“You also didn’t think to say anything about how my brother isn’t here,” I mutter.
“I wish y’all would’ve warned me you’d be coming by so soon,” she says, talking over me and completely ignoring my words. “But you’re here now.” She pauses, giving me an assessing look. “The Matisse procurator said you don’t remember anything. Is that true?”
“Yes,” I say, narrowing my eyes. “So, all this is quite a surprise to me.”
An emotion I can’t read flashes across her face and her mouth curls into a small smile so briefly that I almost miss it. What about what I just said is she so happy about?
“You’ve seen a doctor about your head, right?” she asks. “Your memories going to come back?”
“Maybe,” I say, uncertain what she hopes to gain from this line of questioning.
“Good. That’s good.” She nods to herself, her lips quirking into that momentary self-satisfied smile again. Her gaze settles on her mate. “Earl, I know you aren’t happy about the circumstances, but it’s rude to make our guests stand around outside. Let’s go in and sit down.”
Earl frowns and rolls his eyes, but gestures toward the still open front door. “My mate is right. Why don’t y’all come inside?”
Luke studies his maybe father’s face for a second before giving a sharp nod of agreement and starting toward the door. Wanda links her arm with mine, holding me back a beat so Luke ends up walking beside Earl with Macy slightly behind them. Wanda keeps up a constant stream of chatter as she leads me through the large entryway, complete with a double staircase leading to the upper level.
Past that, there’s another large room with a mostly open floor plan, massive kitchen on one side and a seating area on the other, divided only by a double-sided stone fireplace that rises up through the ceiling. Thankfully there aren’t any animal heads on the walls, though I don’t think they’d be out of place if there were. I shudder, some hidden memory of sightless eyes flitting through my mind.
Wanda pats my arm. “It gets a little chillier up here in the mountains,” she says, presumably misinterpreting my shiver. “I’ve gotta make a little pit stop. I’ll be right back.” She releases me and heads toward to kitchen, disappearing around the corner by the fridge.
Earl plods over to the seating area, settling into the oversized easy chair on one side. Macy takes a seat on one of the couches and Luke sits on the end of the other, catching my eye and motioning me over to his side. He tugs me down beside him, ignoring—or simply not noticing—Earl’s scowl in my direction. We all kind of stare at each other for a couple tense minutes before Wanda rejoins us, taking a seat next to Macy on the second couch so she’s sitting catercorner to Luke.
Macy clears her throat. “Alpha Jenkins, I’m a bit confused here.” She waves her hand in Luke’s direction. “We did recently become aware that Alpha Anderson was not the former Alpha Anderson’s biological son and that he matched the description of a missing child, but when we tried to follow up on the original missing persons report, we were unable to reach anyone. There was absolutely no reference to the Rockcastle pack in any of the information we had.”
Wanda lets out a theatric sounding sniffle and wipes her fingers across the bottoms of her eyes. “My poor sister wasn’t a member of the Rockcastle pack,” she says. “She… passed away not long after her son went missing, and her pack disbanded. Wenever realized she’d filed an official report since she’d given me the impression her son had died in an accident.”
Macy’s brow furrows and her gaze darts to Earl. “But if your mate is his father…”
Wanda presses her lips into a thin line and her visible hand curls into a fist. “My husband strayed, but that did not mean the bitch’s child was going to take over the pack.”
“Now, now, Wanda, there’s no need to call sweet Emily names,” says Earl, his voice mocking. “It’s not her fault you couldn’t give me an alpha heir.”
Her eyes flicker toward me, a glint of calculation in their depths. “I was working on it.”
That’s an… interesting word choice.
Is she saying she was hoping to get an alpha heir through me somehow? Male omegas do have a higher chance of birthing alphas, but I think it’s more complicated than that. Still, the idea makes a lot of sense and would definitely explain why I’d run away—and what my mother said about them using me.
Who was she thinking was going to impregnate me though?
My gaze moves to Earl and my stomach churns, what little I ate today threatening to come back up. I edge closer to Luke and he wraps an arm around my waist, giving my hip a quick squeeze.
“Let’s not worry about what’s happened in the past. It can’t be undone,” says Earl, sending a narrow-eyed look at Wanda before turning to Luke with what might be a warm smile on a different person. “But Jonathan is—”
“Please, call me Luke,” he says.
Earl’s smile grows strained, but he nods. “Fine, Luke then. Whatever happened before, you’re home now, so all’s well that ends well and all that nonsense.”
Luke shifts in his seat. “I’m not sure what you’re expecting here, but I already have a pack to run and my mate is cominghome with me. We only came here so Ollie could see his brother.” His voice goes firm. “We’re not staying.”
Earl waves his hand dismissively. “Sure, sure. We’ll figure everything out. Don’t you worry none.”
“Now,” says Wanda, clapping her hands once. “How about some refreshments to tide us all over until dinner? Y’all will at least stay to eat, right?”
Luke gives her a tight smile. “That would be fine.”
“Perfect.” She beams at him before glancing at her mate. “Earl?”
