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He stiffens against me, and I’m so shocked that I pull away from him. He doesn’t have that far-off look in his eyes that he usually has when he’s mindlinking someone. Instead, he’s staring at the wall. Maisie’s play area, where her toys and drawings are, is where the colorful drawings are taped to the walls. I remember her telling me once that it made her feel like she had her own art gallery.
Jaxon runs across the room and tears up one of her pictures. I don’t understand for two seconds until I see what Maisie drew. It reminds me of the afternoon a few weeks ago when Maisie first showed me the picture.
I finally get to see Maisie’s drawings after the three of us have dinner. The pony is lavender and has rainbow hair. The fairy woman has long black hair and a red dress. To be honest, Maisie might want to be a fashion designer when she grows up. The dress had a low v-neck and a slit up the right leg, so I would have bought it even though the drawing was clearly done by a six-year-old. I would buy it.
Maisie told a very clear story about how the fairy floated through the air in a blue bubble. I agree that she must have flown down in a blue bubble like Glinda did in The Wizard of Oz. It’s pointless for me to tell her that her imagination isn’t real. I can’t destroy her dreams.
I remember the day Maisie drew this picture, and it all makes sense now. Maisie didn’t make up the meeting with the “fairy”; she just chose the wrong made-up creature to compare it to. Now that I look at the picture again, the blue bubble around the woman with black hair is the same color as the portals that Felix and Elise make. This looks just like their magic.
I cry with my hand over my mouth. I should have known this would happen. I should have known! She showed me this picture weeks ago! How come I didn’t know?
“F*****g Marlowe,” Jaxon growls as he crushes the picture in his big hand.
“Who?” I cry, barely able to say anything at this point. My mom comes back into the room with two big guys following her. I have to blink a few times to see that it’s Skyler and Ezra. Skyler runs right up to me and hugs me, promising that we’ll find Maisie and bring her home safe and sound. Ezra, on the other hand, goes straight to Jaxon, who just grumbles and points to the wrinkled drawing of a child.
I ask Skyler, “Who’s Marlowe?” hoping he’ll tell me more. I think she’s the woman in the drawing, but she must be very important if Jaxon can tell who she is from a crayon drawing of her.
Skyler opens his eyes wide and looks at the Alpha and Beta, who are talking about plans right now. He swallows and looks back at me.
“That means it’s the witches if they talked about her. Marlowe is the head of Felix and Elise’s coven. She killed Jaxon’s father and made his mother so sad that she had to leave Redwood. That’s why he’s such a young Alpha.”
I turn to Jaxon, who looks like he’s about to change. I want to go to him, but I know that seeing me like this could make him lose it, and I really need his comfort. When I’m looking for my sister, I need him to be clear-headed.
I can’t believe he never told me what happened to his parents, and it was all because of this coven! It’s easy to see why he hates the twins so much! I wish he had told me. If I had known, I would have been more careful with them. I tried to give him room to talk to me without pushing him, but look where that got us. He got mad at me for not “trusting” him, but he doesn’t trust me either!
I put that issue aside for now and will deal with it later. I need to put all of my energy into finding Maisie. I can put my relationship problems on hold.
My mother is standing in the living room, confused, in the middle of all this mess.
“Why is Skyler and this other guy here? Calla, this is a serious family matter! I don’t know where your sister is. I—” She stops talking when she sees her phone. I run to the counter and grab it before she can get to it.
My tears have stopped now. I need to calm down and think clearly about this. How can I get my mom to believe that a group of college students is more likely to find Maisie than the police?
“Give me the damn phone.”
I try to get out of my mom’s way when she reaches for her phone. In her hurry, she grabs my wrist and pulls it toward her. At this point, I know she’s completely losing it. She’s scared, angry, and confused. People do crazy things when they’re scared. That’s why I don’t get mad at her when she twists my wrist too hard to get the phone.
I let out a small cry of pain when I felt the ligaments in my left wrist stretch and strain. The phone hits the floor and cracks, but it’s probably still working.
I hold my wrist against my chest. It’s already a little red. My mom seems confused by what she’s doing, but she’s so worried about Maisie that she pushes it away and picks up the phone anyway.
A loud growl echoes through the house, and she freezes in place. She looks at something behind me, and her eyes get bigger. It must be my angry werewolf boyfriend. I turn just in time to see his clothes rip. His fingers turn into paws, his nose gets longer and his canines get longer. The whole thing happens in just a few seconds, but it’s so interesting to watch.
Sometimes I forget how strong he is. With just one bite or scratch, he could tear someone apart. And right now, he’s taking out his anger on my mom.
Ezra knows how overprotective Jaxon must be feeling, so he rushes in front of him, still in his human form, and grabs his furry neck to stop him from hurting my mom.
At the same time, my mom forgets about the phone and pays attention to Jaxon, who was a man a few seconds ago but is now a raging beast. She screams and pulls me back by my upper arm. She puts me behind her and grabs a kitchen knife that she used to make lasagna with before and holds it up to protect us. She forgets what happened between us a few minutes ago and her motherly instincts take over.
Jaxon keeps thrashing around, scratching at Ezra and Skyler, who are trying to hold him back. He stares at me and growls. I think this growl means “I’m coming for you.”
“Jaxon! Calm down. She’s fine!” Ezra tries to talk some sense into him, but I know that I’m the only one who can calm him down.
“Mom, please let me go.”
“Absolutely not! Did you see that? He’s a monster! Calla, stay behind me.” My mom holds the knife out, and in a calmer situation, it could be funny that she was holding it up to a werewolf.
“Mom, he won’t hurt me. He’s just mad because you hurt me and he thinks it’s his fault that Maisie is missing,” I say. My mom’s face goes from scared to angry. “You mean… You knew he was…?”
I nod and tell her to stay back, but she quickly grabs my hand to keep me “safe” with her. Unfortunately, she grabs the hand she probably hurt, which makes me wince. It makes Jaxon even angrier. Wolf-Jaxon thrashes around even more, and for a moment he gets away from Ezra’s grip. But Skyler catches him again. He has two of them on top of him, and the only reason they’re still alive is because Jaxon knows they’re part of his pack. I can see cuts and claw marks on both Ezra and Skyler, and I know they won’t be able to hold on for much longer.
The wolf on the other side of the room makes my mom shake.
Ezra yells, “We can’t hold him forever, Calla!” and then grunts when Jaxon knocks his head to the side with his own.
Skyler says, “Take your sweet f*****g time, Calla!”
I look at my mom.
“Please, Mom. I know you don’t understand what’s going on, but I need you to trust me. There’s a lot you don’t understand, but please, please let me go to him.”
She seems very unsure of herself, but when she nods and gives me the knife, something in her resolve breaks. I shake my head and let her keep it. She doesn’t say anything as I walk across the room, and tears stream down her face. I know how she feels because I felt the same way when I found out what Jaxon was. It’s good to know that my reaction was pretty normal.
As soon as I get to Jaxon, he stops thrashing. He stands on all fours and is about the same height as me. He starts to lick my hurt wrist right away. I let him act like a wolf. Ezra and Skyler let him go and stand back, in between Jaxon and my mom, just in case he gets mad again. He whines and smells my hair. I stroked him with my right hand and then hugged him tightly.
“Jaxon, please don’t hurt my mom. It was an accident. I need you to help me find my sister.”
He growls, but not at me; he growls at the situation. I can tell that he is mad at himself and feels bad about what he did.
“Don’t go there; it’s not your fault,” I say.
I look at my mom, and Jaxon huffs at her, clearly still not happy with her.
“Mom, I know this is all very confusing. I was scared when I first found out too. I’ll explain everything to you as soon as we find Maisie. But you need to understand that the police can’t help us find her, and the longer we stay here, the longer she’s out there alone. A group of witches and warlocks took her, and Jaxon and his pack were our only chance of getting her back. So please let us handle this.”
My mom shakes where she stands, still looking at the big wolf behind me with caution. I let out a sigh and then look at Jaxon.
“Can you please move back? It’s easier for me to do this with you as a person.”
I groan and go up the stairs, remembering that he shifts without clothes on.
“Please don’t do anything stupid.” I run upstairs and look through my drawers. I take off the cute but too-fancy dress I was wearing and put on sweats and a T-shirt. I grab a pair of shorts that Jaxon left here just for this kind of situation and run down the stairs. It took a lot longer than I wanted because moving my wrist hurt too much.
When I get back, everyone is still in the same place. Jaxon quickly moves and puts on the shorts. He gently holds my wrist and pokes it to see how bad it is. He says he’s sorry and gives my mom a mean look when I wince. They got along well, but I guess that’s over now. My mom does look guilty, but she’s mostly just scared.
“Calla, six guards are coming to keep you and your mom safe.” Jaxon says “mom” in a way that makes it sound like it hurts him. “I’m taking a group of warriors to the coven’s base, where I think they took Maisie. We already had wolves getting into their private security and communications, so getting in shouldn’t be too hard. I’ll do whatever it takes to get your sister back. I promise I’ll find her.”
I wipe my eyes and nod. A few seconds later, I started to think about everything he said.