes, they’ll be here soon.”
“I’m not leaving without you,” he said, staring into her eyes, apologizing for all the secrets he hadn’t revealed.
“I’m going with you,” Vanessa said, and her tone clearly challenged anyone who’d try and stop her.
“If you’d stop interrupting me, I’ll tell you what happened with Jersey, how I know Priscilla, and why I went through all of this,” Brenda said, her tone cross.
“You have until the ambulance arrives, and we’re pressing charges.” She looked at Garcia.
“Whatever.” Brenda waved Vanessa’s comment down. “I’m what’s known as a breeder. We have the fortune or misfortune, however you want to look at it, of being able to have sex with and give birth to hybrids.”
“Hybrids?” Vanessa tone held a healthy dose of skepticism. Ethan squeezed her hand.
“Did I get it right, Ethan? Is that a good description?” Brenda asked him.
Vanessa glanced at Ethan, expecting him to tell Brenda to fuck off or something. After all, the woman had shot him. When he didn’t say anything, Vanessa looked fully at him.
“Sounds about right,” Ethan said, holding her gaze.
“What?” Vanessa asked, searching his face for answers. “There’s such a thing as breeders?” She asked Ethan to be sure.
“Yes.”
Her hand dropped from his face as she continued to stare in his eyes. “So you’re a breeder, the clock is ticking,” she told Brenda trying to sound unaffected by Ethan’s confirmation, but at her core she rebelled. If that was true, was the rest of it true? Wolf people? Hybrids? It was too much to process.
“Since we’re short on time, I won’t bore you with details of my capture and slavery. Finally, I escaped and met other women like myself. We formed a loose group and pledged to help others escape captivity.”
Vanessa didn’t like the sound of that and looked over her shoulder at Brenda. “Okay.”
“There are quite a few of us, although not many who’re capable of using, or strengthening is a better word, our unique skillset.”
Vanessa waited a few seconds. “Which is?” She placed Ethan’s arm around her waist and fully turned to face Brenda.
The woman’s face scrunched as if she smelled something foul. “We’re able to use a significant portion of our brains to manipulate things and people.”
Vanessa’s gaze flicked from the officers to Mike and then back to Brenda. If what the woman said was true, and looking at these men she had no reason to believe otherwise, Brenda was dangerous.
“No comment?” Brenda sounded cross.
“Just taking it in. Obviously I have a lot of questions. Most importantly, how do you know mama?” The idea that Ms. Roberts and Brenda were friends didn’t ring true. There had to be more to it.
“She was a supporter for our group. Some of the women we rescued were battered, raped, and in bad shape. She served as a volunteer at a local shelter, we met when I visited a breeder there.”
“Where?” Ms. Roberts told Vanessa about a shelter on Morgan street.
“La Cruz on Morgan Street, it’s been torn down for apartments I think. She was a good woman and very proud of you.”
“What made her think I’m like you?” Vanessa added a healthy dose of sarcasm to her voice.
“Ever wonder why you’re such a good teacher? How you’re able to see ways to present a different point. All through high school, Priscilla watched you challenge the status quo and win. She called you brilliant and unconventional. I’ve seen glimpses of it here, but there’s so much more.”
Vanessa refrained from rolling her eyes at the prelude of a “we can rule the world speech.” Brenda was right, Ms. Roberts had called her brilliant and encouraged her to push the envelope. Part of the reason Vanessa went into teaching was to honor the woman who gave her so much, but Ms. Roberts would never agree to using people for selfish reasons as Brenda was doing. Helping rape victims was one thing. Taking away a person’s will and enslaving them was another. The woman who raised her would never side with this crazy woman.
“You would’ve loved her,” she whispered to Ethan as she turned to face him. “Definitely she would’ve loved you.”
“I wish I’d met her,” he said, rubbing his thumb over her chin.
Vanessa cleared her throat, glanced at Shyla and then met Ethan’s soft gaze. “Is she telling the truth? Not about mama, but the other stuff, about these women being raped by hybrids? Is there such a thing as half man and half wolf?”
He cupped her cheek. “Yes. Yes, there is. I have never met anyone who raped a human, but I’ve heard it did happen.”
Hearing him say human stunned her. She took a step back without breaking contact. “Human? Is that what you said?”
“Hybrids are both, I didn’t want to mix the two in my explanation.”
“So are they…” She shook her head to get things straight. “Are you human? Or not?”
“I’m both.”
“Both? What else?” Were they really having this conversation? Did the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with just tell her he was more or less human?”
“Wolf. Full-blood Cherokee wolf.”
“Wolf?” Vanessa whispered as images of large dogs, no wolves, she corrected, danced across her mind. Impossible. But what Brenda did to these men was impossible. Being half and half was a totally different issue, right? Yes. Yes, of course it was. Ethan. Half man, half wolf. She’d had sex with his human half, right? What about when she was asleep, did the wolf part of him come out to play.
Eww.
She refused to go down that path, instead she walked to her desk and sat down. Staring at the monitor, she tried to process what she’d learned. Ms. Roberts would be proud she hadn’t run screaming out
the room.
Did she want an explanation? Would an explanation make a difference? Did she want a relationship with him? That was the question on the table of her heart. A hybrid. The word ran on a loop in her mind. She looked up at him and met his sincere gaze. He stood tall, proud, and god the man was fine. Every detail of the past few days chased away the wolf’s image, replacing it with him. The man who’d cared for her so gently and lovingly. He didn’t fake it. Her BS meter didn’t register. He genuinely was into her and that mattered a lot.
“So you’ve been keeping tabs on me most of my life. Kidnapped me to run tests, rather than introduce yourself and ask me to donate blood or something.”
“Would you have done it?” Brenda asked.
“We’ll never know. In addition to kidnapping me, you pushed Jim to marry me.”
“No, I didn’t. He had daddy issues with his father and wanted to breed you. I stopped him from having sex with you, though. The last thing this world needed was another Jim McNeill. He and his father were enough,” Brenda said with feeling.
Vanessa closed her eyes tight and thanked God she’d escaped a life with Jim. “Bottom line, you closed the school, got all these people here… for what? You wanted to tell me about breeders? You’ve done that. Is that your end game?”
“Part of it.” Brenda looked past Vanessa. “Tell her what happened to Jim, Ethan. Tell her how you hunted him down like an animal and killed him. Tell your mate what that means and how she’s connected to a murderer for the rest of her life,” Brenda yelled.
Shyla’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “Why don’t you tell Vanessa wolves mate for life and that Ethan will never cheat on her. He’ll give his life for her, and he takes her happiness and security very seriously. When you sent Jim to get the serum, you knew he’d drugged and tried to rape Vanessa on your orders. He refused to leave her with you and locked her away to keep her from you. When Jim bragged about how he treated Vanessa and that if he couldn’t have her no man would, Ethan snapped.”
Shyla moved toward Brenda with a feral look Vanessa had never ever seen before. Shyla placed her finger on the older woman’s chest. “Lies and half-truths come so easily to your lips, why not tell her about all the breeders who love their mates and live long happy lives. Go ahead, tell her about the benefits of having a man who loves you unconditionally, his thoughts centered around making you happy.”
Brenda covered her ears and shook her head. “It’s not true, it can’t be. Those men are horrible and cruel.”
“Unlike human men? Is that what you’re saying? Or are you suggesting Vanessa abandon men altogether and join the sisterhood? Do you ladies take care of each other’s needs? Is that the root of all this? The reason you’ve gone through so much trouble to keep Vanessa close by? You’re in love with her?”
Vanessa’s hand flew to her mouth covering her gasp. She’d never seen Shyla like this, so ruthless.
Brenda took a step back. “You’re disgusting.”
Shyla crossed her arms and stared down at Brenda. “You’re a lying piece of shit. Tell Vanessa the truth about what you’ve done. Your daughters?”
Brenda spun around and headed toward the door.
“What’s the matter? You’re afraid she’s stronger than you? Afraid you won’t win in a match up?” Shyla followed behind Brenda until she stopped, turned and stared. Both police officers grabbed Shyla from behind.
“Hey!” Vanessa stood to go help.
One second they were holding Shyla, the next they flew against the wall. The door slammed shut and Mike dropped to the floor. Shyla stalked forward. “Now what?”
Wide-eyed, Vanessa dropped back into her seat and held out her hand for Ethan to take. Right now he was the most stable person in her world. They’d talk about the wolf thing later. He sat on the corner of the desk holding her hand.
“Were you expecting this?” she whispered.
“Not in a million years. La Patroness is awesome.”
Vanessa frowned but didn’t ask questions, there was too much good stuff going on in the room.
Brenda tilted her head to the side. “What’s going on? How’d you do that?” She looked at Vanessa, who’d lost track of surprises. Seeing her best friend turn into Wonder Woman topped the cake.
“Are you helping her?” Brenda asked Vanessa.
“What? Wait, is that possible?” She looked at Ethan.
He shrugged.
“You come into town and turn men on and off like faucets, that’s unacceptable to me,” Shyla said, moving close to Brenda. From Vanessa’s view, it looked as if Brenda tried to move, escape, but couldn’t. This strange look crossed her face as she stared up at Shyla.
“Vanessa, you and Ethan go out front. The ambulance is pulling up, the men have left, and so have the television crews,” Shyla said. “Wait for me out front.”
The news of the ambulance’s arrival catapulted Vanessa from her chair. She grabbed her purse, stuffed the phone inside, and took Ethan by the hand. “I would ask if you’re okay, but I can tell you’ve got things under control,” she said, glancing at the two women.
As they approached Shyla and Brenda, Vanessa stopped, looked at her friend and pointed. “You’ve got some explaining to do about all this.” She looked at the cops moaning on the ground as Garcia tried to help them stand. “Be careful.” Vanessa looked at Brenda, who wore an expression similar to the one the cop had worn. “How does it feel?” she asked and walked out with Ethan.
Chapter 32
The last time Jasmine had been this livid was the time the military kidnapped her son, Tyrese. Silas cautioned her to be calm or she’d hurt the full-blood during their merger. But the report she’d read on this woman made Jasmine’s blood boil. The woman was beyond reprehensible.
“She can’t do this, Silas. We can’t let her keep doing this. Thorne’s mate, her mother, the others. Rebels or not, they didn’t deserve this.” Her first meeting with the women had been successful, she’d set up groups and committees. The women had been horrified and then energized by her plan of prevention. They all pledged to remain connected and set up systems in their states to spread information quickly.
Silas pulled her into his arms from their living room sofa, and stroked her hair. “I know, Sweet Bitch, I know. She’s gotten away with things far too long, her debt sheet is lengthy and its time she pays.”
Jasmine wiped the tears from her eyes, but they couldn’t erase the images of the butchered women and babies she’d seen. Once they’d located the women Brenda hid, Silas dispatched a team in hopes of learning more about breeders. By the time they arrived, there wasn’t a heartbeat amongst them. Someone had cut the babies from the wombs of the women and turned on the gas. They all died of poisoning or bled to death.
“Will she be okay?” Jasmine asked about Cabbage, Thorne’s mate who had been intercepted on her way to the location. According to Cabbage, she left right after they arrived to search for Thorne and her brother. She was returning to tell her adopted mother she hadn’t been successful. The team allowed her in the concrete facility when she screamed, kicked and fought to see her mom. Rather than do something that might harm the child, Silas granted permission for her to enter. The poor child broke down at the sight of the woman who’d raised her and the babe still connected through the cord lying on the floor next to her. Silas had Cabbage returned to the compound. It was the additional information she shared with the team that pissed Jasmine off.
“Matt checked her over when she got here. She’s resting with Thorne below. Maybe now he’ll start eating, the pup’s lost weight.”
Jasmine’s brow rose.
Silas cleared his throat. “Ready?”
She corralled her anger, placed it aside for now so she could focus. “Is Shyla ready?” This was Jasmine’s first time merging solo, normally she piggy backed on Silas and shared his link. But she wanted the freedom to deal with Brenda her own way and that required being in the driver’s seat.
“Yes. Jayden says sh
e’s been asking for permission to kick Brenda across the room on general principle.”
“Ooh, I like her.” Jasmine said, pleased Ethan’s mate had a good friend in the pack. Merging required a certain skillset which she wasn’t sure she possessed. Silas coached her into position.
“Do you see her?” Silas asked.
“I think so. How do you know who’s who when you search for their links?”
“Focus on her name, everything Jayden told you about her. Her beast will know you and you’ll just know she’s the right one. I don’t know how else to explain it.”
Jasmine was amazed as her mental link gravitated toward Shyla. When they merged, Jasmine settled in easily and listened to Vanessa tell Brenda off. When Vanessa demanded Brenda set the men free, her energy spiked and broke Brenda’s hold.
“With training she’ll be a force to reckon with. Ethan will need to work with her as I worked with you in the beginning,” Silas said.
“I’m sure they’ll make it happen, she’s smart and hasn’t run from the room after hearing all this stuff.”
“Like you did?” Silas said.
Jasmine smiled in memory of the day she discovered her sons were half-breed wolves. “I walked into my bedroom, that’s not the same as running out of a room.”
“If that’s how you remember it.” He paused. “The television crew just left along with the rest of the teachers and staff. Now we need to clear the building of the men she’s holding. Can you break her hold?”
“Vanessa did it; I’ll give it a shot.” Jasmine paused. “How do I do that?”
“Keep your link open, when I’m with Fulton outside, I’ll let you know. Then you can send an energy blast through me and I’ll direct it to the officers. Once they leave, Fulton will go inside and do the same thing there.”
“Okay. Just so I understand what’s going on. The reason my energy breaks the hold is because I’m a breeder?”
“Because you’re a stronger breeder, it’s all about who’s the strongest Alpha,” he corrected.
“Gotcha.” Jasmine listened as Vanessa made her decision to remain with Ethan clear even though it was obvious she had questions. Silas released the men outside and Alpha Fulton was on the way in when Vanessa asked Brenda about the end game.