“I told you I would protect you, Adrianna.” He stroked the side of her face with his fingers. “And that you didn’t have to worry about me.”
“That you did.” She didn’t move or flinch away from his touch. “I should tell my mother—”
He tightened his grip. “It’s early, no one will be up yet. It can wait until later.”
“I suppose …”
“Sleep, lupoaică,” he urged. “You still have a lot to deal with when you wake.”
She relaxed against him and sighed. He was wide awake, and he figured he could use this time to think of what to do tomorrow. Maybe he could track down those men who tried to kidnap Adrianna and get some information. Or go back and find out what Anatoli was up to. Or maybe—
“Darius?” She squirmed away from him, then lifted her head to look him in the eyes.
“Yes?”
“Who’s Elena?”
His muscles tensed up at the sound of the name. The involuntary response didn’t escape her notice and her eyes widened.
“How do you know that name?”
“Um, from you. You were saying it in your sleep.” Her brows scrunched together. “And other things too. Ta … ma? And Thom?”
“Mama, you know the meaning as it is the same in English, but Tată is Romanian for father.” He rolled onto his back, releasing her from his embrace. “Thomsin and Elena were my brother and sister.”
“Were?” He saw her flinch visibly. “Oh. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” She inched back, shrinking with dejection as she curled away from him.
He let out a sigh and faced her. “It was a long time ago.”
Mismatched eyes blinked up at him. “What happened to them?”
“I don’t know.”
“You … don’t know? Did they just disappear?”
“They died, all of them, but I don’t know how.” He paused, debating with himself if he should go on. Maybe it was better she knew now. So she knew what she was dealing with if she chose to continue this path they were on.
But where would he begin? From the start, he supposed. “We lived in a Lycan settlement village in Romania. One day, my father got a letter from a man claiming to be his father. Gregor Corvinus. He had apparently gotten my grandmother pregnant and left her behind to start a new life in America with his wife and his son. He invited my father to come to New Jersey and be part of The Family. We were poor and barely surviving, so he went so he could make a better life for us.”
“Oh, Darius.” She moved closer and took his hand in hers.
“I was nine when he left, Thomsin was five, and Elena was just a baby. He was gone for five years but would send us every cent he made and letters almost every week. One day, we got the letter my mother had been waiting for. He was sending for us, and we would be living in New Jersey with him.” He remembered Mama’s excitement as she clutched the letter to her breast. “So, we packed up what little belongings we had and made our way to America. I was fourteen.” That journey was so clear in his mind. The fear. The anticipation. The elation that they would all be together again. “We got here and well, it was just as my father had said. Our grandfather—his father—doted on us. We lived in a nice home—not a mansion, but it didn’t have dirt floors—and my siblings and I went to school and wore new clothes. Then one day—”
The lump in his throat made him stop. She squeezed his hand and he felt the tightness in his ribcage ease. “I was sitting in the kitchen doing my homework. My parents where there and Elena was sitting in her high chair. Thomsin was on the floor, playing with his toys. That was the last thing I remember. Next thing I knew, I was in the hospital.”
“What?” she said in an incredulous voice. “That’s it? But your family—”
“Was dead. That’s what my Grandfather told me when I woke up. My mother on the floor. Father a few feet from her. Elena and Thomsin … none of them had any injuries, and there was no evidence of foul play. Grandfather was heartbroken and he died soon after because of grief.”
“Darius, I’m so sorry,” her voice choked up, and she scrambled to his side, pressing her nose to his shoulder.
“Do not cry, Adrianna,” he said when he felt the wetness from her face. “I told you, it was a long time ago.”
She sniffed. “And no one knew what caused their deaths?”
“They didn’t find anything conclusive. It was like … their hearts just stopped. The private investigator my grandfather hired said it might have been some unknown chemical from a nearby plant.”
“But you survived unscathed?”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Not quite. My hair turned this color permanently. Which is why the PI thought it might have been chemical related.” To this day, however, he still hadn’t found any substance that changed hair color permanently. He had tried to find out more about his family’s death, but was met with the same dead ends as the private investigator.
“Darius … I’m so sorry.” She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t.” He grabbed her hand gently. “Do not pity me.”
Her mouth opened in shock. “I didn’t … this isn’t pity.” She lifted her head to meet his gaze. “You’re so strong, going through all that and still coming out on the other side.”
He came out alive, but he had been changed permanently. His wolf had changed, too. He had just learned to shift that summer before they left, but after that, it became unmanageable. He would black out at random times, waking up and realizing that he had shifted and his wolf took total control of their body. Anatoli had him locked up for weeks until he went
