Page 131 of The Beta's Heart

“And you never thought to tell anyone about any of this?” Ash demanded.

“Why would I?” She shrugged. “It wasn’t my business.”

“Bekah was your sister-in-law!” I pointed out with a surge of anger. “And Tyler was—is—your nephew. Didn’t you care that Seymour was hurting them?”

“I didn’tknowhe was hurting them.” Her gaze turned cold. “Besides, why would I care? Rob would have, but there is no blood relation between us.”

I reeled back in shock. Something was seriously wrong here. Wolf shifters denned in packs for a reason. Families were tight-knit, our wolves wanting the connection as much as we did.

She’s sounding more and more like a rogue the longer her mouth runs, I linked both of the guys.

Yeah. She’s not acting right, Ash linked back, but Ty was too busy trying to get more answers out of the woman to comment.

“So how did my mom end up with him?”

“Bekah needed support to raise her son, and Seymour needed someone to help him recover.”

“Brenda, quit going around your ass to get to your elbow!” Ash snarled. “Tell us what you know about Tyler’s parents!”

“What do you want me to say?” she snapped back. “I already told you that Rob and Bekah were siblings. I already told you that Bekah and Beta Hunter were mates and had a son. I already told you that Beta Hunter died in the invasion! I already told you that Bekah took Seymour as a chosen mate! I already told you that Seymour was Beta Hunter’s older brother!What else do you want to know?!”

Sid rumbled deep in Ash’s chest at her disrespect, and she slammed her mouth closed, although her eyes were sullen and narrow.

“What did you mean by Seymour had to recover?” Ty asked her before Ash could rip her a new one.

“He’d been injured in the attack on Dark Woods,” she muttered. “Since Seymour was only five years older than her and had never found a mate of his own, I thought it solved two problems at once. Rob wasn’t so sure, but Bekah was too devastated from losing Beta Hunter to live alone, and I most certainly wasn’t going to let her move in here!”

Ty’s heartbreak flooded our bond, his emotions in a tight knot that made my chest ache for him. I at least had memories of my biological mom. My poor mate had believed the wrong man was his father, and that his father was a monster who killed his mother.

“What was my dad like?” he asked in a soft voice.

“I didn’t know the man personally—” Mrs. Merriweather began.

“He was yourbrother-in-law!” I squalled, shocked by her lack of interest in her own family.

“—but he was Alpha Gabriel’s beta,” she continued, waving one hand as if she couldn’t care less about a conversation that was ripping my mate’s heart to shreds. “Rob talked highly of him. I think I remember hearing that they found his body not too far from Luna Kristy’s, but you’d have to ask Ray about that.”

“Who?” Ash and Ty chorused.

“Ray Hawkins. He, Beta Hunter, and Alpha Gabriel were best friends.”

“I never heard that name before.” I glanced over at Ash.

“Nor I. Brenda?”

“Last I heard, he was still alive. He found his mate shortly before Dark Woods fell, but she was a rare ranked she-wolf and already the gamma of the Blue Rock pack. He couldn’t ask her to give that up, so he moved down there. When he got word of what happened, he raced back to help, but ended up burying more people than he found alive.”

“I think we need to pay him a visit,” Ash murmured.

“I’d like that,” Tyler agreed.

Guess we’re flying to Louisiana,I thought to myself.Gators and skeeters. Yippee. But if it brings closure to my mate and honorary brother, so be it.

“I would like to talk to you again once I’ve had a chance to process all of this, but for right now, I have one more question for today,” Ty said quietly. “What was the name of my dad’s wolf?”

“I don’t know why it matters now, but it was Poudrin. Your mother’s was Alula, but she faded back to the Goddess right after your father died. She and Poudrin were too bonded for her to survive without him.”

I know what you really want to ask her,I linked him gently,and he did, Ty. Your dad loved you. I am sure of it.

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