I tried to decipher the meaning of her words, but the more I thought about it, the more it sounded like she’d just predicted more injuries. Not exactly what I’d come here for.
“Whose blood will spill?” I demanded, raising my voice to be heard over the rushing wind.
At my words, Delphine blinked, and her expression cleared. The glow in her skin dimmed, and the wind settled. She stared back at me, once again the prim and proper woman from before.
“A mate for a mate, Mr. Raines, that is what the fates demand.”
“I don’t understand. I just want to heal my knee—”
“Your knee is simply the calling. It is not the answer.”
“Then what’s the answer?” I demanded, my patience gone.
Delphine simply smiled. “A midnight mate—or death.”
“How do I choose if I don’t understand what it means?”
“You know what you need to do. The choice is not up to you. In the end, she’ll be the one to choose.”
Thunder boomed and my phone rang, interrupting what had to be the strangest and most frustrating conversation I’d ever had in my entire life.
I silenced the call without even checking who it was, intent on getting more information about whatever Delphine’s cryptic proclamation meant. But when I looked up again, she was gone.
I blinked, looking around.
Overhead, the clouds were clearing fast, and bright sunlight was peeking through. But there was no trace of Delphine.
What the fuck?
I checked my phone and did a double-take when I saw there wasn’t a single missed call in my history.
Double fuck.
I charged forward, angry enough to risk the witches’ wrath. Storming up the steps and through the cabin door, I stopped short. The place was utterly empty. No Delphine. No furniture. Nothing.
My phone rang again, and this time, I answered it, needing something to be real.
“Hello?”
“East?”
“Angus.” I sighed, striding out of the cabin and down the steps to my truck.
“How’d it go?” he asked.
“I don’t even know, man.”
“Okay, well, I got a text saying the meeting was over. Weird, but I thought I’d check in.”
“Thanks, man.” The meeting was definitely over.
“Did they agree to help?”
I walked back outside.
“Yes…and no.” My mind was beginning to spin with all the possibilities of what—and who—Delphine was talking about. “I need to go, but I’ll tell you about it later.”
“Okay, man. Sure. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Will do.”
I drove for the better part of an hour and ended up at Cat’s apartment. She was at work, according to her roommate. But safe. No spilled blood.
Still, I’d done my best to convince Cat’s roommate I wasn’t going to hurt her, and in the end, he agreed to get her to meet with me. I had to make sure she wasn’t somehow wrapped up in all this. I had to make sure she was safe.
After I left Rudy, I couldn’t stop replaying Delphine’s cryptic words. Another woman whose fate my wolf had tied to its own.
Then it hit me.
Fuck.
Maybe Delphine hadn’t meant Cat at all. Maybe the “she” Delphine had referred to was someone else much more in need of help with a mate than anyone else. If my mother wanted to leave with me, I couldn’t stay. Not even for Cat. I’d made a promise long before my first love, and it wasn’t one I could ever break.
Free my mother from my father.
That was more important than even my own happiness.
Stopping just short of the very speed bump I’d once almost become, I pulled a U-turn and drove straight to my parents’ house.
Driving way too fast and feeling way too much, I made it across town and pulled up at my parents’ house in record time. My father’s truck was gone, which was a plus and something I hadn’t been sure of. The fact that it was the middle of a workday didn’t mean shit. He did construction for a pack member, and that meant he got away with sleeping off his benders more often than he should have.
Another reason I’d known from the start I could never join the Midnight Falls werewolf pack.
No one came out to greet me as I hopped out of my truck. Not even Andy, who’d never failed to come rushing at the sound of a car door closing. The whole place was weirdly quiet. And still.
Something was off.
My wolf’s hackles rose, and my senses expanded, searching for some sign of my mother. The front door was open, the screen unlocked. The hinges creaked as I opened it and stepped inside.
“Hello?”
No answer. And still no Andy.
I made it as far as the foyer when the smell hit me. My nostrils flared as the beast inside me roared. I surged ahead. The scent of blood and sweat and alcohol permeated the house. Furniture, broken and overturned, littered the living room. In the far corner, I spotted a body lying face down.
“Mom!”
I rushed over to where my mother lay on the rug, motionless and bloodied. Andy looked up from where he’d laid his head against her thigh.
He whined at me, urging me to help.
I pressed shaky fingers to her neck, checking for a pulse as I struggled to remain human. Panic clawed at me until, finally, my wolf sensed her heartbeat. Weak. Small.
“It’s okay, boy,” I said, talking more to myself than the dog. “I’m here. She’s alive. It’s okay.”
Nausea ripped through me, and I prayed my words held true.
I slid my phone free and dialed the emergency line. With quick, biting words, I outlined the situation for the operator who answered.
Then, I waited, doing chest compressions until the ambulance showed and hoping like hell she kept fighting.
I had to stay human. For her.
When she was safe, I’d find the bastard. There’d be time for that later. For now, I stayed close to my mother, careful not to move her yet.
In the distance, a siren approached. Then another.
I recognized each of them in turn. Ambulance. Police. Firetruck.
They’d brought the
