Page 54 of To Keep A Wolf
“My parents did the same to me,” he says. “It was their way of keeping me safe from Crigger’s wrath. If they didn’t care about me, why should he?”
Tripp huffs. “It’s fucked up.”
“It is,” Levi says, casting a hard look toward Vicki and even my father. “But it worked.”
“Yes,” my mother says sadly. “It did.”
“So, what does that have to do with this ritual?” I ask.
“When I left your father, I did the thing I knew would keep us all safest,” my mother says. “I rejected him. Again.”
“Three generations times three choices,” Levi repeats.
I look from him to my mother. “And your parents?” I ask. “They did the same?”
She nods. “It has to be you. Jadick knows it, and he’ll stop at nothing until he has you back so he can use your blood to end fated mates forever. I didn’t know the ritual demanded these specifics until two days ago.
“I was furious, of course. Jadick used me. Pretended his marriage would save you—that it would end the curse. That’s what he told me. He manipulated me into helping him arrange it under the guise of protecting you. Anyway, by the time I learned the truth, you were gone, Mac. I wanted to leave, too, but I couldn’t. Not without raising suspicion. So, when Jadick ordered me to find you, I saw my chance, and I took it.”
She glances at Levi.
“I hoped you would remember the coordinates I gave you,” she tells him. “And I came here to tell you…” She looks back at me again, raw vulnerability shining in her normally proud eyes. “I’m sorry, Mac. For everything.”
CHAPTER16
Three generations of rejecting and accepting a mate and then rejecting them all over again. That’s the legacy I’m part of. Second chance romances. Or, basically, just getting back together with our exes. That’s what the women in my family are about, apparently. And now, I’m being hunted down for my blood because of these choices by men who think we don’t deserve to live. Would the world ever change?
I was really doubting it right up until the moment my mother apologized. Now, the world feels tipped on its axis. I stare back at her, completely at a loss. Showing up on my father’s doorstep shocks me less than her apology, along with the heartfelt—no,heart-wrenched—look she wears as she waits for my response.
A response that sticks in my throat and aches in my chest.
“I…”
My words are lost to the ringing of a phone.
We all look to my mother, who pulls a cell from her shorts pocket. She clutches it tightly and says, “It’s Jadick.”
“The GPS—” Levi begins as she starts to answer.
“It’s untraceable,” she adds and then hits the button to connect the call.
I hold my breath as she puts it on speaker and says, “Yeah?”
“Did you find her?” Jadick’s impatience is edged with irritation.
“Not yet.”
He’s silent except for his breathing, which is heavy and laced with fury.
“I’m warning you, Vicki,” he says finally, his voice deadly calm. “Do not even think about trying to play me. She’s mine now, and there’s nothing you can do to stop this.”
“I just need a bit more time,” my mother replies, her voice hardening with all the certainty of the bounty hunter I’ve watched hunt countless times over. “There are a few other places I think she’ll try to go.”
“So you say,” he says.
“I’ll check in again soon,” my mother says, unaffected by his threatening tone.
“Make sure you have what I want when you do.”
