by Sara Dailey
After that, my mother was speechless. And it kind of felt good to know that Marcus and Noel knew the score. That they didn’t blame me completely.
Marcus stood, wordlessly telling us that this meeting was adjourned, but before we left, he said one last thing. “And just so you know, Kendall. You are lucky that you are still breathing. I should kill you. And if it were anyone else, I probably would. You plotted against my son, and almost killed his mate. Don’t think for one second, that if you ever return, for any reason, that I won’t kill you, because you would be wrong. You have two hours to evacuate the premises. Take only what belongs to you. I have arranged for a cab to pick you up and take you wherever you choose to go. Now leave, and I suggest that you don’t look back.”
My mother and I walked out the door together, but there had never been more distance between us than there was at that moment. There was no telling what my future held, but I had a good feeling that she wouldn’t be a part of it.
Chapter 61
Cade
I freakin’ hate hospitals. I hate the antiseptic smell and the bright fluorescent lights. I hate the way everyone just stands around waiting for the news that either their loved ones will be okay or they won’t. Even in our little infirmary on the estate, it felt the same. All of the excitement of the evening had long ago faded, and the only people left here were members of the Wright family and me. The elders had all gone home, with the exception of Alli’s grandparents, but I couldn’t leave, even though I probably should.
With Aiden in a serious condition, I felt like this was way too personal for an outsider to witness. But I just couldn’t leave Alli. Not yet.
So many things about tonight were confusing the hell out of me. Why did Dylan choose this pack to torment? When did Kendall become such an unfeeling bitch? Why didn’t Aiden transform when he was attacked? I should just stop thinking about questions that I will more than likely never know the answers to.
“Okay everyone, I’m going to need you out for a while,” the doctor said.
Alli and I walked out of Aiden’s small room and into the quiet waiting room down the hall. I pulled her close to me so that I could rest my chin on the top of her head. We just stood there, holding each other until the doctor came in.
“Mr. and Mrs. Wright, I’m afraid that my initial thought was correct. Aiden has lost too much blood, he’s going to need a transfusion,” the doctor confirmed.
Beside me, I heard Alli gasp. I gave her a reassuring squeeze, but on the inside, I knew that this was bad. I have never heard of a werewolf needing a blood transfusion, but hell, before I met Alli, I have never heard of a werewolf getting sick either.
“Which one of you is B positive?” I heard the doctor ask. Mr. and Mrs. Wright looked at each other and then asked to speak to the doctor in private.
As they walked to the end of the hall to talk, I all but collapsed on the small leather sofa. I hadn’t realized just how exhausted I was until now. I was already feeling a thousand times better just being with Alli, but still not 100 percent.
It’s weird the way this mating thing worked. One minute, I felt like I was on my death bed, but then was strong enough to defeat a rogue the next, and all it took was one look at Alli.
“How are you holding up?” Alli asked, sitting down beside me.
“I’m fine… I’m good. Just tired and worried,” I told her.
“Baby, why don’t you go home, take a hot shower, and get some rest. I promise I’ll call you as soon as there is some news,” Alli assured me.
I reached over and pulled her onto my lap. I couldn’t stand to be separated from her, not even for a short while. I gently rubbed her back and whispered in her ear, “Don’t. Please. I can’t. I need to be with you. Just let me stay with you, okay?” She didn’t say anything; she didn’t need to. She just took my face between her hands and kissed me. It was a quick, soft, little kiss, but it was just what I needed. That kiss meant the beginning of our new lives together.
I was leaning in to steal another kiss, when Mr. and Mrs. Wright came into the room. They both looked worried and nervous, which was to be expected after all that had occurred. I didn’t know how they kept their spirits up, but they did. They sat down opposite of us in the waiting room.
“Cade, your father is on the way up here,” Mr. Wright said.
Strangely, I was actually relieved that he was coming here. There was a nagging at the back of my mind since I watched the life drain out of Dylan’s eyes, and I knew that only my father would understand what I was feeling. I did what I had to do. I knew that, but that didn’t stop me from feeling sick about it. I didn’t want to bother Alli with it though. She had enough to worry about with her brother. She didn’t need to hear how guilty I felt about killing the wolf who had kidnapped her, and very nearly killed her brother.
“We need to talk to both of you before Marcus arrives,” Mrs. Wright said looking down at her shaky hands.
“What is it, Mom? Is Aiden going to be okay?” Alli asked in a panic.
“He will, as soon as Marcus gets here.”
“What does my father have to do with Aiden’s recovery?” I asked.
“Oh God, how can I say this?” Mrs. Wright asked with tears forming in her eyes.
“Aiden needs his blood. Cade, your father, is also Aiden’s father,” Mr. Wright said, so that his wife wouldn’t have to.
I felt Alli stiffen in my arms as my own breath caught in my throat. My mind started racing, trying to process what I just heard. My father is Aiden’s father. That would make us half-brothers. A brother? Wait, does that mean I’m related to Alli? Think damn-it… no? Thank God. That would be bad.
“I have a brother,” I whispered to myself, kind of liking the way it sounded. As an only child, I have always wanted a brother.
Alli turned and stared right in my eyes, “No, he is my brother.”
I was slightly taken aback by her remark, but I tried to imagine how she must have felt. This was all too much for us to handle.
“Cade is right, and so are you, honey. The truth is that I was pregnant with Marcus’s child when I fled from the estate all those years ago. I didn’t know until I had already left. And to be honest, I wasn’t sure that I would be welcomed back. And I really didn’t want to go back. So I stayed… I started a new life with your father,” Mrs. Wright told Alli.
“But I don’t understand. Dad, did you just find out? Oh God, Dad, that is so awful. I’m so sorry—,” Alli was saying until she was cut off.
“No, baby. I knew from the beginning. Why don’t you just take some time to let this all sink in, and I promise we can talk about this later, when Aiden can be here to listen,” Mr. Wright said.
Without another word, Mr. and Mrs. Wright got up and went back into Aiden’s room.
Alli tried to scoot off from my lap, but I just held her tighter. We would figure this out, we had to.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you,” Alli whispered.
I placed a kiss on her nose and said, “He was going to be my brother one day anyway.”
Just then, my parents came busting through the front doors of the infirmary, looking panicked and desperate. Alli’s parents walked out of Aiden’s room and met them in the hall.
“Lily, is it true? Is Aiden my son?”
With tears flowing freely down her cheeks, Alli’s mom just nodded and stepped aside allowing my dad to walk into Aiden’s room.
“Go… go be with your dad. I think mine needs me right now, too. I will be right outside if you need me,” Alli said.
Part of me wanted to, but part of me wasn’t quite ready for all of this. In the end, I knew that Alli was right, so I took a deep breath, and walked into my brother’s room.
Chapter 62
Allison
“I’m so happy to have my baby back,” my mom said reaching over and squeezing me into a tight bear hug.
After Cade went in with his father to see Aiden, my mom and I came outside to get away from all
the drama and get some air. It was freezing cold, but it was a welcome relief from the stifling confines of the little infirmary.
Pulling away from Mom a bit so that I could look her in the eye, I admitted, “I’m just not sure how to take this all in. How could you have never told us?”
Mom looked away as if it was too much to face me. “I don’t know. You both were so young. And as more and more time passed, it felt like I had missed my chance to explain all of this. Dad was a dad to both of you, and he never saw Aiden as anything other than his son. To be honest, I guess I just took the easy way out by never telling you both the truth.”
Again, she pulled me in for a hug and said, “I’m so sorry.” Minutes passed before she spoke. “Can we talk about you and Cade?”
That completely threw me off. After all of this, she wanted to talk about me and Cade? “What is there to talk about?”
“Well, there’s the fact that you two are true mates. Something that hasn’t happened in a really long time. It’s kind of a big deal. And you are so young, honey. You’re mated and only seventeen. Don’t you think that’s worth talking about?”
I have never really thought about it like that. Mom was right. Seventeen is young, whether I wanted to admit it or not. It’s like my life has suddenly been planned out for me. But… I loved Cade. And I couldn’t imagine being without him.
“So what now, Mom? What happens next? We can’t be apart. Are we like supposed to move in together?”
Before Mom could answer, Noel walked out and directly over to us. “Allison, can we talk?”
I looked over at my mom, not sure what to do. Honestly, Noel had never been anything but kind, but she still scared the hell out of me.
Immediately, Mom said, “I’ll go back inside and let you two talk.”
“No, Lillian. Please stay. We are all family now,” Noel said.
Cade’s mom sat down, and suddenly, I found myself sitting between two of the strongest, most self-assured women I have ever known. One who was the alpha-female of our pack and the one who was supposed to be.
Noel placed her hands over mine, which was totally weird, but I knew it was meant to be comforting. “Allison, first I want to apologize for my husband’s behavior. He was completely out-of-line. He is the alpha, and he should have acted as one instead of a raging maniac. And if you tell him I said that, I’ll adamantly deny it.”
Her attempt at humor kind of lightened the mood. I did appreciate her apologizing for Marcus, but in my opinion, he was still a jerk. Alpha or not.
“You don’t need to apologize, Mrs. Walker,” I told her.
“Yes I do. You are family now. You are our son’s mate. This is new for all of us, but I hope that we can get to know each other better.” Then she looked over at my mom and said, “All of us. I want us all to be a family. And as the women in this family, we need to make sure that it happens. Our children are going to need us and our support.”
Noel most definitely surprised me. The fact that she reached out to both my mother and me was kind of… unbelievable. I would have thought that she would be pissed, not to mention completely freaked out, about Aiden being Marcus’s son, but she genuinely seemed okay with it. Not like it was no big deal, because it obviously was, but for her to take the news so well was shocking.
The door opened, and I felt Cade’s presence before he even spoke. “Am I interrupting a female bonding moment?” We all turned and smiled.
Noel said, “Of course not, honey. Why don’t Lillian and I give you two some time to talk?” She turned to my mom and asked, “What do you say, Lillian? Shall we go get a cup of coffee and check on Aiden?”
With a nod, my mom and Noel went inside leaving Cade and me alone. He walked over and sat down next to me. Instantly, my body temperature rose as he wrapped his arms around me.
“Allison, I know this is a lot to take in. Are you okay? Have you been checked out by Dr. Altman? I want to make sure you’re alright.”
“I’m fine really. My were-skin heals quickly,” I joked, and then we laughed together at my own silly attempt to make light of our situation. “Stop worrying about me, Cade. How are you? What’s going on in that head of yours? I know you must be a little shook up by the whole I-suddenly-have-a-brother thing,” I continued.
“I don’t want to talk about that now. I just want to know that you are okay. That’s what matters most,” he said.
We just sat there huddled together in the cold enjoying the feeling of being back in each other’s arms before Cade spoke again. “I came so close to losing you. I don’t know how I would have lived without you, Allison. I love you so much. You know that, right?” he asked with watery eyes.
I couldn’t even speak. I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders and pulled my mate’s lips to mine, and in that moment, it all became clear. I never wanted to leave his side. Seventeen or seventy, it didn’t matter. We were going to be together forever, and our forever was beginning right now.
I pulled away but only to say, “I love you too, Cade.”
“I was hoping you would say that. You know, I found something, and I think it belongs to you.” Cade stuck his hand in his pocket, pulled out his alpha ring, which now hung from a chain, and placed it around my neck. Where it would stay… forever.
Our lips found each other’s again, and we kissed like we knew this was just the beginning of our new life together. Hearing the door behind us swing open, our lips parted. Marcus waved us over and said to us both, “Hurry in. Your brother is waking up!” Thank God I had Cade by my side because one thing was certain. Everything was about to change, not only for me and Cade, but for the entire Red Ridge Pack as well.
To be continued …
Acknowledgments
We have to start by thanking our family for allowing us the time away from home to do what we love. Without their love and support, writing this book would have been impossible. To our beta reader, Shari Hassell, thanks for telling us how wonderful we are while pointing out all the mistakes we make. You make us sound like we know what we are doing.
We have to give a shout out to Patrick Golden for creating and updating our website, Jordan Mantell for his beautiful poetry, and our many supportive students that we have taught over the years.
Last, but certainly not least, a very special thanks to everyone at Boroughs Publishing Group. It was truly an honor having Jill Limber as our editor. We are so grateful that she saw something in our story that was worth passing along to Michelle. Both Jill and Michelle are the epitome of professionalism, and as fast as lightning!