Page 93 of Deadly Wolf Bite

“I know, and I love you for it.” She softens. “You’ve always protected everyone else. What about you, darling?”

I glance at my empty lemonade glass, unsure if I can meet her gaze right now. My head swims with so many thoughts—and worries. “I don’t know if I can do this,” I admit.

“Do what?”

My voice is strained as I say the words I’ve done my best not to think about, “My wedding’s in two days.”

She sighs. “I understand. I felt the same way once.”

I look up, surprised. “You did?”

“Of course. Just because your father’s my mate doesn’t mean I ever had any illusions about what kind of man he is.”

“I guess I just thought he wasn’t always like this.”

“He’s definitely grown worse over time,” she agrees. “But his character’s always been the same. His first love will always be himself. And his lack of care for those around him as he pursues what he wants was evident to me even then.”

“Why did you marry him then? If you knew who he was?”

“Protection,” she says simply. “For you.”

My brows lift. “You didn’t have me until after you were married.”

“No, but I knew my future children were at risk.”

I shake my head, confused. “What are you talking about?”

“You know my father worked for GV Industries,” she says, and I nod. My grandfather died before I was born, and she rarely talks about him, but I know this much. “His position gave him access to some of Franco’s more trusted advisors. During a meeting, he overheard a conversation about how Franco was developing a new drug that would make our wolves more powerful than anything we’d seen before. The executives said the researchers needed test subjects and when none volunteered, Franco began ordering citizens to participate.”

My attention sharpens, and I sit up straighter. “What kind of research?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know details except that he only wanted women of childbearing age. Specifically, women who intended to become pregnant. And only those who were loyal to the Giovanni leadership.”

“In other words, Diavolo pack members were excluded.”

She nods. “Soon after, my father received a phone call from Franco himself ordering him to bring his daughter into some clinic to see if I was a viable candidate. By then, I’d already met your father and realized he was my mate. He wasn’t the love of my life but…”

“Marrying him would make you a Diavolo,” I realize. “And exempt from testing.”

“I did everything I could for you long before you were ever in the picture.” She smiles and reaches across the table for my hand, squeezing. “And I don’t regret a single thing.”

“I appreciate you telling me all of this, Mom. But this isn’t the same thing. Lexi’s not exactly saving me from a terrible fate.”

My mother cocks her head. “Isn’t she?” I scowl, refusing to answer that, and she adds, “Without her, you might not have decided to stick around and fight for your own future instead of running away to help others with their wars.” My brows lift. How does my mom know so much about my time away? “Seems to me like you’re saving each other.”

“Does she deserve to be saved?” Even as I ask the question, I can feel the hypocrisy.

Didn’t I also scheme with Franco once? And no one forced me. I did it willingly. No matter what Lexi agreed to do, that night, she refused to tell Dom our plans, and he broke her arm. Maybe that was her way of trying to tell me where she stands.

She chose me, and it cost her.

My mother chose my father, and it cost her too.

I sigh, rubbing a hand over my face as my thoughts scatter and reassemble. When I open my eyes, my mother’s studying me with a pointed look. “Doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance?”

Instead of answering her, I hear myself ask the question that’s scarier than any of the ones that came before it. “What if she doesn’t want to marry me?”

“Ask her.”

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