Bane's Heart

by Sandra R Neeley

  Her mother got up from where she sat next to Goldy and went to Janie, wrapping her arms around her while she cried. Janie looked up at her mom, tears still staining her cheeks, “What are we going to do, Mom? He’s going to come after us, after you. You know how he is.” Sadie turned to Kaid, and he took over. “Janie, we need to talk, Sweetheart. There’s a lot of things that you don’t know.” Then he proceeded to tell her everything. From the moment that her mom had come to Bane in Vince’s Place to that very morning when she’d woken up in Bane’s bed. She, of course, knew the part about them rescuing her, but he recounted it anyway from his point of view. Daniel filled in the parts when he was with Bane, Mav, and Bam when Kaid and Vince were in the apartment she was held in. When they were done, Janie just sat there. She was stunned. She knew her father was a cruel bastard, but she never in a million years thought he would sell her. For any reason, much less into the situation he had traded her into. She looked at her mother, then Kaid again. “So, he’s dead now? You killed him?” she asked Kaid. “Mr. Kaid didn’t kill him. I did,” Sadie answered her question quietly from the other end of the table. Janie, now even more stunned, turned her attention to her mother. “You killed him?” she asked incredulously. Sadie kept her eyes on her own hands where they sat folded on the table as she spoke. “I was worried because you were late coming home from work. You were never late without calling. He saw me watching out the front windows, worrying, and he laughed. He made me start his dinner. He wanted a steak. I started cooking it for him as he drank more while he was waiting. The drunker he got, the more he talked. He finally told me what he’d done. That he’d traded you in payment for his drug debt. He said that the man that owned you was going to use you, then sell you to make more money. I guess I snapped. I lifted the cast-iron skillet, and I hit him in the head with it. Over and over again. When he fell on the floor, I hit him with it again. I don’t know how many times. Then I got my purse and my coat, and I went to find Bane. I prayed that he could help me find you. I didn’t know anyone else to go to because your father wouldn't allow me to have any friends or to go anywhere. My only hope was Bane.”

  Janie just sat there. Not sure what to feel. He was a sonofabitch, but he was her father.

  “I’m sorry, Janie. It had to be done,” Sadie told her.

  “Don’t apologize, Mom. You had to.”

  Mav jumped up from the chair he was still sitting in across the room against the cabinets. He stalked over to Sadie and stood over her until she looked up at him, “Much respect, Lady!! You are my idol. Don’t ever take shit from anybody again!” Mav high fived her and went back to his chair, starting to scoot it across the floor back to his place at the table. But even he had the sense not to start with Janie again. She was too upset.

  “I can’t believe that he used me to pay for his drug debt. I just, I have no words. How can you do that to your own family? Your own daughter? To anyone for that matter?”

  “It’s okay, Janie. You have us now,” Avaleigh told her. “You and your mom, both. You belong with us.”

  Janie looked around the kitchen at everyone gathered around the table, “Really? Because the only person who can make it okay for me to be here is missing. I hurt him so badly, he couldn't even bring himself to stay here last night. He couldn’t even come back and eat with his family this morning.” She looked at the food on the table, the rose in her hand, “Thank you, Avaleigh, but I don’t deserve to be here. I was horrible to him. He told me he loved me, and I threw it in his face. Then when he came to save me, I called him and his family monsters. I shouldn't be here. I don’t deserve your kindness.” She moved to get up and leave the room, ideas of leaving the house in her mind. But Bam stopped her.

  “But you promised, Janie. You promised me a walk.”

  She stopped walking and turned back to him, “What?”

  “You promised me that you would take a walk with me. Please don’t break your promise,” he started wringing his hands in front of him. Then he made exactly the right move. He lifted his massive hand and swiped the back of it at his eye, as though he was wiping away a tear.

  That did it, “Okay, Bam. I’ll walk with you for a little while, but I can’t be here without Bane’s blessing. I treated him horribly, and it’s not fair to him to displace him from his home after hurting him so badly.

  She looked down at herself, “I don’t have anything to wear.”

  “I brought a few of my things over last night. I’m sure there’s something you can wear well enough. Sweat pants if nothing else. They’re on Bane’s dresser,” Avaleigh told her.

  “Thank you, Avaleigh.” She smiled sadly at Bam, “I’ll go change, Bam. I’ll be right back.”

  Bam just nodded his head, still looking down, wiping at one eye one more time.

  “I saw that,” Avaleigh whispered across the table to him after Janie had left the room.

  “Saw what?” Bam innocently asked her.

  “I saw you peek up at her to see if you wiping your eye was working,” she accused, smiling at Bam, realizing that he was a lot more aware of the things he said and did than she’d ever believed.

  “I don’t know what you mean, Ave. I just wanted my new sister to go for a walk with me.”

  Janie came back out, wearing Avaleigh's sweat pants, but still wearing Bane’s shirt. She looked down at the shirt she was wearing when she realized that Avaleigh was smiling at the fact that she was still wearing it. “I just couldn't take it off. It smells so much like Bane.”

  “It’s going to be okay,” Avaleigh told her again, smiling gently at her.

  Janie looked at each of them, “I’m so sorry for the way I treated you all yesterday. I’ve never been so welcomed and cared for by anyone. Please forgive me.”

  “There is nothing to forgive, Sweetheart. Just relax, get your bearings. Avaleigh’s right, you do belong here,” Kaid told her.

  “Janie, do you want to go see the house? Let’s go see the new house,” Bam told her. “Then we will go take a walk by the creek. It’s really pretty there.”

  “Are you building a new house, Bam?”

  “Nope, not exactly. But it’s a new house.”

  Janie’s face betrayed her confusion as she nodded as though she understood what Bam meant, “Oh, okay then,” and followed him out of the room.

  Avaleigh snorted to herself as she watched them head out of the back door together, remembering how confused she was when Bam had been building her home, and no one would tell her what the hell they were doing. Apparently, now it was Janie’s turn.

  After they left for their walk, Kaid called out Mav. “What the hell did you think you were doing? You had Bam so damned mad that I thought he was going to whip your ass. You know if he gets mad enough, he is so damned big that it would take all of us to pull him off of you, if we could pull him off. And you know she’s Bane’s Mate!”

  Mav just smiled at Kaid, pulling Janie’s unfinished breakfast over in front of him, so he could finish it. He shrugged one shoulder, “Bam was right. She was scared. She was embarrassed. She needed her Mate, and he wasn’t here. Bam is the only one who knows his hiding places, and he wasn't going to go get him because Bane told him to give him some space. So, I pushed the envelope enough to make Bam realize that Bane had to be found, whether he liked it or not. I pretended interest in Janie, so Bam would be hell-bent on getting her away from me and to Bane.” Mav finished his explanation by shoving another mouthful of food in his mouth and grinning with syrup dripping down his chin at Kaid. “See, I fixed it. And you’re welcome. Give me that plate; I’m going to finish that, too,” he reached for the leftover French toast that hadn't been eaten yet.

  Kaid just sat there open-mouthed, looking at Mav. He couldn't decide if Mav was a genius or completely deranged. Either way, it achieved the end game. Bam was taking Janie on a walk, to the house that Bane had begun building her. Then to the creek. And he was sure that Bam was going to take her near enough to Bane that he would know that she was out on th
e property, and it would likely force his hand.

  Chapter 14

  Bane had spent the night in what would have been the bedroom that he shared with his love, his Mate. But he was alone. And his Bear was pissed off at him for leaving her in the main house with the other unmated males. It didn’t matter how many times he tried to tell his Bear that they were his brothers, they wouldn't touch her, Bear just snarled at him. They’d fought this fight all night, Bear trying to take over and force him back to Janie, and him struggling to maintain control and remain where he was. Bear just didn't understand that she didn't want them. That she was terrified of him and his brothers. They couldn’t have her. He lay there and looked up at the sky through the open roof of the house. At this point the house consisted of the floors, the studs for the walls, and the cross beams for the ceiling and the roof. You could see all the way through it, but the layout was clear enough to see from the framework. The stones for the fireplace were lying on the ground beside the frame of the house where the living room was supposed to be. He didn't even know if he wanted to finish it now. It was Janie’s home. And without her, it was just a house, and he didn't want to be there without her. Maybe one of his brothers would find a mate and want to finish building it. He really didn't care.

  Janie, Bear started again.

  Damn it, she doesn't want us!

  Stupid Male! She comes!

  And sure enough, he could hear her voice, flittering through the trees. She was coming this way, and she was talking to someone. Bam; she was talking to Bam. They could hear him explaining to her where everything was on their property and how it was laid out. He was telling her how they built Avaleigh's place and then started on this house just the other day. “And she didn’t even know it was for her. She was so surprised,” Bam’s voice carried to him clearly.

  “Why didn’t you tell her it was for her?”

  “Because it was her surprise, her special place. We built it so she would have something here that was hers. So she would have to really think about it if she wanted to leave here. And when she was thinking about it, she’d look around at all the love we put in her cabin and know that we don’t ever want her to leave. We couldn't tell her why we were building it before it was finished. It would have reminded her that she could leave. And she didn't know how much we loved her yet.”

  Bane jumped down from the raised flooring of the house and ran to hide himself just inside the tree line, watching. He figured that Bam could probably see him easily enough, but knew that Janie wouldn't be able to pick him out of the shadows.

  “Oh, Wow! This must be the new house,” she said as they came into the clearing. She walked around the house, touching the wood with her fingertips, taking in all the frames for the windows that were still stacked off to the side of the house. Bane breathed in deep, taking in as much of her scent as he could catch from his hiding place. He closed his eyes and savored it.

  “It’s going to be beautiful. All those spaces for windows, I love windows, all the sunshine flooding the house.” She made to climb up onto the floor level, but it was a little too high, so Bam lifted her onto the floor from behind and stood back to watch her start to walk around the framework. “What is this room?”

  “It’s the living room. And over there is going to be a huge fireplace with a mantle and everything. You’ll be able to hang your stockings there for Christmas, but don’t forget to save room for Mav’s because he will want his there too. He’s kind of needy. There’s the rocks for it over there,” he pointed over to the pile of stones as he stepped up onto the raised floor with her. She wrinkled her brow a little at his explanation, but continued to look around the room, “Is this a bay window?” She stood running her hands over the framework of a three-sided protrusion from the rest of the wall in the room they were in.

  “Yeah, that’s going to have a window seat in it too, and the windows will be double paned so that you can sit there and see outside or read or whatever you want, and you won’t be too cold in the winter or hot in the summer. And it’s going to have three bedrooms, and two bathrooms, and it’s going to be really, really nice and warm. The kitchen’s in the back here,” and he started walking down what would be a hallway once all the walls were hung with sheetrock. “See back here, the laundry room will be over there for the washer and dryer.”

  “The kitchen is huge!”

  “Yeah, all of us eat together most of the time, so we need a pretty big table. And once you have kids, well, then we’ll need even more room. What kind of table do you like, Janie?”

  She was standing there watching him, listening to him, and it was starting to become clear. She needed to know for sure though, so she answered his question to see what else he’d give away rather than starting to ask her own. “I like the ones that have a bench for one side, and chairs all around.”

  “Oh, yeah! I like those, too. We’ll have to see where we can get one of those.”

  That did it, she knew, “This is our house isn’t it, Bam? Mine and Bane’s. He was building it for us.”

  “Why would you say that? I never said it was for you and Bane.”

  “Yes, you did, you kept referring to me, ‘You can hang your stockings, but save room for Mav’s; You can sit in the bay window and not get cold; When you have kids, we’ll need a bigger table’.” You have referred to my being in this home since we started walking around it.”

  Bam just focused on the floor, hands in his pockets and wouldn't look at her.

  “Where is he, Bam?”

  “Not sure.”

  “Bam, I think you know where he is. Please tell me. I need to talk to him.”

  “He needs some time. He told me he can’t right now. And I’m not sure where he is right now, anyway.”

  Janie just stood there for a moment, fully understanding that she had done this. She had alienated Bane. She didn’t know what to do next. How to fix it. But she did know that she didn't want to put this kind, sweet man, who stood waiting for her next move, in the uncomfortable position of either ratting out his brother or lying to her. She looked around the frame of the house that she truly believed would have been her home with Bane. “Okay. I understand. Why don’t you take me to look at the creek and then we can get back to everybody else? I need to go back home and try to figure out what to do next.”

  “Okay, come on, I’ll show you. But I don’t think that Kaid is going to want you and Ms. Sadie to leave here yet,” he held his hand out to her and she took it sadly, looking around the house one more time before she followed him to the edge of the raised flooring where he had originally lifted her up onto it. He stepped down and then turned to lift her down as well. He pointed to the path through the trees, “The creek is that way; I’ll show you.”

  She looked in the direction that he pointed and then around the clearing the house was being built in, “What happened to all the trees in this clearing, Bam? They are all charred; did ya’ll have a wild fire or something?”

  “Naw, Daniel burned them saving Kaid and Avaleigh.”

  “What? Daniel burned them?”

  “Yes, you know how he’s a Dragon and all, right?”

  “Yes,” she couldn't believe she was having this conversation. A Dragon…

  “Well, this bad Dragon guy, he came after them, and Daniel shot his fire at him. And it burned the trees. Then we decided to build here, so we cleared it and made a big pile, and then Daniel burned the dead trees, and we had a weenie roast. It was fun.”

  She was watching him, following his story and waiting for an opening, “Wasn’t that dangerous, though?”

  “Naw, we were all here, and we put it out after we ate before we went to bed.”

  “No, Bam. I meant when he fought the bad Dragon with his fire.”

  He just shrugged like it was no big deal, “He would have destroyed the entire world to save his Mate. He did what he had to, and we all helped him. Kaid and Avaleigh, they’re our family. We’d give our lives for each other. That’s how it is. We w
ere ready for it.”

  She kind of remembered Bane calling her Mate when he was bathing her, “Can you tell me what Mate means?”

  “You sure you want to know? It’s kind of a lot to talk about, and I don’t have one, so maybe I’m not the one to ask.”

  “You’re the one to ask. Please, tell me.” If nothing else, she had no doubt that this man would be extremely honest in his explanation. She needed that right now. She didn't have the energy to handle any kind of agenda.

  They started up the path, Janie in the front and Bam taking up the rear. Just before the path turned and they walked out of sight, Bam turned around and shot a glare directly at Bane where he hid in the trees. It was clearly a glare, with a full-out snarly lifted lip. So Bane knew it was intentional. He didn't know what the fuck Bam expected him to do; she’d already said she thought they were all monsters. How the hell was he supposed to convince a woman to spend the rest of her life with him if she thought he was a monster?

  Bane waited until Bam and Janie had moved far enough down the path that Janie wouldn't hear him following them and did just that. He followed them. Unable to help himself, he needed to be near her, and he was so damned tired of fighting Bear. He followed until they emerged at the creek. Then he stopped, still in the tree line to watch. Janie sat down on the edge of the creek and kicked off the flip flops she was wearing. She was dipping her toes in the water as she listened to Bam finish explaining his understanding of what Mate meant. “So, basically, they’re your everything. The reason you wake up, the reason you go to sleep. The reason you go to work, the reason you smile, the reason you cry. The reason you live and the reason you die. They are your whole life.” He finished up his explanation with a big huge grin, nodding his head, like, you know what I mean? And she did. She got it. “They’re your soul mate, right?” she asked him.

  He sat there for minute and when he looked up at her, a different man was looking at her through his eyes. He was a wise man, whose soul was crying out in pain. Quietly he answered, “No. They are not your soul mate. They ARE your soul. They ARE your heart. And without them, you will always have a hole, right here,” he tapped his chest.