Chapter Forty-Nine

Demetria

Right when Demetria felt they had a strong chance of beating the twins, more drama appeared at their doorstep like a slap in the face.

They needed to focus on training, reading Sabrina's diary, and figuring out why her cat's mind was blocked. Not dealing with her brother-in-law's mating issues.

Demetria reached over and lifted Claire's jaw upward.

The shewolf with Dan bared her teeth at Cynthia, as if she lured him over with witchery. There was nothing witchy about the mate bond. Magical, yes, but not witchy.

He glanced over his shoulder at the shewolf, and turned to put himself between the two of them, protecting Cynthia. "Calm down, Kim," he hissed.

"Calm down?" she asked, putting her arms out wide. "You beg me to come here with you to meet your daughter and you find your mate! We've been dating for seven months—"

"You think I asked to come here and find her?" he asked quietly. "I never in a million years thought I would find a second mate after all this time, Kim. But I won't let her go because of you. I'm sorry. I'll call you a taxi."

Kim scoffed loudly, and folded her arms over her chest. "Seriously, Dan? I can't believe you."

"Taxis don't come out this far," Axel said from the group of wolves gathered on the porch.

Dan sighed heavily. "I'm sure there is a place you can stay here for the night."

"Are you crazy?" she barked. "I'm not staying here while you go get to know your new mate in the next room. I'm leaving. Send my stuff to my house whenever you get back from whatever this is. Have a nice life," she said, walking toward the woods.

She disappeared into the shadows of the trees where Demetria assumed she shifted. A dense silence took over the pack house, and Claire finally broke it with a laugh. "Wow, Dad. You sure know how to make an entrance, don't you? I'm glad she's gone. I didn't like her."

He gave her a deadpan look. "You didn't know her."

Claire shrugged. "It was a feeling. A sixth sense."

Axel snorted from the porch, and motioned for her to come inside. "Come on, Mrs. Cleo. We need your sixth sense in plotting our plan for tomorrow."

Claire gave her dad a look, but followed Axel inside. Demetria cleared her throat and turned toward a silent Cynthia. She couldn’t make out the look on her face. Was she excited? Nervous? Confused? None of it showed.

Kerry nudged Dan in the ribs, and he turned back to face Cynthia. "I'm Dan," he said softly. "Dan Summers."

"Cynthia Bogart," she said.

"It's nice to meet you. Maybe we can go inside and talk?"

Cynthia looked at Demetria with a worried face. Okay, she was definitely scared. "Hey, Dan, why don't Kerry and you go inside with the others, so they can get you up-to-date on the plan."

Dan looked frustrated that Cynthia didn't fall into his arms, but she wasn't a shewolf. Kerry walked toward the porch, shoving his shoulder into Dan. Dan reluctantly followed, but not without a good look at Cynthia.

Once the front door shut behind everyone, she let out a breath of relief.

"Demetria," she said hurriedly, "how do you know him?"

"He's my brother-in-law, Cynthia. Claire's dad."

She began to bite her nail. "Oh, duh, yeah, yeah. What do you know about him? Is he a good guy?"

"For the most part, Cynthia. He's a lycan. He raised Claire by himself after my sister was killed. He'll be nice to you. He won't force himself on you. What are you scared of?"

"I don't know about this mate stuff. Before this, I traveled from town to town. I don't really settle down. It's been years since I have..."

Demetria reached forward and placed her hands on Cynthia's shoulders. "Calm down. I wanted to ask you about that. Why were you in the lycan's dungeon when we found you?"

A ghost of a memory flashed across her face, and Demetria watched the sadness form there. "The lycan king," Cynthia whispered into the night. The moonlight brightened her face enough that Demetria knew she was heartbroken. "He killed my son."

Demetria stopped breathing waiting on her to continue.

"He killed him for trespassing on his land, and when I retaliated by killing most of his men, they captured me. Told me I would come of good use to him. That's why when you all found me I was skin and bones. I refused to eat so that my magic would grow weak, and they couldn’t use me to do bad things."

Demetria put her palm over her chest. And to think she'd accused Cynthia of being evil. Demetria stepped forward and brought her in for a hug. She felt Cynthia's tears on her neck, and Demetria's heart broke. "I'm so sorry, Cynthia. I had no idea."

"It was a long time ago," she said, pulling back to wipe her tears away. "And even longer since I've been with a man. My son's father. I don't know about this—I'm a wanderer. What if he expects me to stay after everything?"

"Hey," Demetria said. "He is a good guy. He won’t force you, but he is a lycan, and his wolf is strong. He'll do whatever to make you happy if you let him. Just talk to him, get to know him, and don't freak out. At least, give him a chance."

Cynthia nodded and took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay. I can do this." She glanced at the pack house. "He is pretty cute," she said, looking down at her dress. "And I look like a little girl that's been playing in the creek."

Demetria chuckled. "I don't think he gives two cents about your dress, girl. He was fawning over you."

She thought back to the night she first met Kerry. His gaze had seared her soul. "Come on, let's go see what they're talking about." Demetria glanced up at the sky on their way inside. Tomorrow was the full moon, and they had a lot to talk about before the twins made their entrance.

They stepped into the pack house when the back door swung opened. One of the guard wolves looked like he'd seen a ghost. "Alpha! I found the professor passed out on the cell floor. He says the blonde woman came back to see him."