Chapter 15


    Chapter Fifteen


    Given that I don’t really want to deal with this mess, I do take my time. I shift and prowl Eric’s room.


    The walls are deep blue. The woodwork is dark and everything looks modern and expensive.


    I don’t smell other females. I mean, there are remnant scents of sex and sweat, but if he has a girlfriend


    or something, she hasn’t been here recently.


    Funny, the thought makes me jealous.


    I think about Cameron for a second, but it’s like pulling the stopper on a water tower–tons of memories


    and feelings and regrets wash over me.


    Nope. Not going there.


    I stretch and curl up on Eric’s bed. It’s a nice bed. It was nicer still waking up with his arms around me.


    My ears twitch. There’s yelling from outside, no doubt Jace is growing impatient. I wonder who else is


    here? My pulse quickens a bit with excitement. My stupid tail has the urge to wag. This is foolishness.


    None of them stood up for me. No one tried to stop Cameron or to intervene. They cut me out like a


    cancer and didn’t give a thought to what might happen to me.


    Go, N urges.


    She’s right. I’m just putting off the inevitable. I can’t run from my past, and, really, this reckoning has


    been a long timeing.


    I shift back to human and pad into the bathroom. It’s huge. Easily the size of my whole bedroom and


    marbled from floor to ceiling. The shower has dozens of heads and big fluffy towels are rolled and next


    to the sink.


    I still have some gouges and my eye has a bluish tinge.


    Why didn’t the shift heal me fully?


    When I’m dressed and approaching the hall, I’m hit with the weing scent of fried chicken and apple


    pie.


    I wish Jace had picked another day to show up. This is my first time on Eric’snds, and I would’ve


    appreciated the chance to explore.


    Eric sits at the head of the table with his men fanned out behind him.


    Jace sits at the opposite end. He brought Den, Michail, Tyler and Liam. Michail and Liam are our


    most ruthless fighters. Just what kind of ‘visit’ are they expecting?


    tters of chicken and fixings–mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, biscuits, and bowls with gravy are


    spread at the center of the table. It’s Southern fare and smells like it’s been done authentically, which


    has me ncing at Eric again. I don’t know his background or ancestry. I’m not sure where his pack


    originates or how they came to dominate the whole west coast.


    I’ve known him less than twenty-four hours.


    I’m grateful for the angle I enter the room because it lets me approach dead-center. I don’t have to


    make any immediate choices, although as far as decisions go, I’m leaning toward a new future–not


    revisiting the ghosts of my past.


    “It’s good to see you,” Jace says.


    His whole face lights up and a part of me wants to run into his arms, knowing he’d pick me up and hug


    me hard. Jace gives the best hugs. His green eyes are the mirror image of Cameron’s–so like my


    son’s.


    “We’ve missed you.” Jace’s brow creases with concern as he notices my bruises and abrasions.


    I cross my arms and say nothing.


    Eric gestures to the food. “You’re wee to visit and eat. But before these conversations go any


    farther, let me be abundantly clear. You won’t be taking Mia anywhere. You won''t go so far as touch her


    without her express permission. This is not-negotiable. So whatever thoughts of abducting her, or


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    iming her rogue, or whatever other bullshit excuses you think to make… put them out of your heads,


    right now. These are mynds, and you have no sway here.”


    Jace bristles. The tension rising off my old packmates floods the room with rage and adrenaline. “Are


    you prepared to start a war over it?”


    Eric’s smile is terrifying as he rises from the table. “Absolutely.”


    “Let’s not fight,” I say. “Please.”


    Eric pours a ss of water and brings it to me. I take a fortifying sip. He stays close. Not so close to


    crowd me, but enough that I can draw on his strength.


    I nce at the man I’d grown up with. “Jace…I’m not sure why you’re here. But …I can’t go back.


    There’s been too much…” pain, betrayal, rejection, neglect… I clear my throat. “We’ve all moved on.


    You look well,” I tell him. “You all do. I hope you’re all happy–”


    “Cameron’s dying.”


    “That’s not her problem, mutt.” Eric shakes with rage. I instinctively put my hand on his arm and he


    calms. Jace frowns.


    “Mia has a life here,” Eric says. “A new pack.”


    “Mia…” Jace’s green eyes beseech me. “Please. We are your family. Cam calls for you in his sleep. He


    won’t stop calling for you. He’s dying. Can’t youe back and help him, or at least juste home


    and give him peace?”


    I stare between Jace and Eric. My past and my present.


    What I say and do next will impact our wolfmunities, my future and my family.


    “I’m sorry,” I tell him.


    Jace ps his hands on the table. His eyes sh to the gold of his wolf. “I didn’t want to do this,” he


    says slowly. “But you’re not leaving me many options. And I know you’re the victim in all of this and I’m


    sorry for it, but time is something I don’t have to give. You need toe home, Mia. All of you.”


    I suck in a breath. He can’t know…he can’t possibly mean…


    Jace waves his phone. “I have the photos. The birth certificates. I’ve checked the dates, and they


    match up. He’s your Alpha, and you can’t keep his children from him.”


    You can hear a pin drop in the room. Michail and Liam, their mouths hang open.


    Eric freezes beside me. “Is it true? Are the kids his?”


    He doesn’te right out and say it, but we both know thisplicates things. Alphas are royalty, and


    while Cam chose to cast us out, he does not know of his offspring, and they’re the rightful heirs to his


    pack. A fact I know every male in this room is thinking.


    “Mia…” Jace shakes his head at me.


    “Don’t look at me like that,” I snarl at him. “None of you helped me. I was beaten and bleeding and cast


    out with nothing–not even clothes. Cam didn’t give a fuck about me. He swept me aside like dirt. How


    was I to know he wouldn’t do the same to my children? Or that your new Luna wouldn’t try to kill them–


    the same way she attempted to kill me?”


    Eric takes my hand. “I’m sorry for what happened to you.”


    His dark eyes holdpassion and something else? I’m not sure what he is feeling or what I am


    supposed to see. “This is a decision only you can make. You’ll have to choose, Mia,” Eric says quietly.


    “Cameron or me…”