Wild Hunger (The Phoenix Pack #7)(5)

“Damn, I’m sorry,” said Taryn. “I didn’t even know you had a brother.” Unlike most of the Phoenix Pack, Taryn hadn’t been part of the Bjorn Pack.

Lydia licked her lips. “He, um . . . he shot himself. He killed his mate, and then he shot himself.”

Taryn’s mouth fell open. “Oh my God. Wait, I think I once heard something about a wolf who turned on his mate before ending his own life.”

“Many packs got wind of the story.”

Trick had been just a kid at the time, but he hadn’t forgotten that night. Hadn’t forgotten the sadness, shock, and grief that had weighed heavily on the pack. After all, it wasn’t often that mates turned on each other like that.

“Christopher wasn’t a bad person,” Lydia insisted. “He worshipped the ground Caroline, his mate, walked on. They argued, sure, and he had a temper, but . . . it was just so out of character for him to harm her. There was no way to work out exactly what happened that night. There was only one witness—their daughter, my niece. She was only three at the time.”

Jaime smiled weakly. “She was my favorite playmate.”

Trick remembered little Francesca well. She’d been the youngest of the pups, so they’d all been very protective of her. She’d been bright and full of life, and he’d teased her often by tugging on her curls and chasing her around.

Even though she’d been tiny and delicate looking, no one had thought of her as weak. She was born prematurely and had gone through such a complicated birth that the pack healer hadn’t expected her to live more than forty-eight hours. But she’d pulled through and instantly earned a reputation as a fighter.

“Three?” Taryn echoed. She shoved a hand through her hair, pinning back the different shades of blonde. “Jesus, she must have been terrified.”

“She was the prettiest, sweetest kid you’ve ever known,” said Lydia, nostalgia in her voice. “I was only eight years older than Francesca. We were very close. Her mom was beautiful—tall and slender with blonde spiral curls. Francesca was a mini version of her, only she had Christopher’s blue eyes and dimples.”

Trick drummed his fingers on his thigh. “She’s a sculptor now, right?”

Lydia’s eyes snapped to him. “Right. How did you know that?”

He shrugged. “I looked her up a few times. I was curious about how she turned out. Her work’s good.” Very good. And very dark.

Sighing, Lydia rubbed at her nape. “I don’t know how much she saw that night, or if she even really understood what happened. I didn’t get a chance to find out.”

Taryn’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Her maternal family is human. They were devastated by their daughter’s death—blamed my brother, my family, the pack. They wanted to take Francesca, and they did. The pack would have fought to keep her, but she seemed so traumatized. Mom thought that being away from the territory for a little while would be good for her, but what Mom hadn’t counted on was that the humans would refuse to allow us to even visit her. They wanted all shifters out of her life, regardless of the fact that Francesca was half shifter herself.”

“Bastards,” muttered Riley.

“Mom appealed to the human courts for access to her, but her grandparents are mega-rich and they hired an attorney that ran circles around ours. We lost the case and were cut out of Francesca’s life. Once I was old enough, I started to watch over her from afar. I had Rhett check on her and keep me updated. I passed on that information to Mom, who was heartbroken about being parted from her grandchild. We just wanted to be sure that Francesca was happy, healthy, and safe.”

“Is she?” asked Makenna.

“It seems so,” replied Lydia. “The Newmans gave her a good life. So many times I thought about contacting her, but I was worried that she wouldn’t want to hear from us. I mean, my brother did kill her mother. It was enough for us to know that she was okay. But Mom isn’t going to last long.”

Though Lydia’s mother, Iris, was a proud woman who liked to look after herself, she’d agreed to transfer to their pack so that Lydia could help care for her. Having recently lost her mate, Iris was weakening fast—many shifters died after losing their mate. Trick suspected that Iris had agreed to move here mostly so she could spend what time she had left with her daughter.

“She’d like to see Francesca just once before she passes on,” Lydia added.

“You’ve contacted Francesca already,” Marcus guessed.

“I sent her an e-mail earlier today, asking if she’d agree to visit. It was an impulsive decision. I’m sorry I didn’t run it by you first,” Lydia told the Alphas. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting her to answer. But she did.”

“And?” prodded Taryn.

“Well, it was weird.”

Trick frowned. “Weird how?”

Lydia bit her lip. “She doesn’t seem to have a clue who I am.”





CHAPTER TWO



Tao opened and closed his mouth a few times. “How can she not know who you are?”

“I don’t know.” Lydia lifted a shaky hand to her face. “I wasn’t mysterious in the e-mail; I was clear about who I was.”