Hidden Destiny (Redwood Pack) (7 page)

North moved and punched the trunk of the tree behind him, the bite of the bark a sweet elixir against the pain already running through his body, his heart.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. Shit. Corbin is Parker’s father. That means Ellie’s his aunt. All these connections, this web, it’s getting crazy.” North took a deep breath. “How the hell did Corbin accomplish this? It makes no sense.”

Logan growled, his eyes glowing gold. “I have a feeling you’re calling Lexi a liar.”

“What? Fuck. No. I want to know
how
Corbin did it. I can feel here,” he slammed his fist against his chest, over his heart, “that Lexi didn’t want this. That she wanted nothing to do with it.”

“At least you believe her on that part.”

“Of course I do. God, my wolf knows she wants us. And I know the only good thing that ever came out of her being in this situation is that little boy.” Something then occurred to him that made his stomach tie itself into even more knots. “Does Parker know who his father is?”

Logan narrowed his eyes and gave a sharp nod. “We don’t keep secrets from each other. Not when it could mean life or death. We’re all we have.”

“All you
had
. You’re a Redwood now,” North said absently, knowing there were other things on the line and saying they were Redwoods meant nothing to those who wanted to cast all evil out. The others thought the Andersons were evil because they’d been kicked out of the Talons yet no one had proof of
why
they’d been kicked out.

The Jamensons knew what had happened and trusted them but that didn’t mean others would.

Lexi told him that there were those rumbling dissent, something North himself had been feeling recently. He’d have to warn his father and his family, though he had a feeling they might already know.

He’d have to warn them of a lot of things now.

There was no way he’d keep what he’d learned from his father.

He couldn’t.

He just had to decide whose side he’d take if he was forced to choose.

He thought of the way Lexi made his wolf feel…of the way she made the man feel.

There was no other choice.

There
couldn’t
be.

“Do you know what you’re going to do? You can’t mate with Lexi. Not with Corbin alive.”

“I’m just going to have to kill him.”

Logan nodded approvingly. “Good. I’ll have your back. Now, do we have your back when you go and run to your family to tell them what you know?”

North looked up sharply.

“Lexi knew you’d be forced to tell them. You should tell them now before you go to Lexi. That way you have answers for her.”

His wolf wanted her now, but he knew he needed time to tuck the darkness away…bury it deep.

“And what are you going to do?”

“Protect my sister. Even from you. Think about what you want. What you
really
want. Talk to your father. He deserves to know the threat. Not from Parker or Lexi, but from Corbin.”

The thought that should have come to him right away hit him like a blow. “Does Corbin know about Parker?”

Logan met his gaze. “I don’t know.”

“Shit.”

“Shit.”

Without another word, Logan rose and ran off the way he’d come but in human form, and North went back for his clothes at a steady run, also in human form. He and Logan had each run hard, fast, changed once already, and then fought, it wouldn’t make sense to spend more energy to shift into wolves so they could run harder. He made his way to his parents’ home, his mind going a thousand different directions.

He needed to talk to Lexi and make sure she was okay. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t his mate in truth, not to his wolf, not to the man.

He staggered to a stop in front of his parents’ home.

It didn’t matter.

Shit.

It totally didn’t.

He wanted her.

He wanted that woman in his life, his bed, his future. He wanted to help her raise Parker—no matter who the boy’s father by blood was.

He wanted to have everything he could possibly have with her…even if it wasn’t a true mating.

His wolf howled, and he fought the urge to howl right along with him.

“North? What’s wrong?” his mother said from the open door, a frown on her face. She looked just like she had all his life. Young, fair, and yet with an underlying strength that would make most bow under it.

He went to her and wrapped his arms around her. She was short enough that she curled right in. He pressed his nose to her neck, needing the scent of sugar and home surrounding him.

His mother patted his back then pulled away slightly. “What’s wrong, North?” she repeated.

He scented his father in the living room, and he moved, but kept his hand on hers. “We need to talk.”

She blinked, her wolf coming to the surface with the gold in her eyes. There was a reason she was the Alpha’s mate.

She was fucking strong.

“Okay, honey. Let’s get going then.”

He made his way to the living room and lowered his gaze in front of his father. No matter how strong North was, his father was even more powerful.

“You’ve been fighting,” Edward said. “What happened?”

A demand.

“This was just letting out frustration with Logan.”

“What caused you to need to let go of that frustration? Did he do something to Cailin?” he growled.

Pat rubbed her husband’s arm. “Honey, if that’s what it was, I don’t think North would look so broken. Yes, he’d be hurt, but this is a different broken, my love. Tell us, baby, what’s the matter with Lexi?”

Gods. No matter how old he was, his mother knew exactly how to get to the heart of the matter. He’d always envied the way his parents knew each other and their children. They knew what to say, what to do…just how to be...

Now he might not have that.

He swallowed hard, the sense of defeat all but clawing at him. This wasn’t who he was…who he needed to be.

No.

He would.

Even if he had to do it in a way he’d never imagined.

North let out a shaky breath. “Lexi is already mated.”

“Is?” Pat asked, her eyes wide. “I thought her mate was dead considering the way you two are acting. Sorry. I can’t help being a mother and noticing when my youngest son finds his potential mate.”

“You’re right, Mom. At least about the potential part. I had thought Lexi’s mate was dead too, but, in fact, he isn’t.”

Edward frowned. “How is that possible?”

This was the part that would hurt, but his parents weren’t like others. They wouldn’t blindly lash out because of who’d fathered Parker. They hadn’t when they’d learned that Bay was the daughter of Caym, the demon who hunted them by Corbin’s side.

At least, North hoped his parents would be okay.

A lot, no,
everything
, was riding on this.

“Because the man who fathered Parker, the man who mated Lexi and raped her, used dark magic to make it happen. The mating was never completed. She never marked him.” It took two stages of mating to complete the bond. For the wolf, each had to mark the fleshy part of the shoulder where it met their neck. For the human, they had to have sex, and the male had to fill the female with his seed. Two souls within one body, two connections of mating.

“Oh gods,” Pat whispered, tears running down her face even as the fury raged in her eyes. “That poor girl.”

“Ellie…” his father whispered.

“What?” North asked. Did his father know the connection?

“Ellie had said Parker looked familiar but couldn’t place it. Parker is Corbin’s son, isn’t he?” The rage beneath the words didn’t scare North. They comforted him that he wasn’t alone in his feelings.

“I’ll kill the bastard,” his mother spat and stood up, her body shaking. “That bastard! He’s taking too much from us, Edward. I’m going to kill him.”

Jesus, he loved his mom.

Hard.

“You’ll have to stand behind me, love. That little fucker has stood behind that demon and, before that, his father, for too long.”

North blinked. “I take it you’re not going to hurt Lexi and her family because of this?”

Edward turned his rage toward North. “I’m going to forget you just said that. She’s fucking family, North. I don’t care that we’ll have to kill the little dick before you can fully mate her, but she’s family. That little boy too.” Edward closed his eyes. “And, if my little girl ever decides to mate him, Logan as well.”

North closed his eyes, relief filling him.

“Have you told Lexi that you still want her?” his mother asked.

“Not yet.”

Pat threw up her hands. “Then what the hell are you doing here, boy? Go to her. She’s in pain, and you’re here? I love you, son, but go to your mate.”

North got up, hugged both his parents hard then ran toward Lexi’s.

He had a mate to see.

He just had to make sure she
wanted
to see him.

Four hours.

Four
freaking
hours.

That’s how long North had been gone.

Lexi was pretty sure she was going to lose her mind…or kill someone. Considering she didn’t really want to kill anyone in her presence, calming her mind seemed like a lost cause.

She still couldn’t believe she’d just blurted out Corbin’s name like that. She held back a wince at even thinking that man’s name. She hated the Alpha of the Centrals more than anyone and anything.

Corbin’s DNA might have given her the best thing in her life, her Parker, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to see the man gutted, quartered, and burned.

She’d never forget the look on North’s face when she’d said Corbin’s name. When she’d said she was already mated, the look of stark pain on his face had almost taken her to her knees. The look of pure anger at the mention of their most hated enemy had made her want to curl into a ball and pray for forgiveness.

Forgiveness from what, she didn’t know.

She’d told herself over and over again, just as Logan had told her, that it wasn’t her fault what had happened.

Fault, though, didn’t matter when it came to shame.

It didn’t matter it wasn’t her fault he’d touched her when she took long showers, scrubbing at her skin until she was raw, bleeding, aching, trying to get the feel of his hands banished from her memory.

It didn’t matter.

It might have been years, but some days, it felt as though it had been mere minutes since it happened.

Telling North had made it all come back in a clear reality.

When Logan came back bruised, bloody, and bleeding, Lexi had frozen, her chest seizing. He hadn’t told her what happened other than North was alive and would be there soon.

That had been over an hour ago.

‘Soon’ in man-terms meant whenever the hell they wanted it to mean.

Logan had gone back to shower then came out again with Parker in tow. The boys were going on a “camping” trip within the den wards to have some man time.

Lexi knew it was because Logan wanted her and North to have alone time—for whatever was about to happen—but Parker was smarter than that. Her son probably knew something was going on but let it slide.

She was thankful every single day her son was so insightful.

She scented him before she heard him.

“North.” His name was a whisper on her lips as she turned.

He stood in the doorway, his hair a tossed mess around his head. The fading bruises on his face and on his arms only made him look more dangerous.

He might share the lightest hair of the Jamenson brothers with his twin, but right now, the darkness that emanated from his whole body made her shiver.

Whether it was a good shiver or not, she couldn’t tell. At least not right then. It was probably a mix of the two.

“Lexi.” The gruffness of his voice slid over her.

She couldn’t feel her wolf, but she knew if she’d been able to, she’d be howling with need…with anguish.

This man was to be her mate.

Fate had proclaimed it so.

Fate had taken it away.

She opened her mouth to say something…anything, but he held up his hand.

The pain hurt more than she thought it would. Damn it. She’d had a bit of hope, something buried so deep, so far down that she hadn’t even known she’d really had it. Now she knew the truth. He was going to leave her.

No, that wasn’t right. He couldn’t leave behind what he’d never had. He was just going to do what he should do in all reality and find another potential mate.

She’d had her shot at predestined mates—as wrong and filthy as it was.

The look in his eyes though…

She swallowed hard. She couldn’t back down. She would
not
let the Redwoods kick them out or hurt her baby.

Not that she had a choice.

She never had a choice…

He was near her before she could blink, that spicy scent overwhelming her, the heat of his body scalding her.

“I left.” His hand skimmed her cheek, and she forced herself not to lean into it.

“I know.” God, she knew.

“I shouldn’t have left.”

His barely restrained anger powered over her, licking along her skin, and she sucked in a breath.

“What?”

“I shouldn’t have left. Hell, Lex, baby. What happened to you wasn’t your fault, and what did I do? I left you here alone. I shouldn’t have done that. No matter what happens from this moment on between us, between the Pack, between
anything
, know this… I shouldn’t have left.”

“Why did you?”

“I’m…I’m not like my family, Lexi. I’m different.”

She blinked. That hadn’t been what she’d thought he’d say. “What do you mean?”

“I’m darker than the others. I hide it, and I do it well.” He gave a self-deprecating grin. “I’m pretty sure your brother figured it out right away. That’s something I’ll worry about later though.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.” What had he decided? Lexi still didn’t know if she should stay there and listen to his words or run from him, grab Parker and Logan, and find a way to live on the land again with nothing but a prayer for survival.