BirthRight (16 page)

“Hi, when’d you boys get back?” she asked as
she put down the spoon and walked out of the kitchen. Arms
outstretched, she hugged Tyrone and then Tyrese.

Tyrese looked at the plates with half-eaten
food and prayed there was more.

“Why didn’t you call and let me know you
were on your way home?” she asked over her shoulder as she returned
to the kitchen.

“We were in a hurry and didn’t think about
it until a few minutes ago. What’re you doing?” He didn’t bother to
recognize the little imp who was always underfoot these days.

“I’m teaching Callum how to cook and he’s
doing a great job. We did some baking today.” She looked around the
kitchen and then back up at them. Her dark brown eyes sparkled.
“Hungry?”

“Yes, starving. Something smells good,”
Tyrone said, moving into the kitchen. Tyrese watched Callum, he
didn’t trust the smirk on the teenager’s face.

“I’ll fix you guys a couple of sandwiches
then, just give me a few minutes,” she said, placing her hands on
her hips. “We didn’t cook enough for the two of you since I didn’t
expect you.”

Callum turned away laughing.

His mom’s face glowed with happiness. She’d
done something different with her hair, the curls were relaxed and
fell around her shoulders.

Tyrese strode forward, pulled her in his
arms. “You’re right, mom. I should’ve called. “I’ll fix a sandwich
or something.” He placed a kiss on her cheek. “You are one
beautiful lady and I’m glad you’re my mom.”

Her eyes widened as they filled. “Aww,
thanks honey.” She kissed him on the cheek and then leaned back,
frowning. “Everything alright? The trip went okay?” She looked at
Tyrone who’d moved close.

The front door closed. Callum had left,
smart kid.

“We met three human females who’ve birthed
wolves. They were pregnant,” Tyrese said.

“Let me hug her for a minute. I missed you,
too.” Tyrone edged in and kissed her cheeks. “You are beautiful and
I’m just… so happy to have you in my life.” He kissed her
again.

She held him tight and then took his hands.
“Okay, sit at the table and tell me what happened while I fix you
something to eat.”

Tyrone looked at her plate. “You really
don’t have any more left?”

“I have some, but not enough. I’ll fix more,
it won’t take long. Now sit down and tell me about these women that
got you running home to your mama.”

Tyrese groaned as he took a seat.

Tyrone laughed, picked up an apple, threw it
to his brother and then got another one. He bit into it and
chuckled. “That’s a good one, ma and true on so many levels. There
was this woman, her name’s Arianna.”

Over the next hour, they filled her in on
the portion of their trip that hadn’t been deemed classified by the
Patron. They ate and answered her questions until she’d run out of
steam.

“Wow. This is hard to believe. What if she’s
like my great-great-grandmother or something?”

“I doubt that?” Tyrone said. Tyrese sent him
a pitying look for speaking without thinking.

She arched her brow. “Why?”

“You don’t look like her.” He frowned at
Tyrese.

“You don’t look like me and I’m your mother.
I guarantee you that. I’ve got the blood tests to prove it. You
wanna try and explain again why this woman can’t be related to me?”
Her voice hardened.

There was one thing Jasmine Bennett hated,
it had been drilled into them growing up. Bigotry. If something had
a sniff of it in any form, she’d get riled. As kids, they knew
better than to ever tease a child or adult who looked different or
had special challenges. She had zero tolerance for slurs or
slights. In high school, he and Tyrone had been popular because
they accepted everybody as friends. Not best friends, but
friends.

Tyrone sighed. “I’m sorry. I guess I don’t
want her to be related, so that’s why I said that. She’s creepy,
Mom.”

“She’s old and grew up in a different era.
You’d be creepy too.” She smacked his hand as she stood. “I thought
you guys had a meeting?”

Tyrese jumped up, looked at his watch and
cursed. He pecked her on the cheek and headed for the door, Tyrone
behind him. They had ten minutes.

Chapter 13

Jasmine watched the door close and walked
over to lock it. Disturbed, she went over everything the boys had
told her. The woman had been raped and gave birth to twins. After
tidying the kitchen, she picked up her phone and placed a call.

It was answered on the second ring.
“Mom?”

“Jasmine, honey, it’s good to hear your
voice.”

She bit down on her lip before responding.
“How are you and Mark?”

“We’re good. The boys?” her mom asked with
some hesitation.

“Rone’s in therapy from his accident and
Rese is here helping him. They’re both doing okay.” She paused,
choked back the dread threatening to overwhelm her and pushed
forward. “Mom didn’t you tell me I had a twin but she died at
birth?”

There was a discernible pause. “Yeah, little
Janay. She had some kind of heart problems and didn’t make it,
why?”

“I was just curious. The boys were telling
me about this woman who was raped, she’d had twin girls but
something happened to one of the girls. She was taken I think they
said.”

Her mom gasped. “Raped?”

“Yeah, he raped her and passed on some type
of virus, I’m not sure about everything, but I was curious.” She
said just enough to get her mom thinking. If she was lucky the
woman would open up and tell her more about their past. To date,
her mom never discussed anything before meeting her husband. The
fact he wasn’t their biological dad slipped out one day in the heat
of an argument. Her mom denied ever saying it, but she and Renee
had never forgotten.

“Curious about what?” her mom snapped.

“Everything and nothing. How long you guys
going to be in Miami?” She changed the subject knowing her mom
wouldn’t let it rest.

“Another week. What kind of virus?”

“Huh?”

“You said a virus was passed on during the
rape. What kind? Did the boys say?”

“Something about it slowing down aging,
helped the person heal fast, gave ‘em lots of energy, oh yeah and
it makes you real fertile. Crazy huh?”

For a moment her mom didn’t speak. “No, not
really. Stranger things have happened.”

Jasmine closed her eyes as she squeezed the
phone tight. “Yeah? Like what?” She got out through a tight
throat.

“Hold on a minute, let me close the
door.”

****

The house was dark. There was a light tap on
the front door. Jasmine heard it, but after the bombshell her mom
had dropped on her a while ago, she didn’t want to see or talk to
anyone. Not even her sons.

The knock came again, harder this time.

Jasmine rolled over, covering her head with
the pillow, expecting to hear feet leaving, not walking inside her
home.

She shot up. Her heart beat wildly in her
chest as she grabbed her throat.

“Jasmine.”

Her lids lowered in relief and then snapped
open in anger. “Silas. I don’t feel like company. That’s why I
didn’t answer the door.”

He walked into her bedroom, smelling like
outdoors and looking utterly male. Her nipples tingled in
recognition as he leaned against the opening.

“The twins went out with some of the pack
and I told them I’d check on you. They called, but no one
answered.” He stepped into the dim room.

Her heart raced as a sliver of light from
outside hit the planes of his face. He looked big, menacing and
well, damn good. “I’m fine, thanks,” she said in a dismissive tone,
hoping he’d take the hint and leave.

He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned
forward, elbows on his knees. “What happened?”

“Huh?”

“You’re upset. What happened?” His demanding
tone pissed her off.

“Nothing I want to discuss.” She pulled her
legs up out of the way.

“You prefer to be fucked?”

She shook her head at the change in topic.
“No. I prefer to be alone.”

“Talk or fuck, it’s up to you.”

He stood, toed off his shoes and unbuttoned
his shirt. A deep throb started low in her belly. Tingles of
anticipation ran amok inside her. She closed her eyes to gain
control and swallowed hard.

“Stop Silas.” She ground her teeth in
frustration. “I… I found out something a little while ago from my
mom and I’m trying to process it. I don’t want to have sex and I
don’t want to talk.”

“I’ll let the lie go about the sex, but if
this has something to do with your ability to breed wolves, I’d
like to know what you discovered.” He returned to the side of the
bed in just his pants.

She frowned and sat back against the
headboard. “Does it matter that I don’t want to be bothered with
you?”

“Sometimes, just not this time.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You
know… I don’t have to tell you anything. I’m not a wolf or a member
of your pack or your organization or whatever it is. I have a life
of my own and I’d like to get back to living it again. When will I
be able to leave? Or am I a prisoner here?”

They stared at one another for a moment.
“You’re right. You’re not a wolf, although I suspect you have a lot
of our traits. You understand pack protocol, so I know you’re just
being ornery right now. Tyrese told me they shared what we found in
Mexico, so you are aware you’re not the only human female who
breeds. And I’ll release you after your next cycle.”

Her head snapped back. “What? Why wait?”

His brow raised a notch. “Pups. We’ll know
by then if you’re breeding or not.”

Her stomach twisted and she sank further
down the bed. She was almost certain she was pregnant, but didn’t
want to take a test and seal her fate. There were so many things
she wanted to explore in her life before raising more kids.

“What happened, Jasmine?” He lay across the
bed, trapping her legs. He leaned up on his elbow and stared at
her. His eyes, more blue than green, tempted her to give into
him.

She looked up at the ceiling. It didn’t
offer a reprieve or make the news any better. “My mom was raped,”
she whispered. Answering the question she’d put to Tyrone earlier.
Arianna was not a relative.

He tensed but didn’t move.

“I had a twin but she died from a severe
birth defect. Mom was still tore up about it as she told me. My
twin’s organs, they were all wrong, they didn’t work or something.”
He rubbed her arm while she got her breathing under control.

“Renee’s older and from the man I thought
was my father. My twin and I were from the rape. Since then, my mom
has had at least ten abortions. The last one a year ago. She
refuses to have any more children after my twin’s deformity.” Tears
filled her eyes. They hadn’t asked for any of this. Now, she and
her mother might outlive her sister. Her sixty-year-old mother
still looked half her age and dated men much younger.

“I don’t want this,” she said, her voice
cracking as she looked at him.

He scooted forward and held her beneath the
shelter of his arm as she teared up. “I know, Jasmine. But in life
we have to deal with the hand we’re dealt. You’re strong and
there’s a reason you’ve been chosen to carry this burden. We don’t
know why, but you have to trust that things will work out.” He
rubbed her back, soothing her.

“How old is your mom?”

“She just turned sixty last year, why?” She
leaned into him, filling her nostrils with his woodsy scent.

“Arianna was raped when she was in her early
twenties. So was your mom. So we know whoever is doing this has a
thing for younger women, but not children, at least as far as we
know he hasn’t raped women under the age of twenty. Plus, he was
still doing this thirty five years ago. That’s a serious block of
time from Arianna to your mom.”

She nodded as understanding dawned. “Did he
rape a woman a year, every other year or every decade? It’s no
telling how many women are infected.” She looked up at him. “What
does this mean? What are you going to do?”

Their eyes met. His had darkened to green.
“Right now or later?” he asked in a slow sexy drawl that had her
libido doing flips.

Her tongue swept across her dry lips. His
eyes followed the movement. And then he crushed her to his
side.

“Are you feeling better?” he growled.

“No, not really,” she said to see what he’d
do next.

He whistled a long sigh above her head.
“What else troubles you?”

“I’m worried about my sons and what all this
means. You call them half-breeds or hybrids. Just how different are
they? And does their difference matter? Are they in danger or do
you consider them a threat?”

She felt the groan through his chest as she
settled back against the headboard.

“I’m not sure what this means. Obviously,
someone has been upsetting the balance for years and we’re just
finding out. There’s no telling how many hybrid wolves are out
there or how many human females. Rone and Rese are exceptional
wolves. They run as fast and are as strong as my trained
Alphas.