BirthMark (19 page)

Sensing the doctor’s resolve, Silas nodded. Every time someone new entered the compound, even if it was a different wing from his private quarters and below ground, it was still too close to his mate and litter for him. But as Patron, he needed to put aside those feelings and do what was best for the wolf nation. There were times when his role as Patron and Alpha of his den, or daddy according to Jasmine, clashed. He didn’t think that would ever change.

“Okay, we’ll do this then.” He walked into the room and greeted the four men and one female. As the doctor introduced each person, Silas shook their hand and did an in-depth scan of their bodies and mind. The third man smelled familiar but Silas couldn’t place it, but the fool was hiding something. Silas poked a bit. The man winced. Silas let it go and finished the scan. When he finished with the last person, he went over the rules.

“You can all follow Dr. Passen, except you, Dr. Chism.” Silas pointed to the tall, lanky red-haired male with the secrets. The color left Chism’s face, making him look guiltier.

Silas motioned for him to follow him. Chism’s green eyes widened, his mouth opened and then closed with a snap. With a swipe of his tongue across his lips, Matthew Chism stood, glanced at a frowning Dr. Passen, and followed Silas out of the main room into a much smaller one.

“Take a seat,” Silas said as he took one at the small wood table.

Matthew sat down and looked at him. Silas sensed his nervousness and didn’t prolong the issue. “You’re hiding something, what?”

“S-s-s-ii-rr?” the man stammered.

This was not the way he'd planned to start his morning. When Hank had contacted him regarding the new arrivals, he and the twins were preparing to pick up the trail of the rebels. It would be slightly harder to do this morning than last night, when he'd canceled the meeting, but everyone agreed it was in their best interest to bring the group in for questioning.

“I will say this only once. Tell me what you are hiding in the next minute or security will be carrying you out of here in a body bag.” The man jerked back, his face devoid of color. “I…my mate and I, we....” He exhaled. “My mate and I took a chance answering Dr. Passen’s urgent request for assistance. I specialize in tissue identification, did my dissertation on it in fact, and when he sent word for me to come, I said no. Then he mentioned there might be a virus attacking the wolves of the half-breeds. And I knew I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t help. I am the best in my field, not bragging, it’s just the truth,” he said in a rush before inhaling.

Silas leaned forward. “Why is
that
so important to you? You’re a full-blood.”

“My mate…he um…well, his sons are half-breeds. And even though they don’t, you know…uh, talk to each other, he…we want to make sure they are safe.”

Silas blinked, inhaled again and closed his eyes.
Hell, no
. Wasn’t the bomb and virus more than enough yesterday? It’s not like this week didn’t already hold the honor of the absolute worse ever, he did not need this complication. Not today. He inhaled the man’s scent again to be certain and released it with a muttered curse.

“Who is your mate?” Silas growled, needing to hear him say it. As much as he prayed to the Goddess that the devil hadn’t risen from the dead and walked through his front door, he knew he wouldn’t be so lucky.

“Please, Sir. There are complications… people could be hurt. If it’s alright with you, can he remain anonymous?” The man’s face tightened in fear.

Remain dead you mean
. “It’s not alright, now tell me his name,” Silas said in a low timbre, unclenching his fist beneath the table.

“Davian Bennett.”

Silas allowed the name to roll through his mind until it settled and solidified in his brain. This had the potential for all kinds of fucked up shit to jump off. “Wait here.” Silas walked out and met Dr. Passen in the hall, who was obviously waiting on Chism.

“Do you really need him?” Silas asked harshly, hating the position he was in.

Dr. Passen frowned. “Yes…yes, we do. He is the foremost authority on the physiology of half-breeds. He’s years ahead in research, started it before anyone else. It’s an honor to have him here.” He paused and then straightened. “Sir, he’s our best shot at discovering what’s happening to that wolf. I’ve done all I can, and the wolf is still unresponsive. We need his expertise on this.”

Silas nodded. His mind raced to calculate the fall-out. The twins might be a little upset, but nothing major. But Jasmine, he didn’t want to think about her reaction when she discovered Silas had known all along Davian was alive and his mate was working on a cure for the sick wolf. He closed his eyes and prayed to the Goddess for guidance.

He could lose Jasmine behind this. Human breeders were not tethered to their mates like full-blooded bitches were. She could leave him, if not physically, then emotionally. Either way would cripple him. He clenched his jaw and inhaled.

“La Patron?” Dr. Passen called out. “We need to get started with the testing.”

Silas looked at him for a moment and made a decision. “Go ahead, I will accompany Dr. Chism. There are a few things I need to go over with him.”

Dr. Passen looked like he wanted to argue, but wisely nodded and walked off. Slowly, Silas gathered his thoughts and returned to the room. Matthew watched him enter with wary eyes.

“Is everything okay?”

Silas nodded. “Where is your mate?”

Matthews’s eyes widened. “Why? Is he in trouble? Is this about Davian?”

“No. I just need to make sure he is safe so you can work without distractions.”

Matthew stared at him a moment longer. “Capital Inn in town.”

Silas sent a message to security to keep Davian under surveillance, the Bennett clan was supposed to be coming to town, and if they wanted a family reunion they needed to do it away from West Virginia.

“La Patron?” Matthew said when Silas didn’t say anything for a few moments.

“There is a problem, Matthew.” He looked at the man sitting in front of him and wished for all of their sakes things were different. But he had to play the hand dealt him and so did everyone else. Things were about to get sticky, but what else was new?

“Problem?” There was a thread of panic in the man’s voice. His mouth opened slightly and he appeared tense.

“Yes, Tyrese and Tyrone Bennett are here. In fact, they are on my security detail. The only reason they aren’t with me now is because I have them handling other duties.” Silas watched the other man’s reaction and felt bad for them both.

Matthew’s eyes widened at the mention of the twins. He took a deep breath, looked at his intertwined fingers on the table, and then glanced at Silas. “Okay…well, they don’t like me that much. I guess they feel I broke up their family. But that’s not true, Sir. Davian and I are mates.” He looked pleadingly at Silas.

Normally, when wolves found their mates, it was cause for celebration, and as Patron, he would be the first to pat these two wolves on the backs and wish them well. But these were not normal times and patting Davian and Matthew on their backs was the furthest thing from his mind right now.

He nodded. “I understand. I don’t think the twins feel you broke up their family. They hate that Davian didn’t just let their mom go so she could have a better quality of life, maybe meet someone else. But because he never did that and was with you, they were mad he cheated on her. If he’d come clean, divorced her, I don’t think they’d mind you one way or the other.”

Matthew looked thoughtful for a moment. “You’re probably right. For whatever reason, he never thought to do that.” He gazed at Silas. “Do you want me to leave?”

“Dr. Passen believes you can find out what’s going on with the wolf and clue me in on how he came to such a state. Most importantly, he believes you can find a way to make sure it doesn’t happen to any other wolves.” Silas eyed the man. “I hope you are as good as he says, because we are all going to pay a high price for you solving that riddle.”

Matthew nodded. “I’ll…I’ll do my best, Sir. But Davian has to be safe, I won’t be able to function if he’s hurt or in danger.” He swallowed hard, as if it was difficult getting the words out his throat.

Silas nodded in total understanding. “I’ll make sure of that. I’m not going to lie to you, there will be distractions and disruptions.”

“The twins didn’t want me around before, but they are older now. Surely they’ll understand I don’t mean them any harm and I’ll be gone as soon as we finish this project.”

Silas chuckled. It was a dry mocking sound that did little to ease his burgeoning anxiety. Plus, there was nothing remotely funny about the situation he was in.

“I’m sorry, you misunderstood.” He looked at the frowning man and sat forward, his tented fingertips on his lips. “It’s not the twins I’m concerned about.”

“Then…Who?...What?”

“Jasmine Bennett is here as well.”

Matthew’s brow’s rose to ridiculous heights as he leaned back in the chair as though someone had knocked the wind from him. “What? Jasmine…she’s on the west…no…oh my God. What is she….” He ran his hand through his hair and closed his eyes. “Oh shit.”

Yeah, that about summed it up
. “She thinks her husband is dead,” Silas said, in case the man in front of him forgot the crazy scheme he and his lover had cooked up.

“But…I’ll tell Davian to leave. She doesn’t…”

Silas shook his head, sorrier than he would ever admit. “I cannot lie to her. And the lies have to stop.”

“But…he wanted her to have the money from the military. He said she deserved it after all the years the military had him deployed away from his family. That’s why he faked his death.” He looked at Silas with desperation in his eyes. “He would have stayed with her, unhappy as they were; he loved her as much as a wolf could love someone who wasn’t their mate.”

Being mated, Silas understood. “But he found his mate and that changed things. I get that, but the lies…they end today. Once she knows…there will be some fall-out. It’s not every day a woman discovers her husband is alive and with someone else.” Or that her mate didn’t tell her that information a year before, Silas added silently.

“And a man,” Matthew said in despondent tone.

Silas hadn’t thought about that. He couldn’t imagine how that nugget of information would impact her. His plate overflowed, so he refused to add her reaction to a gay lover to his thoughts.

“She may come to see you. Probably ask all kinds of questions. She may even want to see Davian. I don’t know what will happen, I am just warning you.”

“But…but how can she do that? I’ll be in a restricted area. Can’t you keep her away?” He looked confused.

Silas offered him a sympathetic smile. “I cannot restrict her movements in this compound, she has complete access to everywhere, can open any door.”

“How is that possible? Does she know her sons are breeds?”

“Yes, she knows.” Silas paused. “She’s my mate.” He thought the man would faint.

Matthew’s eyes widened. “Oh shit.”

“Yeah. That about sums it up.”

Chapter 13

After settling a shaken Matthew in the lab with instructions to keep their conversation confidential, Silas instructed the twins to meet him in the gym in twenty minutes. He needed time to think through everything that'd happened yesterday and today. Plus, he needed to rehearse his confession to Jasmine.

He walked in to find them shooting a few hoops with Stephen, the Alpha training manager, and laughing. Watching, he took a seat on one of the benches and waited for them to finish. Tyrone grabbed the ball and headed off the court.

“Finish the game,” Silas said, being in no hurry to go upstairs and face his mate.

Tyrone tilted his head to the side and took a seat next to Silas. “He told you huh?”

Silas gazed at Tyrone, wondering if he were talking about Matthew or someone else. He was betting it was something new.

“Cameron,” Tyrone said.

Silas frowned. He hadn’t talked to Cameron since yesterday. He figured the young man was busy wooing his mate.

Tyrone shook his head and turned away. “Forget it.”

Silas snorted. “You know that’s not going to happen. What’s Cameron going to tell me?” He watched Tyrese walk away from Stefan and join them.