by Sydney Addae
Jasmine frowned. “Buffalo? What’s up there?”
“A stone’s throw from the Canadian border. Elyria may have taken Sarita into Canada,” Silas said, thinking who to contact for assistance. Several former Alpha trainees with packs lived near the border, but weren’t specifically under his crest. Still, he’d contact them to see if any would offer assistance.
“Jacques?” With both Rose’ and Jacques’ recent increases to their dens, Silas tried not to disturb either, and usually leaned on the trainees. But there were some things, like contacting Alphas in another country, he would only allow Jacques to handle.
“Sir?”
Silas explained the situation and what he wanted Jacques to do. Once that was taken care of, he’d make arrangements for Asia and her team to enter Canada. “We need more information on Elyria. Who is she? Where would she hide? There’s thousands of acres in Canada for a person to get lost.” He looked at Jasmine and then Tyrese.
“There were thousands of hits on that name, if we had a little more information on her, like age, origin, last residence? Anything to differentiate her from all the others in the pool,” Tyrese said.
“Sarita is running out of time,” Silas said, worried for the child.
“Mom, the only person who can get any information about this Elyria person is aunty. I know you don’t want to push, but we’ve run out of leads. The bodies of those girls laid there for hours, there’s no telling where Elyria is by now and we need more info to trace her.” Tyrese paused. “She’s killing innocent humans, it’s just a matter of time before she kills someone and we can’t hide the skin and bones she leaves behind.”
Jasmine heard everything her son said and agreed. If she could snatch the information out of Mélange, she would. This whole mating thing…it sucked at times. No one knew what would happen if Renee lost her mate. She wouldn’t die, but would she live? Truly? Jasmine couldn’t, wouldn’t, take that chance and ruin her sister’s life. So for the time being Mélange was safe.
“So I should ask Renee to go back on our behalf to ask more questions, is that what you’re suggesting?” She looked at Tyrese.
Silas covered her hand and squeezed.
“Maybe she could call her?” Tyrese said, hesitantly rubbing his neck.
“Yes, she could call. But she won’t because she’s in love with Mélange and Mélange is hurting because of her separation from Renee. The one person who can help us refuses to do so because she thinks we’re up to no good.”
“Why?” Tyrese looked from her to Silas and back again. Jasmine gave him an abbreviated version of what happened.
“Wow…that’s…we’re fucked,” Tyrese said, and sat in the chair next to hers. None of them spoke for a few minutes.
“Where’s your phone?” Jasmine asked her son and straightened her burgundy dress[vi], smoothing out the bottom to keep her hands busy.
He removed it from his shirt pocket and held it so she could see.
“Call the hotel, have them connect to Mélange’s room.” Jasmine inhaled, and thought of what she’d say, how she’d play things. This could backfire, make things worse. Should she plead Sarita’s case? Would an assassin care? Asia would. Damn, she wasn’t sure what would be the right combination to get information.
Tyrese handed her the phone. Mélange answered on the third ring. “Hello?”
“What did you do to my sister?” Jasmine demanded, her voice hard, implacable as she thought of Renee’s pain when she’d returned earlier. She glanced at Silas’ surprised expression and then Tyrese’ raised brow.
“Nothing, I haven’t seen your sister.”
“Why was she crying when she returned to the compound? I’ll ask one last time, what did you do to my sister, Bitch?” She added an ugly, edgy quality she’d heard Silas use once when he was angry.
“What do you mean…crying?” Mélange asked cautiously.
“Oh hell no, tell me what did you do? The only reason I took your side yesterday is because mates can’t hurt each other, but my sister returned earlier crying. Now tell me what the fuck you did to her or I’m going to kick your ass all over West Virginia. There won’t be enough left of you to fill a seat on your flight home.”
Tyrese covered his mouth to stop grinning.
Silas leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes while stroking the back of her hand.
“Wait a minute, you did this. You sent a fake person here using the chameleon, Renee didn’t deny it.”
“That’s because she doesn’t know anything about it asshole. Why would I mention anything like that to her? It’s too much too soon, she’s not pack yet. Is that what you did? Accused her of being someone else? No, you can’t be that damned stupid.”
“What?”
“Tell you what, you have a choice. Get the fuck out of my town right now and leave my sister alone or I’ll terminate your ass before nightfall. No one messes over my sister like that. I can’t believe I took up for your stupid –”
“Stop with the name calling, that’s beneath you, and not the person your sister believes you to be. If I made a mistake –”
“If? Bitch that’s my sister you made cry.”
Tyrese stood and walked to the door, his shoulders shaking.
“Let me finish, please.”
Jasmine looked at Silas. He winked and offered her a high five.
“Go on.”
“Give me your word of honor my mate, and not someone else using the chameleon, came here today.”
Hearing the pain mixed with fear, sobered Jasmine. “Not only do you have my word as La Patroness, but you have the word of my mate La Patron. Renee was with you, not anyone else, and you hurt her today. Very few people know of the chameleon, I merely said the word to her to repeat to you so that you understood who I was searching for. In retrospect, that wasn’t my best idea. But a child’s life is at stake.”
“Is that what this is about?”
Jasmine backed up. “Renee’s my sister, I can’t allow you to hurt or abuse her heart, you did that today.”
“Goddess help! After she mentioned the chameleon I swear I thought she was a spy you sent to gain information on Elyria. Now I’ve lost my mate, she wants nothing to do with me. Games and too many people involved in my relationship with my mate. Enough of this. I’m returning to St. Louis and will attempt to woo her again after a period of time. This…this hurt goes both ways, your sister’s heart is not the only one bleeding.”
Jasmine frowned. “So you’re not her mate?”
“Of course we’re mated,” Mélange snapped. “But she’s demanded I cease from communicating with her, not that I blame her.” She inhaled. “But I will honor her request for now and try again another day.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that. Tell me one thing, is Renee safe from Elyria?” She looked at Silas, who’d straightened in his chair. Tyrese returned to his seat and leaned forward.
“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t she be?”
“Stop acting as if Elyria’s happy about you and Renee, she’s probably pissed. So answer my question.” Jasmine hoped her gamble paid off. Renee had been too upset to say much about her conversation with Mélange, but she made it seem as if there had been something between Elyria and Mélange.
“She wasn’t happy, no. But she’d never…she wouldn’t…”
“Are you sure? Be damned sure my sister’s safe, otherwise tell Renee everything about you and your past so she can walk away if you can’t protect her.”
“I will protect her, damn you. She’s my mate to protect with my life! No one will hurt a hair on her head, not while I breathe, and I’m damn hard to kill. The fucking Liege made sure of that!” Mélange snarled.
Jasmine winked at Silas. “Ooooh, she’s mad at me, now who’s sounding all out of character?”
Smiling, he shook his head.
“Just know this, if anything happens to my sister, there’s no place on the face of this earth where you or your former lover can hide. Am I making myself
clear?” Jasmine said, utterly serious.
“Crystal. If Elyria goes after my mate, I will kill her myself, she knows this.”
“You discussed this with her?”
“Somewhat, she knows I don’t threaten, I promise.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where would she go?”
“I don’t know, thousands of places around the globe offer sanctuary for the right price. Elyria has a lot of money.”
“But she has the child, who’d offer sanctuary to a child?” Jasmine spoke conversationally as if they were allies, bound together to keep Renee safe.
Mélange snorted. “No one, so you can believe the child does not appear as a child. No doubt she’s wearing a chameleon, there’s just one problem. The chameleon lasts for 48 hours, after that it requires a new body.”
That explained the two college students; at least they would have faces to look for. Silas nodded his agreement and she assumed he passed the word onto Angus. They didn’t have 48 hours to wait for more bodies to drop.
“Who is she? Elyria? Where’d she come from?”
“As far as I know she’s from northern Africa, or somewhere in that area. I will say this, she’s smart, very smart, and she’s been around for a long time. I’m a little over a hundred and she’s more than twice that. Sometimes she acts without reason, or reasons that make no sense to others. She dances to a tune only she hears. Taking the child may have started as a way to prove she could do it, and after that, her reason may’ve changed to something else. She’s brilliantly fluid and hard to understand.”
“Will she kill the child?” Jasmine asked, her heart in her throat after that snapshot of Elyria’s instability.
“If the child becomes a hindrance, yes. Chances are she’s controlling her with a necklace, which will end only with the death of one of them. If the child’s collared, she’s little more than a zombie, her thoughts won’t connect, she can’t think coherently or offer resistance. It’d never occur to her to do so. She’s a prisoner of both the mind and body.”
Something in Mélange’s tone hinted that she’d experienced the horrors she just described. Jasmine wondered if Mélange’s nightmares were similar to Asia’s.
“Thank you, I appreciate you talking to me and putting my mind at ease over my sister. Seriously, you hurt her, she’s very upset. It was painful to see and something I never want to see again,” Jasmine said.
“I hope this isn’t going to be a pattern, my mate and I don’t need you or anyone interfering in our relationship. If I mess up, I’ll correct it. Don’t come between my mate and I again. If you hadn’t called and asked –”
“You’re right,” Jasmine said, clamping her hand over Silas’ mouth to stop the growls erupting from his lips. “That won’t ever happen again. No one should come between mates. My mate would rip anyone in half who dared, but you’re not mated to Renee, not yet.”
Mélange sighed. “I know, and it worries me that she won’t accept me.”
“When she calms I can explain a few things to her if you’d like,” Jasmine said.
“No!” Mélange said. “No, thank you. We’ll do this on our own. My mate is proud as am I and we’ll work through our problems, you’ve done enough already.”
Jasmine smiled at Silas, who glared at the phone as if he could see the woman. “Okay, bye.”
Silas grabbed her around the neck and kissed her hard. “Brilliant, Sweet Bitch,” he murmured against her lips.
She and Silas repeated the conversation to Tyrese, who wrote notes before leaving to continue the search for Elyria. Silas wrapped his arm around Jasmine’s shoulder and pulled her close. “You’re one tough Sweet Bitch, that turns me on, and makes my dick harder than a fucking slab of concrete.”
Turned on by his words, she cupped his hardness and squeezed.
Silas threw back his head and moaned as she continued working him over.
“You’re right, you are hard.” Releasing him she ignored his sigh, pulled him close and kissed him hard.
Chapter 34
Rain hammered against the windows, thunder clapped in approval of blinding sheets of water moisturizing the soil. Slivers of gray stretched across the room like clawed tentacles reaching through the cracks for unwary prey. The solitary lamp barely brightened the room; the dim glow matched her mood perfectly.
Mélange stared at the phone for a few minutes, the conversation with Jasmine raced around her head. Her beast howled her displeasure at being separated from their mate. She dropped her face in the palms of her hands. Had she reacted out of fear and accused Renee of being someone else?
Yes.
For the past few hours, the entire conversation with Renee replayed in her mind on a loop as she reexamined her beloved’s reactions to everything she said.
Renee had spoken the truth, she had no idea what the chameleon was or what it did. “Goddess, what have I done? Why can’t I get this right? Why’s it so hard?” Should she call Renee? Apologize?
No, Renee needed space, at least that’s what she said. But what if she didn’t mean it? Is that why Jasmine called? To suggest she make things right with Renee? No, Jasmine loved her sister, but wanted information on Elyria. Confirmation that her mate had been the one in the hotel earlier was a fair exchange. Besides, everyone knew Mélange could never deliberately hurt her mate.
Regardless of what Jasmine thought of her, they both recognized Elyria as a real threat. Mélange hadn’t been completely honest. Elyria would hurt, or try to destroy Renee if she could. That was the reason Mélange followed Renee to West Virginia, to protect her.
When the child went missing, Mélange didn’t give it much thought, it had nothing to do with her or the plan she and Elyria discussed. Children were never used, it was something they both agreed early on.
After she cut Elyria off, she didn’t realize her former lover would carry out some type of plan for the chameleon, although it seemed her focus changed from the bracelet to what? Mélange had no idea, and that was the true danger of dealing with Elyria, she changed constantly for no apparent reason.
Even though she was positive Elyria was no longer in the area, her wolf demanded they remain close to protect their mate. It had been years since she and Elyria fought a dominance challenge. Elyria was a fierce competitor and shouldn’t be taken lightly, even though she couldn’t defeat Mélange.
Whatever happened in her past created demons she fought on a daily basis, but never shared with Mélange no matter how bad they became. In some ways they were strangers even after spending a decade together. They owned properties together in several locations around the world, but none in the Pennsylvania Mountains. Elyria must’ve purchased something and used some old dummy corps to hide it. Which wasn’t the smartest move since that particular set wasn’t supposed to ever be used for any of their personal transactions.
If Elyria decided to attack Renee, Mélange would kill her or die trying, which would be a shame given their shared history. As long as Elyria left Renee alone, Mélange wished her the best and would do nothing more to assist in her capture. She headed to the shower to keep from calling Renee.
“Mélange?”
She stopped and rested her forehead on the cool tile beneath the shower spray.
“Mélange?”
“Elyria.” Mélange tried to infuse happiness in her voice but failed miserably. Talking to her former lover at this point would cause more harm than good.
“Hi, how’s everything going?”
“The same, not a whole lot,” Mélange said, rinsing off and then stepping out. She needed to speak carefully.
“How’s your mate? Have you done the mating dance yet?” Elyria didn’t try to hide her disgust and it riled Mélange’s beast.
“No, not yet. Working on it, takes time.” She kept her tone even.
“Hmm, you didn’t ask how I’m doing or if I’m okay. Sounds like you don’t care anymore.”
Mélange rolled h
er eyes at Elyria’s patented diva move. “I care, I’ll always care. How are you doing? Painting the town red? Leaving a trail of broken hearts behind?”
Elyria giggled. The sound grated on Mélange’s nerves.
“Not yet, that’s next. I’m at our place in Canada, didn’t want to stay in his country.”
Mélange knew Elyria referred to La Patron. “That’s why we have those other places, so we can do as we please when we please.”
“Which reminds me, what are we going to do about the property we share? I’m telling you I don’t want another woman in our homes. We can sell them if you want.”
At this point Mélange wanted nothing she and Elyria shared. Her beast would never allow her to re-enter those places again. “Yes, if that’s what you want.”
“I don’t want to do that, I want our life back the way it was before, but I can’t have that, can I!?”
Mélange closed her eyes, took a breath and spoke calmly. “No, the fates decided differently. I’m sorry this happened to us.”
“You loved me,” Elyria whispered through their link. “Understood me, never tried to change or tie me down.”
“You did the same for me.”
Elyria sniffed. “You’re right, we were perfect for each other, I don’t know why the fates or whoever does this shit doesn’t see that. We, you and I, belong together. Not some human,” she spat.
Mélange fought her beast to remain calm and spoke a few seconds later. “I hear you. But it’s done, and I’ve accepted it.” She stressed the last point.
“Truly, you’ve accepted this human as your mate?”
“Yes, I have.”
“What about me?” Elyria asked. “What am I to do without you? You were the brains and brawn of our duo. I remember some of the things you taught me, but I get them wrong sometimes.”
