BirthRight (15 page)

A knock sounded.

Tyrone opened the door. The tiny woman who’d
greeted them earlier stepped in, her eyes round with fear. She
frowned when she noticed the women sitting quietly. “Yes?”

Silas pointed to another chair. “Please,
have a seat. I have some questions to ask you. I’d appreciate any
help you can give me.”

She swallowed hard and took a seat. “I’ll do
my best.”

Silas noticed her lack of Spanish accent and
wondered where she was from. But he had more pressing matters. “Do
you know who sired Leann and Leara?”

“Yes, Sir. Pedro.”

“What happened to the other female pups she
birthed?” He tipped his head in Arianna’s direction. It was a waste
of time to discuss biology with the women. Somehow, the females
showed up as humans even though they were half wolf. It didn’t make
sense. None of this made sense.

“Yes, Sir. Pedro sold them.”

A flare of anger flashed through Silas and
the women screamed. He calmed himself. “Everything okay?” Theron
asked through their link.

“Yes. Is Pedro truly dead?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“I’d like to kill him.” Silas broke the
link. The small woman was shaking in the chair. He hadn’t meant to
frighten her.

“Anna? That’s your name, right?”

Her head jerked up and then down.

“I apologize for frightening you. I am angry
that Pedro sold the women, that’s all. Can you tell me what
happened?”

After taking three deep breaths, the woman
spoke. “Pedro told me to get some rooms ready, we were having
guests. Important guests. When the men came, they talked for a
while. Had a meal and then went to the two rooms I’d prepared for
them. Stephanie and Maria were sent to spend the night with them.
The guests stayed a week. When they left, they took the girls with
them because they were breeding.”

“Breeding?” Silas wanted to be sure.
“Pregnant with babies inside?”

Anna shrugged. “I don’t know what to call
them, but they were breeding when they left.”

“
Leann and Leara were unmated wolves with
the ability to give birth, another anomaly. We need to know how
they felt when this happened, where were they when they realized
they had the potential to give birth. Were they raised by the
wolves? Or are the female hybrids given special treatment? Tyrese
interview Leann. I want you to get her life story. They are half
wolves, do they shift? Or is that ability lost? Get personal, we
need to know everything. Tyrone, you’re on Leara. I’ll finish with
Arianna and we’ll compare notes later,”
he told them through
their links. They needed to make up time.

Silas ushered Anna closer so the three of
them could talk. In his experience, servants saw and knew more than
people gave them credit for.

The next hour and a half, the light buzz of
conversation filled the room. Silas discovered Pedro was involved
with criminal activity, something he told Theron immediately. He
learned once the pups were birthed, they were raised by the wolves.
The human females were not allowed to interact with the pups. He
thought this was strange, but listened rather than question their
motives.

All in all, Silas discovered the human
females were stronger, healed faster, could accommodate the
roughest wolf without breaking, and there was something about
giving birth that kept them young and viable with the ability to
keep reproducing. If it didn’t violate so many laws of nature, he’d
clap his hands in awe. But he’d lived long enough to know rules
might be stretched without much penalty, but when broken, there was
always hell to pay.

Standing, Silas brought all conversations to
a halt. “Thank you for your help. We have recently learned of your
existence and required additional information. Pedro is dead.
Philippe won the leadership challenge and will be the new pack
leader under Alpha Theron. He will meet with all of you later. You
are free to live wherever you please. You can stay with this pack
or I will send you anywhere you desire.” He looked at each of them.
“The choice is yours.”

“I will go with you,” Arianna spoke into the
silence. “I will help you build your pack.”

Leann and Leara bit their lips and turned
away, but Silas saw the laughter in their eyes.

Anna rolled her eyes. The servant had been
helpful filling in the blanks and he knew she saw more than many
realized. He’d make sure Theron placed her in a position in the
midst of the wolves.

“I think you misunderstood. I have no pack,”
Silas said as he straightened his shirt and brushed off his
pants.

“You have many sons?” Arianna asked,
frowning.

“I guess you can say that. But I have no
pack, so chose somewhere else or stay here. It’s up to you.” He
turned to leave when she spoke.

“I would serve you well, Silas Knight. Take
me with you.”

He ignored her and walked out the room.

Chapter 12

Silas, Tyrone, and Tyrese drove in silence
as they returned to the Maryland compound. The trip to Mexico
answered some questions but raised a lot more. None of this made
any sense. How could a man rape a woman and change her biology? Was
there a purpose or just random bad luck? A disease, perhaps?

“I’m holding an Alpha conference in three
hours in the lodge; I want the two of you there.”

“Yes, Sir,” Tyrone said, watching the road
while Tyrese drove.

Silas smothered a grin. It was amazing what
proper training would do for a man. He and Jayden had been
impressed with the twins’ physical and mental abilities. He’d made
the decision to place them on his personal security detail after
he’d seen them fight Jayden, and the Alpha had barely won. Besides,
since no one knew much about how hybrids functioned, it was better
to keep them close.

“Drop me off at the main building.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Jayden had taken offense at what he deemed a
too casual demeanor toward Silas and drilled the twins in proper
protocol. As former soldiers, it didn’t take long for them to have
a solid grasp of pack politics and hierarchy.

Once they reached pack grounds, the scenery
changed. Jayden honored the earth and went through great lengths to
keep things natural. Silas relaxed as the fragrance of the flowers
and greenery teased his nostrils. The buzz of insects and laughter
of pups in the distance blew past his ears. His wolf took noticed
and whined. He’d love to run, but there were so many things he
needed to accomplish before his meeting.

Silas pinched the bridge of his nose as his
thoughts drifted to Jasmine. He wondered if she was okay. Had she
thought about him? Was she breeding? A frisson of distaste hit the
back of his throat. A gift of half-breed pups would be a slap in
the face.

He was the Patron of the wolf. Not of the
half-wolf. But his wolf had refused to be denied and he’d complied
by releasing his seed. Nothing to do now but wait and see. Over the
years he’d wondered why his seed had never taken root. He’d asked
the Goddess once, but she’d cautioned him to be patient. Had he
waited hundreds of years for half wolf pups? He loathed the
idea.

The car pulled up to Jayden’s home. Tyrone
got out and opened Silas’s door while Tyrese grabbed his luggage
from the trunk. After walking Silas inside, Tyrese released the
luggage.

“We’ll be back at eighteen hundred hours,
Sir.”

Silas nodded and headed toward the stairs.
One of the pack’s omegas took the luggage to his room while Jayden
met him in the hall.

“Good trip?” Jayden asked as they walked
toward the office.

Jayden stripped off his lightweight jacket
and hung it on the back of one of the office chairs. “Yeah. Too
much information. This thing has been going on much longer than we
thought. The human breeder I met was over a hundred years old.”

Jayden’s eyes widened. “What?”

Silas slapped him on the back. “Yeah. Alpha
conference in two and a half hours. Set up the room, bring my
laptop, I’ve got a lot to pull together in a short amount of
time.”

“How?…”

“Hold your questions for the meeting. I’d
prefer to give this kind of news once.” Silas strode to the desk,
please to see his laptop already there, and got busy.

****

Tyrese parked the car in the condo’s parking
area. When he opened his door, Tyrone halted him.

“We lucked out, you know.” Tyrone closed his
eyes and then looked at him. “I mean with mom. I looked at those
wolves and realized the only identity they had was locked in those
walls. They had no clue about family. Nobody loves them.” He shook
his head.

Tyrese understood. “That’s a big problem
with this breeder deal. A wolf’s bitch cares and nurtures her pups.
It makes us who we are, instills a sense of pride, of belonging.”
He shook his head. “They and a lot of the wolves Arianna birthed
don’t have that. Chances are they’re unstable, not fully
understanding what the den and pack means.”

“There’s some bullshit brewing out there,
that’s for damn sure. I mean those women were human, or at least a
big part of them is human.” Tyrone said. “But Silas didn’t sense a
wolf inside them.” He scratched his head. “That’s weird. I thought
the wolf gene was dominant.”

Tyrese shrugged. Leeann had been shy at
first, but eventually answered all of his questions. She’d been
attracted to a wolf early on and they’d had sex. When she became
pregnant, Pedro had her moved to the Alpha house. Her first set of
twins were girls. One was sickly, and she’d been told Pedro had
killed the pup. She had no idea what happened to the other pup.
From that time, she’d stayed in the Alpha house and laid with the
men her Alpha brought to her. After her first set of female pups,
the rest had been all male litters, but many were born with
physical problems like shorter legs, one blind eye, heart and
breathing problems. Pedro always terminated the lives of those
pups.

“They’re not wolves. Just like mom’s not a
wolf. She’s…different.”

Tyrone nodded, although he still wore a deep
frown. “Were you surprised Leann and Leara decided to stay with the
pack and move to Texas with Theron instead of trying to start their
lives over somewhere new?”

“Not really.” Tyrese said. “That pack is all
they know, and once Theron discovered Pedro was involved with the
drug cartel, he had to move the pack to Texas for protection.”

Tyrone nodded and looked at him. “What do
you think about all of this? About mom? Silas? Mom having pups. Is
she like Arianna?” He shook his head. “Not her personality, mom is
all about fam. But the healing? And being able to run or
fight?”

Tyrese chuckled. “I wouldn’t put it past
her. She’s mean when she’s mad. Always has been. But the thing is,”
he lowered his voice. “If mom’s a breeder, so is aunty. Plus, they
don’t grow old like normal.”

“Damn, I hadn’t thought about Aunty. You
think Mandy’s one of those breeders and they just hooked up? That’d
be cool,” Tyrone said, smiling.

“Yeah, but not likely.” Tyrese said. “But
the thing that’d bothered me for a long time was her leaving…you
know? Mom dying. While we’d be left here a long while. It used to
bother me big time. Now…”

“Now we don’t have to worry about that.”

“But they live longer when they have pups,
mom only had us,” Tyrese said in a pensive tone.

“Um… if she’s not pregnant after that damn
marathon with Silas, then it’s not going to happen. If I never hear
my momma scream like that again it’d suit me fine,” Tyrone said,
shaking.

Tyrese laughed, although he hadn’t been
laughing that day when his mom and Silas had sex. He’d covered his
head with pillows, turned up the TV and music to block her moans
and demands. It still embarrassed him to remember how she’d
demanded Silas to…to. He couldn’t go back there either.

After Silas had left, she’d remained in her
room the rest of the day. He’d swear she tiptoed out around four in
the morning, grabbed some food, and ran back to her room. It took
another day for her to face them, and then she’d refused to look at
them. Callum was the only person she seemed comfortable around.

The Mexico trip had come at the best
time.

“I’m with you on that one.” Tyrese inhaled.
“But we are lucky to have her.”

On that note they exited the car and headed
upstairs. The moment they turned the corner to the condo, their
stomachs growled and huge smiles split their faces.

“Mama’s cooking.”

Tyrese inhaled. “I smell baked chicken and
yellow rice.”

“Candied yams?” He looked at his brother in
shock and excitement.

“Greens and cornbread,” Tyrone said after
taking another sniff. “There’s cake. She baked a cake, man,” he
said, bouncing as he opened the door.

“And that’s how you do it. Taste some of
this,” Jasmine said to Callum, placing a spoon near his mouth. She
looked up as the door opened.