Page 28 of Stolen Mate

“They’re your people now too. And trouble has already arrived; no way to pretend it never was. I don’t think Henry would be foolish enough to attack Zak outright. Trust me when I tell you, he’d lose.”

“You seemed to know something about my birth mother. Did you know her?”

“Not really. I have vague impressions of her. I was only two when she left. Annie knew her better. She was older and your mother was kind to her.” He smiled. “She was fierce, your mother. She had been abducted and forced into a pair bonding with your sire…”

“You never call him my father.”

“He was a bastard. I don’t call Henry my father, either.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t remember any of this; it’s just what I’ve been told over the years. Your mother was able to contact a member of a group known as the Shadow Sisters. With few exceptions, they don’t trust male members of shifter society. If you’re interested, Annie can tell you more about them. She’s worked with them for years.”

Derek chuckled and shook his head. “Her mate, Deke, thinks she no longer does, but I know my sister. No cave lion is going to tell her what to do. Anyway, your mother was able to communicate with them, and they tried to get her out. Somehow Henry and your sire got wind of it, caught the woman from the Shadow Sisters, and murdered her, thinking it would force your mom to stay. She was pregnant with you. But she didn’t let them stop her. She got the both of you out and carved out a life for herself here in Mystic River.”

“Did she live in town? Are there people who knew her?”

“Probably. The best person to talk to would either be the retired sheriff, Desmond, or Colby Reynolds. Desmond was sheriff during your mother’s time. Colby is… well, Colby. I’m convinced there’s little that goes on—past, present, or future—that he doesn’t know about. I can probably arrange for you to meet with them.”

“I’d like that. Do you know where she lived?”

“Right here. This was an old homestead cabin that she worked out of. When I came to Mystic River last year, I bought the homestead cabin and renovated it.”

“You did a good job.”

“It isn’t fancy and doesn’t have a lot of separation.”

Tess laughed. “It reminds me a lot of my loft down on the waterfront. Do you know how my parents ended up with me?”

“The story goes your sire found out where your mother was and came after you or probably both of you. He confronted her as a bear, she shifted and fought for you. She managed to kill him.”

“Did she die of her wounds?”

“I wish I could tell you she did. The people who raised you must have come across the fight and thought they’d be next…”

“Oh my god,” whispered Tess.

“They didn’t know, Tess. There was no way for them to know. Somehow, probably as she was dying, she had to have shifted and asked them to look after you and then shifted back. Your parents had to have been terrified, but still they located you and got you out of Alaska. They had no other choice. Even if they’d known about Henry’s clan, if they’d tried to return you and he knew they’d found out about shifters, he’d have killed them as well. It’s one of our most sacred laws—non-shifters cannot know about shifters.”

“But they killed her…”

“No, baby. They killed a polar bear—an enraged one with blood all over her, who’d just killed another one. And then even as scared as they had to have been, they took you, protected you, and gave you a life. No, if you ask me, your parents were heroes.”

She flung her arms around his neck, hugging him close. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For telling me about my birth mother and what happened to her, but more importantly for not allowing me to think even for a moment that the parents who loved and raised me did anything wrong—the whole illegal adoption thing notwithstanding.”

“Your mom is kind of a badass legend in polar bear circles. We can leave for Zak’s in the morning, but we probably ought to try and get some sleep.” He stood up and set her—reluctantly, it seemed to Tess—on her feet. “You take the bed; I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Nonsense. If anyone sleeps on the couch it’ll be me.”

“I’m not having you sleep on the damn couch,” he said grumpily.

Tess suppressed her smile. She was finding Derek got grumpy if he felt you were insulting his chivalrous nature. “Okay, but I’m not having you sleep on it, either. We can share the bed. God knows it’s big enough.”

They stared each other down. Finally, he relented. “Fine, but you stay on your side of the bed.”

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