Page 8 of Branches of the Willow

“Leanna?” Mikael all but whispered as his body stiffened with tension. I felt it because I had come to such an abrupt stop that his front was immediately plastered to my back. Chills ran down my spine, and I didn’t think it had anything to do with my close proximity to my mate.

“Mikael!” Leanna whined from across the room where my father’s guards stood over her and a visibly shaken Annabelle. “We didn’t know what to do…” She cried through fresh tears.

“Shit…” I whispered, before nodding to John, one of the guards. “Where are my parents?”

“Kitchen.” His response was all business.

“Thanks.” I ignored the fact that Leanna and Annabelle were sitting on the couch, under guard, pleading and crying, and walked straight into the kitchen with Mikael following. “Dad? What the hell is going on? Where were they captured?”

“They weren’t. They showed up in a car about fifteen minutes ago.” My dad responded.

“They what?” I questioned.

“They are seeking asylum, apparently.” My dad said as he handed Mikael a bottle of beer. “Thought you could use this.”

“Thanks.” Mikael still looked slightly shocked, but I noted the disbelief in his eyes. He wasn’t buying the bid for asylum. Quite frankly, neither was I.

“I’m going to assume that Malachi was not with them?”

“No, he wasn’t.” My father answered.

“Jameson,” Mikael started firmly, “have they mentioned where he was last seen at least?”

“I was waiting on the two of you to get here before we started questioning them. Jessica should be here because of who she is, and I wanted you to be here, because you know them better than any of us. Hopefully, you’ll be able to pick up on any deception.”

Mikael nodded his head in agreement, put the beer bottle to his lips, and tipped it back taking a long pull of the cold brew. I wished I could tip one, or twelve, back with him. Suddenly, our plans seemed further and further beyond our reach.

4

Reunions

Whenwereturnedtothe living room, Annabelle’s head was in her hands, and Leanna’s eyes were pleading with me silently. She didn’t wait for us to speak first, instead she jumped right in with her denials and pleas. “I didn’t know he was trying to destroy you, Jessica. I thought he was trying to see that you were mated to one of his sons in the hopes of swaying your decisions, if not controlling them through whichever son you chose.”

“Oh, I see. Then why did you high tail it out of here? Weren’t you at all concerned for your son?”

“What would you think? I knew everyone would assume we were in on Antoine’s plans, especially after we realized he hadn’t been working alone.” Leanna motioned between herself and Annabelle.

“Now that you bring it up, what of Malachi?” Mikael asked, watching both women like a hawk.

Annabelle began crying again, but she looked up towards Mikael as she spoke. “We found him.” She sobbed out the admission and became speechless as the room descended in an onslaught of questions. The noise of everyone trying to speak at once put my nerves on edge.

“STOP!” I shouted over everyone’s questions and Leanna and Annabelle’s hysterical attempts to explain themselves. “We will do this in an orderly fashion, because I am running thin on patience, and I can’t focus with everyone trying to out-shout one another. Annabelle and Leanna, you will shut your damn mouths. Not another word from either of you unless you are asked a direct question.” Even though I wasn’t fond of throwing my power around, I made it a mandate, using my magic, not just a simple suggestion. I turned to look around the room.

“There are only three people in this room asking questions. My father, Mikael, and me. The rest of you will remain watchful from the background only. When we are done here, I will get your input, but not a moment before.” I scanned the faces around me, noting that some of my father’s guards weren’t too happy about being ordered around by the pack leader’s daughter, but they were going to have to get with the program sooner or later.

“Leanna,” I turned to her because Annabelle was incapable of speaking coherently. “What was she saying about Malachi and do remember that we only want the truth. I do not want to hear lies, fabrications, partial truths, or your personal speculations.”

I watched as she swallowed hard in response to my command before speaking. “He denounced Annabelle as his mate when she couldn’t understand his actions.” Leanna reached over and patted Annabelle’s knee when the woman broke down into a disgusting, snot-laden, ugly crying fit.

I was about to ask when that occurred, but my father leaned over and whispered into my ear. “We need to know where they’ve been, why, and with whom, from the time they last saw Antoine and Malachi.” I nodded in agreement and stepped aside so that my father could question the women. I held a few of my questions in the back of my mind as he did so.

“Leanna, I need to know…” my father started to say, but Annabelle’s blubbering only increased in volume. Dad tossed an impatient look across the room to my mother, and she simply shrugged and shook her head in the negative. She had been attempting to subtly calm the women so they could speak coherently. It didn’t seem to have any effect at all on the younger woman. That was something of note, because I knew my mom’s strength, and I doubted Annabelle could ignore her influence. My mom’s magic had, after all, saved Sierra from her grief after Jack died. It made me wonder how much of Annabelle’s crying jag was an act or if she had some special resistance.

“When was the last time you saw Antoine?” My dad asked, voice growing sterner as Annabelle’s wails increased to a far more distracting level.

“He and Malachi left the house the day of the sending off for your man.” She concentrated, obviously trying to remember Jack’s name. “I’m sorry, I don’t recall his name.” A huge part of me wanted to jump across the room and rip that bitch’s throat out. Her mate had been the one to kill Jack, who had been a good man, a brother to me, and did not deserve his fate. I felt a hand placed firmly upon my shoulders and realized I had been moving forward without thought. When the weight of that hand caused the rage to subside some, I noticed the startled look in Leanna’s eyes. I had been growling as I moved.

“Jess…” my father warned.

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