Page 3 of Dragon's Midlife Secret Baby
“Beck?” Maeve repeated, looking from her daughter to John and back again.
Erin sucked in a breath. “It can’t be! Are you sure?”
Beck looked at Jace, but the other man seemed just as confused as he was. These women seemed to know him, but it didn’t make sense. Why didn’t he recognize them?
Chelsea stood slowly, uncertainly. Her lips trembled as she took a hesitant step closer to him and studied his face. She blinked away tears, and her breath came unsteadily. “I’m absolutely sure. Beck Alexander, where the hell have you been?”
Something inside him reacted as he took in her wide eyes, their earthen brown so deep and dark. This woman was absolutely beautiful, and he had the distinct urge to move toward her, to hold her, yet he couldn’t. His body and mind were warring in theconfusion that’d taken over not only him but apparently the entire room.
Chelsea. Did he know that name? For that matter, even the name Beck didn’t seem any more familiar than John had. “I wish I knew.”
2
“You don’t know?”Chelsea repeated. She’d dreamed of finally seeing him again so many times, but that was all they’d been. Dreams. There’d never been a sign of him since he disappeared, no word. And now here he was, standing right in her covenstead. Her wolf jerked and twisted inside her, howling with confusion, shock, and excitement.
Beck shook his head. “No.”
It’d been two years since she’d seen that face, but she had no doubt that the eyes under that heavy brow ridge were the same that’d gazed into hers so lovingly, despite the fact that they’d seen so much. She’d always liked how that slight bump in his nose disrupted the otherwise long, straight line of it,showing that he’d been in his share of skirmishes. Then there were those lips. Beck had a hard face, one made of firm lines, but his lips were always so soft. Those were the same lips that she’d kissed many times. Despite all of these features, Chelsea would’ve known him no matter what he looked like because her wolf was crying out in recognition. So many feelings rushed through her that she hardly knew how to get any thoughts or words out. All the questions she’d thought about asking him over the past couple of years were mixing around in her mind, demanding answers. “Why did you leave?”
“I don’t know that, either,” he said slowly.
Jace cleared his throat. “John—I mean, Beck—had told me when I found him down at the docks that he’d been held prisoner. I think you mentioned something about an island.”
Beck winced. “Yes. I don’t know who it was. I just know I wasn’t allowed to leave and that it was hell being there. I finally slipped past the guard and swam to shore.”
“Holy shit.” Chelsea returned to the couch and sat down quickly, rubbing her temples. “I don’t know what to think about any of this.”
“Plenty of things can be solvedwith a bit of communication,” Maeve said gracefully. She swept forward and ushered Beck into an armchair. “We can talk about this, and I’m sure we’ll figure it all out. First, are you hungry?”
Beck blinked uncertainly. “Yes.”
“I’ll go warm up some leftovers,” Erin volunteered.
Chelsea couldn’t take her eyes off of him. It was him. It was Beck. It was the ghost that’d haunted her very soul, yet he was changed. There was a timidness about him, and it wasn’t just the gratitude he had for her coven sisters for offering him food and shelter. When she’d known him, he’d been bold and confident. This was the shell of the man she’d known, but not all of him was there.
“Thank you, Erin.” Maeve resumed her seat. “Chelsea, since Beck seems to have some issues with his memory, why don’t you tell him what you know?”
That made perfect sense, but it was the only thing that did. She took a deep breath. Her mother was right. When the world spun into chaos, you had to focus on the things you knew, the things you could control. “Your name is Beck Alexander,” she began. “You and I met not quite three years ago. We…dated. I don’t think we’d really decided on a label for ourselves, but we had a relationship. Things were great, but we were taking it slow. Or at least that was the plan.” She paused and swallowed. Why was this so damn hard? She’d gone over every last detail a thousand times, trying to figure out what’d gone wrong to no avail. Saying it all out loud was too much.
“Here you are.” Erin returned to the room, carrying a plate laden with smoked turkey, roasted sweet potatoes, and steamed broccoli. She handed the plate to Beck and put a glass of iced tea on the table next to him. Instead of sitting next to Jace, she resumed her spot by Chelsea and closed her hand around hers.
Chelsea held on, trying to find strength in knowing her coven sister was right there with her.
“Thank you,” Beck said hoarsely. “I don’t think I’ve seen this much food in a long time.”
“Eat slowly,” Maeve cautioned in a motherly tone. “You’ll get all you need while you’re here with us, so you can take your time.
He was looking down at the plate in his lap, but he hadn’t yet picked up his fork. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” There could be any number of things he was apologizing for, and her muddled brain didn’t have the energy to sort it all out.
“For causing…” He waved his hand vaguely at the room around them, but when he raised his head, he was focused solely on Chelsea. “All of this. Jace said the people here might be able to help me figure out who I am and where I’m supposed to be going. I had no idea that someone here would actually know me, and it’s obviously causing you a lot of distress.”
Her breath quivered as she let it out, trying to control the tears that wanted so badly to come. Tears of joy and relief, but also many of anger and frustration. “You could say that.”
“I don’t understand, though.” Beck picked up the fork and stabbed a sweet potato cube. “If you knew me, if I was a part of your life, then why didn’t Jace know who I was?”
“He and Erin weren’t together then.” She could see where this line of thought was going. “No one else here would know you, either. We were together for a few months, but I wasn’t living here at the covenstead, and we were still getting to know each other. My family knewofyou but hadn’t met you yet.”
