Chapter Twenty

Cole strode up the steps to The Wolves Den where everyone was gathered.

“How did this happen?” He pounded a fist against the bar before he deliberately uncurled it.

“Sit down Cole, we are just as upset as you are. Yes, I know it’s your family that is being targeted.” Declyn ran his hand through his brown hair looking at his people.

“We have to do better. So far, we have discovered two mates each with a target on their back. Until we know better, we operate under the assumption that any new mate is being targeted by one of her people. The mate at hand is Jessie. She and Mia are not safe.” He sat and nodded to Chase.

“We were testing the barriers. I didn’t want to bring down the ones around the compound we did that before with disastrous results. So I took down the one over the compound. I’ve gone back and looked at images from all sides of the barrier. I believe they saw you and Jessie leave. Their attack was mounted when you weren’t here under the false assumption that we wouldn’t care about Mia.

“We got lucky that the barrier was down. If it had been up, we would have been subject to a military threat. We killed them all except for the ones who took Mia.”

“I killed the others except for two they weren’t there.” Ven turned to Deja who hugged him as she showed how proud she was.

“You’re spoiling him,” Enzo whispered trying to hide his grin.

“Enzo, and Ven, good job getting the MIL’s in the air.”

“What about her mother?”

“I’ve been doing some digging. I’m glad this planet is advanced enough to have the internet.” He touched his screen, and an image of Jessie’s mother appeared before them. “There are no records of her ever being pregnant or delivering a baby. I looked back as far as I could and found several pictures that she posted when she was pregnant.”

Cait who was sitting in the corner got up to look at the picture.

“She’s not pregnant.”

“How do you know?”

“She looks to be around seven months pregnant. Look at her spine, she’s standing straight up there is no curve in her back. Her face looks like it’s not showing any state of pregnancy. Look at her hips which have not widened. I’m not there, but I’m telling you that female is not pregnant.”

Declyn nodded and walked around the picture. “What else do we know?”

“We have Jessie’s birthday. She insisted she was born in this city, so I started checking birth records. I pulled up pictures of children born within the week she was born that had black hair and blue eyes. I narrowed it down to babies that seemed to share her features.”

He placed five pictures on the screen. “They’re all little girls they were born in two different hospitals. I also have pictures of little girls that were born bald but had blue eyes.”

Cole walked up and touched a picture. “This is Jessie. I would know her anywhere.”

“Her name is Jessie Clark. She was born prematurely having trouble gaining weight and breathing. When she was finally able to go home, her parents had a fatal accident that killed them. Her body disappeared, it was thought she was thrown from the car and was dragged off by a wild animal.”

“Cole, stand down.” Enzo hissed the order to him.

“I’m in control. How could she do this to those children and their families.”

“It’s no different than some of the atrocities that happened on our planet. Our people almost killed Ven. You find issues no matter where you go.”

“I want her dead.”

“We have to be careful. The authorities will be looking for her. Her disappearing would focus eyes on Jessie and Mia. None of us want that.”

“Camire, can you get that lawyer on this?”

“I can. He’ll monitor it and let us know what happens.”

“Go home, Cole. Spend time with your family. The Wolves Den will open tomorrow make sure your family is here.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

Declyn watched as he walked out the door.

“I don’t want Cole to kill his mates mother. I want options, think about it tonight.”

“Who will kill her?” Deja was staring at Declyn.

“The kill belongs to me.” She nodded taking Enzo’s hand. They followed the others out.

He jumped up on the bar looking around his club. The thoughts and feeling of his people were overwhelming him. He focused on putting up a barrier until he heard her. She was singing and dancing.

He would never understand why anyone wanted to hurt a child.

“Come closer, casca.”

“Alpha.” She stood in front of him.

He reached out and touched her. It was the same thing he did when they brought Ven home. He took the pain and the experience dimming it, so she knew it happened, but it didn’t touch or scare her. She backed up and smiled at him. He gave her a quick mental hug and told her to go back to her dream.

*~*~*~*

“Hi.” Jessie was sitting up in bed waiting for him. Mia was sleeping next to her.

“How is she?”

“She was murmuring in her sleep tossing and turning, then she calmed down, and now she’s sleeping soundly.”

He pulled off his shirt and toed off his shoes before climbing into the bed with them.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I told you that I would protect the both of you. You were almost torn apart in the game preserve.”

“Because I allowed fear to cloud my better judgment and you did save Mia and me.”

“I should have handled it better. You were shot.”

“Cole, I panicked I saw my mom dead in the street. What else could I do? Before you say it, there was no way we could know someone would make an aerial attack on us. I bet it won’t ever happen again.”

“It won’t.”

“You’ve done everything right and more importantly Mia, and I are right here with you.”

“I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

“We’re here. You won’t lose us. Let’s get some sleep.”

They entwined around Mia and fell asleep.

Cole opened his eyes to find Mia jumping on his chest.

“Casca wants to play.” He threw her up in the air amid lots of giggles, looking over he saw Jessie hiding her grin.

“Who woke me up?”

Cole and Mia looked at each other before they shrugged and got out of bed.”

“Race you to your room.” She held her laughter until they were gone. Then she laid down and laughed until she wanted to cry.

The fear of knowing her daughter was in the hands of a pervert who was also a madman almost incapacitated her. There was a time in her life that it might have, but Cole was showing her how strong she was and how strong he was.

He wasn’t saying it, but she knew what came next. They would have to deal with her mother it was the only way they would be safe. He would kill her if she didn’t get to her first. She waited for the naysayers. The ones who would condemn her for what she just thought, but they were silent.

Where was anger, and fear, malice, or even C&C, and love? The voices were silent, there was nothing to say. She looked at her dark side the alien that lived within her skin.

What do you have to say?

When do you want to do it?

You think it’s okay to kill our mother.

She’s not our mother.

Alien say what?

How many times have you wondered how your hair could be midnight black and hers is bright red. You have no highlights nothing. There is not one feature that she has that you share. There’s nothing to tie you together. How many times have strangers said, you're related? She’s not your mother.

That doesn’t prove anything traits skip generations. My father could have had black hair. Maybe I look like my dad.

She’s not your mother, I remember.

The alien part of her turned around and left her with nothing but silence echoing through her brain.

There was a little giggle before Mia entered the room.

“Dada and I are making the best breakfast ever, hurry.” With that, she turned and ran away.

Jessie got up slowly and reached for her robe. All the ways she and her mother were different were going through her mind. Could she have been adopted? That would make sense. Who would want a sick child, though?

She should eat. Instead, she took the side door of the house and ended up in the backyard. She sat on the swings trying to remember when was the last time she sat in a playground. Growing up she spent most of her time in the house, she did swing when she was allowed outside for recess at school, but not that often. There were lots of students and a limited amount of swings.

Kicking her legs in the air, she went higher a brief smile touching her lips. She would have loved a swing set when she was younger. She would have loved any toy when she was younger. There was never Christmas in her house and no celebrating of her birthday. Her mother thought she didn’t deserve to celebrate.

She stopped the swing and went back into the house. The bear Cole bought for her was sitting in the corner of their room, picking it up she laid on the bed and cried into it.

One of the bear's paws rubbed her cheek. She looked up to find Cole standing beside the bed.

“Sorry, I missed breakfast.”

“Don’t be sorry. I was trying to find a way to understand the pain your experiencing. Finally, I decided I couldn’t. The closest I can come to it is to think of Declyn betraying me after all the years I’ve spent with him. The thought of that happening hurts me in the heart I’m not supposed to have. Your mother is the person who should always have your back, love you, and she betrayed you.”

He sat on the bed and pulled her into his arms.

“Jessie, I don’t want to upset you, but I don’t think she’s your biological mother.”