“We have time to kill. There is no shame in our past. At least none that hasn’t been dealt with and overcome. Fane told us to hold tight until he’s decided our next course of action, so we could be here a while.”
Myanin plopped herself on a love seat. “A good story always helps pass the time.” Gerrick sat beside her and laid his arm across the back, his hand resting on his mate’s shoulder. “And this one sounds like a doozy.”
“You don’t have to, really.” Kara held out a hand to stop Tanya.
“Yes, she does.” Myanin said. “She’s the one who said they had firsthand experience. She can’t say something like that and leave us hanging.”
Dillon pinched the bridge of his nose. “You really want to share this?” he asked his female through their bond.
“It might be good for the healers to know. If they are able to contact the new healer, they will need to warn her. Alice’s feelings for Cain could have dire consequences for her and her future mate.”
“I don’t deserve you,” he told her. It was something he’d said many times over the past two decades they’d been mated.
“No, you don’t,” she teased. “But I love you anyway, and I wouldn’t change the past because it gave us Jacque and Slate.”
She never ceased to amaze him. Letting out a deep breath, Dillon looked at Dalton, his beta and close friend. He’d never even shared this story with Dalton because it wasn’t something that was easy for Dillon to talk about. But, as usual, his mate was right. They could learn something from the past, and the knowledge might end up being vital for Alice … and for others. “As you all know, Jacque is my daughter, but Tanya, my true mate, is not her mother.”
Myanin purred. “I love a good scandal.”
Kara rolled her eyes. “You should, considering the big-ass scandal you caused.”
“Touché, little healer.” The djinn tipped her head.
“I can already see the title of the made-for-TV special,” said Kara, using her hands as if to emphasize the title. “Sex, Lies, and Cotton Candy.”
“Not bad, but it’s not my story we’re discussing.” Myanin looked at Dillon. “Carry on. We will all keep our mouths closed.” She looked pointedly at Kara. “And judge you silently instead.”
Dillon gave her a dry look. “Thank you for that.”
His mate took his hand and entwined their fingers. “We can tell them together. It is, after all, not just your story.”
Dillon nodded and then opened the door to their past. A past part of him wished he could change, but one he would never consider changing. Because, as Tanya said, it resulted in the birth of his daughter and grandson. “Once upon a time, my parents were killed by hunters who mistook them for natural wolves. After that, I lived as a lone wolf…”
Chapter
One
“Just because you've moved out and grown up doesn't mean you stop needing your parents. In moments of folly, their words are your guiding light. When life kicks you to the curb, they are there to hold you up. When you’ve been too long wandering in the wilderness, they help you find the path back home. But, as with many things in life, you don’t understand the importance of their presence until they’re no longer there.” ~Dillon
1980
Dillon didn’t exactly throw his stuff in his duffel bag, but he didn’t bother folding his clothes neatly, either. Colin, his pack mate and the closest thing he had to a brother, watched. “You can’t just leave,” Colin told him.
Dillon didn’t pause. “I have to, Colin.” Dillon stepped around him and grabbed some shirts from his closet. He was traveling light, not just because he didn’t require many creature comforts, but because he had no idea where he was headed or what he would need when he got there. Dillon only knew one thing: he had to leave his pack. Every day he remained at the pack headquarters, he was reminded of his parents. Daily, hourly, every minute, he saw their faces, heard their voices. Like ghosts hiding in the shadows, they haunted him. It was beginning to drive him mad, and his wolf couldn’t heal when every time they got near his parents’ home on the pack compound, he smelled their scent. It was like continually reopening a wound.
“Where are you going to go?” his friend asked, with anxiousness lacing his voice.
“South.” Dillon zipped the duffle and pulled the straps onto his back. “I’ve already told our alpha. He understands, though he doesn’t like it. And he’s asked that I check in periodically.”
“Will you come back?”
The worry in Colin’s eyes gutted Dillon, but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt at the loss of his parents. Stupid humans hunting wild wolves. That’s how his parents had been killed. Shot by a greedy hunter who cared nothing for the animals he murdered.
“I don’t know,” Dillon answered honestly. “I have no family left. My grandparents were killed by rogue wolves. There’s no one else.”
“You have me. And you have your pack.”
His friend wasn’t a dominant wolf. He was kindhearted and gentle. And though their alpha didn’t put up with dominant wolves giving the less dominant ones crap, that didn’t mean it didn’t happen. Dillon had kicked a few of their asses for picking on Colin. “You may not be dominant, brother, but you’re still a wolf. Let your beast release that pent-up anger inside of you, and I promise those idiots won’t mess with you again.”
