by Angel Nyx
I want you to know, I am so proud of the young woman you’re becoming. I see so much of myself in you, your drive and determination to succeed no matter what you do and your love of life. You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Eme, and I never once regretted my decision to leave home.
I know things were tough when you were little, I know you didn’t always understand why we were alone and not with a Pard, or why you had to keep it a secret that you were a shifter, but I tried my best to guide you and I hope I did a good job.
In this envelope, there is a key. It goes to a safety deposit box at the Bank of New Orleans. In it you will find several things, including the deposit book for an account I opened there shortly before I left. If you present the bank with a copy of my death certificate, they will give you access to the box and it’s contents. I’ve had money going into that account for years, money for you to help you achieve any goal you set for yourself.
I know you often wondered about your Papa, wondered why I never spoke of him. He was my first love. His name was Derrick. Derrick Winton, and he was something else. He was on the football team, you’d think a jock wouldn’t notice the shy girl, but he did. I think he loved me too. When I left home, I couldn’t tell him the reason why. I couldn’t tell him I was pregnant. He was headed to college, he had such goals, I couldn’t change his future by telling him he’d gotten me pregnant.
Then, when I knew he’d graduated, I wanted to tell him but I found he’d moved on. He had a wife, they had a baby, and it hurt to think maybe I’d never meant that much to him. That was when I met Sean, and we both know how that went. It took me a long time to realize that by not telling Derrick about you, I was hurting you, too. It was selfish of me to want to keep you all to myself and when I think about the time you could have had with him, I feel ashamed. I hope you can forgive me, sweet angel, for keeping so much from you
If you go to New Orleans and meet my parents, please, try not to hate them. They could only do as their Alpha commanded and he was a horrid beast. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive them the way I never could. Be better than I was, my girl. And remember, I love you, Emelise Acadia Rousseau, my treasure, my pride, the one good thing I really did in this life.
Your loving Mama’
Emelise read the letter several times while tears fell freely down her cheeks. “Oh, Mama, I love you,” she whispered. “She was thinking about me, about my future, even before she had me. There’s a savings account here at the Bank of New Orleans that is now mine. She’d been putting money into it all these years.”
“Oh, Eme.” Lily scooted over to her and hugged her. “Your mom really loved you, anyone who saw you two together would know that.”
“Yeah, she did. I think she’d be happy if she knew I’d forgiven her Mama for turning her back on us. It’s what she wanted, for me to not hate them for it.”
“Are you going to deliver the other letters?”
“Yeah, I am. Mama wrote them for a reason. Her Papa isn’t here to read his, but I’ll give it to Mamere Eulalie.”
“I’m glad I got Echo to come open this thing for you. You uncovered some really good memories here,” Lily said, motioning to the photo albums.
“I’m glad you did too.” They spent some time looking through the photo albums before Eme put the letters away until she could deliver them and walked Lily to the door. She didn’t need to know what any of the other letters said, they weren’t for her eyes, but the people they were written for deserved to read them.
Chapter Thirteen
Malcolm
This was, by far, the craziest thing he’d ever done in his life. And the most reckless. He’d told Emelise he was coming ‘for a visit’. What he didn’t tell her was that he’d decided to quit his job at The Inferno, pack everything he owned into an U-haul truck, and relocate to hot and humid New Orleans.
He wasn’t too worried about the heat and humidity, he knew he’d acclimate fairly easily thanks to his beast. Lions liked the heat. What he was worried about was working enough to support himself. Sure Eme had a club she just opened up, but would Venus be a hit in The Big Easy? That was the real question.
He’d played it smart, when making his decision to move. He’d gotten online, looked at real estate for sale in New Orleans, and found himself a house he liked. He had a nice little nest egg saved up and it came in handy now to help him get his own place That way he wouldn’t have to put things in storage when he got to where he was going. He just had to unpack. “Goodbye, Phoenix, hello Big Easy,” he said as he pulled onto the I-10 which would take him right to the heart of New Orleans.
Four days after he left Phoenix, Malcolm looked around the house he’d purchased on N. Roman Street. It had four bedrooms and two bathrooms and was done up in earth tones. He liked the color scheme so that was one thing he didn’t have to worry about changing. It was going to take him a while to completely unpack, but at least the truck was unloaded. Sure he had to move around stacks of boxes, but hey, at least they were organized stacks. It was time to make a call to Miss Emelise Rousseau. He could unpack more later. No, he wasn’t procrastinating. Oh hell, who was he kidding? Yes he was.
Emelise
Emelise was curled up on her sofa with a glass of sweet tea while Lily did the same in the chair across from her. “You’re sure you’re really okay?” A few days ago Gathering Grounds was robbed just as Lily was closing. The person responsible got away with several hundred dollars that she was in the process of taking to the safe.
“I’m okay, Eme. Okay, if I’m totally honest, I’m still a little unsettled by the incident, but I’m not hurt. I’m more worried about Declan than myself. He completely freaked out when I called him, after I called the police. I honestly think he was on the verge of trying to tell me I couldn’t work anymore before I finally got him to calm down. What really scares me is, I think he picked up the guy’s scent, and if he ever crosses paths with him...look out.”
“Do you really think he’d do something to the guy?”
“I don’t know. I hope not, because that would land him in jail.”
“That would definitely not be a good thing,” Emelise replied just as her phone rang. She glanced at the number. “Mal’s calling. He must be on his way to New Orleans, he said he’d call when he headed this way,” she said before she answered it. “Hey, Mal.”
“Hey to you too, sexy lady,” Mal said with a chuckle. “So, don’t be mad at me but I didn’t call you when I left Phoenix. I’ve actually been in New Orleans since yesterday.”
“What? You’ve been here since yesterday and you’re just now calling me? Do you have a side bestie I don’t know about here in New Orleans?” It was obvious she was teasing. “Malcolm Savage, what am I going to do with you? Why didn’t you call before?”
“Well...I have a little confession, Eme,” Mal started. “I did something completely crazy. I quit my job at The Inferno, sold my house...and bought one here in New Orleans.”
Emelise stared at her phone. “Holy shit! You moved to New Orleans? I thought you were just coming for a visit! This is awesome! Here I was trying to figure out a way to lure you into moving and you beat me to it. Get your ass over here, we need to talk. Oh gods, and I’ll have to take you out to meet Caine, and you’ll need to meet Declan....”
“Declan? Who is that?” Mal interrupted.
“Oh, that’s right, you don’t know about that. Long story. Come to my apartment, I’ll give you the address, and Lily and I can fill you in on all that’s happened since we talked last.”
Malcolm laughed. “Okay. This should be interesting. I’m on my way.”
Malcolm
Fifteen minutes after putting Emelise's address into his GPS, Malcolm pulled up to the curb just up the street from her apartment building. He took a moment to admire the outside of it before he hopped out and headed inside. He’d always been an architecture buff and he knew he was going to love the architecture of New Orleans. Once he reached her door he knoc
ked and waited.
Emelise opened the door seconds after he knocked. “Mal! Get in here, dude,” she said and gave him a quick hug. “I can’t believe you took a leap of faith and moved down here,” she said. She’d already grabbed a glass for him and poured him a glass of sweet tea.
Malcolm took it and sat in the other armchair. “Never fear, darlings, I have arrived,” he said with a cheeky grin. “This place is nice, it suits you. It’s got just the right amount of quirkiness to it.”
Lily laughed. “I said pretty much the same thing when I first saw it. It’s good to see you, Mal.”
“Thanks. You too, babe. So, which one of you is going to tell me who Declan is and why I have to meet him?”
Eme laughed. “Get right to the point, why dontcha?” she teased. “Who he is is kind of a long story. You remember me telling you about Lily’s mate? That’s Declan. Okay, so who he is wasn’t really that long of an explanation after all,” Eme replied. “The reason you have to meet him is really the part that’s kind of long. When Lily and I drove out to Phoenix last month, the Pard was having trouble with a neighboring shifter group. The Red Moon Clan was trying to take over New Orleans, trying to take Pard territory, and things got really rough. There was a fight, some of the jaguars died, and Declan played a huge role in helping the Pard win. Him and his team. He was Special Ops once upon a time. Anyway, to thank him and his team for all their help, Caine split off part of Pard territory and gave it to Declan for his own Pack. So there are two shifter groups in New Orleans, which means there are two Alphas for you to meet.”
Malcolm listened intently. “Damn, that sounds like it could have gotten really bad. I’m impressed the leopard’s Alpha gave up part of his territory though. That’s unusual.”
“Caine isn’t like a lot of Alphas,” Lily put in. “He’s more open to talking through issues, whenever possible, and he honors those who aid him and his Pard.”
“Sounds like a much better Alpha than the last one I had,” Malcolm replied.
Lily studied him. “You know, since you’re not a leopard and can’t join the Pard, you should consider joining the Ghostpoint Pack. We’re a bunch of misfits but we’ve formed a strong, close-knit group. Of course the others were already pretty close-knit because they’d worked together.”
“Misfits? How so?”
“What else would you call a Pack made up of three wolves, two jaguars, a grizzly bear, and a Siberian tiger?”
He blinked then laughed. “Misfits. That definitely fits. Huh, I’ve never been part of a group that had different shifters in it. Might be interesting. It does get a little lonely being solo.”
“Yeah, it does,” Lily agreed.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Malcolm replied after a moment. There was a reason he wasn’t part of a Pride, a reason why he was an outcast who was shunned by most of his own kind. “Unless my getting to stay in New Orleans is dependent upon my being in the Pack?”
“Gods, no, you can stay regardless,” Lily replied. “I just remember how much I missed getting to be part of a group, especially on the nights I went for a run. Once I moved here I was welcome to run with the Pard but it wasn’t quite the same as being with my own Pack.”
Malcolm nodded. “I get what you mean, babe. We’ll see if I mesh with the others first.”
“Sounds good to me,” Lily agreed.
“Did you really buy a house?” Emelise asked suddenly. “Because if you lied and you’re staying in a hotel, you can just crash here.”
“No need for that. I really did buy a house.”
“Already? How?”
“I bought it even before I moved. As soon as I knew I wanted to move here and not just visit, I sat down and looked at houses online, found one I wanted, and bought it.”
“You were smarter than I was. When I got here I had to stay in a hotel for a few days until I found this place,” Eme said with a laugh.
“Well, you were still reeling from losing your mother and focused on chasing your dream of owning your own club,” Lily pointed out.
“True, there is that.” Eme waved her hands in front of her face. “Whatever, it’s kind of moot now. I’ll text Caine and see if he can come to the club tonight. You can check it out and meet him there. That way Lily can drag Declan out to meet you at the same time. Kill three birds with one stone.” She flashed a cheeky grin.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Lily replied. “I’m going to head out, see you tonight.”
“I should go too. I’ve still got a shit ton of unpacking to do,” Mal said with a groan.
“Been there and done that,” Emelise said. “I’ll text you later to let you know what time to stop by the club.”
“Alright. I hope you’re making that man work for it. You deserve to be be happy, Eme,” Mal said before he left. He was looking forward to meeting Caine just so he could be sure the leopard was worthy of her.
Chapter Fourteen
Emelise
Emelise didn’t have time to worry about how the meeting between Caine and Malcolm might go. When she got to the club there was a bit of an issue in the VIP lounge. The club hadn’t been open an hour and some local socialite thought that because he was a ‘important person’ in New Orleans it meant he could do whatever he wanted in the club. What that boiled down to was him verbally assaulting the bartender and letting his hands wander to places they didn’t belong every time the server got near him.
“Emelise, I agreed to be nice to the customers, especially the VIP ones on the nights I worked the VIP lounge, but I didn’t agree to being felt up by some jerk who thinks he’s god’s gift to women,” Sierra, one of the newer waitresses, said.
“That’s not in your job description,” Emelise replied. “I’ll take care of this. I’m sorry you were subjected to that kind of behavior. I don’t put up with it and I won’t allow it in my club,” she added and had to bite back a growl.
“Joe’s pretty pissed too. The guy has been really ugly towards him, pretty much telling him he was shitty at his job when we both know that’s not true,” Sierra told her.
“I’ll take care of that, too,” Emelise said and headed upstairs. Sierra had gone downstairs to get away from the guy and his grabby hands.
Emelise sauntered upstairs and made a beeline for the bar where Joe was fixing drinks. “Hey, Sierra told me about what’s been happening, point me in the right direction and I’ll take care of this.”
“Good, because if he touched Sierra one more time I was going to break his fingers for him,” Joe replied. Sierra was his sister, he was not happy about the jerk pawing at her. He nodded with his head at the table at which the troublemaker sat.
“I might do it for you,” Emelise muttered under her breath before she headed his way.
Aaron Sutton was one of those rich men who thought that because he had money the entire world should bend over backwards for him. Emelise recognized him from a recent article that was done on him. When she stopped in front of his table she saw his gaze trail over her before he finally met her gaze. “Oh, aren’t you a pretty little thing. Come to take care of me, have you? Compared to you, the other waitress is a bit lackluster.”
Emelise rolled her eyes at him. “No, I’m not here to ‘take care of you’, at least not in the way you mean the phrase. What I am here to do is ask you to leave. You’ve verbally assaulted one employee and what you did to your server can be considered sexual assault if she wanted to pursue a case against you.”
He blinked at her. “Oh, that’s cute. No one would believe it, sweetheart. Dressed the way she is, of course she’s looking for attention of the male persuasion.”
“I am only going to say this once more and if you still ignore me I’ll take matters in my own hands. You need to leave. Now.”
“No can do, sweetheart. I’m enjoying myself. Why don’t you run along and find the owner. I’m sure he’ll understand and tell you to mind your own business.”
Eme gave him a mockingly sweet smile before she leaned d
own a little so she was in his face. “First, I’m not your sweetheart so cut the bullshit. Second, you’re looking at the owner and you harassing my staff is my business.”
He looked her over again. “You don’t want to get on my bad side, sweetheart,”he said, deliberately using the endearment.“I can make or break this club. One word from me and you’ll lose all of your business.”
Emelise laughed. “I don’t think so. You see that right there,” she said and pointed to what appeared to be a glass globe over a light fixture. “That’s a security camera. How much you want to bet if I looked at it I’d find you doing exactly what you were accused of; putting your hands where they didn’t belong?”
His hand snaked out and his fingers curled around her wrist. “I will bury you and this fucking club.”
“Get. Your. Fucking. Hand. Off. Her.”
Caine
Caine had gotten the text from Emelise asking him to come to the club because she wanted him to meet someone, a friend from Phoenix who just relocated to New Orleans. He knew that was Eme’s way of letting him know the person was a shifter, otherwise why would she be so formal about the meeting? He wondered who it might be but since she’d not talked about her life in Phoenix much he was pretty much in the dark.
He reached the club and before he could ask where she was he was pointed to the stairs leading up to the VIP lounge. Hmm, intriguing. Did she want him to meet whoever it was there?
He took the steps two at a time and when he reached the top his gaze immediately searched her out. What he saw made his blood boil and a growl escaped him before he could stop it. He reigned in his leopard as he approached. “Get. Your. Fucking. Hand. Off. Her.” There was so much controlled rage in his voice he was surprised no one looked their way.
