“Why?”
“Well, Jackson and Logan always hung out together. Cody, Colton and Carson were thick as thieves. Dakota…Kota for short…was closest in age to me so we always paired off.”
“What about your other six siblings?”
“They were much younger. My mother had a number of miscarriages after me, so I was six by the time the next pup was born.”
“When did you get interested in computers?”
“Six. The new pup cried so much, I ended up hiding out in my room to escape it. That’s when Jackson gave me his old computer because our grandparents had boughthim a new one. One day, I was so fuckin’ bored…because Kota was busy helping mom in the kitchen…I finally turned on that computer and found my whole world just got a lot bigger. From that point on, I was hooked. By the time I was nine, I had written several programs and had a network of worldwide friends who were into computers, just like me.”
“What did your family think about it?”
“Jackson always encouraged me. Whatever I needed…well, wanted really…he would sweet talk our grandparents into buying for me so by the time I was twelve, my entire bedroom was swimming with computers.”
“How about your parents?”
“My mom, she was great, always supported me. One time, I wrote this program to measure the efficiency of a person’s movement and I showed her what it could do so she told my grandfather about it. He came to see it, said it was nice, then left. What I didn’t know is that he contacted several big companies and sold my program to them. I was over the moon when I found out about it.”
“How old were you, then?”
“Let’s see… fifteen. It was then I knew what I wanted to do the rest of my life.”
“Was your father okay with that?”
“I guess he thought it was okay…I don’t really know because we never talked about what I was doing with computers. He was more interested in how well I could fight, since I was an Alpha.”
“I thought only Jackson was an Alpha.”
“Jackson’stheAlpha of the Blackwood Pack because you can have only one, but me and my brothers are all Alpha wolves…meaning anyone of us could lead a pack.”
David thought for a moment. “Is it usual to have so many Alphas in a family?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Zane replied, “I don’t really know. It was just how it was in my family. We always got along and after my parents were killed, we were closer than ever. We had to be because our lives depended on it.”
“I never had anyone I could count on like that except my mother,” said David, wistfully.
Zane felt his mate’s pain in his heart and saw the sadness reflected in David’s eyes, but without knowing the cause of it, he was at a loss to fix it, so he said the first thing that popped into his head, “You do now, babe. You have me and my brothers and everyone else in the Blackwood Pack.”
A small smile graced David’s face when he heard Zane’s words. It would be so nice if that were true as he was exhausted dealing with all the uncertainties in his life. How it had become so complicated was something he was still trying to figure out. When he came up with his escape plan, it all seemed so simple, yet it hadn’t turned out that way. He knew he’d had some good luck along the way, but it never was enough to offset the tormentthat ruled his life. Even though he was far from home, it followed him like the storm they’d run into today. Unwilling to dwell further on what was wrong with his life, David asked, “Is there any more tea?”
Chapter 15
As the plane rolled to a stop, Oracle looked out her window and smiled as she spotted Maximus waiting for her next to a black car. Gathering up her belongings, she walked to the front exit, thanked the pilot and steward and then descended the stairway to greet her husband. “This is a pleasant surprise, darling,” she said, giving him a kiss.
“Yes, it was a last-minute thought,” Maximus said, helping his wife into the back seat of the car, then sliding in beside her.
“Indeed, you decided you had to meet the myth, hmmm?”
Startled, Maximus stared at his wife. “How did you know about that?”
“You left David’s folder open on the dining room table one night. Your search for him prompted many of Mystia’s trips, I would imagine.”
Maximus studied his wife, wondering if the Fates told her anything about David before saying, “Well, I’m happy about finally getting to see a myth come to life, after which we can enjoy ourselves on a much overdue vacation.”
“I would like that, but first I have work to do.”
“Of course,” agreed Maximus, “but when that’s over, the start of our official vacation will begin.”
