VIVIANNA
“My queen, I need you to wake up for me,” Darius whispered into my ear before he kissed me on the cheek.
I cracked open an eye to look at him. “What time is it? I feel like I just fell asleep.”
“It’s three a.m.,” Darius informed me.
So, basically, it feels like you just fell asleep because you just fell asleep three hours ago.
“What’s happened?” I demanded, sitting up in bed, unwrapping Tristan’s arms from around my waist and waking him up in the process.
“Darius, what the hell, man? We agreed it would be my night,” Tristan growled as he tried to pull me back down to him.
Darius plucked me out of the bed and set me down, glaring at Tristan. “Sorry, man, but her mother is here and is demanding to see her, now.”
“Fuck. Alright, did anyone make coffee?” Tristan said, tossing back the covers and slipping out of bed.
“Did you think we would wake her up without having coffee?” Koit answered as he walked into my room holding a mug.
I walked over, took the mug, and kissed him. “You’re the best.”
Koit grinned as I headed to my dresser, pulling out jeans and a sweatshirt to throw over my sleep shirt.
“Is my mother okay?” I asked, slipping on some shoes.
“She was brought to the island a few hours ago, but we had to check her luggage and electronics before we brought her to Astrid’s.
Everything came back clean, and Astrid got her settled, but she was adamant that she couldn’t wait until the morning to talk to you.
Claimed it was life or death, and she would only tell you directly,” Darius explained.
I frowned, knowing how unlike my mother all of this was. Could she really be standing up for herself after all this time? Or was she a plant, like Darius seemed to be leaning towards?
Let’s trust that our mates just want to keep us safe. We haven’t seen Mother in fifteen years. She could be very different than we remember.
“Who’s going in with me?” I asked, knowing that my mates wouldn’t let me do this alone.
“We will all be at the house, but I think having either Tav or Tristan with you would be best. They have the skills to tell if she is lying or planning something against you,” Darius said, his shoulders relaxing slightly once he realized I wasn’t going to fight him on this.
I gulped down my coffee as I made my way down to the living room, feeling as awake as I was gonna get.
The rest of the guys were up and waiting, following after me as we headed off to Astrid’s house.
Thankfully, she was just a ten-minute walk outside the castle grounds, so it didn’t take us long before I was knocking on the front door.
Chaz, Darius’s assistant, opened it and bowed his head to me. “Dama, I apologize for the late disturbance, but I didn’t feel it was wise to wait any longer.”
“It’s fine, you made the right choice,” I reassured.
“Let me show you to the room we are having her stay in,” Chaz said, heading off into the house.
I’d never been inside Astrid’s house before, and I felt a little bad it was under these circumstances.
My first impression of her home was that it was lived in; cozy, if you will.
Photos covered the walls, many of them in black and white, but some of the newer ones were in full color.
Many of them were of Sarma as a child, while others showed a man who I guessed was Astrid’s late mate.
At the end of the hall, there was a guard standing outside a door, armed and at the ready.
“Do you really think my mother is a threat?” I glanced at Darius.
“It’s for her protection as well. If she really is running from something, there’s no telling if they know she contacted us,” Darius justified.
Sighing, I nodded to the guard, and he stepped away from the door and opened it for me. I grabbed Tav’s hand and pulled him in after me, knowing that his calming energy would be helpful through this.
There, sitting on the edge of a twin-sized bed with a handmade quilt, was the woman who I’d called Mother my whole life.
It had been fifteen years since I had seen her last, but other than a few more wrinkles around her eyes, not much had changed.
Her white hair was shaped in an elegant bob that just touched her shoulders.
Her light blue eyes took me in as she slowly rose from the bed, her hands clasped together as if she were holding herself back.
She still wore her tan fitted trousers, white button-down shirt, and soft peach blazer.
My mother had always had impeccable style, just as my father ordered.
“Vivianna,” my mother breathed, her eyes welling up with tears.
That stopped me in my tracks. Never had she shown such raw emotion towards me.
The biggest display of affection I’d ever received from her was a kiss on the cheek or a pat on the head.
I’d never even been tucked in by her— that had been a job for the nanny.
When Father would get upset with me or punish me, she never consoled me.
But this one look, right here, right now, told me everything.
Rushing to her, I swept her up in a hug, and she returned it just as eagerly.
“Oh, my baby girl, you’ve grown up on me,” my mother whispered.
Hearing my mother talk to me like I’d always wished she would broke my emotional dam.
There was no way I could hold back the tears that streamed freely down my face.
Even though my mother was shorter than I was, she managed to move us so we were sitting on the bed.
Rubbing her hand up and down my back, she spoke soothing words to me, letting me cry myself out.
I felt the bed dip, and Tav’s presence was at my back, a silent support, lending me strength.
Once I was all cried out, I sat back and let my mother wipe away my tears with her thumbs as she cradled my face.
Tav wrapped his arms around my waist and nuzzled into the back of my neck, placing a kiss on my skin.
“I’m so sorry it took me so long to be there for you, Vivianna.
Please believe me that I had no idea what your father planned on doing, and as soon as I found out, I left him.
I might not be your biological mother, but you grew inside of me for nine long months.
If that doesn’t make you my daughter, I don’t know what does,” my mother said with a watery smile.
I returned her smile and leaned back against Tav, letting him center me, bringing me back to the matter at hand. “Mother, let me introduce you to one of my husbands, Tavas. Tav, this is my mother, Elena Beck.”
My mother’s eyes widened in surprise. “I’m sorry, dear, did you say one of your husbands?”
“Yes. I have five husbands, and I’m engaged to two others,” I explained, not sure how much she knew of what Dr. Faulk was actually working on and about werewolves in general.
“Goodness, that must keep you very busy.” She blinked a few times, then shook herself back to reality. “Tavas, it’s lovely to meet you. I’m sorry it had to be under these circumstances.”
“Not a worry. Viv certainly keeps us on our toes, so we are used to rolling with the punches. I’m just glad that the two of you are able to reconnect and you’re free from your Ambassador Beck’s shadow,” Tav said, smiling at my mother over my shoulder.
“Yes, that brings me to what I needed to tell you, Vivianna,” Mother said, wringing her hands together. “I need you to hear me when I say you need to leave here now. Run, hide, don’t look back, and tell no one where you’re going—they’re coming for you.”
Stunned at the vehemence in Mother’s words, I didn’t quite know what to say.
“Elena, what do you mean they are coming for Viv? Who is ‘they’?” Tav asked, shifting me so he could face my mother better.
Mother shook her head, eyes wide with fear. “I don’t know everything about who is involved, but your father caught on to what I was doing and was going to lock me away somewhere. I did the only thing I could—cause a scene with the divorce. I needed people to know so I could move out.”
Reaching out, I took her hands before she rubbed her skin raw. “I’m gonna need you to tell us what you know about me and anything else you can about working with Dr. Faulk.”
Mother took a deep breath and slowly let it out, pulling herself together. This was the woman I’d grown up with, composed and elegant.
“Love, it might be better if we have this conversation with everyone,” Tav interjected.
“I agree, let’s move this out into the living room,” I said, standing and offering my hand to my mother. “The rest of my guys are here, so it will be easier to just have to explain this once, and they can ask their questions as well.”
Mother nodded and followed me out of the room, where I wasn’t surprised to see all the guys lined up along the hall, waiting for me. “I’m sure you heard, but let’s head to the living room.”
We all filed down the hall into an open room with enough seating for everyone. A few moments later, Astrid came to join us with a tray of mugs filled with tea.
“Dama, I know you love your coffee, but I don’t keep any in the house, so you’ll have to do with tea.” Astrid winked as she handed out the drinks.
“I will just have to suffer through this.” I sighed before giving her a smile. “Thank you, tea is just what was needed.”
“Astrid, I’m so sorry to cause such an upheaval at such a late hour,” Mother apologized as she was handed her tea.
Astrid patted her on the shoulder. “Think nothing of it. As first advisor to your daughter, I am available whenever needed, even if it’s three a.m.”
Mother’s eyebrows raised as she looked back at me, curiosity brimming in her gaze. “Goodness, child, I feel like I’m missing something important.”
“We can come back to that. First, I’m gonna need you to explain why I need to run,” I said, causing her expression to droop.
“Let’s start off by saying that I know you’re a werewolf.
I’m assuming all your men are as well. Dr. Faulk kept all of his subjects ignorant of what was going on, other than what was necessary for us to maintain our pregnancy.
I was twenty years old when I answered an ad in the paper looking for women to help test out some new medical drugs.
With no family or connections, I’d been struggling to find a job since I couldn’t afford to go to university.
The amount they were willing to pay for volunteers was a hefty sum, and if you got brought on to the advanced group, then it came with free housing.
What they didn’t tell you was the cost of doing this was becoming a surrogate.
“I wasn’t supposed to be allowed to keep you if I was able to bring you full term.
Many of the other women lost their babies, and some of them died from complications with the embryo.
Dr. Faulk said that I was the first one to have a ‘normal’ pregnancy.
Once you were implanted into me, you latched on just like a normal baby would.
During the second trimester, I had to start taking immunosuppressants because you started to attack my body.
It was touch and go for weeks—no one was sure if either of us would make it through to the third trimester.
I was injected with so many things for reasons I wasn’t told, but it saved you,” Mother shared, her focus riveted on me.
“Where did Father come into all this?” I asked, trying to connect all the pieces.
Mother looked crestfallen as she shared this next part.
“Just after I was told the embryo took, your father came and introduced himself to me. I’d seen him around the facility but didn’t know what role he played.
He swept me off my feet, and we got married very quickly.
He was in the beginning stages of his political career, so not many people noticed that we had you right away.
Most assumed it was a honeymoon baby. Once I was married to him, he changed, showing his real self.
Anytime I wanted to ‘step out of line,’ he threatened to divorce me or to announce that you weren’t his child.
He used you as leverage against me any chance he got, and he wouldn’t let me be a part of your life.
That’s why he sent you to school in the States.
“When I begged him to have you come back, he always told me it wasn’t time yet.
Goodness, I remember when you came back for college, when you didn’t go to the school he wanted…
the rage he fell into was the worst I’ve ever seen.
As you got older, the backlash got worse each time he tried to push you, so he left you alone.
He kept a close eye on you but didn’t intervene like he had before.
Then, about six months ago, he became more irritable, on edge like something had happened, and he couldn’t do anything about it.
One evening, he took a phone call while I was reading in the sitting room.
He didn’t notice me, but that’s when I heard him talking to Vadik. ”
The guys shifted at this. I could tell some of them were holding back from asking a million questions, but they waited… barely.
“What did he say?” I coaxed.
“It was time, and they needed the last piece that your father was keeping safe. It wasn’t until they started talking about how they were going to get the pawn transported to Russia that I figured out it was you.
Vadik wanted you much sooner than it happened, but there were complications with The Collective.
That was the other part of your father’s job—to cripple them so they couldn’t fight back once everything was finalized in Russia.
Dr. Faulk had found a way to encourage growth in the next generation, but it would only work with your DNA.
He had another female werewolf he’d been working with, but nothing they did could bring the baby to term,” Mother shared, causing Astrid to gasp and drop her mug, shattering it on the floor.
My attention snapped over to Astrid as her shaky hands covered her mouth, eyes wide in horror. “No—this can’t be true—she would never…”
Having already figured out Sarma’s role in this, my heart broke for Astrid as she realized her daughter had betrayed her. Glancing over at the guys, I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, connecting with the ones I could. “We need to find Sarma, now. She is probably the inside person for Vadik.”