Jackson smiled up at him, barely able to contain his joy. I can’t wait to feel the baby moving and growing.
Jace nodded, smiling down at them both. His heart almost hurt at the emotions he was feeling at finally being a part of a mated triad.
“I saw Nikki this morning,” Laurie told them quietly. She looked up at Jace, and he could tell she was trying to hold herself together.
“I checked with Doc,” Jace told her, reaching out to stroke her cheek with his index finger. “He said she’s doing well and should be back to normal by tomorrow, but he wants her to take it easy for a while.”
Laurie nodded. “I’m glad,” she said so softly they barely heard her. “And I’m glad Alexander and Butler are going to protect her. She’s had a hard life.”
Jace looked down at her silently. “I checked on Julia. She’s totally healed. One of the perks of being a wolf shifter.” Unable to hold back any longer, he reached out and took her by her upper arms to pull her up into his embrace, tucking her head under his chin as he kissed the top of her head gently. “Everything will be fine, Laurie,” he promised. “We won’t let that man hurt any of you ever again.”
Laurie wished with all her heart that what he was saying could be true. But they didn’t know the extent of Patrick’s cruelty. He was truly an evil man. She couldn’t allow him near these wonderful people. She feared for all of them, especially her children, who were often the recipients of his cruelty.
“Jace, you don’t know what he’s capable of,” she told him sadly, unable to look at either man as she spoke. “He’ll go after my kids because he knows that’s the one way that will hurt me the most.”
“Then you need to bring your children here,” Jace interrupted her. “They’re pack now and will be protected by all of us. I want them here with us from now on.”
Laurie looked up at him in surprise. His face was filled with determination, and she knew that the anger that was rolling off of him was directed at the man who had hurt her and her children repeatedly over the years.
“If he dares to come near you or the children, or any member of this pack, he will not live to see another day.”
The quiet calm of Jace’s words made her shiver. She could feel the power of the man. Laurie stepped back as she looked up at him, seeing him as Patrick would see him. Jace was a force to be reckoned with. His size, his musculature, his fierce loyalty and ability to protect his pack made him alpha. It was evident in all that he was, and this knowledge slammed through her full force. She realized that she was privy to a softer, gentler side of him, all of the immediate family members were, but that did not diminish the fact that he could and would protect every one of them to his last breath.
Jackson reached out and rested his hand on Jace’s shoulder, centering him and calming his anger. Leaning in toward them both, he cocooned Laurie between them and leaned his head down to rest against the side of her face.
“Please, Laurie,” Jackson whispered against her temple. “Bring your children here. They’re our children now, too. Bring them home to us.”
Tears filled Laurie’s eyes as she felt the strength of the two men as they held her tightly. She wanted to believe that everything would be okay. She wanted more than anything else for her children to be their children. But she didn’t always get what she wanted. Actually, except for the birth of her children, she never got what she wanted. She was afraid that if she dared to hope, she would just be disappointed. Again.
Chapter 18
Laurie slowly made her way to their bedroom, taking a seat in the large, comfortable chair before the fireplace. The last two days had been difficult for her. Jace and Jackson had been loving and supportive, and the rest of the family had been very forgiving of the incident with Patrick, but she couldn’t stop the fear she had that Patrick would make true on his promise to hurt her by hurting the people she cared about.
She wasn’t aware of how much time had passed as she stared, unseeing, into the empty fireplace, lost inside her own head. She had so much to think about. She knew she had to leave. It would be best for everyone if she left, disappearing from their lives, so they would be safe. She had come to care about them all too much to put them in any more danger. And danger is exactly what they would be in when Patrick found her. It wasn’t that he cared about her or the kids. It was that he felt he owned them. No matter how many years had passed since their divorce, he still haunted her and tormented them all. It was the classic case of if he couldn’t have them, no one else could have them.
Her mind finally made up, she stood and walked to the large walk-in closet. She reached for her small suitcase and spread it out on the bed that she shared with Jace and Jackson. Her eyes filled with tears as she realized she would be giving up the only time she had ever truly felt like she belonged somewhere. She felt a pain in her chest as she thought about how she deeply loved both men. It didn’t matter that their relationship was unconventional. It didn’t matter that she had only known them a short time. Time didn’t matter when it was the right one. Ones, in her case.
Before she left she would have to make Nikki promise not to give anyone her address or phone number. She knew Jace and Jackson would try to contact her and try to find her. That would only put them in danger. And she couldn’t allow that to happen.
She nearly jumped a foot when her cell phone rang, breaking the silence of the room and scaring her in the process. She reached for it quickly, nearly falling to the floor as she stretched to reach the nightstand where her phone lay. Looking at the display, she didn’t recognize the number. Opening it quickly, she prayed it wasn’t Patrick. He somehow always found out her phone number no matter how many times she had it changed.
“Hello?” she answered quietly.
“Hello, is this Ms. Laurie Young?” a woman’s voice asked from the other end of the line.
“Yes, this is Laurie Young.”
“This is Officer Pauline Thomas from the Colorado State Police,” the woman continued. “I’m calling to inform you that your daughter, Mia Young, has been in a car accident and has been brought to Denver Memorial Hospital.”
“Oh my God,” Laurie whispered, dropping down to land with a thud on the floor. “Is she okay?”
“I don’t have that information at this time. I’m sorry,” the officer apologized. “The attending physician is checking her out now. But you should know that she was clear and lucid when she handed me her cell phone to give me your phone number and told me to call you. She was pretty adamant that the only people she wanted me to call were you and her brother.”
“I’m on my way,” Laurie told her, standing up and grabbing for her purse as she nearly ran from the bedroom. “Can you tell me what happened?”
There was a hesitation on the other end of the line, causing Laurie to stop dead in her tracks as fear gripped her. She held her breath as the officer cleared her throat and answered firmly.
“It appears that your daughter was run off the road by someone driving a dark sports car,” she told her carefully. “We’ll question your daughter as soon as the doctor allows us in to speak with her.”
Laurie nearly choked on the pain that bubbled up inside her. It had already started. Patrick was making good on his promise to hurt the kids. She knew without a doubt that the dark sports car was his.
“Have you called my son yet?” Laurie asked quietly, forcing the panic down.
“No, ma’am, we haven’t.”
“I’ll call him,” Laurie told her quickly. “Please tell Mia I’m on my way and that her brother Dean will be there before I can get there.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the officer answered. “Be sure to drive safely.”
“Thank you,” Laurie whispered, snapping her cell phone shut and making her way through the lodge quickly.
Spotting Vera Moore, the housekeeper she had been introduced to when she had arrived, Laurie walked to her quickly, doing everything she could to keep herself under control. The older woman watched her warily
with definite coldness in her eyes, making Laurie hesitate in her journey toward the woman.
“Vera, would you please tell Jace and Jackson that I have a family emergency and I have to leave for a while,” she told her firmly, unwilling to go into detail with a woman who had been less than welcoming to her. She wished she could have found someone else to ask, but the house was empty, and she couldn’t wait another minute to leave.
Vera nodded briskly, not speaking a word, turning and walking away without a backward glance. Laurie only had a moment to worry about it before she turned and ran from the main house. She couldn’t hold the tears at bay any longer. By the time she reached her car, pulling open the driver’s door and throwing her purse onto the passenger seat, the tears were falling freely down her face.
Climbing into her car, she started it quickly, buckling her seatbelt and pulling away from the ranch, ignoring the pack members who saw her leaving. She knew she must have looked a sight, crying and driving with abandon, but she didn’t care. All she knew was she had to get to the hospital and protect her babies once again.
She drove with determination toward the hospital, thankful that she wasn’t pulled over for speeding along the way. As she drove she prayed that all would be well. She could only hope that God would see fit to watch over her babies until she arrived.
Lucian turned to Cole as Laurie passed them and rushed to her car. Their alpha and beta had not given the order to detain their mate if she tried to leave the compound, but seeing her tears made him know that this was not something to be ignored.
Without hesitation, Luc pulled out his cell phone and called Jace. It went right to voice mail, and he was concerned. He knew that this situation was one that needed to be addressed immediately.
“Alpha, this is Luc,” he said quickly. “Your mate just left the compound, and she was very upset. It looked like she was crying.” He turned to face Cole and saw that his triad partner was just as concerned. “Cole and I are going to follow her to make sure she’s safe.”
* * * *
A great sigh of relief escaped Laurie as she finally pulled into the hospital parking lot, cursing as she searched for an empty parking space. She nearly cried with relief when she finally found one. Parking and jumping from the car, she pushed the automatic lock on her key chain and ran for the main entrance.
It took nearly ten minutes to find out where her daughter was being held. The nurse who finally came through with the information pointed toward the elevators at the end of the hall.
“Room 206, second floor,” the nurse told her, stepping back as Laurie rushed by to head toward the elevators.
The ride up the one flight was endless. Laurie’s heart was beating hard against her chest as the doors finally slid open and she was facing a waiting room partitioned off with floor-to-ceiling glass doors. Stepping forward, she pulled the doors open and stepped into the waiting arms of her son Dean.
“Mom! Thank God you’re here,” Dean whispered as he pulled her into his arms and held her firmly in his embrace.
Laurie squeezed him tightly, thankful that he was there. “Dean, have you seen her yet?” she asked quickly, trying very hard not to cry and make him more nervous than she knew he already was.
He stepped back and put his arm around her shoulder as he directed her out of the waiting room toward the semi-private room that housed his sister. “Yeah, they let me in to see her a little while ago but just made me leave so they could examine her.”
They stood together outside the room, waiting, knowing that they couldn’t go in just yet. It was killing Laurie to be so close and be unable to get to her daughter. She stood with her back against the corridor wall, nervously wringing her hands together as they waited. Turning to look at Dean, she saw he was equally agitated as he stood with his arms folded across his broad chest, the muscles of his arms bulging under his T-shirt, and his face covered in a day-old beard. She saw the worry in him as he stood straight and tall as he faced the closed door to the room that his sister was in.
Laurie smiled as she watched him, knowing that he had turned into a wonderful person. How had she ever gotten so lucky to have such amazing children?
“When did you up and turn into a man?” she asked him, smiling.
He turned toward her, a confused expression on his face before he smiled slowly. “When you weren’t looking,” he teased her, glad to see the smile that covered his mother’s face.
After what seemed like an eternity, the door to the room finally opened. A young nurse with short black hair and a soothing smile stepped out, rolling a portable blood pressure machine.
“You can go in now,” she said quietly to them both. “The doctor will be in shortly to speak to all of you.”
“Thank you,” Dean answered, smiling at the young nurse. “This is my mom Laurie,” he introduced her.
The woman smiled. “I can see the resemblance between the three of you.”
Laurie smiled, loving the way people always commented that her children looked like her in both features and coloring. All three of them had the same brown eyes and dark brown hair. Only Dean was different in that his height was already surpassing six feet and she and Mia were tiny in comparison. Turning quickly, she walked into the room. At any other time, she would have stopped to talk and be friendly, but her only thoughts were of Mia. She had to get in to see her.
The room was darkened, the blinds pulled to allow as little light in as possible. Laurie turned and nearly cried out as she saw her daughter’s form lying so still in the hospital bed.
“Baby girl?” she spoke softly.
Mia turned toward her mother’s voice and smiled, tears filling her eyes immediately. “Mom,” she whispered, reaching out her arms and trying to lean up to embrace her.
Laurie was beside her immediately, pulling her daughter gently into her arms and hugging her as tightly as she dared. “I’m here, baby,” she whispered against her daughter’s face, kissing her cheek and breathing in the scent that was uniquely Mia.
Laurie could hear Dean walking around the other side of the bed to sit on the edge to face his sister. “How ya doing, Mia?” he asked her softly, reaching out to embrace both her and their mother.
“I’d be much better if you two weren’t squeezing me to death,” she mumbled against their shoulders.
Laurie laughed and gently released her hold on her daughter, smiling as Dean grumbled and sat back to stare down at his sister. “Okay, brat,” he told her calmly. “Is that better?”
Mia smiled and let out a small laugh, holding her head immediately as the pain shot through her. “Don’t make me laugh, Dean. It hurts.”
“Sorry,” he said immediately. “What did the doctor say?”
“She said I’ll be sore for a while, but she didn’t think there were any broken bones or internal injuries. They took some X-rays to be sure. My neck and shoulders hurt from gripping the steering wheel and trying to keep control of the car.” Mia turned to her mother and looked at her with fire in her eyes. “It was Patrick, Mom,” she said with such anger that Laurie had no doubt that if he were here right now, Mia would unleash all her pent-up anger and frustration. Mia and Dean both knew that Patrick had never been much of a father to either of them.
Neither kid ever referred to him as Dad. They grew up with him being absent except for rare moments over the years when he made sure they knew he hated their very existence.
“You saw him?” Laurie asked, knowing before she spoke what the answer would be. She had no doubt in her mind that Patrick was putting in place his form of judgment and sentencing. She knew that he would never leave them alone. He would continue to hurt them and prove he had control over them until they took their last breaths.
“He didn’t try to hide himself,” Mia answered disgustedly. “He swerved into me three times before I couldn’t hold the car on the road anymore. Luckily, I just spun out on a section of dirt next to the highway. I hit a guardrail. I think the car is totaled. Sorry, Mom.”
Mia nodded, trying to hold back the tears. She had always been the strong one who took on the protection of her mother and brother. No one ever messed with her. But now that her mom was there, she could finally let go. She was scared, in pain, and angry. She didn’t want to be in control anymore. She needed her mom to help her give up that control.
The door to the room opened, and all three of them tensed. Looking up, they saw the woman who Mia recognized as being the attending physician when she had been admitted. The older woman smiled down at them, her deep blue eyes filled with caring as she looked down at the obviously loving family. She pushed up her wire rimmed glasses and took a calming breath as she held a clipboard in one hand against her chest.
“Hello, Mia,” she greeted her warmly, looking at the two obviously very concerned people who sat on the bed beside her. “I’m Dr. Rogers. I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself before. We were all a little busy when you were brought in.”
“I remember,” Mia answered quickly. “This is my mother Laurie, and my brother Dean.”
The doctor nodded to them and looked down at the chart that she carried. “I just wanted to let you know that all of your tests and X-rays came back negative. You have no internal bleeding and no broken bones. Due to the severity of the crash, you should expect to be pretty sore for the next few days at least. We’d like to keep you in the hospital overnight for observation. As long as your condition remains stable, we’ll be able to discharge you in the morning. I’ll make sure one of the nurses schedules a follow-up visit so I can check on you in about a week.”
Laurie let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “Thank you, Dr. Rogers,” she said, trying with all her might to keep herself under control.
Bernard, Lynnette - Laurie's Loves [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 22