Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
After her proclamation the night before, Kellen had turned his head away and said nothing.
She understood why he wanted to protect his heart, which was under an enormous amount of stress.
Samara made sure to sleep on the edge of the bed, her back toward Kellen.
It was the only way to make sure they didn't touch if they rolled around.
If they touched, she knew she wouldn't be able to control her desire to prove just how powerfully she wanted him.
Even in her dreams, the desire continued to build, pushing her toward him.
The rising sun spilled through the cracks in the curtains, hitting her face and bursting the joy of the dream of Kellen giving her the most powerful inner strength, love, and orgasms to boot.
Kellen still slept, facing away from her.
Just as well, because she wasn't ready to continue their argument.
As she washed, she couldn't help but notice the blue tinge on her fingers was almost invisible.
Her mood lightened somewhat as she dressed and headed toward the living room.
The sleeper sofa appeared empty, and she found Grace in the kitchenette brewing coffee and setting out bagels she must have ordered from room service.
The door to Stephen and Leo's room was still closed, so if she and Grace were going to have it out, now would be the time.
They would just have to be quiet about it.
Damn the torpedoes. She pulled out one of the bar stools next to the raised counter and sat down, waiting for Grace to finish.
Once she had the oversized tray filled with two different cream cheese containers and the lox piled high, only then did she turn to face Samara.
Her gray eyes were wary but not with the attitude of someone completely broken.
"Why?" It was the only word Samara could say before her frustration at what had happened and her fear of what Grace would tell her collided, paralyzing her.
Grace tilted her head to the side, just like Kellen. The movement startled her but also reminded her that losing this battle might mean going on the run again. She wouldn't stay with Kellen's brotherhood if it meant facing him and his mother every day knowing that neither of them wanted her there.
Grace just sighed. "Why did I refuse to help you escape? I never thought you would succeed. No one has ever managed to get past the tree line, never mind burning the whole house down. Why was I so determined to keep you occupied with menial work? It kept you alive and away from Josiah when he wasn’t doing whatever he was doing to you.
If you mean why did Josiah kidnap you? I have no idea.
If we're lucky, the answer is in the canvas bag or the safe and lock boxes.
“If you want to know why I drove my son away instead of joining him when he made the run for freedom.
.." Grace's face changed from wary to sadness, ".
..someone had to keep Josiah distracted and prevent him from ever finding Kellen.
I didn't know Kellen had made a pact with the other two.
I thought he was alone in his quest, and I knew that someday, somehow, Josiah would find him and torture him to death.
I would trade my own life to prevent that, even if it meant never seeing my son again. "
"Does Kellen know this?" Samara asked.
Grace nodded. "I told him last night. He also told me about how you tried to kill your own wolf shadow. That's why we were in the lobby for so long."
Holding onto her anger at Grace would have been easier if her answers were less direct, less believable. Having a mother who loved her son so much that she stayed behind with a megalomaniac to keep her child safe... Samara could only imagine herself doing the same if she ever had a child.
At the rate things were going, that was a big if.
"I still wish you had at least tried to help." Hey, if honesty was the word of the day, she might as well confess her truth right now. "And I will not allow you or Kellen's wolf shadow to determine my future with Kellen. If he wants me, I'll stay with him until the end of our days."
"And I admire you for trying to fend off Josiah by killing your wolf shadow. If only it had worked."
"How do you know it didn't? Even Kellen isn't completely sure."
Grace started to answer, but the other bedroom door opened, and Stephen walked out, dressed in fresh jeans and gym shirt, his hair still wet and slicked back from the shower.
Leo followed behind, wearing his ever-present brown leather jacket with a similar t-shirt and jeans.
Grace placed the platter of bagels and fixings in front of them and offered to pour coffee while they ate.
Samara selected a plain bagel and regular cream cheese to nibble on along with her coffee.
It took another ten minutes before Kellen joined them.
He stopped just short of the kitchenette and stared.
Samara could almost untangle the look of surprise on his face.
His mother was serving his best friends and his girlfriend breakfast, presenting him with a perfect picture of domesticity.
Maybe one he's always dreamed of, but never thought he could have.
"Morning," he muttered, and sat on the last available bar stool next to Samara even though he wouldn't look at her.
His mother gave him a cup of coffee, but he waved away the cream and sugar.
Samara could smell the far more pleasant scented shampoo and soap the hotel had provided mixed with his aftershave.
She kept her eyes on her food. More than anything she needed to hide everything she felt for Kellen until they settled things between them.
Just the two of them, a man and a woman, with no wolves or brothers or mothers involved.
It was the only way Samara could be sure of Kellen's feelings, and anything less than love and devotion was not acceptable. If she had to walk away the least she could do was keep her pride and save her tears for when she was alone.
Grace finished her breakfast first, so she cleaned up the sleeper sofa before closing it. Then she pulled a heavy polished desk away from the wall and pulled it toward the middle of the room and placed the canvas bag on top. The rest of them quickly finished eating before wandering over.
"I'll take the bank ledgers." Stephen picked up a stack of old-fashioned account books and settled into a comfy corner chair near the window.
Leo picked up a stack of what looked like scrapbooks. He flipped through the first few pages of the one on top. "These are from a news clipping service. I'll see if I can figure out what Josiah was tracking. Stephen, would you hand me..."
Stephen grabbed the hotel's branded pen and paper pad and handed them to Leo.
"I'll take those envelopes." Grace reached for the one on top of the stack before sitting on the floor. "I've seen Josiah filling them with receipts. I can trace what he was purchasing and from where."
"Here, you can use this pad and pen. I'll get the ones from the bedroom.
" Leo handed Grace both and left to get his own.
Grace watched him with an odd look on her face.
It was almost as if the friendly gesture was completely foreign to her.
When she noticed Samara staring, she just shrugged her shoulders and went to work.
That left the smaller lock boxes. Kellen grabbed one for himself and handed the other to Samara, careful not to brush his fingers against hers. "Let's see what's inside."
"The combination is the same as the big safe," Grace said before repeating the numbers.
Samara opened her box. More papers were folded and stacked.
Since they looked yellow with age, Samara made sure to remove them with extra care to keep them from falling apart.
Unfolding the first one, she discovered it looked like a map of Montana, but before Montana became a state.
Someone had drawn circles over the map, marking the names of Native American tribes: Crow, Cheyenne, Salish, Blackfeet, and others.
But there were more circles naming the territories of wolf shifter populations: Riverstone, Firebrand, Moonclaw, and Shadowstalkers.
The name Shadowstalkers was crossed out with a thick 'X'.
Not the most subtle way of telling a map reader that the pack no longer existed.
There were more maps of the same area underneath, each one from a different decade.
In each one different territories of the Native American’s lost lands were circled and the boomtowns that flourished then died were listed.
And in later ones, railroads starting to connect different communities across the state were drawn on top of the circles.
The location of the three surviving wolf shifter packs stayed the same.
The X over the Shadowstalker territory also remained, as if Josiah needed a constant reminder of their demise.
She could see Josiah getting off on their extinction, but why would he care?
There were twenty maps in all, and Samara got the impression that Josiah was marking the boundaries of his competition for whatever resources he needed.
"Have any of you ever heard of a wolf pack called Shadowstalkers?"
"No."
"No."
"No."
"Yes."
Of course, Grace would have heard of them.
She put down the receipts she was looking at.
"Josiah led a raid on their territory right after he took over the Riverstone Pack.
He ordered his omegas to lace their wells with silver.
While those who didn't drink from the well did what they could to save their families, Josiah sent both his omegas and betas to slaughter them all. Just like he did with Riverstone."
After watching what the Brotherhood had done to the bounty hunters, she could only imagine what that bloodbath would have looked like.