down Everton’s truck.
Nathan and Finn had gone to the store to pick up more Christmas decorations that would match the ones that were ruined. With the Christmas tree lights and the outdoor lights on, a fire flickering at the hearth, and the smell of apple cider and wassail simmering on the stove, the place was soon ready for the open house.
Meanwhile, Anna, Jessica, Tessa, and Meara were all clustered in the master bedroom, talking behind closed doors. Except for Anna, who was still wearing all black from the clandestine visit to check out Everton’s safe, all the ladies were dressed in sparkly Christmas sweaters, ready for the open house. They were just a little early before the rest of the pack members arrived.
Bjornolf was dying to know what was going on. In the meantime, Rourke began laying out the case they were building on the coffee table. Copies of everything they’d found in the safe and other documents that Rourke had brought with him, including a transcript of his interview with Helen Wentworth, were spread out for everyone’s perusal.
With one more long glance toward the master bedroom, Bjornolf began to look over the documents again to see if he’d missed anything.
“Courthouse records show the tree farm still belongs to Oliver and Jenna Silverstone,” Rourke said. “Roger and Dottie Wentworth didn’t purchase it.”
Bjornolf nodded, concentrating on the paperwork when he heard the women laughing in the bedroom. He glanced up at Hunter, saw a hint of a smile in his expression, and realized then that everything would be all right.
He’d never known how truly important a pack could be in a crisis until now. He still didn’t know what had upset Anna, but he figured once she discussed the matter with the women, she’d share the truth with him. He loved her, and he had to let her know that every day of their lives.
He sighed heavily and looked at some of the papers concerning the planting of trees. One of them in particular caught his eye. He began thinking—if the DEA bodies had been buried at the farm, it would have been either where new seedlings were growing or on some spare acreage. He started looking at dates of plantings and found that the schematics showed a detailed planting regimen. And identified some places that might just yield a couple of bodies.
“Hunter,” he called out. “I have an idea where the DEA agent bodies might be located.”
Chapter 24
The women were all talking to Anna, trying to bolster her while she sat quietly on the edge of the bed. She had never been a member of a pack or truly belonged to a family, so she wasn’t expecting them to rally around her. She was stunned.
Anna had never talked to anyone about her past. She’d buried it, but it was there—always there. Deep. The first Christmas she’d thought she’d enjoy, one that she’d believed she could get through and forget the past, had been destroyed. She was numb all over.
To lighten the mood, Tessa said, “Hunter was ready to expire on the spot when I insisted on coming to Anna’s open house, afraid I’d have the babies spontaneously once we arrived.”
Everyone laughed. Anna could just envision Hunter, who was always so in charge, being distressed over the pregnancy.
Then Tessa said, “Bjornolf was just as bad when you were upset, Anna. Hunter said he’d never seen one of his fellow SEALs crash that hard. That was before Hunter was having a stroke over my coming here.”
Anna wondered how Bjornolf would react if he ever made her pregnant. Then she let out her breath. She didn’t know if she could ever have babies again.
Greta said, “When I had my babies, Caruthers threw up. Worst of it was, he got my overnight bag in the car and was backing out of the drive before he remembered to take me! I was moving kind of slow with triplets at the time.”
The ladies laughed.
Meara glanced at Anna, then took a deep breath. “Maybe we shouldn’t tell all these stories in front of Tessa. She’s due any second.”
“Nonsense.” Tessa looked at the sweater that Meara was wearing and frowned. “Are you gaining weight?”
Every eye turned to stare at Meara’s sparkly Christmas tree sweater. “Twins, next spring.”
“Ha!” Tessa said. “Does Finn know?”
“I told him right before we came over here. He’s thrilled.”
Everyone congratulated her and then grew quiet.
Tessa said to Anna, “Maybe you need to talk to Bjornolf about what’s troubling you.”
Anna was tough. She had to be. She’d worn a coat of armor for years. But this was the hardest thing she’d ever have to do.
“You have to trust him,” Tessa said. “He’s your mate.”
Anna nodded.
“We’re leaving and sending him in here. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“If someone will help me up from the bench,” Tessa said.
Anna could not imagine being that full of babies again, and when she cast a look at Jessica to see her take on it, she looked like she was thinking the same thing.
Meara said, “I’ll get Hunter.” She hurried out of the room and quickly returned with both Hunter and Bjornolf.
He looked worried. Anna hated how she’d hit such a low spot and he was the one who had to put up with her.
Hunter helped Tessa up and escorted her out of the bedroom.
The other ladies left the room, and Meara shut the door behind her.
“Some potentially good news,” Bjornolf said as he sat on the bed and put his arm around Anna. “If the plans for the tree plantings are any indication, we might be able to pinpoint the location of the bodies. Hunter’s going to have the police get on it.”
“That’s good,” she said, genuinely meaning it. For a moment, she thought she might just skip telling him about her past.
“You know you can tell me anything, Anna. You’re the most important person in the world to me.”
She took a deep breath. This was it. She had to get it off her chest. He deserved to know. Maybe… he could help her deal with it. “I haven’t told anyone this… since it happened. Years and years ago.”
He kissed her cheek. “You’re the first one I confided in about the bear killing my friend.”
She nodded. He was right. He’d bared his soul to her and it was time for her to do the same. She took a deep breath. “Okay. I was fifteen the first time I kissed a wolf. He was…” She paused. “Older. Cocky. I really liked him. All alpha. I had these notions that if I loved him and he loved me, we’d become mated wolves.”
She felt Bjornolf stiffen a bit.
She shook her head. “My parents were never nurturing. I needed somebody to love who would love me in return. I thought he could be that someone.”
She harrumphed. “My past was so gray and murky that I don’t remember a time when I ever received a Christmas gift. My parents should never have had me. I always suspected I was a fluke, unintentional. I even had the notion that they weren’t my real parents. And then they were murdered.”
Bjornolf rubbed her arm. She appreciated his comforting touch, when she would have pulled away in the past.
“So when I met Rory, I thought he would be good for me. He even gave me a gift. New hair ribbons. I was so naive. He forced himself on me. He didn’t want me. He left, and… I learned I was pregnant.”
“At fifteen,” Bjornolf said, his voice quiet.
“With twins. A boy and a girl. I was too young to have babies. They arrived seventeen weeks early on
