Page 177 of Claimed

What?

“Oh wow, sweetie… she’s… here?”

“Yuh-huh. Yup! How come your hands are tied up?”

Aphra appears in the doorway of this space, coming from what looks like a kitchen. She rests her shoulder against the doorframe and crosses her arms while eyeing my brother with distaste. More than distaste. With hatred. I look at him and watch the color drain from his face as his eyes bug out.

“What the fuck isshedoing here?” he demands.

Aphra’s lip curls with more disgust and her voice trembles with fury, “Do not speak to me, don’t even look at me, you motherfucking-”

“Momma! That’s a bad word!” Halla gasps.

Soliel quips, “Bigger fish to fry, Aphra darling. Yes?”

Nostrils flared, lips tight, Aphra tears her gaze away from my brother and glares at Soleil. What she doesn’t do is look at me.

I’m bewildered by this. All of this.

“I’ll take Halla and we’ll give you one of my special manicures and a pedicure, too, okay?” the youngest woman, in yoga clothes offers. “How about butterflies?”

“Butterflies! Yay! See you later, Stacy!” Halla waves and grabs the other girl’s hand and leaves with her, losing her smile as she passes Wyatt.

Wyatt’s loud, angry voice always frightened all the kids. He never deigned to speak to them or give them his time or attention. Halla lived in Wyatt’s house for those few months, in his village for those weeks afterwards and yet she says nothing to him.

My eyes pan to Aphra. She looks good. She looks fine. I want to ask what happened, what she’s doing here. I feel like we were friends and yet she’s not even looking at me. She’s got some sort of connection to Grey’s mother, and she looks livid right now as she glares at her. I really need someone to make all this make sense.

Though Aphra is glaring at Soleil, Soleil is looking at me. My eyes meet hers and it really throws me to meet my mate’s mother. Someone he’s got no memory of, just the same as me, she was out of his life when he was so young. And to look at her eyes and see Greyson’s beautiful eyes is crazy. Grey looks quite a lot like his father but absolutely has his mother’s eyes. And her mouth.

“I need the room,” she says. “Wyatt, will you give that to me please?”

“No,” Wyatt states inflexibly. “Before you lay a finger on my sister, I want assurances. I don’t know what the fuckin’ deal is with Aphra being here and sure won’t just let you all fuck me over. Are those bullets legit?”

“Of course they are. Aphra is here for her daughter,” Soleil says simply. “You brought Halla, and we notified Aphra of her presence. She’s staying here a while to regroup and figure out what’s next.”

Aphra leaves. Wyatt watches her go and turns to Soleil. “This isn’t what you said when we made our agreement. You had other plans for the kid.”

“Plans change,” Soleil shrugs. “Our arrangement has not. What happens with the child no longer concerns you.”

“Where… what…how –” I start, but Wyatt backhands me. He does it hard enough I find myself on my knees on the carpet. “Shut your mouth. You don’t get to ask questions, slut.”

He’s frustrated with Soleil’s response to him so of course he takes it out on me.

“Now, now, violence against your sister? Tsk, tsk. No, that’s not welcome here,” Soleil says, extending her hand.

I stare at it.

She wiggles her fingers, just the way Grey does when he wants my hand and I find myself accepting it, letting her help me to my feet.

She doesn’t let go of it. She smiles wide at me and then turns to him. “Go wait in your car. Take your mate with you. I’ll let you know when we’re done.”

“You better not fuck me over, Soleil,” Wyatt warns. “You promised that special potion if I brought her.”

Soleil moistens her lips. “You delivered. Why would you hurl accusations at me when I’ve given you no reason to?”

He looks her over with suspicion. “You changed the terms already on me.”

“I sweetened the pot,” she corrects. “Would you prefer nothing? Would you prefer I let Aphra have her magical way with you? By all means, let us renegotiate our terms then.”

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