Page 19

Chapter Nineteen

Stifling another groan, Gram did his best to hide the fact he had another hard-on. It seemed to be a constant when it came to her. The towel didn’t do much to mask it though. “Aye, it’s verra big when yer near.”

“And because your, um, thing reacts when I’m close, that makes you think I’m your mate?” she asked.

My thing?

Her innocence was a blessing and a curse.

“There is more to it than that, lass,” he stated evenly. “Do you nae feel anything for me? You mentioned you feel drawn to me; is that all?”

Lowering her gaze, she shook her head. “No.”

“Tell me what else you feel.”

“I feel like I’d tear off anyone’s face who tried to hurt you. That I’d do anything and risk everything to protect you,” she whispered before looking up at him with tears in her eyes once more. “And not because I think you’re weak. I don’t. I can’t explain why. I just know that the idea of you being hurt by anyone sets my teeth on edge. It makes me want to let the darkness in me out fully.”

“Amelia,” he said, wanting to drag her to him, but he knew better. He sat on the table quickly, knowing if he dared to get off the table, he’d end up taking her then and there. She wasn’t ready for that. “What yer describing is common for mated pairs to feel for one another. And, lass, I do nae for one second think you’ve any darkness. You are like sunshine. Sweet. Warm. Pure. Glorious. And beautiful. Nae just in looks. I can sense yer soul. It’s caring and guid.”

She bit her lower lip, and then gasped, her eyes widening. “Andie was right!”

“About?”

“She said that you and I were going to be a couple—a married couple. And she mentioned babies and getting to be a big sister, but that didn’t make sense since she wasn’t talking about Cal having children.”

Gram did his best to keep from jumping for joy. “She said all that?”

Amelia nodded.

“Lass, yer the most important person in her life, and I’m guessing that to her, yer a mother figure.”

Amelia seemed to think on it before nodding. “Yes. I guess. She was two when our mother died. I’m who watches over her, who is with her every night, who sees to her bath, her education, everything.”

“You love her.”

“Yes. So much,” she said.

“As a sister or as a mother would for a child?” he questioned, already guessing the answer.

Amelia swallowed hard. “As a mother would. I’d kill anyone who tried to hurt her.”

“If we’re mates, as I believe we are, and we joined, mating fully, that would make me yer husband. Our babes would technically be Andie’s cousins, but my instincts tell me all of us, her included, would see them more as siblings. Nae cousins. And she’d see us as her parents. I could be wrong though.”

Her lips trembled. “You’re not wrong. She told me you were going to be her new daddy. A better one. A good one.”

He held tight to his emotions. All he’d ever wanted was a family. He didn’t need to be a child’s biological father to love it. Bethany had taught him that.

After taking several deep breaths, she began to pace, wringing her hands in front of her as she did. “This is a lot. I wasn’t planning on this, on you. I thought the Bringer would be a jerk. Not my mate.”

He let her rant as he stood slowly, keeping the towel in front of his groin.

“Sure, my mate is in love with another woman. Why not? Who would want me?” she asked, clearly speaking to herself, not him as she continued to pace. “I know what I look like to the rest of the world. I must look simple to him. Being raised here made me sheltered. I’m not very worldly. I’m not like other women. I can’t compete with what he’s used to. He’s seen and done so much and all I’ve done is try to stay alive and keep my sister safe.”

“Lass, I do nae see you as simple. Far from it. And I do nae see you as a substitute for anyone. Please know that,” he said, wanting to touch her but holding back. “And I did fully believe myself to be in love with Brooke. I understand now that wasn’t really the case. That she and I loved one another as much as possible for supernaturals who are nae mates. That love pales compared to what one feels for their mate.”

She whipped around to stare at him. “How would you know?”

“Because I’ve nae even known you a full day and already I want to wrap my arms around you and never let you go. I want to whisk you far from here and start a life with you—with Andie. I want to show you the world, give you anything you could ever want, and I want you to know love.” He took a deep breath, but he didn’t stop. “Lass, I want to see yer stomach swollen with my babes. I want to wake up every morning with you there next to me in the bed. I want to see our wee ones come to be, and grow to have children of their own—and yes, I am including Andie in that. The second I saw her, I wanted to protect her. So, that’s how I know.”

She paled. “Sorry I asked.”

He chuckled. “I come on strong. Sorry. I’m old enough to know what I want and smart enough to nae let it slip away. I know who you are to me. I think fate brought me here, to you. Nae yer father. Destiny. Well, destiny and my dipshit friends.”

“Gram, you can’t trust my father,” she said, stepping closer to him. “Promise me you won’t be alone with him or his men. You can’t trust any of them. And don’t trust Susan. She’s as bad, if not worse than Taggert.”

“Lass, I surmised as much for myself. But I am nae worried about being alone with any of them. I am only worried about you,” he said.

She met his gaze. “What do you mean when you say your friends are responsible for you being here? Be honest with me. I’ll know if you’re lying.”

His lips twitched with the urge to smile as he sensed the same power he’d felt near the river float over the room. It was her. She was magik. “I’m here because my friends kidnapped me—staging an intervention, if you will. I was nae healing as I should be. They think it’s in my head. They may be right. My friends had the bright idea that I could heal here.”

With a pensive look, she took a step closer to him. “Your friends forced you to come here?”

The edge of his mouth curved upward. “Aye.”

Her eyes widened. “Do they hate you?”

He laughed. “There are days I wonder. What of you, lass? What are you nae telling me?”

Amelia radiated fear as she glanced at the doors to the room. She went to the main one and engaged the lock before doing the same to the back one. Much to his surprise, she bent her head…and the feel of magik pulsed around him more.

When she looked up, her eyes were icy blue.

“Yer Fae?” he asked, even though it was obvious she had at least some Fae in her.

His own Fae side instantly recognized it and knew she was of a similar line. A powerful one at that.

“Yes, but I don’t know all of what I am. I know my mom was part Fae. And part shifter. I can’t shift and I know I don’t have a lot of shifter traits. My father is a lot of things. I think I am, too,” she said, and he could feel the truth of her words. “No one else here can know about me or my magik, Gram. Please.”

He nodded. “Yer secret is safe with me. But will they nae sense it radiating from this room?”

“I’m sure they will but they’ll assume it’s you,” she said nonchalantly. “And I’m only drawing on my power to prevent anyone from hearing our conversation. Gram, you and your friends need to leave here at once. This is not a safe place.”

“Yer here. Did you miss the part of me telling you we’re mates? I go where you are. Period.”

She closed her eyes a second, appearing pained. “Please, Gram. I can’t tell you anything more, but I can say that you’re in danger. Whatever my father wants with you can’t be good. He’s spent my life grooming me for you, for your arrival. He calls you the Bringer of Change. And in his mind, you’re going to help him lead the Flock into enlightenment, into its next stage of evolution even. I don’t know what that next stage is, but it can’t be good. Deep down, I think he wants to rule over supernaturals and enslave humans. Something tells me I’m not wrong.”

Gram had to fight to keep from laughing. “No offense, lass, but yer da sounds as if he might be hitting the hash a bit too hard. I know it’s now legal out here but still. Too much of a good thing is just that—too much.”

She continued to coat the room with magik, and he worried that it might drain her. “Gram, Cal and his men, they’ve killed so many alpha males that I’ve lost count. And that is a drop in the bucket compared to the number of women and humans they’ve murdered. I don’t know if you heard about the dead women showing up in the area, but I know the Flock is behind it all. I’m pretty sure Taggert might be the main one responsible for the deaths of the women at least. But in truth, they’re all more than capable of doing it.”

He stiffened. “W-what?”

She teared up. “Please. You have to believe me. You can’t tell them I told you this. I just need you to go far from here. I need you to be safe. If Cal thinks I can’t bring you into the Flock, my value to him will be gone. My gut says he’d give me to Taggert then. That is the best-case scenario. If they find out I warned you away, Cal and the men who serve him will do to me what they did to my mother when Andie was two years old—kill me in front of the Flock. They won’t be quick about it, and they’ll make everyone watch it happen, so they know better than to go against them. They’ll bring in Helmuth’s monsters and feed me to them like they did my mother.”

His wolf roared. “No one will fucking touch you! Helmuth? Walter Helmuth?”

She nodded.

“Lass, yer father let hybrids attack yer mother?” he asked, horrified at the idea.

“Y-yes,” she said, her voice shaky. “He didn’t just let them. He ordered them to do it—and he made us all watch it happen. Even Andie. They tore our mother to bits and ate her, Gram. It was horrific. I’ll never, ever forget that night.”

Gram snarled. “I will kill him with my bare hands. I’ll kill them all!”

“No! Please.” Tears slid down her cheeks. “I’m going to take my sister and run. I’ve been planning it for two years. I didn’t think you were real. I thought the Bringer was another one of my father’s weird prophecies that wouldn’t come to pass. And honestly, a piece of me assumed if you were real that you’d be like him—evil. Deep down, I know that isn’t true. You’re a good man. I can’t let you be hurt or brainwashed like the rest of the Flock. Promise me that you and your friends will leave here tonight, before the gathering.”

Gram stepped closer to her. “A team of a hundred men couldnae drag me from you, Amelia.”

“Why?” she asked, swaying slightly, an indication she’d pulled upon too much juice. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“Lass, are you always this stubborn?”

“What do you mean?”

He gave her a pointed stare. “You. Me. Mates. Destiny. Fate.”

She tensed. “Gram, I’m the daughter of a man who thinks he’s a god and who others worship. You’ll have to forgive me if I’m a tad cynical when someone stands before me talking about divine intervention.”

Reaching out with one hand while holding the towel with the other, he touched her face and strained with the need to hold her.

She pushed at his chest. “Please go. Just leave. Run and don’t look back.”

He grabbed her to him with both hands and inhaled her scent, letting it wash over him. He had no intention of leaving without her. “I promise I’ll go.”

Some of the tension leaked from her frame. “Good.”

“But, lass, I’ll be taking you and yer sister with me. No arguments, or I’ll walk out there right now and have it out with yer father. If it’s change he wants, it’s change he’ll get. Though it may nae be the change he was hoping for.”

She gasped and stared up at him, her eyes flickering back and forth from hazel to icy blue. “He’s been feeding off the power he drains from the alphas he’s killed for thousands of years. It’s changed him somehow. He’s a blending of many things, but not any one thing, if that makes sense. And while he seems harmless and peace-loving, he’s not. He’s evil and he wants to rule the world. He will kill you if you try to stand against him. You said it yourself, you’re not at full strength.”

He didn’t like the fact she had no faith in him, but he knew arguing with her was pointless. Plus, he had to admit that her worry for him warmed his heart, melting the ice that had started to form around it. “Lass, tell me everything. Start at the beginning.”

“I can’t,” she said, sniffling, nearly pulling out of his embrace. She stopped and licked her lower lip. “Erm, Gram?”

“Aye?”

“If both of your hands are on me, what is holding up your towel?”

It was then he realized the towel was pooled on the floor near his feet. “Do nae panic. I’ll cover myself. I know yer nae ready just yet. Nae really.”