by Sayde Grace
Jasper pushed past his mental blocks to reach Sidda, but hers were up. Shit, she’d used her powers on him last night. He hadn’t realized exactly how much she’d bonded with her wolf or with his. Only a strong bond would allow her to use his own power against him. She’d controlled his wolf.
“What the hell were y’all doing out there?” Cole sat down opposite him.
When Jasper got a hold of Sidda, he would find out just what she was thinking going out there. “After I decided to let Sidda loose, she kneed me in the head. Knocked me out cold.” The she-wolf had gone beyond too far this time.
“Apparently she drove out there to get trashed, and while she was there, Stephan showed up. I don’t know what the hell happened. I showed up, scented him nearby then she stumbled out to the car.” He ran a hand through his hair.
Jasper’s mind reeled. Damn, how much of his power had she used on him? “What time is it? Has she called? Where is everyone else?” Jasper rose.
“It’s noon, and no, she hasn’t called since early this morning. She called a little after we got back to make sure we’d gotten you. That was the last time we’ve heard from her.” Cole rose too. “Everyone else is hiding. No one knew how you’d take her leaving. What do we do now?”
Jasper shook his head. He had no idea what to do now. She’d gone off with Stephan, not trusting Jasper to protect her or their family or pack. And when he got his hands on her pretty little ass, she wouldn’t be able to sit for months.
“She didn’t feel she had a choice.” A soft feminine voice broke through his brooding.
“Vivian, it doesn’t matter. She left, and now I have to go get her back.”
“It’s not that simple, Jasper. I’ve seen my sister in the visions. She has to stay on this path. If you go there, you’ll alter the course, and we may lose her forever.” Vivian’s voice calmed and soothed his raging beast.
Cole’s mouth fell open. “This is the piece of ass you’ve been tagging? Sidda’s sister? Shit, man, I can’t believe you’re still alive.”
“I am not a piece of …” Her mouth opened, but the word ass never left. “I’m not that!”
Cole smirked, raising one eyebrow at her. Jasper rolled his eyes. He’d never met anyone more innocent than Sidda until Vivian. She blushed over everything. Once Sidda had been that way, but in the past few days, she’d come to a level of sexuality and sinfulness that drove him wild.
Cole leaned toward Vivian, his eyes dancing with amusement. “Ass. Piece of ass. Or you want me to call you a piece of pussy? I mean that’s what he was hitting, or are you a backdoor patroller?”
Vivian gasped, and her face flamed such a bright red Jasper figured she’d explode any second.
“Enough.” He walked toward the table where his phone lay silent. “Vivian is Sidda’s half-sister. Yes, she was supposedly destined to be my mate, but I’ve always known it was Sidda. She’s the one I love and bonded with. I’ve never touched Vivian in that way and never will. But she is the Pack’s Visioner, which is why she traveled with me. It had nothing to do with hitting anything. I never told you because I knew you’d tell Sidda, and that would not have gone well. I wanted to be the one to explain everything to Sidda, but then when Sidda shifted and I smelled her wolf, I realized that Sidda and Vivian share a parent.”
Jasper opened his phone, hoping and praying Sidda would have left him a message. His gut sank. She hadn’t.
“Jasper, there is no need to worry. She will be fine.” Vivian sat on an armchair. In her hands, she held the tablet she’d been writing her visions in since he’d found her in Romania.
Jasper noticed the purple circles under Vivian’s eyes, a sure sign she’d seen something. “Did you have another vision?” His head throbbed as he wished Sidda would open up to him.
Jasper rubbed his hand across his face. He missed Sidda already. He had to go get her regardless of what Vivian said. He wouldn’t let her be anyone else’s. He’d kill anyone who got in the way of him having his mate.
Vivian rubbed a hand across her forehead. “Yes, I had a vision of our mothers. I cannot tell you where they were, but believe me, Sidda’s path is to save them and our siblings. Believe in her, Jasper. She is the one who will bring us all back together.”
“Wait. Sidda? I mean I love her and have complete faith in her, but you?” Cole narrowed his eyes at Vivian. “You don’t know her, and for all intents and purposes, she stole your mate. How come you trust her?”
Vivian bit her bottom lip with pearly white teeth. “It’s true. At first I believed she’d stolen my place, but then I recalled all the visions I’d had of myself beside the Alpha. It was never me. It had always been her beside him, not me. If only I’d realized it sooner, I could have gotten used to not thinking of Jasper as my mate. I believe, well, I know I made matters much worse when I rushed in to stop her from leaving. I overreacted and called Jasper my mate. I’m afraid that’s when she hit me too.”
Jasper shrugged. “She’d already knocked me out.” His gaze hardened on Cole. “Before I left four years ago and said ‘Take Sidda to get self-defense lessons,’ I didn’t think she’d use them on me. Where the hell did you take her anyway?” Jasper stared Cole down.
“I didn’t. She wouldn’t let me take her. She said I’d just tell you everything, and if you wanted to know, you could call her.”
“Alpha?” Ivan strode into the room. “Word has reached me that our she-wolf has been seen at Dane Velham’s compound. A friend saw her on the deck talking with Stephan.”
A wildfire of anger flamed in Jasper. Stephan was a dead man. Without thinking, Jasper turned and rushed from the room. He’d get Sidda back if it was the last thing he did.
“Stop!” Vivian’s voice rose to a high-pitched screech. “You must stop. You are not in the visions yet.”
Jasper stopped and turned to her. “I don’t give a flying shit whether I’m in your visions or not. She is my mate, and I won’t let Stephan Donaldson or anyone else take her from me.”
“Finally. Let’s go see Sidda. But let’s at least try not to get killed.” Cole grabbed the keys to the truck from the table.
Jasper nodded. Cole would have his back. He wouldn’t be able to take out a full-grown wolf, but Jasper knew Cole would do anything for Sidda. “Ivan, you and Doc are to protect the Pack. Vivian, make sure Sidda’s mom and Ms. Joy are all right.”
“That is not Sidda’s mother, and I will not trust yours or my sister’s life with that.” She looked pointedly at Cole.
“Listen, Hannah Montana, I can take care of them better than you any day.”
“You are not a wolf. What can you do besides talk?” Vivian’s voice hinted at sarcasm.
“Come to my room and I’ll show you.”
Jasper would have loved to let them finish their argument, as he’d never known a female to challenge Cole, but he had to have his mate back. “Enough. Get in the truck.” Jasper marched out of the house, hurrying toward his truck. “I have no time to argue with either of you over this. Sidda is with Dane Velham.”
“Whatever, but Hannah better lay off Ms. Angela. That woman is Sidda’s mother. She raised Sidda after Velham threw her out.”
“If you want to walk, stop calling me Hannah. My name is Vivian Dowery, you baboon.”
Without another word, Jasper put the truck in gear to get his mate or die trying.
Chapter Nineteen
The warm sun cascaded across Sidda’s skin. She glanced around the large, manicured lawn. The green grass gave off a warm, inviting air, so much different than what she felt inside. Her heart wrenched. God, she missed Jasper so much already. She prayed he’d understand not to come after her. Stephan had been deadly serious. He would kill anyone who tried to take her. Not that Sidda didn’t think Jasper could take Stephan, but there was something broken within Stephan that, if fixed, would turn him into a great wolf.
As if she’d summoned him, Stephan appeared with a plate of food. “Here, eat something.” Stephan sat down oppos
ite Sidda at the large patio table. His features were hard and sulfur seeped off of him.
“I take it your ‘talk’ with Velham didn’t go so well.” She picked up a grape.
“He says he knew nothing of you being thrown in a dumpster or about the warehouse killings.”
“And you believe him?” She leaned over, scowling at Stephan.
He pushed his plate away and flopped back in the chair, glaring at her. “He is my Alpha, Sidda. He raised me. What else am I to believe?”
“Me. You should believe me.” Her voice pitched higher than normal.
“And why, my mate, would I ever do that when you wear another wolf’s mark on your neck?”
“Once again, dipshit, you are not my mate, Jasper is. But the reason you should believe me is that thing you call your Alpha is a goddamn monster, and you know he killed those babies.”
Stephan ran a hand across his jaw. “Sidda, that thing is our Alpha, your father. Show him some respect. Now eat. He wants to meet with us both in a few minutes.”
Sidda popped the grape into her mouth, dreaming of ways to kill Dane Velham. At present, shoving the apple on her plate down his throat and watching him choke to death was her best plan. Respect? She’d show him respect all right.
“Come on. Time to get to his office.” Stephan stood, reaching a hand out to help her up.
She slapped his hand out of the way before standing a few feet away from him and shooting him her best fuck off glare.
Stephan’s jaw clenched. “Sidda, today is not the day to test my patience. Even your presence is not pushing my beast down as it did before.”
Too damn bad. Jasper would’ve taken her to the floor if she’d challenged him like that. She lifted her chin. “That’s because you know I’m right. I am not your mate, and Velham is a monster who has used you for years. He killed those kids while you were gone because he knew you wouldn’t stand by him murdering innocent children.”
Stephan growled deep in his throat. “I might not be a child killer, but you know nothing about me.”
Sidda’s wolf shrank, but she did not. “Oh, grow up, wolf boy. Just because I say something that you don’t like does not give you the right to growl at me.” She pushed past him then stopped to glance over her shoulder. Her bravado began to fade as he grew angrier. “Are you gonna show me where to go or not?”
Stephan continued to glare at her and stepped closer. “You have a smart mouth. No wonder Gandillion marked your sister first.”
Without thinking, Sidda punched him. Her right hook had gotten a great deal of practice in the last forty-eight hours, and she wasn’t too shocked to see Stephan land flat on his ass. “You’re a bastard.”
He sat on the ground, rubbing his hand across his jaw. “That I am, but don’t ever strike me again. Even you may not be immune to my beast.”
“Like I said, grow up, wolf boy. Stop hiding behind this rage excuse. Own your actions instead of blaming them on everyone and everything else.”
“Enough!” Dane Velham’s deep voice screamed from the open door of the breeze. “My office now.”
Sidda growled. His command had her bristling. She yearned for nothing more than to march into his office and strangle him until his body fell lifeless under her hands. She strode inside to follow through with the plan but stopped dead in her tracks when her eyes met those of a fortyish woman who stared at her with the same eyes as Sidda’s and those she’d seen on the blonde.
Air rushed in and out of Sidda’s lungs. Her gaze traveled to the woman’s left where another fortyish woman stood with her head cocked to the side, staring at Sidda’s marking. Instinctively, Sidda tilted her head to show all of her mark. The woman’s lips twitched into a small smile before she turned stone faced again.
“Sit. There are some rules we must go over before I make introductions.”
Dane’s auburn hair flounced a bit as he nodded toward a chair near his large cherry desk. His black eyes bore into hers. Sulfur radiated from her skin, and she tried to control her anger.
His tone deepened to harsh and condemning. “Did you not hear me? I said sit.”
That was it. “I’m not a damn dog to be commanded. If I want to sit, I’ll sit, if not, screw you.”
A hand wrapped around her upper arm and before she could blink, she was snatched out of the room. Stephan towered over her, glaring. His breath huffed in and out in short bursts.
“Sidda, I swear you’re going to get killed. Do not speak to him that way. If you want to run off at the mouth, call your brother or wait until we are alone and curse me, but do not provoke him.”
“Let me go!” She twisted, trying to free herself from his grasp.
“No. Understand that I can protect you from him until you’ve challenged him in front of other wolves. Once that happens, you will fight to the death, and although you have a hell of a right hook, I doubt you are strong enough to kill him.”
Sidda inhaled deeply, trying to calm her own nerves. Damn it. Everything was wrong. She was supposed to be with Jasper figuring out a way to kill Dane Velham, not stuck in the hall getting a talking to by a murderous monster like Stephan.
“Stephan, what the hell do you care? If he ordered you to kill me, you would.”
Stephan stared at her for a long moment. His eyes revealed nothing to her, but her wolf sensed his internal battle.
“If it was for the good of the pack, I would. If you threatened to harm our pack.”
Sidda had known his answer, and it didn’t surprise her. He wasn’t an Alpha. An Alpha Wolf would have said no, that he’d protect her no matter what. A true Alpha Wolf like Jasper would do anything to keep her alive and safe. The thought of Jasper stung. She knew he was pissed, and God help her if he ever got his hands on her again. She would be tied to his bed forever, and not in a good way at all.
Dane’s menacing voice traveled into the hall. “Come back in now. I trust you can hold your tongue, and I won’t be forced to whip you?” Whip her? Oh hell, he was so dead. If that bastard came near her with a whip, she’d rip his balls off and feed them to him or die trying. No way in hell was that bastard whipping her. No in this lifetime or any other.
Sidda fought the urge to snarl toward the door. She had to keep a cool head and find out for sure who those women were and what Velham was up to. He’d thrown her away as a baby. Why the hell would he want her now? And why hadn’t he gone after Jasper yet? Stephan hadn’t been concerned at all about Jasper. He’d only wanted her.
She breathed in deep, closed her eyes, and let her mind relax. Her body unraveled from head to toe, and all the tension she’d been holding slowly evaporated. She opened her eyes, breathing in deeply, praying the calmness would stay with her when she stepped back in the office.
“Holy shit, you have no idea how good that just felt.” Stephan’s hoarse whisper startled her. His eyes were closed, and his body leaned against the wall. He smiled and nodded toward the door. “Go back inside. I need to clear away your calming before I can come in.”
Sidda turned and strode back into the room. This time she sat in the seat Dane had motioned to earlier. Every cell in her body rebelled at doing so, but the pack was more important than her pride, and she had to find out what he wanted of her.
Dane raised his eyebrows at her. “Good. You’ve been allowed to run wild for far too long. Stephan will need to rein you in, show you what your mouth is really for.”
Blood drummed in her ears. The fuckhead had just told her she was only good for sucking cock? Dead, dead, dead, he was so dead. Sidda bit the inside of her lip to keep from screaming. Her fists clutched the arms on the chair. Sucking in a breath, she inhaled the scents in the room. Gardenia, vanilla, and moss filled her nose. She leaned back in her chair, trying to distinguish who owned each scent. Behind her, the gardenia scent shifted, and with a glance backward, her forty-year-old mirror image squirmed. Gardenia.
“Scenting her will not answer your questions. Only I will.” Dane smirked at her from behind hi
s large desk. His body relaxed, mocking her.
“Then answer them. If you’re as smart as you think you are, what are my questions?”
Dane’s lips quirked into a knowing smile. “You are your mother’s daughter. But I warn you against following her path. It took years and lots of her screaming in pain to break her. You should ask her if that pain was worth it.” He flipped his hand toward the woman seated behind her.
Sidda’s spun around, their eyes met. The woman stared at Sidda, and remorse and regret flashed in her eyes. Sidda sucked in a breath of air, trying to stop any signs of emotion . Dane would use her emotion against her, and she would not allow him to harm anyone else.
“Ask her,” Dane goaded.
Sidda shook her head, still staring at her mother. “I don’t have to. You haven’t broken her. If you had, she wouldn’t be here. You’d have lost interest. Showing your dominance over a submissive female is not what gets you off.” Sidda’s mother’s eyes flared wide before a smile tipped her lips.
Beside her, the other female threw her head back and laughed. She met Sidda’s gaze and smiled Jasper’s heart-stopping smile.
“Oh, Dane, I believe this one will do it. Yes, she is the one.”
“Shut up. All of you shut up.” Dane slammed his fists down on the desk, gaining her attention once again.
“What will I do?” Sidda raised an eyebrow at him.
“That one has held onto a dream of freedom. She is delusional, and I should have killed her years ago. Maybe it is time.”
“Father?” Two boys ,strode into the room. Their faces trained on the women sitting behind Sidda.
“Oh yes, my sons. Siddalee, meet your siblings. They are the only reason I have yet to get rid of those bitches.”
One young boy met Sidda’s eyes. His small frame gave him the appearance of just a child of no more than ten or eleven, but his eyes held maturity. They bore into hers, and the black that colored them when he’d looked at Dane swirled to a midnight blue, a color that warmed her soul. His auburn hair curled around his ears, just short enough not to be messy.
