spotted." Lex finished.
"So, we have two dead parents. One run off a road in Vermont, the other buried
in a former forest just over the Georgia/South Carolina border. How many states
in between Emma?" Kole asked.
"I didn't even know about Vermont. I know I started Kindergarden in southern
California. We headed bit north every year or so until I was 8. Thats when we
moved clear out to Texas. Dad homeschooled me there for two years. We
headed over towards Georgia slowly from 10 until I was 12. That's when he put
me back in public school. When I asked him why he said it was where a young
woman needed to be." Emma said remembering. "Thats how it is with rogues
though, they have to move around a lot."
"Shit baby. You never had a home did you?" Kian said laying his hand on ther
thigh under the table. "Rogue's just don't belong to a pack. Most of them aren't
that nomadic."
"Unless they're running from something. And it seems like her dad was running
big time. From what though?" Kayla asked.
"I think I know." Lex said standing up walking to the french doors looking out into
the dark woods in the back. "Again, there was no maiden name on record, but
the picture of your mother's on her drivers license in the file looked familiar to me.
You said your mom was from a pack up north?""Yeah, but thats all I know. My Dad didn't talk about her much."
"It was probably too painful. Losing a mate is devastaing to our kind. He would
have felt the moment of her death. My Mom told me its hard to recover when half
of you feels like its always missing after that." Kian said referring to his own
father's death.
Still staring outside, Lex said into the glass, "I am pretty sure she was my father's
little sister MaryBeth. She ran away with her mate at 18. They got letters from her
for the first year. She was blissfully in love with her new mate. My family was
happy for her. I know why she left, but its going to piss all of you off."
"That would make you my cousin! I've never had a cousin before." Emma said
walking over to him and hugging him.
"You have her hair. She had wild dark red hair too. But her eyes were brown.
You must get those golden green ones from your Dad." Lex said holding onto
Emma.
"I do. He always said he gave me his eyes, but everything else came from his
Beth."
Seeing his mate hug another man and crying into his chest wasn't easy for
Kian's wolf. But he knew she needed to make that connection to a family she
hadn't known she had. Slightly awed by the fact that his best friend in the world
and his mate came from the same family tree. Kian smiled a moment for all the
happiness those two people brought into his life. Lex had been his friend sincehe could remember, he held him up when he was drowning after the loss of his
father. And Emma was the other half of his soul. It made strange sense that the
two people who were so connected to his heart somehow be related. Now that
he knew they were family he could almost see a resemblance. Remembering
that Lex said he had more information that he wasn't going to like he cleared his
throat loudly ruining the happy moment and asked, "And the rest? What is going
to piss us off?"
Pushing Emma gently away from him, needing the distance, Lex said
"Another member of the pack always wanted my Aunt MaryBeth, said she was
going to be his some day. She never felt the same though, and in the note she
left explaining why she had to go, she said she knew he wasn't going to accept
seeing her mated to another man. It would be best for her to leave." Both hands
in his hair looking at Kian like he was going to lose him for saying this he finished
it. "That man was your uncle Russ. You've seen how much he doesn't like me,
right? He was always the same with my old man too. Treats us like we are
second class pack members. That's why. Shit, I'm sorry Deck, I should have put
it together sooner, and I didn't."
Standing up so fast his chair crashed onto the floor Kian roared "ARE YOU
SAYING MY UNCLE KILLED MY MATE'S PARENTS AND NOW HE WANTS TO
KILL HER?" Not waiting for an answer Kian stormed out the front door wolf
ripping out of him as soon as his feet touched the snowy yard. With one last look
at the people gathered in his home the dark golden wolf with the black back and
ears ran off into the forest.
Chapter 12
A long agonized howl burst through the air a few minutes after Kian's wolf
raced off into the night. Emma was up heading out the door as the haunting
notes faded. With a hand on her arm and a shake of his head Kole stopped her.
He was probably right, Kian needed to deal. It wasn't as if Emma could shift to
follow him, and the last thing he needed right now was his mate wandering into
the dark forest after him. There was also still a threat against her life that she had
momentarily forgotten. Kian would never forgive her if she was to put herself in
danger like that. Covering Kole's hand on her arm with her own she gave it a
squeeze to thank him for his wisdom.
Not ready to face the harsh light Lex shed on her history Emma muttered
she needed a shower and walked up stairs to the room she was sharing with
Kian. His master bathroom was made for unwinding from stress, and Emma
wished she could hide out in there all night. With a look of longing towards the
large bathtub she walked past to the shower in the corner. It was all stone tile
with a glass door. Not surprisingly, modesty was not the main priority when Kian
built it, he hadn't gone for frosted glass. Nudity was more accepted with shifters
than in human society. Reaching in and turning the water on so it could warm
