Parker picked Angel up in his arms. She weighed nothing. He ran out the back door grabbing Bob’s car keys on his way out. It had been years since Bob took the car anywhere and Parker hoped it still worked. He’d have to fake his way through driving.
There was no time to get to Arizona. Angel was in a magical coma and even though Parker didn’t know exactly what that meant, it didn’t sound like a good thing to him.
He’d take her up to Westervelt. Neither of them were witches, so hopefully the Kane brothers wouldn’t take out their brutality on them. Not that Parker was going to let anyone hurt Angel.
He’d rip them all to shreds. He’d seen his father do it. Still, his mind stuttered at the information Liz had given him. Kendrick Kane led an empire of wolves somewhere other than Westervelt? How was that possible? This was Angel Kane; the brothers wouldn’t want to hurt their sister, would they?
After putting Angel in the car, Parker stuck the key in the ignition and felt a moment’s relief when the car turned on. Maybe his luck was changing. He pressed on the gas, too hard, and the car made a loud growling noise. Damn. He hadn’t remembered to put the car in drive.
This was going to be ridiculously hard.
Why hadn’t he ever taken the time to learn to drive?
Because you’ve been hiding in a kitchen.
He growled inside. He really wasn’t in the mood.
Chapter Seven
Angel looked around at her surroundings as she shivered from the cold. She had no idea where she was. Wherever this place was, it was early morning. She stood in front of a large lake with a slight mist covering the still waters. Closing her eyes, she searched for her wolf but didn’t get a response to her query. She tried again as the truth dawned on her.
Her wolf was missing!
She gasped and clutched her chest. It was like an ache inside of her body, a limb that had been surgically removed and she wanted it back. A calm, soothing presence filled her up and breathed deeply for a moment to enjoy the sensation. It felt as if Parker held her in his arms even though he wasn’t anywhere around.
Except, of course, he was. Half of his soul now resided in her body. As she opened her eyes, she moved forward, drawn by a force she couldn’t explain to see whatever was about to happen.
She scratched her head. Something about this didn’t seem right. How could she have somewhere to be when she wasn’t even sure where „here’ was? Grumbling to herself, she kept walking.
This felt off somehow and it troubled her more than she could imagine to not have her wolf with her.
A movement caught her eye and she turned around. The sight she witnessed made her want to jump for joy. It was her inner wolf. She’d never seen her like this before— somehow separate from herself. Still, she’d recognize her anywhere with her dark brown coat speckled with white patches like a permanent dusting of snow.
Her wolf turned to regard her before darting forward into a patch of thick woods.
Angel ran to catch up, feeling as if her feet weighed two tons each. She’d never moved so slowly in her entire life.
As difficult as it was, Angel had no intention of giving up the chase. There was something really weird going on and she wasn’t going to get answers standing around.
Finally, she caught up to her wolf. Out of breath, she gasped and choked like she’d run a marathon instead of a brief jog. Her wolf batted her with a paw and she scratched the animal between her ears.
“What is this place?”
Her wolf nudged her until she turned around to regard a scene taking place on the other side of the lake.
A little boy sat holding a fishing pole with an older man.
“Who is that?”
It frustrated the heck out of her that her wolf couldn’t respond to her since apparently her canine half knew what was going on, which was more than she could say about herself.
“Angel.”
She swung around as soon as she heard someone calling her name. A woman stood behind her watching the same scene of quiet reflection. She could have been her twin if she hadn’t been slightly older than Angel.
Not able to help it, Angel raised her hand to stroke the other woman’s cheek. Usually she didn’t like touching anyone but her near doppelganger’s skin felt smooth under her hands. The still unnamed person smiled at her caress and Angel pulled her hand back suddenly ashamed of her odd behavior. As a rule, she wasn’t a real touchy-feely sort of person. She certainly didn’t caress people she didn’t know really, really well.
“Do you know who I am?”
“No.” Angel rubbed her arms suddenly feeling a cool breeze that seemed intrusive on this episode. “Who are you? And while we’re on that track, where the hell am I?”
“Such language.” The woman sighed. “You wouldn’t use it if you’d been raised with me.”
“Why would I have ever been raised with you?”
For a second, Angel could feel the answer to her own question burning its way through her subconscious. She blinked and the sensation left her.
“I’m your mother.”
“You’re my mother.”
Angel didn’t answer as a question. It seemed plausible, as possible as anything else that happened, and besides there was something about this place that simply made her feel accepting of all things. Her wolf was missing from inside of her while she roamed around on her own—sure why not?
She couldn’t run because her feet felt too heavy—
okay, that works. A woman appears with nearly her same face, claiming to be her mother—well it wouldn’t be the strangest thing that happened to her today.
“And as for your other question, this is somewhere you shouldn’t be. At least not yet.
As best as I can tell, something must have happened to you—something that has put you on the brink of life and death.”
Now that news shook Angel to her core. Goosebumps appeared on her skin and she rubbed her arms. The cool breeze picked up, making Angel feel like she’d stepped out into the middle of a typhoon.
She held her hair back with her hand to avoid being whipped in the face by the long dark locks. If she’d known this was going to happen to her, she would have shaved her head.
“So how can I go back to life, Mom? I don’t want to be on the brink of any kind of death. I still have too much to do.”
An image of Parker filled her mind. She knew she needed to separate herself from him but she couldn’t exactly remember the reasons why anymore. They blurred in her thoughts until they were colorless, emotionless, and virtually impossible to recall. She shrugged. It probably didn’t matter.
“You mated with the boy. With Parker Liberty.”
She smiled at his name. “Yes, with him.”
“So if you die, you bring him with you. That’s how it works. He’ll be compelled to end his own life and follow you.”
Angel’s heart stuttered. All the years she’d lived with the New Orleans pack she’d never heard that.
“Are you making that up?”
Her mother laughed aloud. It was a light, feathery sound like a bird twittering. “No—
haven’t you seen true mates before?”
“Apparently not.”
What had she been witnessing in New Orleans if not true mating? Angel could recall the miserable women trapped in loveless, endless sexual ordeals with men they couldn’t stand and certainly hadn’t chosen. When she’d finally reached adulthood, it had terrified her to think at any moment she might have to undertake sexually pleasing a man she felt no desire for.
Fortunately, she’d been good at making money—something a mated female was not supposed to do—so the pack had left her alone. That had given her ample time to plan her escape.