by Jessie Lane
Mrs. Jones struggled to pull her face out of his mother’s grip, but failed. It took her a few minutes to stop fighting to get free, but eventually, the reality of not only her situation, but that of her children’s and grandchildren’s, must have sunk in as she started to cry silent tears.
“I made Danielle do it. It’s not the child’s fault; it’s all mine,” Mrs. Jones sobbed.
“Where did you get the magic, Patty?”
Mrs. Jones opened her mouth to answer, but no words came out. They watched her get frustrated as she did this several times, before Stone figured out what was going on.
“She’s been spelled not to speak the name.”
The old woman nodded furiously, agreeing with him, as Caleb suggested, “Should we untie her hands to let her write it down?”
Mrs. Jones nodded again as the beta looked at his two alphas for the final answer.
Stone was ready to tell him yes, when his mother put a hand to Patty’s shoulder and said, “Not without some ground rules first.” Leaning back down to look Mrs. Jones directly in the eye, she said, “If you make one suspicious move to cast any more magic, I will personally guarantee the torture of Danielle for a long, long time before I finally kill her. You understand me, old woman? Your actions can mean a great deal of pain to your own kin.”
Mrs. Jones nodded warily this time, and then Miriam gave Caleb the signal to untie her hands.
Looking around, Stone saw a notebook and pen on an end table next to the sofa and walked over to pick it up. When he turned back around, Mrs. Jones was rubbing her red, raw wrists and watching Stone with pure hatred. He didn’t give her the satisfaction of a reaction, just handed the notebook and pen to their captive and gruffly ordered, “Write it down now.”
Sulphur Springs Pack
Alpha’s daughter is a witch.
She blew house up.
“How in the fuck is a shifter also a witch?” Caleb bellowed angrily.
Mrs. Jones sat there with a shit-eating grin on her face, as if she knew the answer and would never tell. The old bitch probably did know.
The sting of betrayal ran through Stone again as he looked at those words and wondered if the alpha he had spoken to during negotiations had known what his daughter was doing. It would mean war if he had. Stone would never let something like this go. That witch had been the one to kill his mate’s parents, and very nearly his mate and cub, too.
None of them had time to say a word before, faster than any ninety-year-old woman had a right to move, Mrs. Jones took that pen and shoved it into her own neck.
No one had seen it coming, and truly, even if Mrs. Jones hadn’t already been facing a death sentence, they wouldn’t have been able to help her, anyway.
The spurting from the hole in her neck let them know that she had hit her carotid artery and would bleed out in minutes.
The old woman had decided to go out on her terms rather than theirs.
As much as Stone hated her, he understood that sentiment. He wouldn’t want anyone controlling his future or death, either.
Stone, his mother, and Caleb stepped away as Mrs. Jones slumped in her chair, letting her life literally drain away. Red covered the old woman’s neck and, little by little, the spurting slowed down until it was just leaking in a small, steady flow. Her eyelids flickered a few times before they closed and didn’t reopen again.
The three of them stood there, watching as one problem passed away, leaving them with two more: the witch in Sulphur Springs and Danielle. Now the question was: Which problem should he go after first?
His mother grabbed his arm and pulled, indicating he should leave.
“Caleb and I will deal with this. You go track down Danielle.”
Stopping her on the house’s doorstep, Stone said, “Wait, Mom, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Stone knew he was doing the right thing by telling her his secret when his mother looked at him with sad eyes.
Pulling her closer so he could whisper in his mother’s ear, Stone told her the truth, “Dia survived the blast. She’s alive in a Tennessee hospital.” Pulling back, he looked for his mother’s reaction and found tears and a shocked smile on her face.
“Truly?” she whispered, almost as if she was afraid to hope.
He nodded then leaned in and whispered again, “And she’s pregnant.”
His mother grabbed at his shirt and tugged him into a hug as she sobbed for joy. They stayed that way for several minutes. Anyone who would have seen them would never know that the alpha female was crying tears of joy, instead of tears of loss. It was their secret now, until he could bring his mate home and explain what had happened to the pack.
Eventually, his mother pushed out of his embrace and wiped the tears from her face. “Go. Find Danielle so we can finish this. We’re overdue for some peace and good news in this pack.”
It was easy to understand what his mother wasn’t saying, never knowing if there were other ears listening. Hurry up and finish so I can be a grandma.
Turning away, Stone somehow managed to hide the smile that threatened to break out across his face as he headed toward his truck. He was mentally going through the possibilities of where Danielle might have gone when his cell phone rang. It was the Sulphur Springs’ alpha’s phone number.
Putting his guard back up, Stone answered the phone while keeping his anger at bay. “Hello.”
“I do believe we have a problem, Alpha Blaylock.”
“Oh? And what problem would that be?” he asked cautiously.
“I have one of your packmates here. One Danielle Jones. Familiar with that name?”
Stone barely held the growl back when he spoke again. “Yes. I’ll be there to get her shortly.”
“That’s where the problem lies, Alpha. I’m keeping her here for questioning.”
“Why?” he asked the Sulphur Springs’ alpha, worried the man was trying to give asylum to one of the people behind his mate’s attack.
“Because she has just accused my daughter of being part of a scheme to kill your mate. And until I figure out if she’s lying or not, her ass isn’t going any-fucking-where.”
Stone knew he would need to be careful about what he said next, so as to not escalate the situation too quickly, but there was something he needed to know.
“What will you do if you find out your daughter was involved in my mate’s attack?”
“Exile her from the pack.” His statement was sure and swift. Except, that wasn’t the answer Stone had been hoping for.
“The punishment for attacking an alpha or his mate is death,” he reminded the other man.
“Don’t ask me to kill my own daughter.”
“Are you so sure that she’s guilty that you would need to worry about that?” Stone asked, trying to gauge the other man’s frame of mind.
There was silence for a few seconds on the other end, but finally, the Sulphur Springs’ alpha answered him. “Suspicious enough that I’m calling you first before heading the investigation myself, instead of just snapping your wolf’s neck.”
The line went dead, and Stone wished it hadn’t. He had just been about to tell the man to go ahead and snap Danielle’s neck, anyway.
Pushing that thought aside, he felt a sense of relief crash over him. He knew who had attacked his mate and some of the why, all because one old bitty had been prejudice against humans, and apparently didn’t believe in mixing races. Hopefully, the Sulphur Springs’ alpha would get the rest of the answers he needed shortly. Until then, he was going to do what he hadn’t been able to do in months. He was going to go see his mate.
It had been so hard staying away from Dia to keep her safe. But when you loved someone, you made sacrifices for them. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for his mate, and staying away had been paramount when he hadn’t known why someone had attacked her parents’ house and almost killed her. Now he knew the truth, and that the fact he had stayed away and told everyone she was dead had probably spared her life. T
here was no doubt in Stone’s mind that, if Mrs. Jones had found out she was alive in that hospital, and pregnant, too, she would have gone there to try to kill Dia and the baby.
Now, barring what might happen with the Sulphur Springs pack, it was safe enough to bring his mate home, and there wasn’t a thing in this world that could stop him from doing just that.
Chapter Thirteen
Sneaking into the hospital was much trickier than he thought it would be. Then again, it was in the middle of the night, well after visiting hours. Nevertheless, Stone didn’t care. He needed to see his mate, and he needed to see her now. That was why it was three o’clock in the morning, and he was sitting here, watching her sleep.
He wasn’t going to wake her up, knowing she needed to rest. The chance to just sit here and watch her like this was all he needed.
His sweet Dia had changed so much since he had seen her last. Her hair had been cut short, and while he had loved it long, she was just as beautiful with the chopped strands. She looked healthy, with creamy skin and pink cheeks, although he could tell she had lost a little bit of weight.
The thing he couldn’t take his eyes off, though, was the small baby bump underneath the blanket. That was their cub lying safely in his mother’s womb.
And there was no doubt for Stone that it would be a boy, because his family had not birthed a daughter in their line since as long as it could be traced on the family tree. Hundreds of years.
He couldn’t wait to see Dia more round with their child. Her breasts heavy with milk. She didn’t know it yet, but he hoped they would have many children together. Stone had hated being an only child and didn’t want that for his child.
If he was honest with himself, it was also because of the baby making process. What red-blooded male didn’t want to touch and taste their mate as often as possible?
When Dia started to stir, Stone was aware of every small movement she made. He could tell she was waking up, and for the first time in his life, he was truly worried, knowing she wouldn’t remember him. Therefore, he stayed in his chair instead of rushing to her side, and waited for her to slowly wake up.
It took her a few minutes as her body fought her mind to wake up. She tossed and turned, ending up on her side, facing him, making him the first thing Dia saw when she opened her eyes.
She gasped in shock, and he felt horrible for scaring her, but he didn’t move a muscle. The best thing he could do right then was to remain as calm and soothing to her as possible.
“Who are you?” Dia asked with a nervous voice.
How little did she know that those words cut like a knife through his soul.
Stone knew she couldn’t help it, but still, some part of him had hoped she would take one look at him and remember everything. Regardless, he had already thought of the best way to answer this question on his way over here, just in case she didn’t remember him.
“I’m your husband.”
Confused, she started to shake her head. “You have to be joking. I’ve been here for over two months. If you were my husband, you would have been here by now. They would have been able to find you in records and contacted you.”
Stone shook his head. “We didn’t get a chance to file the marriage certificate yet. I had to leave for my job, and you wanted to tell your parents in person that we had gotten married before we did it.”
Dia’s eyebrows scrunched down. She looked as if she were thinking too hard.
A silent moment passed between them before she finally said, “We got married and didn’t have my parents there? Why would I do that?”
At this question, Stone gave her a smile. He knew it probably looked like a sad smile to her, but he couldn’t help grinning at the memories of his courting her.
“This is going to sound unbelievable, but you could say we had one of those ‘love at first sight’ relationships. We didn’t know each other very long before we got married, but that was because we love each other so damn much.”
She looked surprised at his answer. “Are you telling me we had some whirlwind romance?”
Stone nodded, then pointed at her belly. “I didn’t even know you were pregnant when you went to see your parents.”
Bringing her hand up to her forehead, Dia started to rub it as a look of pain crossed her face.
“Dia, are you okay?”
She shook her head. “My head is starting to hurt really bad.”
At those words, Stone jumped out of his chair and rushed to her side. It was his natural instinct to protect his mate. Unfortunately, his mate didn’t remember that she was his mate, and the move scared her.
Dia scooched back in her bed and held the hand that had been rubbing her forehead up to stop him. “Please don’t come any closer.”
Stone help up both of his hands to show her he meant her no harm. “Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I’m a bit on edge from coming here and seeing you in the hospital for the first time. I’m sorry it took me so long to find out, Dia.”
She started rubbing her forehead again while squinting her tired eyes. “Can you please leave?” Dia asked hesitantly. Then, with a stronger voice, she added, “I just can’t deal with this right now with the way my head is starting to hurt.”
He took another step back and let his arms drop to his sides. Leaving would kill him, but he didn’t want to cause any harm to his mate, either.
“Would you like me to get the nurse on the way out?”
She shook her head. “I just want to go back to sleep.”
He took a sideways step toward the door, then asked her, “Can I come back later?”
This time, it was Dia who dropped her hand as she gave him a suspicious look. Slowly, enunciating every word, she said, “I won’t be here later. I’m being moved.”
“Can you tell me where you’re going so I can visit you there, then?”
Dia nibbled on her bottom lip as she thought.
“How do I know you’re not some crazy person?”
Good question. He was almost proud of her for asking it.
“How about I prove it to you until you can remember me? Let me visit you, and we can talk about our life together.”
She shook her head as another sharp pain hit it. “Please just go.”
Stone walked out of the room with the knowledge he had left his heart behind him. It killed him to do it after he’d had grand daydreams that she would remember who he was and come home with him, but life didn’t always work out the way you wanted it to.
He would just have to be patient and help his mate remember.
Chapter Fourteen
One week later…
Stone sat in the cab of his truck, staring at the women’s home that his mate was currently residing in. He had come to despise looking at the place, and not because there was anything wrong with it. On the contrary, it was a nice place set in the country. He imagined it was very peaceful there for the women who had made this their haven.
No, he despised the Fresh Start Women’s Center because his mate was living in it, and not at home with him. For an entire week, he had come here every day, knocking at the door and asking to see Dia. And for seven days straight, he had been turned away with one simple statement: “She’s not ready to see you.”
He wanted to roar at those words. He wanted to shout at the top of his lungs, “Tough shit because I’m coming in, anyway!” Both of those were things he could not do.
Taking a deep breath, he said a silent prayer that today would be the day that his mate came to her senses and took a chance at seeing him. Stone had convinced himself that the night in the hospital, the reason Dia had gotten that headache, was because some part of her subconscious mind knew him and was trying to make her remember. If only he could see her again, she might remember everything … or at least him. However, the stubborn woman kept refusing to see him.
Stone was just about to get out of his truck when his cell phone started ringing. Looking at the screen, he recognized the number as
the alpha of Sulphur Springs. They had unfinished business to take care of, and as much as he hated having to wait that much longer to go knock on the door, this really needed to be handled once and for all.
“Hello.”
“Alpha Blaylock, I am calling to inform you that my daughter confessed to her crimes.”
A little surprised, Stone asked, “Did she tell you where she got the magic from and why she was trying to kill my mate?”
A sad sigh crossed the line before the other man spoke again. “What I am about to tell you, I would appreciate it if you kept it to yourself.”
“Depending on what you tell me, I’ll do my best to honor that. But if I feel that my beta or alpha female need to know, I will tell them.”
“Which is something I understand all too well.” There was another sigh before the man confessed, “My daughter was born from a one-night stand I had with a witch. She seduced me with one of her spells, casting it to make me believe she was my mate. I didn’t figure out until after she was pregnant that she wasn’t truly my mate. By then, it was too late. I’ve kept my daughter’s magic a secret up until now to protect her. What I didn’t realize was that I would need to protect others from her, too.”
“Well, that explains how she got the magic, but what you haven’t explained is why she tried to kill my mate.”
There was silence on the other end for a short time, and then the alpha’s grief-clogged voice came through the line. “I didn’t get an answer directly from her before she was killed by another wolf.”
“Who killed your daughter and why?”
“It was Danielle. She thought that, by killing my daughter, she was protecting her great-grandmother somehow.”
“It’s too late for that. Her great-grandmother killed herself instead of answering any more of my questions.”
This time, a frustrated sigh came from the other man. “Then it seems that we’ll never know why my daughter did it, since my daughter cast a spell on Danielle just before she died, turning her into a rat. The little bitch scurried away from us the moment she realized what she had become.”