The Alpha’s Companion - Chapter 85

“Why?” Lacey asked her mother, her eyes wide in disbelief.

“Why what, honey?” Camari reached out to touch her hair, but Lacey pulled away.

“Why did you bring Wyatt and Calla with you?” Lacey asked. Wyatt had been her boyfriend before he found his mate, Calla, and had broken her heart. Even though she was happy now, she didn’t want the constant reminder either. “I mean, it doesn’t bother me the he’s here… that they’re here… but why?”

Camari sat back in her chair. “Well, for one thing, you’ll have to talk to them personally about their motives for wanting to leave The Silver Pack.” She sighed. “But I can tell you this. Rex is planning to attack The Harvest Moon Pack… your pack… and Thorn is backing him up.”

“I was afraid of that.” Lacey took a long swig of her wine.

“But there are many of us who don’t believe in it… who don’t want to attack.” Her mother tilted her head sideways, studying Lacey. Then she reached over and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I could never condone an attack on my daughter’s pack. I can only speak for myself, but that was the last straw. For my husband to attack my daughter like that is inexcusable.”

Lacey’s head snapped up, realizing something. “Mom, did you know that he kidnapped me?”

Camari’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “He what?”

Lacey nodded. “Yes. Rex had members of my pack kidnap me and Thorn backed him up.” She leaned forward, looking into her eyes. “Did you know?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Mom, I was being held right on the property behind The Silver Pack’s Compound.” Lacey scoffed. “Mom, they drugged me, and I narrowly escaped with my life. Then Julien found me… in a river… and brought me home.” Lacey narrowed her eyes. “You mean to tell me that you didn’t know?”

Her mother’s mouth set in a straight line. “I can’t believe he would go so far as to—”

“Mom!” Lacey slammed her hand down hard onto the table, getting her attention. “Did you know? Yes or no!”

“No! I didn’t know!” Tears ran down her mother’s cheeks as she looked at her in disbelief. “Lacey, do you really think I would stand by and let Thorn do something like that to you?”

“Mom, you stood by for years while he treated me as something subhuman… and certainly not like family.” Lacey shook her head, looking away, her dinner forgotten. “Mom, you have no idea what I’ve been through, do you?”

“Now you listen to me and you listen well.” There was a sternness in her mother’s eyes that she had never seen before. “For years, I’ve put up with Thorn, thinking that, because of the Mating Ceremony, one of us would die if I left. But when he started joining forces with Rex, and then went so far as to plan an attack on my daughter’s pack, I finally left. At that point, I didn’t care if he died or if I did. I could no longer live one more moment under that man’s roof.”

Lacey nodded. “Mom, I’m recovering from an appendectomy and I need to rest. We’ll have to talk about this some other time.” Lacey sighed, hating herself for what she was going to say next. “Mom, I’ve changed. I have my own pack to think about now. And I can’t in all good conscience, allow Wyatt and Calla to stay under this roof until I’ve had a chance to talk to them.”

Her mother nodded, raising her eyes to Lacey’s. “And me?”

“Mom, please understand….” It killed Lacey to have to say it, but as she said, she had her own pack to think about now. “I can’t let you stay here until we’ve had time to sort this out. The only way I would even consider you staying is under guard until we can talk further.” Lacey shook her head. “I have to protect my pack, the way you never protected me.”

Camari scoffed. “Then where am I supposed to go?” She stood, waving her arms like a crazy person. “I can’t go back to Thorn! If I do, he’ll kill me!”

“Mom, calm down.” Then Lacey thought of something. “Would you consider staying at The Shadow Pack? Just for now, until this is all over?”

Camari’s eyes opened wide. “Arkin’s pack? He must hate me—”

“No, Mom, he doesn’t.” Lacey sighed as a smile lit her lips. Then she gave her mother’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Right after I left The Silver Pack, when I came to ask for help, I went straight to The Shadow Pack. When I arrived, I had no expectations and I had no idea what I would be walking in to. But when I got there, Arkin treated me like family… like his daughter.” Lacey tilted her head to the side. “And my brothers—my half-brothers just like Marissa, Lynessa, and the others—treated me like full-blood family. They’re good people.”

Tears ran down Camari’s cheeks, taking it all in. “But what I did… after I went back to Thorn—”

“Mom, I’m not asking you to get back with Arkin, but we can call him to see if he would let you, Wyatt, and Calla stay with them temporarily.” Lacey smiled, squeezing her mother’s hand. “Mom, he told me what happened between the two of you and he spoke very highly of you.” Lacey shrugged. “Mom, it may be an opportunity for the two of you to talk things out and become friends.”

Camari nodded, understanding.

“Would you do this? For me?” Then Lacey thought of something else. “Mom, I don’t want you to be here when the attack comes. And it’s inevitable that it will be here, at the castle. And if Thorn sees you here, he will kill you himself.” Lacey shook her head. “And during the battle, we’ll all be busy, and I won’t be able to protect you.”

Camari smiled, patting Lacey’s hand. “Lacey, I can protect myself. Besides, it’s my job to protect you. Not the other way around.”

Lacey’s eyes met Julien’s, who just sat listening, saying nothing. “Julien, what do you think?”

A crease formed between his eyes as he thought. Then he looked up, his eyes filled with concern. “Is that what you want?”

Lacey nodded, letting out a sigh. “Yes. After the attack, then we can make other arrangements. But I think it would be best… for now.”

Julien nodded. “I’ll give him a call.” Julien took his phone off the table and then crossed the room to the big picture window and began talking in clipped tones.

“Mom, I’m sorry about this,” Lacey said, “but please understand. I have the pack to think about… not just myself.”

Her mother leaned over and kissed her cheek. Then she looked into her eyes. “I love you, Lacey. I always have. And don’t worry. I understand.”

Lacey nodded. “Thanks, Mom.”

After what she had been through, Lacey just couldn’t take the chance with her pack…. not even for her mother.