Chapter Thirty-One
She continued to wait. Then she popped open an eye. Either heaven looked exactly like her uncle’s foyer, or hell did. But her uncle lay sprawled on the floor in front of her, blood pouring from the side of his ruined head.
“Finally.”
Amerella whirled around to see Detective Freeman leaning against a doorframe.
“You okay, Amerella?” he asked. He stumbled forward, his arm and shirt covered in his own blood. She jumped up to help him sit on a chair.
“I’m fine, but you and Frank aren’t. I heard sirens and thought they were coming here. Maybe they got stuck at the guard gate.” She went back to Frank and continued pressure on his back. The blood didn’t seem to slow. Did he have to shift for being shot twice? How did she get him to do that?
“Amie!” Mom Dubois came through the front door, dressed in a robe and flip-flops. “Oh my god. Frank!”
“He was shot twice and I think he needs to shift.” Amerella said the words so quickly she was breathless at the end. “Make him shift, Mom, now.”
“I—I can’t.”
“You’re his mother. You can make him do anything!” Panic rose in her voice. She was going to lose the only man she ever loved. After he did finally save her. She leaned over his body. “Frank, you have to shift or you’re going to die. Do you hear me? Shift. You have to do it for me. For our son!”
Mom got to her feet and ran to the door. “Butch, Butch! We need you inside.”
Amerella then noticed that half of Frank’s hometown stood outside the front door, all dressed in robes and housecoats. Why? Then she remembered Frank’s mom in a robe after shifting. Had everyone in the town shifted? Wait. All the animals she heard in the ballroom, all the roars and howls. They were from the townsfolk shifting and fighting to save her.
These people she’d befriended a few days ago put their lives in danger to save hers. Another wave of emotion rolled over her. She could barely deal with the fact that she was losing Frank. She needed a very tall margarita. Make it three.
Mom came back, Butch in tow. “He needs to shift to heal, Butch. Only you can make him do that while he’s unconscious.”
The meat man paled. “I haven’t done any alpha commands in a long time, my love. But I’ll try.” The man knelt and laid a huge hand on Frank’s head. “François Dubois, I command you to shift.” Nothing happened. Amie shrank away, feeling the sheer power of an alpha. She’d never felt raw power emanate from someone. It was like standing next to a wire with electricity coursing through it. The hair on her arms stood. Mom gathered her into her arms.
Butch cleared his throat. “I won’t say this again, boy. As your alpha, I demand you shift into your cougar”—he leaned down to Frank’s ear—“now!”
Frank’s motionless body shuddered. Bones cracked and skin stretched. Butch continued mumbling in the cat’s ear, hopefully encouraging Frank’s subconscious to heal his body. So much happened in so short a time that Amie couldn’t comprehend all she witnessed of his body changing. She blinked, and a bare Frank lay on the floor, breathing and with no gaping wounds. Her son still had a father.
* * *
The next day, Amie had the Running Winds bring Francis to her house. She couldn’t wait any longer to have the two men who owned her heart meet each other. She missed her son dearly. And as much as she wanted Frank to meet him from the moment he’d taken her to his home, it had been best if she’d kept him hidden until things settled with the family. Today, she’d have her baby home.
She rushed out to the back, where some of the townsfolk had stayed behind to keep them company for a few days—just to make sure everything cleared up without Frank needing backup. They gathered for a barbecue in Amie’s backyard.
Movement made her look down.
“Mommy, Mommy!” a high-pitched voice called to her. Her heart filled with joy to see her son after being away from him. Her baby jumped into her arms and she hugged him like she was never letting go. “I missed you so much, Mommy. But Grandpa and Nana and me did so much stuff. I have to teach you to put worm on hook to catch a fish. You get your pwetty fingernaiws dirty, but it wash off, right, Nana?”
The two Running Winds walked closer, with Mom Dubois at their side.
“Yes, French fry, dirt will wash off,” Nana said, hugging Amie and her son in her arms.
Frank stared at the boy, saying nothing.
Amie sighed, nerves making it hard to say anything. “French fry, I’d like you to meet someone.” She turned to face Frank, still staring wide-eyed. “This is Frank. Say hi to him?” The boy buried his head in her shoulder. She laughed. “Since when have you been shy when meeting someone?”
Her son put his tiny arms around her neck and whispered into her ear, “Mommy, he has the same thing in him that’s in me.” At first she didn’t understand, but then it clicked. Of course; that made sense.
Frank snapped out of his daze. “Hey, little guy. How old are you?”
Partially turning from her neck, her son held up three fingers. “I free,” he said.
Frank laughed. “Free, huh?” The boy nodded and dove back into her shoulder.
Amie smiled and quietly whispered to her son, “Remember when I told you your daddy was lost and I couldn’t find him?” Her son nodded, his head down. “Well, I found him.”
The boy gasped and sprang back with such power that he broke her hold on him. Before the child fell, Frank reached out and snagged him, bringing the boy to his chest, arm under his bottom. Both sets of identical male eyes met and went wide with surprise at the sudden change.
Amie lifted her hands to her chest, wringing them with worry. This could be the last time she ever saw both her loves together.
“Frank,” she said, “I’d like you to meet your son, Francis Capone Dubois. French fry, this is your daddy.”
Francis’s mouth dropped open to join his still-wide eyes. “You’re my daddy?” His little face scowled and his fists popped onto his hips. “Where have you been, young man? Mommy’s been wooking for you a wong time. Me, too.”
Frank hugged the little guy to him and laughed at the reprimand. “Just like your mom.”
Mom Dubois raised her hands in the air. “Woo-hoo! I have a grandchild!”
Several at the barbecue clapped and cheered.
Amie pulled her son from his father. “How about hanging out with Gram Jean for a minute while I talk to your daddy?”
“Okay, Mommy. But just a minute. I have wots of quesions to aks.” She couldn’t help but laugh at the tot’s serious face. Gram Jean and the others headed toward the food on the main picnic table.
Amie tentatively glanced at Frank. Was he ready to run screaming?
“Tell me now. How did this not come to light when we were in school?”
“Yeah, about that,” she said. “After you proposed in college, you stayed at school to finish exams and I went home to tell Uncle Giuseppe we were getting married, and that I was pregnant. I was going to surprise you when we were together next.
“But Uncle didn’t react like I thought he would.” She paused for a breath and courage. “He said if I married you or ever saw you again, he would kill our son.” She broke down in tears. Her heart hurt so much remembering what she went through having to text him that she could no longer see him.
Frank took her into his arms. “Fuck, Amie. Don’t cry. I understand how hard that must have been. I would’ve agreed with your decision. But why would he do that?”
She sniffled. “He wanted control of my trust fund.”
“Money. It’s always money, it seems.” He kissed her forehead. “We can start fresh, love. I love you and our son.”