BirthRight (8 page)

Tyrese wanted to say she waited for him, but
he couldn’t speak. A moment later, he lay naked on the floor in
human form. Because he hadn’t called his wolf, the words he
normally invoked to insure his clothing reappeared when he reverted
back to human were missing.

“There are some clothes on the chair. Get
dressed.”

Tyrese stood slowly and walked backward to
the chair. As he dressed, he glared at the man who’d just blown his
theory that he and his brother could handle anything life threw at
them.

“I think you know who I am, would you mind
explaining who you are and what do you know of my mother?” Tyrese
took a seat at the table.

“I’m Silas Knight, the Patron. This is
Jayden – Alpha of this area. You and your family are guests on his
pack lands and owe him thanks. I don’t know how much you know or
understand about pack dynamics, but while in his territory you show
him respect.”

Tyrese understood and nodded. “Alpha Jayden,
my thanks for the care of my family.”

Jayden nodded. “La Patron promised your
brother he would protect your mother and his aunt. I serve
him.”

Tyrese was pleased Tyrone had taken care of
the care of the women who mattered most to them. He looked at the
Patron. “I owe you my gratitude.” He bowed from the waist.

“It was important to do so,” the Patron
said, leaning back in his chair while looking at Tyrese. “Let me be
clear, young wolf. I control the Alphas in this country. The
well-being of the wolf nation is my number one priority. I have
extended my protection to your family to allow me time to study the
unique occurrence of your birthright.”

Tyrese froze. He’d known sooner or later his
father’s fears would be realized. He’d hoped it would be later.

“First off, a human female gives birth to
two pups. They all live healthy lives. She is not the mate of the
wolf who impregnates her. There is no emotional connection to stop
her from becoming impregnated again from another wolf. We have an
untenable situation here. Wolves mate for life. Period. The human
element upsets the balance.”

For the first time since his forced change,
Tyrese recognized the seriousness of the matter. “How can we
explain the unexplainable?”

“You can’t. Perhaps now you understand why I
cannot allow the three of you to leave here until we have more
answers.”

Tyrese couldn’t believe the nerve of the
man. “What? Why? We’ve lived like this for years with no
problems.”

The older man shrugged. “Your mother has
been fortunate a wolf has not taken her to bed and bred her full of
pups. No one knows of her capabilities. Nor are we sure of yours.
By the end of the week, your family will be moved to Alpha Jayden’s
facility for further treatment. During that time I will observe and
assess you and your twin’s level of competence. The two of you are
the first hybrids we’ve come across and we need to understand what
we’re dealing with.”

With each word, Tyrese’ anger escalated, yet
the men remained composed in their seats as the older one continued
telling him that they were essentially his prisoners.

“No,” Tyrese said, the calm tone of his
voice in direct opposition with his feelings.

“Did I forget to mention the only other
alternative is that I’ll kill all four of you in the next few
minutes if you disagree?” The words were spoken in a nonchalant
manner, making them all the more menacing.

Tyrese blew out a stream of air. “I thought
you offered my mom and aunt protection, what happened to that?”

“I offered protection until your brother
could retake the job himself. His test results from this morning
relinquished me of that duty.”

“What kind of place is this? You threaten to
wipe out innocent families if they don’t do what you say?” He shook
his head. “Damn, the old man was right about packs after all.
They’re a bunch of –”

“Watch it young wolf. You’re granted a small
amount of leniency because you weren’t raised in a pack. But if you
live past today, you will learn, and learn it fast. You’re speaking
of things you have no knowledge. But, you do not ever disrespect
the pack, any pack. Is that clear?”

Tyrese hesitated. A whip of power lashed
across his chest, tightening until he could barely breathe.“I will
not ask again,” Silas said in a low voice.

“I understand,” Tyrese choked out. The
tightness disappeared. He gasped for air, certain he’d fallen down
the rabbit hole. What kind of people were these men?

“Good. The first thing you need to do is
convince your mother it’s in everybody’s best interest for her to
accompany her sons to therapy. All three of you must go.”

“My aunt?”

“At this time she is not of interest. Based
on her preference, and the fact she’s had a hysterectomy, we do not
fear she’ll be used as a breeder.”

“Breeder?” Tyrese shook his head. “How long
will we be required to stay as your guests?”

His sarcastic tone wasn’t lost on the
Patron. “Until I am certain you pose no threat to my people.”

Dread filled Tyrese. Tyrone tried to contact
him through their link and he blocked him. “And my mother?”

The man shrugged. “We shall see, young wolf.
I feel no real threat from her. We believe that any bitch who
breeds wolves is a gift from the goddess.”

Tyrese released a breath he’d been holding.
“So she’s safe.”

“It depends on how you interpret that. One
thing for sure, her activities will be curtailed for the immediate
future. And you and your brother need to convince her that staying
at the complex longer is a good thing. Just because we won’t
physically harm her, does not mean she won’t suffer if she tries to
run away.”

Tyrese closed his eyes. His mom was going to
shit bricks.

Chapter 7

Tyrese searched the gardens for his mom. His
heart warmed at the sight of her sitting on a bench in the middle
of a patch of colorful flowers. Her emerald green short-sleeved top
and jeans blended with the foliage. He paused, observing her
posture. She seemed distracted. He followed her line of vision and
smiled at the koi pond situated nearby. Opening his senses he
inhaled, and then blunted them a bit. The smell of sickness mixed
with the vibrancy of the garden had a high ick factor. He smacked
his tongue to dislodge the taste.

“Mom.” He watched her stiffen and then turn
in his direction. For a moment he drank her in with his eyes. There
was no woman on the face of the planet with a larger heart than his
mom. A born nurturer, she had been the team mother for his baseball
and football sports clubs. During the seasons, their home was
filled with young boys vying for her cookies and cupcakes. If any
of the kids needed to talk, she’d had an available ear. They’d
lived so far out that life could’ve been boring, but she’d gone out
of her way to make sure they never felt left out of the action.

“Rese?” She shaded her eyes with her hand,
and then a smile lit her face. Her brown eyes glowed with love as
they met halfway. He enfolded her in his arms and prayed he could
keep her safe. She had no more control over the way she’d been born
than he had.

“God, I missed you, Mom.” He held her back a
bit and looked her over. She did the same to him. “You’ve lost
weight.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” she
said as he pulled her close again.

He laughed, knowing better than to say
anything else on that score. “Even if you blowed up big as a house,
you’d still look good to me.” He placed a kiss on her forehead. “I
missed you.”

“I missed you too.” She took his hand and
led him back to the stone seat bench. “Have you talked to
Rone?”

Not wanting to lie, he said. “I haven’t been
upstairs yet. I wanted to see you first. We can go together after
you tell me what’s been going on with you.”

Quiet, she leaned on his shoulder. “I need
to do something with my life. Maybe go to college, learn a trade.
You boys are grown, have your own lives. I’m…I’m alone. I’ve been
sitting here thinking about what I’d like to do with my life. Maybe
go visit mama and her new husband in Florida, or go on a cruise.”
She looked up at him. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve done
something fun, something that interests me. Isn’t that awful?”

The awful thing was knowing she’d be denied
all of those things for her immediate future. For a few seconds he
wondered how far he’d make it if he just took her out the front
door and kept walking. The memory of the Patron triggering his wolf
flashed across his mind.

He was screwed.

“No, not awful.” He swallowed. “Soon Rone
will get a clean bill of health. Maybe you can plan to do some of
those things after that.” The words tasted like bile on his
tongue.

“I don’t think he wants me to come with him.
Maybe I’ve been too clingy. Maybe it’s time to back off and let you
guys fly.”

“Wow, you picked a sweet time to bail, Ma.
I’m being released from my duties pending my psyche evaluation. And
Rone’s being shipped off for therapy to relearn basic skills.” He
shook his head, shocked to hear her sound so defeated and knowing
he had to get her to change her mind.

“Ow.” The sting in his forearm from her
pinch cleared his head.

“Stop being a smart-ass. I’m entitled to
live my life. Everybody else is,” she muttered as she rubbed the
spot she’d pinched.

“That’s true. You’ve lived for us, now you
should do the things that make you happy.” He prayed she’d agree to
do those things after Tyrone’s therapy.

She patted his leg and stood.

He stood next to her.

“Let’s go see your brother.”

Arms wrapped around each other, Tyrese
guided her through the cafeteria, aware he was being watched.
Fortunately, she was talking about his aunt and didn’t realize he
wasn’t paying her much attention. After they got off the elevator
and headed toward Tyrone’s door, they heard a commotion. His aunt
and someone else were pleading with Tyrone.

Tyrese knew the moment his mom heard what
he’d picked up the moment the elevator doors had opened. He wasn’t
surprised his brother was out of bed, anxious to find him and his
mom. He would’ve done the same thing.

“Rone, mom and I just got off the elevator
on your floor. Calm down.” He sent the message through their
link.

“What happened? Did something happen to
mom?”

“No. She was in the garden looking at
flowers.”

“Shit!” Tyrone yelled so loud, Jasmine froze
for a second and then took off down the hall, Tyrese on her
heels.

“What’s going on?” his mom demanded once she
cleared the door.

“Your hard-headed son got it in his mind
that you’d been gone too long and wanted to come find you. He
didn’t want me to leave the room, as though he could do a better
job than I could in finding you.” Hi aunt’s head snapped up and she
smiled. “Tyrese, it’s so good to see you again.” She walked over
and wrapped him in a loving embrace.

He squeezed her lightly. “It’s good to see
you, Aunty. You look beautiful as always.” He stepped back and
looked her over. She preened and did a slow turn.

“I know, but it’s still good to hear.”

He placed another kiss on her cheek. “Give
that to Mandy for me and tell her I said hi.”

“Thanks, will do. You just getting
here?”

“I’ve been downstairs with mom in the
gardens. I called earlier and she told me she was chillin out
there. I had to go see my favorite lady first.”

His aunt patted his cheek even as her eyes
slid to his mom. “That’s good, sweetie.”

“Does the doctor know you’re out of bed?”
Jasmine asked Tyrone.

“He does now. The nurses came and left. Why
didn’t you let me know where you were going? You just walked out. I
thought you went to the bathroom or to grab a bite to eat. You’ve
been gone for over thirty minutes.” His tone went from happy to see
her to accusing.

Tyrese started to interfere to save his
brother from a tongue lashing, but figured his mom would be in a
better frame of mind after she got a few things off her chest.

“Excuse me?” Jasmine asked Tyrone in her
who-are-you-talking-to voice.

He blinked, looked at Tyrese, his aunt, and
then back at his mom. “I…I was worried. I didn’t know where you
were. We don’t know anyone here, so I…I wished you would’a told me
you were in the gardens.” His entire demeanor wilted beneath their
mother’s glare. She was a dollar’s change away from laying into
Tyrone, and Tyrese didn’t think being in a public place was going
to save him.

“Jazz,” Aunt Renee said, looking at her
watch.

His mom looked at her sister but didn’t say
anything.

“I’ve got a flight to catch, I was telling
you this morning something came up. Mandy called me after I left
the hotel or I would’ve told you then. She has me booked on the two
o’clock flight. With security and everything, I need to go.” While
she’d been talking, she’d walked over to his mom. Now they stood
face to face.