Page 10 of My Mate

He couldn’t help but think about the old witch at the secluded cabin on the edge of the forest. “What about … magic?” Dex asked.

“No, you do not go to Lucinda about this.”

“Why not?”

“Because Lucinda will not meddle with pack business, and you will have a price to pay. Trust me, there is no magic in this world that would be worth that price.”

“What about for the protection of humans? You paid that price,” Dex said.

“Yeah, I did,” Klaus said. “Do you want to know whatprice was paid?”

Dex didn’t know what price his father paid. The pack thrived. They were safe.

“How many brothers and sisters do you have?” Klaus asked.

He didn’t have any.

“On the month you were born, we had hunters in the forest,” Klaus said. “Nothing seemed to be going right for your mother, with the pregnancy. She could only run, and one of the days she went running, heavily pregnant with you, she was naked. The men heard her, and then tried to go hunting. I took care of it. I always took care of it.” Klaus continued talking as he walked outside. “I knew hunters and humans were going to be a risk to us all. Lucinda moved onto the edge of the forest. She had lost her coven, and she wanted the protection of the pack, which I granted. I went to her, and she warned me that the cost of doing magic is … pricey. It affects you in ways you are not expecting.”

“How did she lose her coven?” Dex asked.

“She wouldn’t keep paying the price of the magic. She turned her back on helping people because it always came with a steep price. She warned me. She said what I asked for would come with a price, and I told her it was one I was willing to pay. The shields went up, and for two weeks, I thought I didn’t pay any price because I did the right thing. I was wrong, so wrong. On the night you were born, your mother started to hemorrhage. She nearly died giving birth to you. You lived, but her ability to have more children was taken from us. That was the cost I had to pay to keep the pack safe. Lucinda felt horrible. It’s why she remains at the edge of the forest, staying close but not too close to the pack. She also doesn’t practice magic anymore. You will not go to Lucinda, promise me.”

“I promise.”

He had no idea of the sacrifices his father had made. Or what his parents had suffered for the sake of the pack.

“Dad, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t. I do not regret my decisions. I preserved the pack, and it saved us. We do not have to fear humans nor hunters, and for that I am grateful. You will not go to Lucinda.”

“No, I won’t.”

He couldn’t do that. If the price had to be taken out on a loved one, he was not going to risk Casey being hurt. He’d take everything for her.

****

“Ouch.” Casey pulled her hands away from the rosebush and glared at the plant. She had a small droplet of blood on her finger, and she wrinkled her nose.

Sticking her finger into her mouth, she sat back on her heels and looked around the garden. She was starting to doubt her father’s assessment of trying to relax her.

“Are you okay, honey?”

She looked up to see her mother coming out of the kitchen, carrying a small pitcher of lemonade along with two glasses.

“How much do you like roses?” Casey asked, knowing it was a pointless question as her mother loved the prickly little plant.

Her mother was also called Rose. According to her grandparents, they didn’t know what to name their daughter, and it took them a long time, but noticed their little girl was always near the roses.

Casey wasn’t quite sure how accurate the story was, but they would claim her mother could crawl at a very young age. Either way, Rose Scott loved her garden, which is why her father planted them for her.

“Oh, sweetie. Your father plants them for me every year we’re together.”

“Mom, that is at least eighteen plants I know of,” Casey said.

Rose chuckled. “I know. I know. He can’t help himself and that is one of the many things I love about your father. Some of the early plants didn’t make it. Not because we had a bad relationship or anything, just because we didn’t know how to take care of the roses. Over time, we were able to learn, and since then, this garden has thrived.”

She knew her mother loved her garden. Not so much the gardening, but she would always spend a lot of time outside, especially in spring and summer.

---