“May I?” she asked, indicating to Nicole’s right. Nicole nodded and the maiden sat. “All of us go through this at one stage or another. You are doing just fine. We all think we are failing but it’s not true. Look at him...” she said, gesturing with her chin. Nicole did so and she continued, “He’s beautiful. He needs you and he loves you. This is the hardest job anyone will ever do. They can’t tell you what’s wrong, but they know more than we give them credit for. They are remarkable things. Whenever you feel down, whenever you feel like this is getting too much for you, remember this. The closeness. The love. You’ll need all that and more to survive. Not just here, but life.”
Nicole blinked and nodded, clearing her throat. “I can’t thank you enough. What is your name?”
“Claudia, miss.”
“Don’t call me miss. My name is Nicole. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m sorry for being so rude the other day. Your kids must be very lucky.”
Claudia gave a sad smile and paused for a few seconds before answering, “Thank you.”
“I’m sorry, did I say something wrong? You’re just so good with them...”
“No...nothing wrong. I just...I’ve lost all mine.”
“Oh...I’m so-”
“It’s all right. You weren’t to know.”
“I am so terrified every day that something could happen to him. I can’t imagine what that must be like for you.”
“It’s my lot. My family were in debt to Tynan’s father a long time ago. When they couldn’t pay their debt, he demanded a life of servitude. They refused and he had them executed. I had nowhere to go, so I was taken in by the Slade Estate. I was pregnant four times by four different fathers by the time William died. I lost them all. Wilson became Alpha after that and his new wife said there were to be no more slaves. So we were all set free. The trouble was I had nowhere to go. I wasn’t about to trust Wilson after the cunt of a father he had, so I went to the only place I thought I would be heard. I was made a midwife and I’ve been here ever since.”
Nicole looked down into the eyes of her son, now getting heavy. “I’ll get you out.”
“Begging your pardon?”
“I have friends on the outside. I know they are coming.”
Claudia gave a sad shake of her head. “Please don’t do this to yourself. It’s impossible. Tynan has plans for everything. He’d know they are coming. He has secondary plans for secondary scenarios. Whoever your friends are, they will die.”
“Alicia Slade.”
“Well now,” Claudia said, eyebrows raised. “Maybe she- no. Not even her. They have history, he knows her. He’ll be prepared. If you can get a message to her, tell her to abandon this. You just don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. He can’t be defeated. Too many have tried. Unless you have something that Tynan doesn’t expect, it won’t be enough.”
“I have faith that a mother’s love, and a grandmother’s, can defeat anything. One way or another, I promise you. We will get out of here. Together.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
A Blockade
Nick landed on his feet as he sailed over the fence and sprinted to a large, steel shipping container to scope out what was in front of him; aircraft belonging to various companies. He found what he was after: British Airways. But the baggage was being loaded by three men. No way in hell they wouldn’t spot him trying to sneak on. He would have to distract them.
Nick crept up, keeping a fair distance. He was trying to hone his senses on to their conversation, seeing if an opening for him could be achieved with a break in speech but it was like trying to tune an old radio. The voices faded in and out of his mind with little to no clarity. All he could manage was “Make sure…tag that…it’s going to London…wrong one”. He looked down to see his nails flared, ready for battle.
I am not going to kill anyone.
He gave the sky a fleeting glance as drops of rain fell on to his head. The cloud that covered the city was swirling like the beginnings of a cyclone or hurricane. Maybe that was the reason his wolf powers were going haywire. He hadn’t been exposed to the moon in many months. He had never heard of weather affecting his kind before, but this was no ordinary storm cloud.
Nick put it out of his mind as the moment he searched for was upon him. One of the three had broken away from the others to answer a radio call from the truck, putting him at least fifteen feet away from the others on the almost pitch-black tarmac. More importantly, their backs were to him.
With a sudden but controlled strike, Nick used the flat of his palm on the back of the man’s skull. He was out cold so fast Nick had to cradle his head to stop his jaw from smacking his chest.
“I’m so sorry about this…” Nick whispered, as he lay the man out a good way from the truck. Nick hid on top of the truck, only having to wait a few seconds before the cries of the man’s fellows reached him. They rushed over to his prone form, and by the time they had roused him, Nick was safely tucked away, hidden by the baggage. He had no food, no water. He was facing
