Page 40 of My Mate

“Or a deer. We still get them from time to time.”

They made their way down to the lake and Dex began to look, trying to figure out where the Newman kids would have been standing to witness a dead body. He glanced around, and at first he didn’t see anything, but then he spotted it.

“Or maybe they really did see a dead body,” Dex said. He started to rush, especially as he saw who it was lying on the ground. “Shit, Dad, it’s Lucinda. She’s cut up pretty bad.”

His father was already there, picking her up in his arms, and they took off, not going back to her home but in the direction of his father’s.

Dex stayed by his side. He couldn’t sense a pulse or a heartbeat. Lucinda was freezing cold to the touch. He didn’t know how the cold affected witches. If it even could affect them.

“Dad, what is going on?” Dex asked.

Klaus didn’t say a word, and much to Dex’s surprise, his mother was already waiting at the front door.

“The spare bedroom is made,” his mom said.

Klaus took the stairs two at a time, and they walked into the warm spare bedroom. They had at least two spare bedrooms in their home. Dex knew it had always been in the hope of strengthening their family, but it had never happened.

Now he knew the price that had to be paid.

Was this a price Lucinda had to pay for making magic?

“What happened?” his mother asked.

“I don’t know, but I’d say from the scars, a wolf attacked her,” Klaus said.

“A wolf? Dad, no one in the pack would dare attack her. It’s just not possible.”

“Not possible, and yet, look at her, son,” Klaus said.

His mother was already cleaning the wounds, and the water was red with blood. “She’s so cold. I need to get more blankets. Dex, please, dear,” his mother said.

Dex nodded and went to the linen closet to get some blankets. He looked for the thickest, which were hard to find, seeing as they mostly ran hot and rarely ever got cold.

He made his way back to the bedroom, and then realized his mother had sent him away so she could talk to his father without him there.

“Someone nearly killed her, Klaus. If her coven hears about this—”

“Honey, her coven doesn’t give a shit that she even exists. She left them, remember?”

“I remember, but even still. A coven will do anything to cause conflict. You know this.”

He sensed his father’s anger. “Oh, I know this. I also know those wounds on her cannot come from anything or anyone but a wolf. One of the pack did this.”

“But who?”

“I have no idea,” Klaus said. “Maybe whoever is going to try to kill Dex could be responsible.”

Dex pushed open the door and looked from his father to his mother.

“The blankets.”

“But we don’t have a clue who that is. Even Casey couldn’t find anyone who is suspect enough to do this,” Dex said.

“Whoever it was, they knew how to hide their scent,” Klaus said. “There were too many of the pack scent, to get a single identifying element.”

He looked toward his mom. “You didn’t have to send me away.”

“Look, I know Lucinda is part of the pack, and we all do what we can to take care of her, but covens can be sneaky, and they may consider this an attack on them.”

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