Chapter 4
Dylon heard his name and turned to see a stunningly beautiful woman who appeared young, her body tight, her face unlined.
The only indication of her age was long silver hair falling in layers around her face, highlighting sculptured cheekbones and soft lips.
Her ice-green eyes were like lasers that could latch onto prey with pinpoint accuracy.
He knew who she was?he’d met her when she paid a visit to his parents. Oh Fuck! She knows!
“Hello, Oracle,” Dylon said.
“Wait, you two know each other?” Jackson asked.
“Yes, I met Dylon when I was visiting his parents. How are they?”
“They were fine the last time we spoke, ma’am.”
“I am glad to hear it. Please send them my regards the next time you speak with them.”
“Will do.”
“Dylon, would you rather I tell Jackson what happened to you? Would it be easier than for you to have to relive it?”
“No ma’am, I’ll do it,” Dylon said, glancing at his mate before looking at Jackson.
“I was an enforcer with the Silver Point Pack and was accused of betraying the pack. I was locked up and repeatedly beaten in an effort to obtain my confession. The last time, the beating did not stop and I blacked out. After that I have no recollection of anything until I woke up here, apparently like new. My parents will thank you personally for saving and healing me.”
“Why did they think you betrayed the pack?” asked Jackson.
“Because of a video they had showing someone who looked like me talking about pack business to an unknown person.”
“But you are sure it wasn’t you?”
“Yes, I’d have remembered if I’d done it and I would never have done it in the first place.”
“Okay, let’s leave that for later. Do you know if the Silver Point Pack wants you dead?”
“I’d assume so since they beat the crap out of me and left me for dead. Do you know where they dumped me?”
“In a ditch running alongside a highway near our old pack house.”
“The one on the mountain near Blackwood Pass?”
“Yes. Do you think they’ll check to see if you’re dead?”
“I dunno. Maybe. But I don’t see why they would.”
Jackson turned to Mystia and said, “Better tell Jimmy to be on the lookout, just in case, when you guys go home, and I think you should take some enforcers with you for a few days.” Then Jackson turned back to Dylon.
“You are welcome to stay here. I’ll have a suite prepared for you and Cody as I expect some alone time will be needed. Any questions?”
Dylon thought and knew he needed to ask the question that might get him killed. “Yeah…why did you kill your family and the rest of your pack?”
Jackson stared at him, unable to believe what he’d heard.
He heard Steel growl and saw Cody move closer to his mate while Colton grabbed Ian, shoving him behind him.
A tsunami of pain and grief flooded his body as his mind rebooted the memories of the night in Las Vegas when he was told his parents and younger siblings were murdered.
Unable to breathe, heartbroken and numb—it was as if it happened yesterday.
“Dylon,” said Oracle, “do you believe I can only speak the truth?”
“Yes, you’re an Oracle so you cannot lie.”
Oracle inclined her head slightly in acknowledgement of Dylon’s statement before saying, “The people who killed Jackson and your mate’s family were the Silver Point Alpha and his enforcers. You have been lied to by them.”
“But why? I don’t get it. What a fucking mess.
Why don’t you go to the High Council? I can talk to my father.
You can’t let them get away with this!” Dylon was angry.
He was with Rudy when they found the old pack house.
Fuck, I might have killed my mate. Holy Shit!
My wolf doesn’t like that thought. “Look Oracle, my father would listen to you and if you tell him that, the High Council would take action against them. Let me call my father so you can speak to him.”
“Who the fuck is your father,” growled Steel, “and why would the High Council listen to him?”
“My father is Franklin Royd and the vice chair of the High Council. Oracle knows him. She can speak to him about Silver Point.”
“Mother, is this true? You could’ve done this and stopped the threat my mate and my son live under? Why the fuck didn’t you say so?” yelled Steel.
Jackson rested his hand on Steel’s arm, calming him while he addressed Oracle. “I know there must be a very good reason why you didn’t tell me about this.”
“I am in possession of a great deal of knowledge but it is under the control of the Fates as to when and where I am allowed to disclose it. I am sorry, but that is the part of being an Oracle that is the hardest.”
“Bro, please don’t get angry at her,” begged Cody, “Because you’d have to be angry with me too. The information I possess is for my use alone. That’s why Mom made sure no one else knew about me. She was afraid I’d be tortured for my knowledge if it was found out.”
Jackson stared at his brother, the pain evident on Cody’s face.
He finally realized the tremendous burden his brother must live with—just as painful as for Oracle to know she had the power within her to protect the ones she loved, but couldn’t.
“I’m not angry at either you or Oracle, just sad about your burdens.
” Turning to Dylon, he asked, “Are you satisfied the Blackwood Pack and, more specifically your mate, weren’t responsible of the massacre of the Fox River Pack? ”
“Yes. But I have one more question.”
“Go ahead.”
“When I told you I wasn’t on the tape, you said we would come back to that. Why?”
Mystia answered him, “Because it was you. You came to my mate’s gas station and lied about knowing Jackson.
You were about to beat Jimmy up when I appeared.
I used several spells, first to immobilize you, another forcing you to answer my questions and then finally, one to make you forget everything. ”
Dylon’s eyes widened as he listened to the woman. “You did that to me?”
“Yes.”
“You’re the cause of me being beaten nearly to death? Do you have any idea how it felt? How my parents would feel if I died?” Dylon was enraged and shook off Cody’s hand on his arm. He wanted nothing more than to leave and go home—away from these fucked-up people and their war.
Mystia answered coldly. “About the same, I guess, as how Jackson and his brothers felt when they found out their parents and six younger siblings had been killed. Why don’t you ask Cody how he felt as he suffered with the knowledge something terrible was going to happen to his family but couldn’t do anything about it?
Ask him how he felt when he found out his world was gone.
Ask him how he had to feel the pain twice.
Go ahead. If you are going to condemn me for helping these boys, one who was pregnant with a pup, you had better get the whole story. Isn’t that what your father would say?”
Dylon looked at his mate’s stricken face and tears tracked down his cheeks.
He saw a bottomless well of pain in Cody’s eyes causing his wolf to howl at the knowledge their mate was hurting.
Fuck! What the hell is the matter with me?
He got off the hospital bed and wrapped his arms around his mate, breathing in the smells of home.
How could I be so selfish as to hurt the gift I was given by the Fates?
My father would skin me alive if he ever found out I was so thoughtless as to cause my mate pain.
“Shush. ma moitié, I’m sorry.” Dylon said as he held Cody, offering comfort to ease his pain.
He was ashamed he’d thought only of himself and knew he needed to do better to be worthy of his mate.
They stood together for a long time as Dylon listened to his mate’s sobs until they finally subsided with only an occasional hitch in Cody’s breathing. “Are you all right, ma moitié?”
Cody rested his head on his mate’s shoulder and nuzzled Dylon’s neck inhaling the calming scents of orange blossoms, honeysuckle and woody cedar musk.
He stayed within the safe harbor of his mate’s embrace and felt his body relax for the first time since the massacre.
His wolf was lying down but still watchful.
He felt so peaceful—a feeling he couldn’t ever remember having before.
No longer was he worried about someone finding out what he was.
Now Jackson knew and so did his mate—and Dylon was still here.
He hadn’t left Cody. Could it be true? Has Dylon accepted me for what I am?
The need to know the answer was too strong to ignore and he pulled back from Dylon’s arms.
Looking at his mate’s beautiful face, he asked, “Do you accept me as your mate even though I have…have...”
“The ability of foresight?”
“You know what it is?”
“Yes, I do and I think it’s amazing the Fates gave me such a special mate.”
“But I’m like a carnival sideshow. Either they’d scoff at what I’d say or they would want to use me. I can’t win.”
“Ma moitié, I believe in you. I’m amazed at your strength. Don’t you know only very special shifters are given this ability? And that is what you are. Do you know what I thought when I was coming out of my coma?”
“No, what?”
“I was over the moon to discover I had a mate. I didn’t care what you looked like or who you were, my wolf and I were in heaven knowing we finally had a mate.
And then to discover how gorgeous you are and your foresight ability, I was beside myself with joy.
I’m sorry I behaved so badly that I hurt you. I promise it will never happen again.”
Cody examined his mate’s face and found what he was searching for—the truth of Dylon’s words. He smiled, thankful for the first time since discovering he had a Fated Mate. Glancing around the hospital room, he saw they were alone.
“They left a while back,” Dylon said. “Although, I think there are two guards outside the door, if I’m not mistaken.”
Cody chuckled. “Yeah, Steel would’ve insisted. He’s always been like that but more so since Daniel was born.”
Dylon reached for his mate’s hand and led him over to the small couch in the hospital room. After settling his mate next to him, he said, “Tell me about your, I mean, our pack. Jackson’s the Alpha and your brother, right?”
“Yes, he just had Daniel…”
“Wait, you have an Omega leading your pack?”
“No, Ian is an Omega.”
“The doctor? An Omega?”
“Yes, and he is mated to my fellow triplet, Colton.”
“The nurse?”
“Yes, he’s the middle one and Carson, who you haven’t met, is the other one of our triad. You met Jackson and he has a twin brother, Logan who’s an interior designer and then there’s Dakota who’s a chef and my youngest brother, Zane, who is a computer geek.”
“What does Carson do?”
“He works with Steel and Slate in Dire Enterprises.”
“Holy shit! Dire Enterprises?”
“Yeah, you’ve heard of it?”
“Fuck, my father speaks of the company all the time. They do so much good for all wolf shifters. In fact, other paranormals are pissed that Dire Enterprises only helps wolf shifters.”
“Well, that’s because of the restrictions placed on the Dire Wolf Treasure.”
“Dire Wolf Treasure? I thought that was a myth.”
“No, it’s very real and Steel’s father is the guardian of it.”
“Really? Wait, if I remember correctly, only a Dire Wolf can be a guardian and they are extinct…killed each other, according to what I read.”
“Well, you’re correct about the Dire Wolf guardian bit but wrong about not any being alive. Maximus, Oracle, Steel and Slate are all Dire Wolves…and now Daniel is the newest Dire Wolf.”
“I didn’t know Oracle was a Dire Wolf. Hold on…Jackson is an Alpha who got pregnant and had a Dire Wolf pup?”
“Not exactly. When he and Steel claimed each other, Jackson received the gift from the Fates to have pups. He’s an Alpha/Omega hybrid…the only one in the world as far as we know.”
“No shit! Wow, I wonder if the High Council knows about this?”
“You can’t tell anyone, not even your family. It would put my brother in even more danger considering we’re already hunted by our uncle. If he knew Jackson had a pup, he’d place a kill order on Daniel.”
“I’m missing something. Why would your uncle want to kill a baby?”
“Because he wants the pack lands belonging to my father…I mean to Jackson, now as the eldest son. If something happened to Jackson, title would pass to Daniel.”
“Why does he need your pack land? Silver Point pack lands are plenty adequate to meet their needs. I don’t get it. Is that why he had your parents killed?”
“Yes, but not only my parents. My uncle had my six younger siblings killed along with the rest of the pack…every man, woman and child. Gone, all gone.”
Dylon was appalled, but when he saw the sadness and pain cross his mate’s face, he pulled him into his arms once again. Holding him tightly, he whispered words of comfort and when his mate’s body relaxed again, he said, “Cody, we don’t need to talk about this.”
“No, it’s all right. Sometimes it feels so fresh…like it just happened,” Cody said, sitting upright. “It’s important you know why you can’t tell anyone about Daniel.”
“I understand now, and I won’t say a word to anyone including my parents. Do you know why they want your pack land?”
“Yeah, something about finding gold in the Fox River that runs through it.”
“You mean the motive was greed?”
“Yeah, and you know what’s funny? If my uncle had asked if he could pan for it, my father would have said ‘yes’.
See, there was no reason to kill anyone.
But what’s even worse is if I’d only told my father about my vision, my parents and younger siblings would be alive today.
” And with that confession, Cody broke down, voicing the guilt he felt about not preventing the massacre.
Dylon lifted his mate onto his lap and wrapped his large muscled arms around him, holding him in a circle of love as he attempted to reassure him.
“Darling, you don’t know that for sure. There might be other reasons why your uncle killed your family.
This doesn’t make sense. If your uncle wanted the gold, he could have challenged your father for control of your pack.
But he didn’t. Instead he took a risk that could get him a death sentence if he was found out.
Why take that chance when there was another way to get control? No, something isn’t right.”
Dylon’s words sank into Cody’s mind and he began to feel some hope. His mate was right. “But, what could it be?”
“I don’t know, but it’s something to think about.”