BirthStone

by Sydney Addae

  “Yes, Sir. I would say in the afternoon. Have you made arrangements with the hospital?”

  Silas nodded. “Rose will set it up as soon as I tell her a date.”

  “Good. I will schedule the surgery later today.”

  After standing, Silas looked in the direction of Asia’s room. “We making any progress with the information from Asia?”

  Dr. Passen’s lips tightened slightly. “Yes and no. We have the information, she has been extremely helpful in that, but it’s disjointed, hard to understand. I have sent everything to you in a file. Maybe Tyrese or Tyrone can connect the dots so we can move forward and catch those assholes so that young woman can have some peace. I don’t know if we can fix her, the other alternative is to get rid of the threat.”

  “I agree, Doc. But let’s keep looking for a way to rid her of those devices; it’d be good to have her in the field working on my side.”

  “I understand, Sir.”

  Silas heard the disappointment in the doctor’s voice. “You misunderstand. I respect the bitch and value her service. But she is a warrior and will never be totally content outside of the action. It’s who she is, a warrior bitch. Never forget that.”

  “I understand. It’s just…she's been through so much. She’s been used and it’s not right. When does she get the chance to have her life back, to be normal, to smell flowers and tend a garden, if that is her desire? She has never had a chance to make choices regarding her future. I don’t think that’s right.”

  Silas thought of his mate, and wondered what she would say of the doctor’s defense of Asia. Did Jasmine have a choice? Did he choose to have half-bred pups? Higher powers had chosen them to be mates. Asia’s choices had been taken from her, but did that invalidate the life she had lived? Not necessarily. She was one of the most powerful bitches alive, with knowledge most could only dream of. Did the end result justify her painful journey? Most would say no. But he was not sure Asia would agree.

  “We will ask Asia what she wants to do when she is free of the technology that imprisons her, and I will make sure she receives whatever that is. That will be the beginning of her life of making choices. Thanks for reminding me of that, Doctor.” Silas nodded and left the room smiling at the stunned look on the good doctor’s face.

  As he headed down the corridor he contacted Jacques. The man should be in the office by now. Silas couldn’t imagine his friend spending more than few minutes with Jasmine and her family. He had not been able to do more than greet his friend with a slap on the back before his meeting with Matt and the doctor. Now he needed to get Jacques started on that file Passen had sent him with all the information Asia had provided. The man was a genius when it came to putting abstract information together to make a cohesive whole.

  “Jacques, meet me in my office.” He sent the message as he stepped into the elevator.

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Silas frowned at the strange sound of reluctance in Jacques voice. “Jacques?”

  “Yes, Sir?” There it was again. The man sounded strained, as if he were being pulled in two directions.

  “All is well?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “My office.” Confused, Silas stepped out the elevator wondering what the hell was going on. Jasmine had not contacted him, so he knew she was okay. But Jacques did not sound at all like himself.

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Silas nodded at Rose. “Make an appointment for Julie at the hospital tomorrow after two pm. Talk to Doctor Kelly, he is expecting her.”

  “Yes, Sir,” Rose said as Jacques walked in.

  Silas frowned at the silly grin plastered across his friend’s face. Jacques strode past him into the inner office, waited for Silas to enter, and then closed the door behind him.

  “What?” Silas demanded when Jacques stood mute in front of him, smiling.

  “Good news… I have found my mate.” Jacques raked his fingers through his hair and yanked before releasing it. “I cannot believe….after all this time…” he murmured, and then his gaze snapped to Silas.

  “You… you my friend have done this.” He grabbed Silas hand, pulled him close and embraced him. “Thank you La Patron. Thank you.”

  Silas’ mind spun. Who was Jacques talking about? If it was one of Jasmine’s family members, his friend was in for a world of pain. He pushed back and eyed Jacques. “Congratulations, who is the fortunate person?” He tried to inject happiness in his tone but knew he failed when Jacques eyed him before laughing.

  “Oh…you will not detour me. I know what you are thinking. You think after that bitch Arianna I cannot make a correct assessment. But you are wrong, this woman, this wonderful…beautiful…magnificent…”

  “I get it,” Silas said. “She’s wonderful, but who is she?”

  Jacques smile dipped a bit. “Victoria of course. You did not know?”

  “No. I just met her last night for the first time. And why would I know who your mate is, you told me Jasmine and I were mates, remember?”

  Jacques waved him down. “You knew she was your mate, you simply refused to accept it. Today, the moment I entered the room, my senses sharpened. It was as if a string that had been afloat for centuries finally found it’s anchor. The air in the room changed and I was smitten by her beauty.”

  Silas fought against rolling his eyes at the flowery words. “She’s engaged to marry another.”

  Jacques rolled his eyes and waved his hand. “I heard some other believes she is his destiny. They are mistaken. I am her mate. I will claim her before I leave.”

  Hearing Jacques talk of leaving reminded Silas of the job he needed his friend to work on. “We can discuss that later, right now I need you to focus on this file.” Silas sat at his desk, and pulled up the file on the computer. “What station are you using?” He glanced up. Jacques remained in the same spot, except he was gazing out the window and smiling. Silas released a breath to reign in his aggravation.

  “Jacques, have a seat.”

  “Oh…okay.”

  Silas leaned back in his chair and decided to bring his former assistant current. After telling Jacques in explicit details about the bombs, about Jennings and Asia, he was pleased the goofy smile had been replaced with the sharp thoughtful expression he had counted on in past decades.

  “Bastards,” Jacques hissed. “I will pull open the file and begin at once, Sir. We will beat the insolent bastards at their own game. My Victoria cannot leave, Sir. I understand this is not the best time for a family visit. But she is my mate and I cannot stay if she leaves.”

  Silas nodded in understanding. “I am aware of how mates work. But if she rejects you, I cannot allow you to make her life more difficult. She is human and does not know who or what we are. Be mindful of her human lover, they plan to wed. To us that means little. But my mate disagrees with me on that, it’s very important to them.”

  “But it can be easily broken,” Jacques said, standing.

  “Yes. I know. It’s not a mating, my friend. It’s marriage.” Silas watched as Jacques left his office with a befuddled look on his face. “Welcome to the world of living with a breeder,” he murmured, knowing the confusion his friend now faced was the tip of the iceberg.

  “Silas?”

  He smiled at the purring Jasmine put in her voice. “Yes?”

  “We are going to the nursery; mom wants to see the kids.”

  “I will meet you. Do not go in without me…please,” he added.

  “You need to be there when we arrive; I’m not going to hang outside the door like I cannot go in to see my children.”

  He heard the bite in her voice as he headed for the door, “Give me a head start. I'll meet you in five, make that ten minutes.”

  “Okay. Love you,” she said, adding that purring sound that went straight to his groin.

  “Keep that up and I’ll have you up against the wall like I did last night, and it won’t matter who’s around.” He waved at Jacques to follow him.

  “We’r
e going to the nursery,” he called out over his shoulder to Rose as Jacques fell in beside him.

  “Will it be possible for me to speak directly with Asia, to get some context and nuances,” Jacques asked as they reached the elevator.

  “Yes. I would be interested in your opinion of her.”

  “Thank you, Sir. We are going to see my Jacqueline?”

  “Yes. Jasmine’s family didn’t get to see the pups last night, and her sister just got in this morning. I have to be in the room whenever strangers are present.” If it bothered Jacques to be considered a stranger, he never said. Silas strode down the hall in silence, his mind on the various projects in the works. He stopped in front of the nursery door, glanced over his shoulder at Jacques, and then stepped inside.

  All four pups had his inky black hair, the girls had his eyes, while the boys' eyes were various shades of brown, like Jasmine’s.

  Adam and David were playing a game on the floor with a ball. Silas’ chest expanded with pride every time he watched his pups interact. When one was upset or distressed, the others would attempt to sooth or calm that one. He had witnessed them crawling or scooting close and huddling into a puppy pile until the pup calmed. Despite their human side, their wolves made them operate on instinct. Jackie worked on her puzzles and Renee used a crayon to draw on a piece of paper, but the moment they saw him they stopped.

  Grinning over the “Da’s” that were coming fast as well as the raised arms, Silas stooped and picked up the girls first. “This young lady is our artist, Renee.” He placed a kiss on her forehead. “And this one, who loves to figure out puzzles, is our future strategist, Jacqueline.”

  “They are both beautiful, Sir,” Jacques said with genuine awe in his voice. His fingertip touched Renee’s cheek and then Jackie’s. Jacqueline reached for him and after Silas nodded, Jacques took his namesake into his arms.

  Silas shook his head at the instant connection and headed to his sons. David had stopped playing and now watched Silas. When he placed Renee on the floor next to Adam, Silas picked up David and hugged him tight. “So serious all the time,” he murmured.

  “Sir?” Jacques said from behind Silas.

  “This is my son, David. David, this is my friend Jacques.”

  Jacque’s brow rose at the introduction. “Hello David.”

  David stared at Jacques in silence. When Jacques reached forward to touch David’s face as he had done with each girl, David pulled back out of his reach. Silas was surprised. He had never seen his son react like that with anyone.

  “Sorry,” he said to Jacques as he placed David next to Renee and picked up Adam. “This is Adam, he was the first of the litter.”

  Adam wrapped his arms around Silas’ neck, but peeked at Jacques. When Jacques touched his cheek, Adam laughed in delight. Jasmine, her mother, sister, and Mark entered the nursery. Renee crawled as fast as she could toward Jasmine, squealing and talking gibberish. Jasmine lifted her from the floor and swung the small child around, placing kisses on her cheek.

  “And who is this tiny fellow? I bet you’re David. I’ve seen your pictures,” Victoria asked, looking at David. He stared at her a moment and then lifted his arms. “Oh my… how handsome and strong you are.” She placed a kiss on his cheek. David said a few words of gibberish, but stopped when Mark came close.

  “Honey, this is my grandson, David. David, this is Mark, your future grandfather.” The words fell flat and Silas didn’t need to glance at his friend to know he was unhappy. Mark took David from Victoria. David stared at the man for a moment and then screamed his displeasure. Adam, Renee, and Jackie stopped, turned, and tried to get to David. Silas handed Jacques a squirming Adam and went to get his son, but Jasmine got there before him.

  “Sometimes he takes longer to warm up to people,” she said, comforting his son. Renee held her namesake, laughing and teasing the child. Silas turned and saw that Mark now held Adam and Victoria held Jackie. Jacques stood to the side taking it all in.

  “We have a problem,” Silas said over their link.

  “David will be fine, he doesn’t like many people.” Silas watched from across the room as she changed David’s shirt.

  “Jacques believes your mother is his mate.” He grinned as Jasmine stopped mid-motion and turned toward him, wide-eyed. He sensed her disbelief through their link. “Oh yeah, this christening has just gotten interesting, don’t you think?”

  “But…but…she’s with Mark. How can… oh my God, is he sure? I mean after the deal with Arianna, how can he be sure?”

  “Well, he didn’t pick Renee.”

  Chapter 17

  “Take the breeder straight to the hospital and then remain in the observation room,” Silas said. “Security is in place, and the doctor will check her out and try to find out what’s wrong with her. If your mom is right and she’s willing herself to die, then there may not be anything that can be done to save her.” He didn’t care one way or the other, but his mate did, so he would at least make an effort to help the woman.

  Tyrese put on his sunglasses and pushed them up the bridge of his nose. “Mom has a sense about these things, she’s usually right. The human body fights death tooth and nail, so I’m surprised to hear Julie’s actually shutting it down through sheer will.”

  “That’s one of the things Matt will be looking into once the preliminary work is done at the hospital. It’s possible there is more going on than we know.” Silas glanced at Leonidas, one of his newer security workers, as he approached. He and Tyrese would handle this job.

  “Sir,” Leonidas said when he came to a stop behind Tyrese. With hooded light brown eyes and his tawny head lowered slightly, he appeared the essence of calm. But boiling hot energy rolled off the young wolf. Silas wondered how the young man stood so still. Every once in a while, one of Leon’s shoulders quivered. Silas made a mental note to plan a run for the younger wolves before tempers exploded and fights broke out.

  Silas greeted Leonidas with a nod. “I just went over the instructions with Rese. I expect to hear from you once she is delivered to the hospital. I don’t think she will attempt to leave today, but I want round the clock surveillance.” He had instructed Tyrese to use the small room in the hospital he had used before.

  “Yes, Sir.” Tyrese turned to leave as Tyrone walked up. The twins nodded to each other but didn’t speak. Silas suspected they were having a private conversation and waited a moment or two for them to finish.

  “I have the report on Corrina Griggs,” Tyrone said, handing Silas a disk, “She’s Arianna on steroids. Personally, I think she’s top dog for the breeders and running the show. She’s old, older than Arianna, and hates full-bloods.”

  Silas took the disk with a shrug. “Hating full-bloods seems to be the new thing these days.”

  Tyrone chuckled and walked beside him toward a vacant conference room. “Her name has changed three times over the past two hundred years. I think she came from Europe and was one of the early settlers. Her family name was Graves.” He glanced at Silas. “Ring a bell?”

  “No, should it?”

  Tyrone shrugged before continuing. “Just asking. Amanda Graves settled in Virginia near Jamestown. Her family had money, owned a large plantation with lots of slaves. She married young, I think in her late teens, sixteen or eighteen.”

  “That was not young back then,” Silas said, remembering that era fondly as he entered the room. He hadn’t been a farmer. Instead, he'd financed many ventures and dealt in commerce, staying ahead of the action. The women had been lovely and specialized in playing a nice game of 'come and get me.'

  “Yeah? Hmm, glad I missed that time period then. But she was active in the community, quite the organizer. She had two daughters. They died at childbirth. Then she had a son, he lived until he was forty-five, and died right after her staged death. She then changed her name to Virginia and reappeared in Georgia posing as a relative of her Virginian family. She married a Henry Cochran, no children with him. She 'died' at the age of fo
rty-eight, leaving him free to remarry, which he did. His new, young wife promptly provided him with four children. Her current name is Corrina Griggs.”

  “Okay, so she learned early how not to conceive. What made her want to destroy me personally?”

  “Other than the rape?”

  Silas’ gaze returned to the screen, to read the file. “What rape?”

  “Yeah… she was raped and had to marry some poor sap. Obviously people handled things differently back then. She was not treated as the victim,” Tyrone said grimly.

  Silas read the report but did not need it to know what happened to an unwed mother back then. He had seen the outcasts, the labeling, and the shame firsthand. It made him glad he was wolf. “Same question, I did not rape her, so why hate me?” He glanced at Tyrone, interested in his take on the matter.

  For a moment Tyrone didn’t respond, finally he shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, we won’t know until we talk with her, but I think it has something to do with the rape. Somehow she blames you for it.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. A full-blood wolf did not start this madness of blood mixing.” He looked at the data again. There were too many holes, too many unanswered questions. “You did a good job of tracking her through the years. The rest of the information will come from her. Have someone bring her in for questioning. Make sure you run a full scan and cross scan on her, make sure she’s safe, and then take her to the basement of the condo building. If she’s this old, she should know who started the cross-breeding and why.” He scrolled through the report, taking in dates and events in Corrina Griggs' life. “Also, send this list of possible locations of sanctuaries to the Alphas. They are not to engage the occupants, but if it is a confirmed sanctuary I want the people watched. I don’t know how far Griggs has gone to carry out her plot, but the more we can contain them, the better.”