by Dannika Dark
“Alexia, I do hope you change your mind and consider joining my pack. You don’t officially belong to anyone yet, so you are your own woman. Make the right decision. Cole lives in a shed and can offer you nothing.” He slowly threaded his hair away from his face, steadily watching me. “I take very good care of my own.”
I dropped the croissant on the plate and wiped the crumbs on my pants. “So tell me why you were trying to buy my junky old car?” I asked with a mouthful of pastry.
He lowered his head and crossed his arms. “To meet you. After my man spotted you, we tracked down your plates to find out who you were. We know all the Shifters in the area, and someone new stands out. I have a man who does thorough background checks, and your name showed up in the newspaper database online. You shouldn’t put your full name in the paper like that.”
“So I’ve been told,” I said, licking my thumb.
It was difficult to hate Lorenzo, even though I gave it my best effort. He didn’t go about any of this the right way, but deep down I could sense decency. He just had a serious issue with wanting to possess things. I didn’t have a desire to be possessed by any man, only loved.
After Lorenzo left the room, the first person I called was Naya, who chewed my ear off. She had taken the night off to babysit Maizy. They’d made mini-burgers and sweet-potato fries for dinner before having a Cinderella movie party in the living room. I loved Naya to death. I just didn’t care much for her psychotic cat. Since she had to go to work that evening, I promised I’d be over as soon as possible to pick up my Maizy.
Then the dreaded call to Austin. Maybe what Lorenzo said stuck in my head, but I was mad at Austin. But not as mad as he was when I used Lorenzo’s phone to call him and it showed up on the caller ID.
“Where did you go?” I asked, pacing around in the room and glancing out the window at a clearing in the woods.
“I’m coming to get you.”
“He’s having someone drive me; it’ll be quicker this way. I need to get Maizy.”
“Denver is on his way to pick her up now.”
“Why?”
Austin sighed. “We found your mother.”
My stomach did a somersault and I sank into a brown chair. “Is she okay? Oh God, please tell me she’s okay.”
“She’s fine. We brought her to the house and I’m not letting her go home.”
“Why not?”
He paused and I could hear him rubbing his jaw. “Your father got away. He’s clever; knows a lot about the Breed and how to evade us. Even has the right kinds of sprays to throw off his scent from trackers. We’ll talk about it when you get home. Your mom was… not happy to see me.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Chapter 21
When Lorenzo found out I was going straight to Austin’s house, he insisted on personally delivering me to his doorstep. It was the first time I’d ever ridden in a Ferrari, and I might have enjoyed it under different circumstances. He said it was an Enzo and chuckled about it because that’s what his friends called him for short. I thought it looked more like the Batmobile.
The car rolled to a stop in front of the house. Lorenzo exited the vehicle and walked around to open my door. He offered me his hand and I accepted it—all while Austin stood on the porch watching.
Nothing awkward about this at all, I thought.
Lorenzo corralled me against the car, but not forcefully. He cupped my cheek with his hand and brushed the pad of his thumb across my cheekbone. “Call me before the sun goes down, Nashoba. I don’t like that you’re in a house full of men and so close to going into heat. If Cole couldn’t look out for you last night, I have little faith he can protect you with his own.”
“Don’t doubt Austin,” I said, moving his hands away. “You don’t know him. This is about a girl that you two had a thing over, but I’m not about to get caught in the middle of your testosterone war.”
Austin’s boots crunched across the gravel and he neared the front of the sleek black car.
The wind kicked up Lorenzo’s hair and he clasped his hands behind his back.
“I want to speak to you alone,” Austin demanded.
Lorenzo accepted his invitation with a simple shift of his body.
“I’d very much like to hear an explanation of why you left a female Shifter unconscious in a parking lot,” Lorenzo said, lifting his chin. “You’re not fit to take care of a woman, but given you have none in your pack, your inexperience comes as no surprise.”
Austin flexed his jaw and straightened his shoulders just a fraction.
I stepped between the two men before declarations of love turned into declarations of war. “Where’s my mom?”
“Take Alexia to her mother,” Lorenzo said, backing down. “I do not wish to upset her as it is a happy day to see mother and daughter reunited. Another time, Cole.”
Before Lorenzo could get inside his car, Austin captured my arms and looked me over with concerned eyes. “Did he hurt you?”
I shook my head, but secretly his words melted me just a little bit. They weren’t the angry “I’m going to kick someone’s ass” kind, but were spoken with sincerity. Which also made me a little mad.
“Where were you, Austin?”
The Enzo revved so loud I jumped, and Austin let go, glaring at Lorenzo as if he could incinerate him with his eyes. Then I noticed his bruised knuckles and pulled up his hand.
“What is this? Did you run off fighting again? And what happened to your eye?”
He was still looking me over as if he didn’t believe I was unhurt. Without a word, he cupped the back of my head and pulled me to him, murmuring in my hair. “I thought I lost you. We were in public and I couldn’t shift; I thought the Mage had taken you. Then thirty minutes later, Ivan called and said he had your mother. It was chaos. My brothers went to track you down and I picked up your mother to bring her home safe, as I promised. She’s the one who clocked me in the eye.”
I laughed against his chest. Why did I find that such a disturbingly funny mental image? My mom—of all people—punching Austin Cole.
“What happened to your hand?”
He stepped back and shook his head. “Your ex was in the parking lot when I went to get the car.”
“Beckett?” I said in disbelief. “Why was he there? What did he say?”
“I want you to stay away from him, Lexi. He’s not right in the head. We can talk about this later.”
I hurried inside the house, my heart racing. The twins were in the atrium sitting in lawn chairs while a thin cloud of smoke escaped from the grill. I walked through the hallway until I reached a room with the door closed—one I hadn’t been in before. I lightly knocked and pushed the door open.
“Mom?”
The walls were the color of cinderblock. Four packages of gum were lined up precisely on the black dresser to my left. Three pairs of polished boots sat against the wall, and I immediately recognized Reno’s dark shades on the dresser. Tidy wouldn’t be the word I’d used to describe the room, but immaculate. My mom slept with her back to me on a twin-sized bed to the right.
Without saying another word, I curled up behind her and hugged her shoulder. She shifted a little and glanced back at me.
“Lexi?” she said in a weary voice. But all I heard were my tears. Mom turned over and wrapped her arms around me.
Then everything was okay.
“Where’s your sister? I need to see her; I need to make sure…”
“She’s coming,” I said with a sniff. “Austin sent someone to pick her up. She was staying with Naya. Are you okay? Did he hurt you, Mom?”
“No, honey.” She sighed and sat up, sliding her legs off the bed. “Your father isn’t the same man I once knew. He’s in serious trouble and someone is after him. He said they threatened to hurt me. Your dad left us years ago because he didn’t want a family after Wes died. He didn’t want me.” She rubbed away the tears with the back of her hand. “But deep down, he still loves me in
his own way. He came down to protect me from whoever is chasing him. He didn’t want that on his conscience.”
My tone changed to restrained fury. “That man has no conscience. Why did he dump Maizy on the side of the road?”
Her blue eyes dulled and she looked down. “He doesn’t think Maizy is his.”
“But she is.”
“Of course she is, but your dad always had doubts. He was in denial during those last years and didn’t want anything else to tie him to this life like a new baby would. So he accused me of cheating on him. I’d never do anything like that.”
“I know. You’re okay?”
“After he left her on the road, I just—I completely lost it. I went into hysterics, screaming in the car and almost forcing him to wreck it. The farther away we got, the more numb I became. Oh, Lexi, I thought I’d never see her again.” She held my hand and kissed the back of it. “I hit Austin in the face and broke my nail.”
My mouth flew open and a burst of laughter escaped. “You never told me about your right hook. Did you see the shiner you gave him?”
She covered her face. “I can’t believe I did something like that. I’m upset with him, but I didn’t have any right to behave the way I did. He insisted on taking me here instead of my house and… That’s just not the kind of person I am.”
“Well, you’re not going back home until we find the guy who’s after him. It’s too dangerous.”
“I can’t face Austin. Not after the way I behaved.”
“Trust me, Mom, they’ve seen worse. I was just as mad, but life’s too short to hold a grudge. Austin was young and we all make mistakes. You don’t have anything to worry about with his brothers; they’ve been really good to me and Maizy.”
It was a relief to have my mom back, but something was bothering me. It was the fact I was a Shifter. If my aging slowed down, she was going to eventually notice. Would she still love me if she knew what I was?
“Mommy! Mommy!” a little voice cried out from the other room. Mom hopped up and hurried out the door while I stayed behind, lost in my thoughts.
Austin came in and sat beside me, patting my leg. He kept his hand on my knee and I leaned against him, enjoying the subtle scent of his cologne.
“She’ll still love you,” he said, and my heart ached. “We’ll have to tell her the rules about revealing our secrets, but I trust your mom. I’ve known her almost my entire life and I get good vibes from her.” He blew out a breath and lowered his voice. “I put Ben and Wheeler to task finding a new house, or at the very least, some property we can build on. One’s big and has an amazing view up high. It’s modern, has a pool, and will cost me a fortune. The second one is older and used to be a hotel but was renovated years ago. The owners are old and don’t have any kids to pass on their inheritance, but they haven’t had any luck selling because of the location and condition of the house. It’s just as big as the first one, but it needs work. It’s rustic, doesn’t have a pool…”
“That’s the one you should take,” I said decidedly.
He made a “huh” sound. “Why’s that?”
I stood up and looked over my shoulder. “Because you’re not Lorenzo. He would have bought the first house to show everyone up. Sometimes things that are worth having are worth fixing up. Not everything comes in perfect condition, but it doesn’t mean it’s not the right one for you.”
When his eyes slid up to mine, my breath caught. Austin’s next question had a deeper meaning we both understood.
“Which house would you choose?”
* * *
Outside of our brief conversation, Mom had no insight as to why else my dad would have kidnapped her. Deep down, he must have loved her in some irrational way, but his reckless actions had put our lives in danger and it only fueled my hate for him even more. Now that I knew he wasn’t my real father, it was easier to hate him. Because he was Maizy’s, I didn’t say anything out of respect, even though she didn’t know him. I didn’t want her to have memories of me slamming him, because one day she would find out for herself what kind of man he was.
I spent the entire afternoon with my mom, but I couldn’t get the shop off my mind. Ben and Wheeler ate their hamburgers and headed out. When I asked where Ivy had gone, Austin explained he had begun the process of officially claiming her with one of the head Packmasters in the territory, and the man’s wife wanted to speak privately with Ivy.
It was sometimes customary for the women to open their door to one another, and perhaps she wanted to make sure there was nothing being forced on this young woman.
Just after sunset, I headed back home alone. Mom agreed to stay with Austin until they caught my father. While Ivan had retracted his offer to help us any further, Lorenzo hadn’t ended his search. I knew because I’d kept my promise and called him earlier that day.
“How did everything go?” I asked April over Lorenzo’s phone. I was beginning to think having one of these phones would come in handy. I ascended the stairs and twirled my keychain around, looking for the key.
“Um, you could have told me you were sending two hunks over.”
I snorted. “Really? I didn’t think they were your type.”
“Well, kind of not. They’re eye candy, but not really my kind of candy. One of them stared at my ass and the other guy didn’t say much. The store is so clean you wouldn’t believe it! Some of the canisters I’m not so sure they’ll be salvageable. Have you heard from Charlie? What happened?”
I slid the key in the lock and glanced over my shoulder. “Cancer. I’m going to try calling around to see where he’s at; his neighbor said they took him away in an ambulance a few days ago.”
“Oh, no.”
“Yeah.” I sighed when I heard her sniffing over the phone. We really liked Charlie and were fortunate to have a boss like him, even though he had quirky ways about running his store. “Hopefully he’s okay, but I need to get a hold of him so I can find out what to do about the power. Until then, just lock everything up and take off for a few days. There’s nothing we can do at this point. We’re not getting a paycheck this Friday, so you’ll need to let the girls know. It’s not going to hurt them as much as it will us.”
“Gee, I didn’t think of that. I need to be honest and tell you I might be able to let one paycheck slide, but that’s it. I mean it, Alexia. And I’ll need reimbursement for the missed week as soon as the funds are available.”
I opened the door and flipped on the wall switch that connected to a lamp in the living room. Then I gasped.
“What happens if you can’t find him? Alexia?”
“Um, April, let me call you back…” I hung up the phone.
My feet floated toward the dining room as I admired the most gorgeous flower display I’d ever laid eyes on. Seven clear vases of varying sizes were perfectly arranged in two rows, filled with red roses of such a lush shade that I drew in a deep breath and sighed. There was no baby’s breath—instead, white lilies filled all the open gaps. A silver balloon hovered above the table, tied to a chair, with “Happy Birthday” written in elegant letters.
The closer I got, the more I began rubbing my eyes to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. A note was strategically placed in the center of the table, and while I should have been upset someone got into my apartment, I wasn’t. My birthday was actually the next day, and the only men who knew were Austin and Beckett. This sure as hell didn’t look like something Beckett would dream up.
My heart did a flutter, and I tore open the seal and pulled out the card.
Nashoba,
I could give you a garden and it would pale next to your beauty.
So let me give you the world.
Lorenzo
“Holy shit,” I murmured.
No one had ever given me anything like this before, and then the note? Once the shock dissipated and I sat down, I realized that as beautiful as they were, the gift didn’t floor me like it should have. Lorenzo didn’t know a damn thing about me if he thought he c
ould woo me with flowers. The note was the only thing that earned him brownie points, because you had to respect a man with a poetic heart.
Last year on my birthday, I drove with Maizy out to a diamond mine. They plowed up the dirt every so often, and you could rent a shovel and other supplies and dig in the dirt looking for treasure.
Supposedly, small diamonds were found all the time. The only thing we found were a few rocks that we brought home as souvenirs. It was the best time, and I packed a picnic lunch on the way home after picking up a few things at a local supermarket. Maizy had wanted to give me a diamond for my birthday and was upset. I reminded her that expensive things didn’t make people happy, thoughtfulness did. And she was my diamond because I’d gotten to spend my entire birthday with her.
Still, the flowers were beautiful, and I wasn’t about to be ungrateful for such an extravagant gift. I wondered how he managed to bypass the camera outside, but Lorenzo seemed like the kind of guy who could get away with anything. Probably had the flower delivery guy talk the landlord into letting him in.
I admired the delicate petals for a few minutes before changing clothes and pulling out the phonebook for a listing of hospitals. I made a few calls, but due to certain laws, I couldn’t obtain any information since we weren’t related. I collapsed on the sofa and nodded off for a few hours.
After I woke up, I tried calling a few more places. They would have admitted Charlie by now, so perhaps they’d moved him to another facility. His sister was from Ohio, but I had no idea if they shared the same last name. I had searched on the Internet but came up with too many listings. Without knowing her first name, it would have been a waste of time.
A light knock tapped on the door and it swung open. “How many times have I told you to lock your—” Naya gasped. “Honey! Who are the gorgeous flowers from?”
She practically squealed, running in short steps across my living room to the table. Naya had just gotten off work and hadn’t taken off her impossibly high gold shoes.
“Someone adores you enough to send you all these? Oh, you need to marry him right this minute,” she went on, burying her nose in a bouquet. After circling around the table to admire each one individually, she finally stood back and soaked it all in.