Page 49 of Forever Mine

“You have a son?!?”

Maddie nodded.

It wasn't quite the complication I was thinking of it, but seemed like it may be enough to ward off Elise for a while.

“Is his dad still in the picture?” she asked.

“No,” I said through gritted teeth, remembering what I knew of Oscar's sperm donor. I could feel my wolf getting more agitated. We hadn't even come over to see Elise. I still needed to talk to Patrick, but at this rate I'd have to go for a run to calm down first.

Maddie must have felt my irritation because she snuggled a little closer and patted, then squeezed, my upper thigh. I think it was meant as comfort but all it did was send blood flowing hard down south. I had to shift uncomfortably in my seat to hide the physical evidence of what her touch was doing to me. Right then I was very grateful my infatuation with skinny jeans with a thing of the past.

“Patrick.” I decided it was best to just change the subject. “We actually came to talk to you. Some things came to light in San Francisco that you need to be aware of.” I looked at my sister, knowing she wasn't going anywhere, and also knowing that he wouldn't keep anything important from her anyway, but I still had to ask. “Is it safe to talk here?”

“Yeah, sure, but how serious are we talking?”

“Life altering serious,” Maddie said, only half joking. What we were about to share with him had certainly altered the path of her life.

He took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, then, that sounds very serious. Let's head downstairs. Kyle had one of those cool soundproof devices installed there.”

We all got up and followed him downstairs. Elise, of course, followed me. It shouldn't have bothered me, but it did, mostly because she had annoyed me by putting Maddie on the spot the way she did. I did understand that it was like a ghost had just walked in the room and everyone was curious to know where she'd been and why, but it didn't change the way I felt about it, or my insatiable need to protect her. Irrational? Maybe, but then no one ever claimed a mating male to be rational.

The downstairs had been converted to an office, but a part of the old den feel that Kelsey had when she lived there still remained. It was woodsy and soothing. I liked it. Kelsey had lived in the cottage for years, before she mated my brother. She had used the space as her wolf den, not allowing her wolf out to run for fear her secret would be exposed. She didn't know she lived among other shifters. Heck, she didn't know she was a shifter. It had been a strange situation, but they had overcome it all and were happier than ever.

Looking around, I noticed the old couch from upstairs had been brought down, as well as a new big screen, even bigger than the one upstairs, and Patrick's video games. I hadn't been over in a while, but had noticed the new furniture upstairs, and wasn't surprised. Patrick had been rocking the coolest bachelor pad ever before Elise moved in, so it was only a matter of time before my control freak of a sister took over. I was thrilled to see it had all just moved downstairs. I made a mental note to set up a boys’ night with Patrick and my brothers soon.

“So, what's this all about?” Patrick asked, interrupting my thoughts as he motioned for us to sit on the couch.

I looked at Maddie, suddenly unsure of what and how much to tell them. To my surprise she just smiled back at me, took a deep breath, and started from the beginning. The very beginning. To say I was shocked was an understatement. It was difficult for me to sit there and listen to it all again, but I somehow made it through it and remained sitting the entire time.

She told them about the rape, getting pregnant with Oscar. She explained her anxiety and depression, and how Annie and Jacob, two humans, had taken them in. I knew the majority of it was more for Elise's sake than Patrick's. He had to hug E close and rub her back a few times to calm her. Mad's story wasn't an easy one to take in.

When she reached the part of me finding her in mid-anxiety attack, Elise couldn't take it anymore. She reached over and hugged my mate tightly.

“I'm so glad Liam found you. Everything's going to be better now. I promise!”

“So you've been living in the human world?” Patrick questioned. “Why do I feel like there's a whole lot more to this story?”

“Because there is. That was just the backstory so E would stop peppering her with questions,” I said as my sister hauled back and punched me in the arm.

I ignored her and focused on what Patrick needed to know. “So, obviously, I thought I had seen a ghost and I may have stalked her and found out who she was with and where they would most likely be in San Francisco. Made arrangements to include a work commitment and left. I found her the next day. I met Annie and Jacob, nothing seemed off about them, they genuinely seemed like good people.” I skipped through the details of the week; honestly, they didn't matter to pack security. “My cover for getting away with sneaking off was a charity ball hosted by Stephen Daniels.” I paused, seeing recognition flicker in his eyes.

“I know the name,” he confessed. “I've researched all the Foundation's top supporters. He's clean.”

“He's not,” I assured him.

“What exactly are we talking here?”

I took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy for him to digest. “The Order of the Verndari. Have you ever heard of it before?”

He shook his head no. I hadn't expected he would have. I got up and walked to his desk, taking a piece of paper and a pencil. I sketched a quick replica of the emblem on the rings they all wore and showed it to him.

“Have you ever seen this mark?”

He hesitated before shaking his head yes. I was surprised. Why was he hesitating? He didn't speak, so I continued.

“This is the symbol of the Order of the Verndari. They are a secret society of humans who know all about shifters. They watch us, they supposedly help us, and if the guy who told me all of this at the ball where I was surrounded by dozens of them was telling the truth, then a group within has taken to researching and studying our kind, too. I was warned they are very dangerous.”

“Larry isn't one of them. Patrick, you know he isn't,” Elise said.

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