I looked at my son. This was the child I carried in my own body. My boy. My favorite child. All my life I’d subtly manipulated my whole family, made them do the things I wanted. I had my migraines, I had my tears, I had my position as the real power behind the throne.

But now something had changed.

He had changed.

I had miscalculated.

She had made him change. Impossible to imagine, but he had fallen for that two-bit stripper. But the feeling was new and the ropes she had tied around his heart were still green and tender. I could damage them. I could rip them off. I just had to play my cards right. I just needed to move cautiously.

I wrung my hands together. There was no expression on his face and his eyes were hostile. Never had I seen them icy like that.

“You’d been away for two years, Cade. Two years. What was I supposed to do? Let you waste the rest of your life here on this mountain? Take a good look around you, Cade. Is this any way to live? What is the point of living like this? All your money rotting in banks. I’m your mother. Ask anything of me, but don’t ask me to let you live here in this horrible cabin.”

“What did you do, Mother?”

“I hired her.”

His eyes narrowed. “As what?”

“I hired her to come here and show you that there is more to life than being a hermit.”

“She crashed her car.”

“I didn’t ask her to do that. All she was supposed to do was get here before the storm so you would be forced to let her stay for a few days.”

“And then what?” His voice was so quiet I had to strain to hear.

“I told her to use whatever means at her disposal to bring you back to civilization.”

“You thought having sex with a woman would do that?”

I could feel the heat rise up my throat. “Well, you used to like it.”

“So why did you come here, if she was supposed to be doing the job?”

“I found out something about her.”

“What?”

“These.” I held the photographs out to him. Right at the top of the pile was the one with the guy masturbating while she did her lap dance.

He took it from my hand and looked at the first one. I saw him flinch in shock. When he looked up, his eyes were bleak. “How did you come by these?”

“After I hired her, I became suspicious of her intentions. So I hired a private investigator, who dug up these photos. Most of them are open source.”

The photographs were crushed in his fist. He was breathing fast. “So you came running up the mountain to scare her away.”

“I was thinking of you.”

“Bullshit, Mother. Bullshit.”

“You can believe me or not, but I love you. Nobody will ever love you as much as I do.”

He appeared to be controlling himself, as he turned away from me and looked out of the window. “You better go back down the mountain before it gets dark, Mother.”

I realized that he was furious with me. Even when he was just a child, he got very quiet when he got really angry. My other son and daughter would shout and scream, not Cade. His fury was disturbing because it was so controlled. I could feel now his anger was barely leashed. It radiated out of him in waves and yet, to a complete stranger he would seem to be just polite and courteous.

“I’ll go, but promise me you won’t be mad at me. I was just trying to help. Maybe I was wrong to interfere in your life, but I had to do something. I was desperate. You are my son. I would do anything for you.”

“I’m not angry with you, Mother. I feel sorry for you. You will never understand. Now, please go. The roads get dangerous as dark falls.” He walked to the door, opened it, and walked out. I stood for a moment in the middle of the cabin. He would come around. He always did. He was my son.

Then I followed him outside. He was checking my tires to make sure the chains were still on and safe. My son loved me. One day he will forgive me.

She was not right for him. I knew that from the moment I met her. I knew I was playing a dangerous game and I was right. She was bad news. But I got rid of her. I stood at the driver’s side door.

“I’m sorry, Cade. I’m sorry it didn’t work out. She looked like such a nice girl. How could I have known?”

“Drive safely, Mother.”

I got into the car and he stood and watched me drive away. I watched him in the rearview mirror. He just stood all alone staring at the car as it disappeared from view. I must have driven for at least five hundred yards when I heard that terrible, terrible roar. It bounced off the mountains and echoed all around me.

I slammed my foot on the brake and listened, but there were no more sounds after that. A sob was torn from my throat. Dear God. What have I done?

That was my beloved son calling for his mate.