In the meantime, they were going to have a nice relaxing evening and enjoy choosing new toys. Dean wrapped an arm around Silas’s shoulder and pointed out a toy on the screen. Everything was going to be okay. He was going to make it so.
Chapter thirteen
Deandrummedhisfingerson the steering wheel of his parked car and couldn’t stop. Not wasting a portal and taking the short drive instead had seemed like a good idea until the drive had turned out to be nowhere near long enough.
Beside him, Silas was also fidgeting anxiously. They sat there hesitantly. Outside Ash’s birth mother’s house. It was little more than a shack in the middle of nowhere. Deerstone Pack was one of those packs that didn’t technically live together, just close by. The Deerstones were spread out over the same rural area rather than in a small town, but Dean still thought it was a terrible way to run a pack.
He stared at the nearly dilapidated house. Dean knew Ash hadn’t lived there for years, it was just his birth mother that was inside. There was no reason to feel so anxious, he told himself. Dean knew that if he was feeling this bad, Silas must be terrified.
Dean couldn’t feel it, as his mate had shut off his end of the mate bond, as was still his habit when he was stressed. Dean understood, and he was so proud of Silas for shutting himself off less and less. His mate just needed more time. Dean was confident that they’d reach a point where the omega never closed the bond. In the meantime, Dean didn’t need a mate bond to sense the nervousness rolling off of Silas.
“I can go in by myself?” offered Dean.
Silas shook his head and then abruptly got out of the car to stride up to the front door. Dean scrambled after him.
Jasper opened the door and beckoned them in. The beta woman, Cora, was sitting at her kitchen table clutching a coffee. She glanced up nervously.
Silas caught her gaze, and they both froze. The hairs on the back of Dean’s neck rose. The air grew stiff and heavy. As if the universe knew that two people who had created a life yet had never met, were now meeting.
Dean realized Silas couldn’t move, so he stepped around him, pulled out a chair and sat across from Cora, pulling her attention to himself. Her hazel eyes held his for a moment before she dropped her gaze to her coffee cup and fidgeted with it.
“I already told your beta everything, but it’s fair enough you want to hear it for yourselves.” Her voice sounded tired and worn.
Dean looked her over. She was somewhere in her forties. Gently curling brown hair fell to her thin shoulders. Lines on her face spoke of a hard life.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” she said, glancing at Silas who was still rooted to the spot by the kitchen door. “I had three pups to feed and my mate had just died. I needed the money.”
Silence fell. Dean understood she wasn’t evil, he really did. But he couldn’t tell her what she had done was okay. He couldn’t give her forgiveness. It wasn’t his to give.
She didn’t seem surprised that no one spoke. Instead, she sighed and began her story.
“Silvanus tried to get me with pup himself for a year. He was obsessed with continuing his bloodline. He believed he was descended from Loki himself by way of one of the first Navajo shapeshifters.” She paused and took a sip of her coffee.
“He was the last of his family. His only son was a male omega, promised to a same sex mating, as most are.”
Silas’s often stated comment that ‘everyone loves omega ass’ flashed through Dean’s mind. Cora was right, Dean had never heard of a male omega being given to a woman. Ever. They were just far too popular with male alphas. Bought at hefty prices or fought over.
Cora continued. “He tried to find a female alpha for Silas, but as you know, they are very rare. The only ones he could find were already mated or preferred females.”
Dean felt Silas’s surprise leak down the bond. He hadn’t known that Silvanus had tried that. Dean wished that Silas was standing a little closer, so he could take his hand. All he could do was send reassurance down the bond. He didn’t even know if Silas would feel it or if his walls were up too tightly. But it was worth a go.
“So, he came up with one last plan. If it worked and the pup was an alpha, I was to tell everyone that Silvanus was the father. He made it very clear that if it was a male omega, he didn’t want it. If it was a beta, he might take it to try again when it was old enough. He’d take a girl of any designation. But he didn’t want a male omega. He knew it was a long shot that an omega would sire an alpha, he wouldn’t bother to try again.” She took another sip of her coffee.
“The pup’s designation wasn’t clear at birth. It didn’t show until he was two years old. All that time I was telling myself not to get attached because Silvanus could take him away.” She sighed heavily and rubbed her hand over her face.
“By the time he was two and it was clear he was an omega, he didn’t feel like mine. I didn’t love him like my others. And… by that time everyone had heard of Silas’s powers. I was scared Ash had dark magic too. I… I thought if I put him in a foster home he’d be adopted, they wouldn’t know his heritage and he’d get the love he deserved.”
Silence fell. Silas still hadn’t moved. Dean couldn’t feel any distress through the mate bond but he didn’t know if Silas was successfully blocking it.
“And you haven’t seen him since and you don’t know where he is?” Dean asked Cora.
She shook her head sadly and reached for her coffee.
“So when Silvanus brought him to his pack house last year, you don’t know where he collected him from or took him back to?”
Cora stared at him wide-eyed. It was clearly news to her, unless she was a fantastic actor. She shook her head again. Dean found himself believing her. He was usually a good judge of character but he was keen to learn his mate’s assessment of the woman.
“When we find him, you don’t want him back?” checked Dean.
