After stopping her collapse, I lifted her and carried her up the stairs to her room. I managed to get the covers pulled back and laid her down without waking her up. I hoped she’d sleep all the way until the morning. She needed it after everything I’d dumped on her. It made me feel bad about forcing so much into her life so fast. In a week, everything she’d known had been turned completely upside down. I wondered how I would react if something similar happened to me.
Before I turned to leave, I looked down at her one last time. Her eyes were closed, and the long dark lashes twitched as if she was dreaming. Maddy’s face was calm and serene. And beautiful. An ache formed in my chest and grew stronger the longer I looked at her. I leaned down and brushed a strand of hair from her face, letting my thumb trace the curve of her cheek as I straightened.
My mind circled back to all the feelings I’d had for her since that first night. The drive to protect and take care of her. Theneed to be around her. The…other desires. Maybe she truly was my mate. There was a flash of anger from my wolf. Apparently the wordmaybewasn’t good enough for it. That was the last thing I needed to focus on at the moment, though.If Maddy truly was a descendant of Edemas, then things were going to get very interesting. And dangerous. Javi had been right when he’d said I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.
I tugged my phone out of my jeans as I closed her door to let her sleep. I called Luis and told him to grab the others and get to my house. I headed downstairs and sat at the kitchen table as I waited for them. I tried searching the internet for more information on Maddy, clicking away on my computer, searching for news stories and items of interest from the days and weeks when she’d been put up for adoption. Mostly, what I looked for were stories about murdered couples. Her parents were either in hiding or dead. It was the only thread we had to follow at the moment.
Ten minutes into my search, I heard the guys coming in the front door.
“Nico?” Luis called from the foyer.
“Kitchen,” I called, slapping my laptop closed.
Luis, Sebastian, and Felipe rounded the corner and walked into the kitchen. They’d all been grinning and smiling, but something about the look I had on my face sent those expressions fleeing and morphing into serious concern.
“What’s up, brother?” Felipe asked.
“Take a seat.”
Sebastian snorted. “Well, that’s not ominous as shit.”
Once they were all seated on the couches, I took a seat on an ottoman and faced them, trying to figure out how to say what I needed to say. Would they even believe it?
“So, about Maddy…have you guys noticed she’s a little different?”
At first there was no response, then slowly, all three of them started nodding. “Yeah,” Sebastian said. “She, uh, smells funny. She’s also hot as hell, but I don’t think that’s what you’re talking about.”
I gritted my teeth, my friend’s typical humor setting my wolf on edge. Even hearing him joke about how gorgeous she was sent my beast into a jealous rage. But I choked back a pissy response and nodded in agreement. “Anything else?”
Luis leaned back and crossed his arms. “Can we stop beating around the bush, my man? Get to the damned point. You’ll tell us whether we play fifty questions or not.”
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache starting to come on. “Do you guys remember the stories about Edemas? When we were kids?”
They shared a look and Felipe leaned forward. “The last werewolf king? Yeah. Why?”
“I think Maddy is his last descendant.”
“Fuck off,” Sebastian said, his mouth dropping open.
“What?” Luis asked. “How? His entire family was killed. All his children, all his grandchildren, all of them. Plus, it’s been three hundred years since he died. Wouldn’t we have some stories about heirs appearing over the last couple centuries?”
I went on to tell them about Maddy’s DNA match. The name Edemas being her sole connection, and the fact that his name vanished from the website a few days after she was attacked. I even told them about Javi stopping by the clinic and threatening me before Maddy was discharged.
“Her blood is part shifter, that’s not in dispute. Once you hear the story, the scent makes more sense. This is happening, guys. I think the hidden royal family is real as well. I think they’re the ones pulling Javi’s strings and going after Maddy,” I finished.
My three friends sat, shock and awe on their faces. I knew how they felt. It was like someone finding out the story of the Pied Piper had been real or that Hansel and Gretel had really happened. It was almost too much to take in.
Luis held his hands up. “Hang on. I know what you’re saying, but if that’s true, what the hell are we supposed to do? Javi will be the least of our concerns if this is all actually happening.”
I nodded and pulled my phone out again. Luis and the others looked even more confused until they heard me talking to my dad. I closed the phone and glanced up at them. “He’ll be here in a minute,” I said.
“What the hell is your dad gonna do?” Sebastian asked.
“He’s the one who told me the stories when I was a kid. If anyone might know more, it’s him. Plus, I know I can trust him with my life, with Maddy’s life. Once this info is out, it can’t go back. You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube, right?”
They had no argument for that, and we waited while my dad made his way over. His house was only three houses down. It was a blessing and a curse to have my family so close. In this situation, it was a blessing.
The knock came less than five minutes after I called him. He came walking in with a confused look on his face.
