BirthStone (30 page)

“
I know you scanned Mark again,
anything?”

“
No, his mind is clean. No more secrets,
tell me what happened?”

“
Mom washed her hands and then lotioned
them. I’m going to ask her about it after dinner in private and
then have Matt look examine the lotion.”

Silas whistled. “
That would … definitely
be hard to digest if she’s been using the poison. On the other hand
it might explain the memory lapses.”

She hadn’t thought of that. “Let’s get
through dinner so I can get her alone.”

After dinner, Jasmine and her mom walked
hand in hand through the gardens next to the patio. “It’s so
beautiful and restful here, Jasmine. Thanks for inviting us. We’re
going to leave day after tomorrow. Mark’s family invited us to some
type of gathering. I’m kind of nervous meeting them, but he assured
me they will love me like he does.”

Jasmine squeezed her mom tight as she sent
the information to Silas. “You smell good. I noticed you put some
lotion on before dinner, is that what that is?”

Victoria tittered and Jasmine bit back a
groan at the sound. “It was an engagement gift from Elsie and John,
we met them on one of our dates and we all became good friends.”
Victoria lifted her hand and inhaled. “It smells better when I
first put it on, that’s one of the reasons I go through my supply
so quickly and have to order another bottle.”

Jasmine took the bottle her mom handed her.
“Order? You get this online?”

“Yes, it’s from a perfume maker in Italy. A
real classy place, it’s expensive. You can have that one. I have
more in my room. If you want I’ll give you the internet address,
they have other products. Use my code so you can get a discount,
they don’t have to know it’s not me.” She giggled and this time
Jasmine kissed her mom on the cheek.

“Thanks, mom.” She stuck the small bottle
into her pants pocket.

“You’re not going to try some now?” her mom
asked, frowning.

Jasmine thought quickly. “I need to wash my
hands first.”

“Oh…okay. That’s a good idea, it’s a part of
the instructions actually, your hands should be clean when you put
it on.” She took Jasmine’s arm and they continued their stroll.
Jasmine half listened as her mother talked about her love and
relationship with Mark. The urge to have the lotion tested
increased with each step. Knowing someone gave her mom a gift that
had harmed her and the babies renewed her anger.

“
Silas
,” she called. “
I need to
get away.”

“
I feel your heat. Breathe, listen to my
voice. Follow the cadence, let it ease you.”

“
Someone got to my mother.”

“
I know, Jasmine. We’ll take care of it,
just breathe, allow the anger to flow through your nose. Don’t
allow your mother to see your fury, it will upset her.”

Jasmine watched as Jacques approached them.
His smile didn’t reach his eyes as he offered his arm to her
mother. “There are some beautiful flowers I’d love to show you,
Madam.”

Her mother glanced at her before hesitantly
placing her arm in his.

“
Silas, you’re making things worse. She
loves Mark, this is going to get messy.
” She turned to take a
shortcut that would take her to another corridor, which would lead
downstairs. Jasmine reveled in the freedom she now had without
Jarcee's constant shadowing. If she had known Silas would have
relaxed his restrictions, she would have told him months ago about
her energy surges.

“
Jacques is her mate, in the end he will
have her.”

Jasmine refused to debate what she suspected
was true. If nothing else, Jacques would outlive Mark and could
claim her mom then. “
I’m headed to the lab.”

“
Matt is eagerly waiting
.” He paused.
“
So am I
.” His voice deepened and sent a shockwave of lust
through her. She stumbled at the throbbing between her legs.

“
Stop that
,” she hissed.

“
It’s been three days
.”

Lord knows her body knew exactly how long it
had been since she had ridden him. “
I know and I’m hungry for
you. But let’s save the kingdom and all that jazz first.
” She
smirked as she placed her hand on a secure door. It opened and
welcomed her to the lower level.

Warmth flowed over her like honey on it’s
comb.
“I love you, sweet bitch”

His words touched off a firestorm of need in
her. Her breath shortened and her muscles loosened, she swore if he
kept it up she’d turn into a puddle of goo.

“
Love you too, wolfie.”

She exited the elevator. Silas and Matt
stood near the entry to the labs. Her mate’s eyes blazed royal
blue. Tassels of heat danced across her skin as she walked toward
him. Their gazes met, the temperature in the corridor went up a
notch.

“I’ll take this so the two of you can… um,
do whatever you need to cool off.” Matt held out his hand.

Jasmine tore away her gaze. “I can’t give
you the container, mom might want it back. I’ll pour you some.”

“Okay, we’ll have to go inside then.” Matt
waited as she gazed at Silas.

He smiled and took her hand. “Let’s save the
kingdom,” she said.

“Huh?” Matt said with a confused look.

“Nothing. Just check this for the chemicals
you mentioned earlier. Also, expand the side effects search.
Something is off with her memory and she might not have a clear
grasp on what’s real.”

Silas glanced at her but remained
silent.

“Yes, Ma’am. I’ll get on that.” He took the
bottle and poured a liberal amount into three test tubes before
returning it to her. “I’d like that email address and her account
number as well. One of my men will trace the company. La Patron
wants to know if they handled her orders differently. He also wants
to know who else is getting this special treatment. Who else are
they singling out?”

She gazed at Silas. “Good point. That way
you can pinpoint the purpose of some of this.”

He nodded and squeezed her hand. “Right now
I want to know what exactly they hoped to accomplish by giving a
breeder, your mother, poison.” His tone turned sarcastic. “I wonder
if she is the only breeder receiving this gift.”

“Gift?” She snorted. Probably not, but she
kept that to herself. “How long before you know something?” she
asked Matt as he headed to another section of the lab.

“I’ll know within ten to thirty minutes if
one of the two poisons I identified earlier are in the lotion. The
time it takes depends on how well they’ve masked them. It’ll take
longer to identify all the ingredients.”

Hearing Matt discuss the poisonous lotion
hit her hard. Her mom had brought the weapon that hurt her babies
into their home. That reality slammed into her. Sweat broke out on
her forehead as dizziness hit her hard, she rocked on the balls of
her feet before Silas secured her to him.

“If the two poisons are in the cream, which
means…” she whispered and turned into Silas’ chest. All along she
had been hoping that it had been someone else, even though she'd
suspected something was off with her mom. Renee simply did not do
subterfuge. She came at you where you could see her. But her mom’s
memory loss and confusion made her a likely target.

“
Which means she has been used without
her knowledge
.” Silas stroked her hair easing her distress.
“
If what Matt says about the poison is true, we learned another
thing about breeders.”

Jasmine glanced up at him and waited.

“
You women are damned hard to
kill.
”

Chapter 26

Jasmine closed the door to their suite and
dropped onto the sofa. Silas sat next to her and placed her feet on
his lap. He removed her shoes and massaged her sore feet.

She dropped her head back, allowing it to
rest on the arm of the sofa. “Ummm, that feels good.” Struggling to
understand everything she learned that day, she peeked at him.
“So…someone gave my mother lotion that has been poisoning her for
the past four months. The poison is so toxic it transferred to my
babies when she held them, which is why they are still sick.” She
released a long sigh as his hands reached her calves. “It’s been
too long. Work your… 'I am La Patron' magic and make them well. I
miss their energy, their fights and their laughter.”

“I have given them all that I have,
sweetness. But their temperatures had fallen a bit tonight, which
is progress. It will take time, but they are on the mend.” His kiss
to the top of her foot sent tingles of awareness through her.

“Ummmm, do that again,” she murmured. He
complied with her request. “The thing that bothers me is how
mercenary all of this is. I mean, think about the long-term
planning involved in this. For what? I don’t think the goal was to
poison the children. You?”

Silas shrugged as he continued massaging her
leg. “They knew she would eventually come in contact with the pups.
Babies,” he corrected when she frowned. “But I agree with you, I
don’t think poisoning the children was the original target.”

She relaxed further as he started on her
other leg. “None of this makes sense. Corrina started this vendetta
against you because her childhood friend died in childbirth. She
acted as if you were the only large black wolf with green
eyes.”

“For the most part, I am. I’ve never met a
wolf with eyes the same color as mine.”

She stared at him. “Either there was another
wolf or she got her stories mixed up, Silas. Don’t try to convince
me you had sex with a ten-year-old, I’m not buying it.”

He snorted. “I can’t lie to you, remember? I
had nothing to do with that child. My point is I don’t know of
another black wolf with green eyes, that’s all.”

“Have you sent notices to the alphas in the
states she targeted?”

“Yes. Most were already on stand-by and the
raids started before we sat down for dinner. Most importantly, we
confiscated the equipment and secured the building where the bombs
and serum was manufactured. Tyrone is working on the list of
half-breeds who have been taking the drug. Each alpha will send out
letters explaining what happened and offer free shots to wean the
breeds off the chemicals as well as work on strengthening the
wolves of anyone who wants help.” He exhaled. “It’s a start.”

She nodded. “Corrina Griggs was crazy. Is
that what happens when you live a long time, you go crazy?”

“I’m older than her.”

“I meant breeders, Silas. Be serious.”

He pulled her up and lay on the couch behind
her. Cocooned in his warmth, she pushed back against his hardness
and released a sigh. She hoped the hot connection would always be
this way with them. She wiggled against him.

“Behave, you wanted serious.”

She chuckled. “Sorry, I’m serious.”

His arm tightened around her. “I don’t think
so... I believe there are many happy breeders living long
productive lives with their mates. We don’t know about them yet
because of the aggression against them. But I think once we get
this war behind us, and we have our public joining, more will
surface.”

She snuggled against him. “So the secret to
long, happy living is being mated, is that your answer?”

“Um hmm, yes, of course.”

“Corrina didn’t know how all of this got
started,” she said into the silence.

“No, not directly. There are a few things I
have Jacques researching for me. There was a disturbance amongst
the early settlers that I had forgotten. Missing women and
children, that type of thing. I had no idea this situation had
started that far back.”

Silas pulled her closer to him and nipped
her on the ear. Mimicking her mother from earlier, she giggled.

“You like that?”

“Yeah,” she said breathily.

His large palm brushed against her
breast.

Her breath hitched at the contact. He then
rested his hand on her and pulled her nipple.

“Mmmm… that feels so good. I love when you
tease me with your hand.” She placed her hand over his and pulled
it close. “Right there, right –”

Boom, boom, boom. The building shook and
then stopped.

“Shit,” Jasmine said, jumping up.

“Damn Merriweather.” Silas had jumped up and
over the couch, his head tilted up. He had told her earlier he
expected some sort of retribution for taking Griggs and raiding the
house.

She ran toward the door, yelling over her
shoulder. “Babies, then mama.”

“I’ll send Jacques for Victoria. I’ve placed
a cover over the grounds to stop any more explosives from hitting
the compound. I’ve got to assess the damage.” He paused. “Just get
my pups below.”

She nodded, forgetting to check him for
calling her babies pups and unable to swallow around the lump of
fear choking her. “This is crazy,” she muttered as she turned the
corner. Jarcee nodded as she reached the door to the nursery.