The Fairy Tales Collection (37 page)

He scowled at her and she shrugged.  “It’s
the truth and you know it.  Just because you don’t want to hear it, doesn’t
make it not true.”

“Are you always this outspoken?”  He asked.

“Pretty much,” Rowan said.

“What does my son even see in you?”  He
asked with mild disgust.

Rowan ignored his question.  “I want to
make this work, Mr. Taggert.  I want to be Rafe’s mate and I want him to have
his pack again.  Tell me how we can do that.”

“It’s impossible.  Rafe must choose,” his
father said.

Rowan glanced at Tagon.  “Tagon said you
wanted to speak with me about how Rafe could have both.”

“I wanted to meet you so that I could see
what kind of woman has such a hold over my son.  And to break that hold,” he
said serenely.

Rowan, fear beginning to bubble up in her
throat, shook her head.  “We’re done here.  Goodbye, Mr. Taggert.”

She stood and headed toward the door. 
Tagon stepped in front of it and she stopped and gave him a cool look.  “Get
out of my way, Tagon.”

He shook his head.  “I can’t do that.  Sit
and listen to what my father has to say.”

She glanced at her purse and he shoved it
behind him with one foot.  “You don’t need your phone, Ms. Jameson.  Speak with
my father for a while and I’m sure we can come to an agreement.”

“When Rafe finds out you kidnapped me, he’s
going to kick your ass,” Rowan said.

“He’ll never know you were here,” Arone
said.  “And since humans wander into the woods and die every year….”

He trailed off and jerked in surprise when
Rowan laughed.  “Did you seriously just threaten to kill me?”

“Of course not,” Tagon said hurriedly. 
“Father, don’t – “

“Be quiet, Tagon,” his father said
abruptly.  “No one knows you’re here, human, and – “

“That’s not quite right,” Rowan said
cheerfully.  “I texted Rafe before I left with Tagon.”

Arone glanced at Tagon who shook his head. 
“She didn’t finish her text.”

“There’s no way you know that for sure,”
Rowan said.

“I know,” Tagon said.  “I have excellent
eyesight.”

Arone gave Rowan a bitter smile.  “Human,
you will listen to me and listen closely.  Rafe belongs with his pack.  He is
meant to be alpha and you, if you know what’s good for you, will not stand in
his way.  You will tell him that he is to return to us so that he may take his
rightful place as alpha and find a nice bitch within our pack to mate and have
pups with.  Do you understand?”

“I think Rafe’s old enough to make his own
decisions,” Rowan said.

“You’re a stupid, stubborn little girl who
has no idea how much trouble she’s in,” the old man snarled.

“And you’re a dying old man who can’t stand
the thought of his child being in love with a human,” Rowan said.  “Just
because your wife was an asshole who left you, doesn’t mean all humans are
assholes.  You’re a giant dickhead but you don’t see me assuming that all
shifters are dickheads, do you?”

Tagon’s mouth dropped open as Arone stared
at her in silent shock.

“I love Rafe and he loves me,” Rowan said. 
“Get used to it.”

“He has not claimed you,” Arone said.  “He
may call you his mate but until he bites you it’s only words.”

“He hasn’t bitten me because I told him not
to,” Rowan replied.  “I told him to think about his decision for a few days.”

“Why would you do that?”  Arone said in a
low voice.

“I love him but if he wants to be with his
pack, I’m not going to ruin that for him.  Of course, you could try not being a
dickhead and let him have both his pack and his mate.”

“I will never allow humans into the pack
again,” Arone said in a low snarl.  “And watch your tongue or I’ll rip it out
of your head for speaking so insolently to me.”

Rowan glared at him but kept quiet as Arone
stared at the floor.  Finally, unable to stand the silence any longer, she
said, “Are we finished here?  I’d like to leave.”

“You will leave when I say you can leave,”
Arone replied.

Rowan rolled her eyes.  “What exactly is
your plan?  I can’t do anything for you.  Rafe is a grown man and he’ll decide
if he wants to be alpha of the pack or not.”

“You will stay here until you agree to tell
my son you no longer desire to be his mate!  Once you’re out of his life he
will gladly return to his pack.”  Arone snapped at her.

Rowan snorted loudly before dropping into
the chair again.  “Well, then you’d better get me a drink because I’m going to
be here for a really long time.”

* * *

“Rafe?  Hey, what’s up?”  Bennett said as
he opened the front door.

“I need to speak with Belle,” Rafe said
anxiously.

“She’s out back.  We’re having a barbeque
with Ella and Duncan.  What’s wrong?”

Rafe shouldered past him and ran swiftly
through the house to the back yard.  Belle was standing on the deck with Ella
and Duncan and the three of them gave him a startled look as Bennett ducked out
the patio door behind him.

“Rafe?  What’s wrong?”  Belle asked.

“Do you know where Rowan is?”  Rafe asked. 
“I’ve called and texted her phone repeatedly and she hasn’t answered.  I’ve
been to her apartment and to Gaston’s and she’s not at either place.  I called
her grandmother but she hasn’t talked to her since yesterday.”

Belle stared at Ella and the look on her
face sent ice water through Rafe’s veins.  “Belle?  Where is my mate?”

“I got a text from her earlier.  She didn’t
say much – just that she couldn’t make it to lunch because your brother was
taking her to meet your father.  She didn’t tell you?  I texted her a couple of
hours ago to find out how it went but she didn’t reply.  I assumed she was with
you.”  Belle said.

Rafe staggered back, his eyes turning
bright green, and his fangs popping out.  He turned to leave and Bennett
grabbed him by the shoulders.  “Rafe, wait!”

“Let go of me!  My mate is in danger,” Rafe
snarled.

“You can’t go alone,” Bennett said.  “Your
pack is a large one and you’ll need help if they decide to be dicks.  Duncan
and I will go with you.”

He glanced at the lion shifter who nodded
before kissing Ella.  “Stay here, honey.”

“No way, I’m going with you,” Ella said.

“We both are,” Belle said.

“No,” Bennett and Duncan said in unison.

Ella glared at Duncan and the lion shifter
pulled her into her arms before kissing her forehead.  “It’s too dangerous for
a human, Ella.  We won’t be long.”

“What if something happens?  What if – “

“Nothing’s going to happen,” Bennett said. 
“We’ll find Rowan and bring her home.”  He kissed Belle quickly.  “I’ll text
you when we have her, okay?”

“Be careful, Ben,” Belle said.

“I will, Mirabelle.  Don’t worry.”  Ben
kissed her again before he and Duncan followed Rafe into the house.

* * *

“Easy, Rafe,” Duncan murmured as Bennett
parked in front of the wolf pack’s cabins.  “Just wait a minute.”

“Do not tell me to wait.  They have my
mate,” Rafe growled.  “I should have bitten her last night.  With my mark, the
pack would not have dared to touch her.  Without it, she is defenseless.”

“Not quite,” Bennett said as she shut off
the truck.  “Rowan’s tough, Rafe.  She can hold her own.”

“Against a pack of wolves?”  Rafe said as
he clawed at the door handle.

“Rafe, just wait a minute.  It won’t do us
any good if you go in there half-cocked and ready to murder anyone who – “

Duncan broke off and sighed loudly as Rafe
jumped out of Bennett’s truck and stalked toward the largest cabin.  He glanced
at Bennett who shrugged and said, “We would be the same way if it was Belle or
Ella.”

The two shifters climbed out of the truck
and jogged after the angry wolf shifter.

Rafe kicked open the door of his father’s
cabin and stormed down the hallway.  Tagon was standing in the doorway of the
living room and Rafe, a thick beard growing on his face and his clothes
beginning to strain at the seams, shot toward him and grabbed him by the
throat.  He slammed him into the wall and shook him roughly.

“Where is she?”  He shouted.  “Where is my
mate?”

Tagon, his face turning red and his eyes
glowing a dark yellow, clawed at Rafe’s hand.

“Brother!  Enough!” 

Rafe, snarling under his breath, dropped
Tagon to the floor.  Ignoring his laboured gasps for air, he turned and bared
his fangs at Artemis.  “Where is she?  Give me my mate or I’ll kill you,
brother.”

“Rafe, I’m right here.”

He swung his gaze to the left.  Rowan was
standing by the window and his wolf howled happily at the sight of his mate. 
He ran toward her, she met him halfway, and he picked her up and kissed her
frantically as Bennett and Duncan stepped into the living room.

“Rowan, my mate, are you okay?”  He set her
on her feet and cupped her face, examining her anxiously as she nodded.

“Of course I am, honey.”

“When I heard Tagon had kidnapped you, I
thought…”

He trailed off as Rowan squeezed his arms. 
“Kidnap is a strong word.  I came with him because I wanted to, although he did
lie to get me here.”

She scowled at Tagon over Rafe’s shoulder. 
The younger shifter returned her scowl and Rowan stuck her tongue out at him
before smiling at Rafe.  “Everything’s fine, honey.  They didn’t hurt me.”

“Why did you bring her here?”  Rafe glared
at Artemis who held up his hands.

“I had no idea, brother.  It was father who
had her brought here.”

“Where is father?”  Rafe looked around the
room, growling under his breath, and Rowan slapped him lightly on the chest.

“Honey, calm down.  Your father fell asleep
like three hours ago.  I’ve been visiting with Artemis and Tagon.  Well, mostly
Artemis.  For some weird reason, Tagon doesn’t like me very much.”

She gave Tagon a saucy grin and he sighed
loudly before moving toward the door.  “I’m going to Sophina.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Rafe snapped. 
“You kidnapped my mate and – “

“Let him go, Rafe,” Rowan said.  “He was
only doing what your father asked him to do.”

She smiled at Tagon.  “You can grab my
purse from wherever you hid it and leave it in the kitchen.  I’ll pick it up on
my way out.”

The shifter blushed slightly before nodding
and leaving.  Bennett glanced at Duncan.  “We’ll wait outside.”

As the two shifters left the room, Rowan
gave Rafe a curious look.  “Why did you bring Duncan and Bennett with you?”

“Because I thought – I couldn’t get a hold
of you, you weren’t answering my calls or my texts and then Belle told me that
you were meeting my father and I thought the worst,” Rafe said.

“I’m sorry,” Rowan said.  “Tagon
confiscated my purse and my cell phone earlier and then I started visiting with
Artemis and I kind of forgot about it.”

Rafe gave her a look of disbelief.  “Please
tell me what’s happening here.”

She led him over to the couch and he sank
down beside her as she took his hand.  “Tagon tricked me into coming out here
to meet your father.  He said your dad wanted to find a way that you could both
be alpha of the pack and have me as your mate.  But when I got here, it was
pretty clear that your dad wanted me to just go away.  I refused to leave you
and told him that you could make up your own mind about what you wanted.  That
made him angry, and he said I had to stay here until I promised to tell you I
didn’t want to be your mate.”

“He wouldn’t let you leave.  That’s it?” 
Rafe said in confusion.

Artemis, standing next to the fireplace,
sighed loudly.  “Our father is not thinking clearly as of late.  To him it
would make sense to just force Rowan to stay here.  Whatever illness he has is
starting to affect his mind.”

Rowan squeezed Rafe’s hand.  “After about
an hour, your dad fell asleep in the chair and Artemis showed up.  He shouted
at Tagon for a while, the two of them moved your dad to his bedroom, and
Artemis said he would take me home.  But then we got to talking and I kind of
lost track of time.  I’m sorry, honey, I really should have called.”

“You got to talking,” Rafe said blankly.

“Yes.”  Rowan replied.  “Tagon refused to
join in, although he did skulk around the room the whole time so I think I
might be winning him over just a little, but Artemis and I are getting along
just fine.  Aren’t we?”

Artemis grinned at her.  “We are.”

“Anyway, I’m ready to go home anytime you
are,” Rowan said cheerfully.  She stood up from the couch and walked across the
room to take Artemis’ hand.  “It was so good to meet you, Artemis.  You and
Cassia will have to come visit us.”