Page 93 of The Grizzly Situation
“What? No, absolutely not! Love is love, no matter who it involves.” She held out a hand. “It’s lovely to meet you, Ulysses.”
“Uly, please.”
“Uly, then. And you will call me Bea,” she said, wrapping me in her arms. She smelled lovely, something light and breezy.
Brent relaxed. “Uly is my second mate. My first died a few years ago. Our sons?—”
“You have children? Oh, Brenton.” She twisted her head to look around. “What are their names? Are they here?”
“No, they’re at home. We didn’t want to drag them across the country to see someone they only saw when he attacked their mother!”
She cocked her head. “Their mother? I don’t understand. I thought their mother died? And what do you mean they didn’t meet him?”
“She did die. The boys picked up Uly’s scent, and in it they found something similar to their mother, so they call himMomma. And yes, they never met him until the psychopath attacked Uly in our home!” Brent bellowed.
“I’m so confused. He told me you lived with him. He never mentioned children, and I didn’t know anything about your wife.”
“Of course not! You left. You abandoned me, left me to suffer with him!”
Her lip curled, showing off teeth. One thing for certain, this woman was no shrinking violet. “I did no such thing!” she ground out. “He forced me to leave, and wouldn’t let me see you or talk to you. It wasn’t like I could go to a human court, and seeing as how he had the money, he could do what he wanted. I came here today just to ensure the bastard was dead.”
Brent staggered back a step. “You mean…. You didn’t leave me?”
She sneered. “I most certainly did not!” Then her voice softened. “I wanted to take you with me, but he was punishing me and said I hadn’t earned the right. He threw me out of the house. I lived with my parents for a while, until I got my footing again. Even then, he refused to let me see you. I had no pictures or anything else. The only reason I recognized you now is because of your scent.”
Now Brent looked dazed. He dropped down into a chair, which groaned under his weight. He put his face in his hands. I took a seat next to him and put a hand on his arm.
“Brent, sweetheart, I tried to get you away from him. Against the advice of my lawyer, I went to the human courts. They told me in no uncertain terms that he could provide a better life for you. I am so sorry. I should have tried harder or maybe if I had?—”
“No,” Brent said, his head snapping up, his voice gravelly. “None of this is your fault. It’s all that son of a bitch!” He got up and stormed to the casket, then pounded on the lid. “You hearme, you bastard? I’m happy you’re dead and I’m fucking glad it hurt!”
Then he turned and grabbed my arm, pulling me to him. He sobbed into my neck. I waved off the staff who came to see what was going on. They didn’t need to be involved.
“He took everything from me. My mother, my friends. Why? If he hated me so damn much, why not just let me go?”
“Maybe he couldn’t. Maybe there was some bit of him that wanted to hold onto you.”
“You don’t believe that, do you?”
I wanted to say yes. I wanted to give him the comfort of a lie, but I couldn’t. “No. I think he wanted something no one else could have. I think he was a selfish bastard.”
Brent chuckled, then dissolved into sobs again. “He fucked my whole life. Every goddamn aspect of it.”
Then his mother was there, wrapping her arms around him. She didn’t say anything, just stood there and gave him comfort. After a few moments he sniffled, straightened, and turned back to his mother.
“Mom? Do you want to come home? Meet your grandkids? Come back to the sleuth?”
“I want to. You don’t know how bad I do. But I think we need to move slowly on this. Get to know each other again. Talk on the phone, then, after you’re sure you want to move ahead, we can schedule a time to come see you, your mate, and your family.”
That earned her a smile. “I love how you say mate so easily.”
She sighed. “I think that was what set him off, you know. I told him my mate would smell of fallen leaves and fresh snow. He went berserk, because he wasn’t the one.”
“Oh my fucking God,” I choked out. “He told us you said he was your mate.”
“What? No, never. I met a man who smelled like that, and my heart raced. I knew he was my mate.”
“And what happened to him?”
