Page 27 of Heartless

Her face crumbled a little, but she bit hard on her lip. “He knew?”

“More than that,” I told her. “I think he knew his Sweet Pea was special before she was born.” I pulled the bottom book from the pile. She hadn’t noticed the stitching on the spine while it was stacked with all the others, but she sucked in a breath as she saw the wedding bells on the cover. I opened the album to the first page, and pointed to a picture. Two males and a female. Arms looped together, and the light of pure joy in their eyes. She had a ring of flowers in her hair, while the males were in matching dark suits. Some kind of hybrid between a human wedding and a shifter pairing ceremony.

“This is your mom, right? And this male is your dad.” A younger, happier version of Warren that I wasn’t sure she even recognized, but she gave a nod. The guy on the other side of her mom was smaller, slimmer, with the delicate beauty of an omega. And according to the picture Liam had managed to shake out of Nathan Marshall, Parker West. “I think your dad knew you were different, because either he, or someone in this picture, was different too.”

Chapter Fourteen – Vail

My dad was a void. Or to be more precise, one of my dads had been something other than a wolf, since when you added Driftwood Chance to the mix, I was the now the most fathered-up girl on the mountain. Not that I could assume my mom wasn’t the one with the cursed blood. She’d been a Marrow princess, after all. And if anyone had reason to abdicate a throne, wouldn’t it be the shifter with the famous bloodline, who wasn’t really a wolf at all?

As soon as Jasper had laid out his discovery, I went back to my room. Not because of anything he’d done. In fact, the thing that shook me the most was how considerate he’d been as he dissected my life right in front of me. He’d obviously spent a long time going through my dad’s notebooks, while I’d been trying to avoid thinking about what we’d uncovered in the cellar. And I couldn’t deny the emotion in his eyes as he’d pieced my parents’ past together. Not disgust, or the kind of calculation you might expect from a Clan Alpha, but kindness. And maybe even some sympathy for the girl whose story gets darker and more confusing with every turn of the page.

The only thing I’d taken from the table was the picture of my parents. And as soon as I’d closed my bedroom door, I went to my duffel, and took out Darkness’ letter. The paper was even more crumpled from being dragged up the mountain, but the picture he’d sent me was safely tucked inside. Alana Marrow and Parker West, surrounded by sunshine and flowers on their wedding day. Only now I could see the faint crease where the other third of the picture had been carefully removed.

So, who was my dad? Was this the public face of my mom’s marriage, and Michael Warren was her dirty little secret? Or had they been in love, the real deal, and my dad had taken her from him, even slapping her into a collar to keep them apart? Was that why Driftwood wanted me to have this version of my history? Was the man who I thought was my dad such an asshole, he’d been literally cut out of the picture?

It fit. But it didn’t. Like the pieces of the pyramid puzzle that were still scattered across the other end of the table.

“I think my dad’s a void.”

Jasper looked up from the stove. He was heating another ration pack he’d brought up from the cellar and I shuddered as I smelled mac ‘n’ cheese. I was no gourmet, but there had to be something in our supplies that didn’t taste like rehydrated feet. “It would make sense,” he told me, “except for the collar. I checked it again, and it definitely smells like your mom’s pillow.”

“Then maybe they were both voids.” I blew out a frustrated breath. “Or maybe the big secret was they were really in a three-way relationship with Parker West.”

He flicked me a look from under his long lashes. “That’s not exactly unusual in our world. Remember the alpha triad that’s still on the table? Menage is a kind of survival strategy for wolves.”

I blushed at the thought of being in a grown-up puppy pile with Jasper and his friends. Until a sneering Callum Sawyer popped into my head and the mac ‘n’ cheese suddenly wasn’t the only thing making my stomach flip. “So they’re both voids. And Sweet Pea – meaning me – is one, too.”

Just saying the words made my throat close over. But as Jasper kept stirring the pasta, his sleeve pulled back so I could see the golden muscles in his forearm work the spoon, my panic retreated a little. Especially as I realized something I’d suppressed in the flurry of menage imagery. “Hold on. You said the alpha triad offer is still on the table? How can you say that, knowing I’m a void?”

Jasper tapped the spoon, then pulled the pot off the burner. Wiping his hands on the dishcloth he’d draped over his shoulder, he fixed me with an icy blue stare. “First, I think we need to ban that word. From what I’ve read, it’s not just insulting to call someone a void, but it’s incorrect. And second, I can’t speak for Reed or Cal, but my offer has precisely nothing to do with your bloodline, or what you turn into on a full moon. You can be a pretty wolf, or a prancing pony. It doesn’t make any difference to me.”

I gaped at him. The strongest wolf shifter on the continent didn’t care if I had a mane and liked to go from long gallops on the beach? “As much as it would help us get off this mountain, I’m not a horse,” I muttered.

“If you are, I call first ride.”

“Oh, do you?” I wanted to sound outraged, but I couldn’t completely choke back a laugh. The burst of heat in my lower belly at the dirty smile on his face was something I chose to ignore. “I’m glad you’re taking this so well, but it doesn’t mean this isn’t a problem.” I headed back over to the table, and he followed, watching as I lay a hand on the cover of the Marrow book that was considered the authority on cursed wolves.

“I’ve learned a few things about what my ancestor called voids,” I told him. “There were six shifter families, once upon a time. The wolves were one, and mostly lived in England. The others shapeshifted into different animals and had territory in other parts of Europe. What happened to them, and why they’re mostly forgotten, probably comes down to power and politics. And because shifter experiments don’t tend to end well for their subjects.” I shuddered a little at that, and from the grim look on his face, I knew Jasper was thinking about the pack lab, too. “I want you to know, I thought I was a wolf, right up until the Frost Moon. When you said your wolf could sense mine, I believed it. The little flashes I’d seen, I really loved the idea of being this strong, beautiful omega.” I folded my arms, feeling sad and lost, even though I knew that wolf had just been wishful thinking. “I agree with you, Jasper. Void is the wrong word. Because there’s something inside me. It’s just not what you want it to be.”

Instead of looking disappointed, he ran his gaze from my tangled hair down to my bed socks and then reversed the journey. I wasn’t as good at picking up scents as other shifters, but my nose definitely detected a musky undertone to his sunshine scent. Was he… turned on by my revelation? I took a step back, not sure how to take the light in his eyes. “What are you thinking?”

“Can you show her to me?”

I flushed, as much at the gravelly tone in his voice as the idea of playing show and tell with my shifter body parts. “Sorry, but nothing’s really changed. I guess I’m still a dud, because I have no more control over my cat than my wolf.”

I slapped a hand over my mouth as I realized I’d literally let the cat out of the bag. And Jasper was quiet for so long, I felt my heart seize. Humans were often Team Dog or Team Cat. Maybe he didn’t like their fur, or the way they clawed up the furniture, or maybe he was plain allergic… “You’re a cat?”

“Yes. Well, a panther, I think. I don’t really know.” I felt heat climb the side of my neck. “I’ve got a tail, and black fur, but I’ve only seen glimpses.” Which had been enough for Callum Sawyer to call me pussycat, but still…

Jasper had tilted his head, his eyes thoughtful, and I forced myself to add, “I think… Maybe one reason your wolf left you was because he knew what I really was. And he didn’t want to get any more attached to someone who could never be your mate.”

It was something that had been haunting me since the Frost Moon. Jasper and I had complicated feelings for each other, but his wolf operated on another level. He’d always been quick to defend me, the first to lie down beside me when I needed comfort. According to Jasper, it was his wolf who claimed me that night on suds and duds duty. Maybe it was just instinct, and that he wasn’t hampered by our messy human emotions, but it was a connection I’d cherished, even before I understood how deep it ran. The fact he’d left Jasper too, just proved it was time to accept some things could never be.

But instead of backing off, Jasper slipped around the table and began stalking towards me. For a moment his expression was all wolf, and I beat a hasty retreat. But it wasn’t exactly a roomy cabin and when he didn’t stop, I threw up my hands. “Is this the whole dog who can’t help chasing the cat thing?”

He grinned, and wolfish didn’t begin to describe his expression. “This is me hunting you down so I can shake you.” But when he cornered me next to the couch, he gently cupped my shoulders and tugged me forward into his arms. As soon as we were pressed tightly together, I couldn’t stop the sigh that fell from my lips. It was exactly what I needed. A hug, just to offer comfort. Although the feeling that rose inside me was tinged with grief. Because being held like this spoke to my soul. Not just because I loved the way his arms felt around me, but because of the rumble that rose in his chest as it pressed to mine. Once, I’d answered him back, and he’d told me it was the language of our wolves. Because they recognized each other and knew we belonged together. “Don’t think for a moment my wolf is anything but all in,” he whispered into my hair. “So much so, he’s turned his back on me for screwing this up so bad.”

I didn’t want that, although I was glad his wolf wasn’t just trying to get some distance from me. But before I could ask Jasper how he planned to win him back, I was distracted by a messy pile of blankets on the floor. “Hey. I thought you were sleeping in my dad’s room.”

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