Seven Years

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.”