Page 113 of Reluctant Rogue

Naomi tightened her clasp on Beth’s hand, guessing what was coming.

“I fell asleep,” Mark admitted. “Mom put you to bed before they left. I was watching television, and I fell asleep. When Mom and Dad got home, I was still asleep on the sofa, and the two of you were gone. There was no sign of a break in, no sign of intruders, the doors were still locked. But the two of you, my sisters, you’d simply vanished.”

He broke off, his voice breaking. “I’ve never forgiven myself. We looked for you. Our family, the community, the police. FBI. Hell, even the really nasty, kid-hating lady next door helped look. But there was never any sign of you.”

Naomi found her voice. “Our parents… they’re still alive?”

“Yes! God, yes.” Mark seemed to be hyperventilating, and took a moment to control himself. Then he straightened, smiling. “You… we… have grandparents, too, both sets. And some aunts and uncles, cousins. Like, a whole bunch. They’re going to be out of their minds when they hear about you, prepare to be deluged with phone calls and texts. At the very least.”

“Are they all clouded leopards?” Beth gained her voice at last, and began looking eager.

Mark beamed proudly. “Yeah, pretty much. One cousin married a grizzly bear shifter and had a cub, but mostly we’re cats. The family’s mostly up in Washington, the Pacific Northwest. The Mount Rainier National Park is an amazing place to run, and climb, and play.”

He cleared his throat, and asked tentatively, “Do you think you’d be up to talking to Mom and Dad? I didn’t tell them where I was going, that I might have found you. It’s been so long, and I didn’t want to get their hopes up until I’d seen you for myself.”

Naomi and Beth looked at each other, then Naomi turned her gaze back to her brother.

“Um. How much did Maroulla tell you about us?”

Mark frowned a little. “Not much,” he admitted. “Just that you were here, in the Hudson Valley, and that you were safe, and well.”

Naomi and Beth exchanged glances again.

“We’d better tell him first,” Beth said, and Naomi nodded.

“So, um,” Naomi hesitated, not sure how to begin. “I guess you know about that bunch of Rogues they found, down in Florida?”

“God, yes,” Mark said. “It blew up the chat boards when the news first broke.

Liam nodded in confirmation of this. “The Council sent out a memorandum on the main board. Rumors were flying, and they wanted to be on top of things, to let everyone know that yes, Rogues had been discovered, and that they had been captured.”

Beth managed a chuckle. “Like a press release?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Mark frowned a little, looking confused. “What’s that got to do with us?”

Naomi gulped, glancing at Liam, who tilted his head to nuzzle her hair. “It’s okay.”

She nodded, moving her gaze to her brother. “Those women… that’s… that’s our family. That we grew up with.”

“What!” Mark looked aghast.

“Wethoughtit was our family,” Beth stressed. “We grew up in Miami with our mom and her sister, and our two sisters.”

“Well, and Granda and Grandma, but they died when we were eleven.” Naomi paused, thinking about that, her brow furrowed. “Granda and Grandma, did they know we weren’t Valerie’s daughters?”

Beth wrinkled her nose contemplatively. “They could have? I guess? I mean, they could have thought she adopted us. I mean, lots of folks don’t tell their kids they were adopted.”

Mark interrupted. “Wait. Wait. The mother, Valerie, was a Rogue, but she had a motherandfather? Alive?”

Naomi nodded. “Yes, but they didn’t know that Valerie and Beatrice were Rogues. I’d swear on a stack of bibles that they didn’t know.”

Mark jerked upright in his chair, his eyes flashing. “Beatrice?”

Naomi froze, staring at him. “Why do you say it like that?”

“It can’t possibly be,” Mark said under his breath. “No way.”