“Shut up and push,” Mother screeches, her voice carrying out the open window. I could sneak back inside to warm up, but it smells musty in there. And Grace was bleeding a lot. It was gross.
“Beth, please, call an ambulance, I c-can’t-” She lets out a hiccuping sob, so heartbreaking it makes me want to cry. “I need Harold! I need my Alpha!”
She cries out again, and I can’t help but look. Peeking over the windowsill, I watch Mother grip Grace’s reddening cheek so hard her skin dimples. “I said push, you worthless whore!”
Grace grits her teeth and bears down, screaming loud enough that I have to slap my hands over my ears to stop them from ringing. She collapses against the bed as a quieter wail fills the cabin. Her baby is here, and it’s crying. Mother wraps it in a blanket and lays it on the floor a few feet away.
Why didn’t she give Grace her baby?
My eyes glue to Mother as she walks to the edge of the bed and leans down to whisper something. Aunt Grace is pale. Her eyes flutter open, one hand rising toward Mother, but it drops back to the mattress.
“Hannah Faith.” I scramble to the back door and slip inside when Mother snaps my name. “Carry the baby.” She points to where she left it on the floor and stomps to the front door, swinging it open.
“What about Aunt Grace?” I ask, hesitating to pick up the wailing baby.
Stars swim in my eyes when she slaps me. “You no longer have an Aunt Grace. Now, do as I told you and pick up your sister.”
Horror washes over me, stealing the breath from my lungs. I hear Donovan call my name several times, but I can’t answer him.That has to be a false memory,right?There’s no way…
“S-she was mated to Harold Henderson, wasn’t she?” I choke out. Tears fall freely down my face as he confirms that the memory isn’t something I imagined. It really happened. “D-Donovan, they h-have a cabin. It’s by a lake. T-that’s where she is. My mother. That’s where she is h-hiding.”
His voice grows muffled as he uses the phone in his office to call someone on his team. “They’re tracking down the location now. Are you all right?”
“N-no,” I admit. Another call beeps through my phone, but I ignore it. “There’s more. I r-remember…” My words choke into a sob, but I muffle the sound with my arm, not wanting to wake the kids. If I tell him, it will tear not just my world apart, but my sister’s, too. Can I bear that weight?
Reassurance sweeps through my bonds, pouring from my mates. That’s right. Even if the weight of this truth feels heavy, it isn’t one I have to bear alone. My mates will stand beside me, steadying me when I feel as though I might fall.
“Grace was pregnant. When I was seven, she and Mother met for lunch, and Grace went into labor. Mother, s-she took her to that cabin to give birth, and then she l-left her there. To die.”
Donovan sucks in a sharp breath. “And the baby?”
Swallowing thickly, I wipe the tears from my face and stare at the floor, forcing the words past the lump in my throat. “That baby was Omen. She’s the child my aunt conceived with my father.”
Chapter Forty-One
I dialHannah’s number again, growing frustrated when she sends me to voicemail for the third time. She’s distraught. I can feel the intensity of her emotional pain in our bond, but I don’t know what’s causing it. Because she won’t answer.Her. Damn. Phone.
Pacing Manny’s hospital room, I freeze when he groans, finally waking from the sedative the doctor had given him earlier. Foster leans forward, teary eyes focused on our Beta’s face. I close the distance to press myself against my Omega’s back, silently hoping to see those beautiful purple eyes. Or eye, since one is still too swollen to open.
“W-wha?”
“Hey, Hot Stuff,” Foster sobs, reaching up to palm Manny’s cheek, careful of the many cuts littering his skin. “You’re at the hospital. We’ve got you.”
Manny blinks several times before he tries to sit up. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I stop him. “Don’t push yourself. Your body needs rest and time to heal.”
“H-Hannah?” he croaks, searching the room.
“She’s safe,” I promise him. “A team of agents is at the house with her and the kids. Colin and the others cannot get to them.”
He relaxes, breath hissing out as he lets go of the tension in his body. “Good. That’s… good.” His eyes slip closed as he falls back asleep.
I feel Foster tense against my side, hiding the whimper that tries to slip free, so I pull him into my arms and sit us both on the chair, rearranging him so he’s tucked against my chest. “Hannah isn’t answering.”
“She said she needed to call Donovan when she hung up with me. She’ll call us back.”Hopefully.I don’t think I can handle going all night without hearing her voice and learning what upset her. My instincts are still raw from finding Manny; radio silence from her might tip me into a rampage.
A nurse stops to check on our mate, mentioning that it’s good that he woke up, even briefly. As she’s leaving, unexpected visitors arrive. Lex Ferguson, Ridley Hale, and Creed Barrett are all Fate-matched to Foster’s best friend, Bea. They also work as federal agents. Lex and Ridley with the DAU—though Ridley quit after rescuing his Omega from the breeding ring—and Creed works for the FCDA.
“Shepherd.” Lex nods, his expression as stony as ever. “Foster.”
