Dark Refuge (26 page)

“Eve’s involved?” Mac shook his head, the disbelief on his face almost comical.

“Yeah, or I might have bled to death. During our first attempt at mating, Em freaked when all the memories started coming out, and she shifted. You do not want to be having sex with a wolf who becomes a totally enraged snow leopard. Eve alerted Annie and Alex and they found us and brought us home. We were both unconscious and bare-assed in Golden Gate Park. As she said, there are predators there at night. We could have ended up dead, Em could have been raped. It wasn’t a good place to be sleeping off whatever happened to us.”

“Whatever I can do, let me know, okay? Em’s amazing, not to mention gorgeous. She was a sharp little kid and a beautiful teen, but she’s turned into a breathtaking woman.”

“Thanks, Mac. I’ll tell her you said so.” He cocked his head and studied his brother, a quieter, more introspective version of himself. “And keep your hands to yourself.”

Grinning, Mac saluted and turned away to head back into the dining room. “Good luck, bro.”

“Thanks.”

Luck. As if luck would help them. What the hell was going on? He went back to his room to get Em. She was changing clothes, but her hands were trembling so much she couldn’t button her blouse.

“Sweetheart? You going to be okay?” As he talked, he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her between his knees so he could do up the buttons. He left the top two open. No bra necessary with breasts like Em’s, and she had an absolutely perfect, sexy cleavage. He leaned over, planted a kiss in the dark V between, and inhaled her scent. “I’d love to skip lunch and stay here with you.” He rested his forearms on the slight curve of her hips and kissed her. “But we can’t do that. Putting it off won’t make it go away.”

She sighed. “I know, damn it!” She turned away, spun around and faced him again. She was such a tiny thing that they were eye level with him sitting on the bed.

“This is so stupid, Gabe. What’s going on with them? And why do I let it make me so angry, so . . .”

“Hurt?” When she nodded, he wrapped his arms loosely around her waist and rested both hands on her butt. She had an absolutely perfect rear, and the feel of those soft curves beneath his palms tempted him to start undressing her now that she’d covered up all the good stuff. “It hurts because they’re your parents and you know they’ve lied to you. I have no idea why, Emy, but in the scheme of things, it’s not important. What’s important is that you and I are together, we’re mated and no one can break us apart.” He leaned close and kissed her. “How long has it been since you actually saw your parents?”

“I left for college when I was eighteen. I came back once, when I was nineteen. I lasted three days. That was the last time.” She turned her head away, as if she was too embarrassed to face him.

“Em.” He sighed. “They’ve never tried to bring you back? Never asked you to come home?”

She shook her head. “I think they were relieved that I didn’t want to come back. Life had become a nightmare for me. I imagine it wasn’t much better for them. Secrets are never good, and I had no idea why they were so overprotective. I fought it, we argued. I stormed out and since then our interaction has all been by phone or email. Aaron came to see me a few times, but he never said a word about them. I didn’t ask.”

He stood and gave her a good, long look. “Damn but you’re gorgeous. Which reminds me, my brother said the same thing. He more than approves of our mating, and you, my dear, more than pass inspection. It’s almost noon. I told Mom we’d be there early. I think she wants a few minutes to hug and cry without an audience.”

Laughing, he tugged her fingers, and she followed him down the hall. They could hear laughter coming from the main dining room, where everyone else was already eating.

“Sure you don’t want to go eat with everyone else?” She flashed him a grin and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“I’d love to, but then we’d have my parents pissed off at us, too.”

“Good point.”

Gabe’s mom met them in the doorway, and it was exactly as he’d predicted. She laughed, she cried, she hugged both of them and kissed Em and cried some more. Anton walked in a few minutes later and wrapped his arms around Keisha.

“Well, I’m certainly glad no one’s dying. From all the tears, I thought . . .”

Gabe and Em started laughing, but his mom turned and stared at her mate long enough to have him blushing. Gabe leaned close to Em and loudly whispered, “I’d love to hear what she’s saying right now, because whatever it is, she’s got the pack alpha nailed to the floor.”

Keisha turned and glared at Gabe. “And don’t you forget it, bud.” Then she laughed and hugged Em. “If you want lessons on how to handle these men, I’m available anytime. Just ask.”

“I’ll remember that.”

Anton led them on in to the room he called the study but Gabe always called the pentagram room. Besides, what study had a fully stocked bar that stretched the full length of one side? It had been designed in this shape to make it easier for their goddess to appear on this plane. She’d said she wanted to talk, but Gabe wondered if she’d actually come.

They sat at the bar, and though it was early, Anton poured a glass of wine each for Keisha and Em and handed a cold beer to Gabe. He opened one for himself. Em glanced around and finally turned to Anton. “Are my parents coming?”

“They are. They’ll be here in a few minutes. I wanted to wait until they arrive to ask both of you what happened this week to resurrect Em’s memories. We thought they were buried forever.”

“They were never completely gone.” She glanced at Gabe; he smiled and took her hand. “There was always a darkness in my mind, an entire section of my teen years that I couldn’t recall. I knew it was something that I’d forgotten, but I had no idea what it was. I just knew it was bad.”

Anton nodded, then raised his head and smiled. “Here they are. Let’s move to the table.”

Em, relax, sweetheart. They’re your parents and they love you. No matter what you might think, I will bet you that everything that happened, misguided or not, was done out of love.

I know you’re right. Thank you. I think I’m ready.

He squeezed her hand and helped her off the tall bar stool. She turned and saw her parents for the first time in over seven years. Her mother smiled and held her arms out.

“I have missed you so much!” She grabbed Em and hugged her.

“I’ve missed you too. I’ve missed so much.”

Mei finally turned her loose and turned to Gabe. “I am so glad you are together. I think Em came out of the womb loving you, Gabe. She idolized you when she was just a toddler, and the older she got, the more she followed you around. I used to worry that her heart would break when you went away to school.” She held out her arms and hugged him. Gabe hugged her back, but her mental voice whispered in his mind as she held on to him.

Don’t hate Oliver, Gabe. He’s lived with his mistakes since Em left at nineteen and never came back. Thank you for bringing her back to us.

I hope we can get this worked out.

Me, too.

He stepped away and turned to Em’s dad. Oliver had stayed by the door, and Gabe wasn’t sure if he worried about his welcome or just didn’t want any part of Gabe. Em raised her head and stared at her father.

“Hello, sweetie.”

“Dad.”

That was it. That single word, and when Oliver didn’t respond, she turned and grabbed Gabe’s hand. Anton was there beside her as well, and they walked to the table, where Keisha had already laid out their meal.

They sat, the six of them at the table, Anton and Keisha at each end, Gabe and Em on one side, her parents on the other. There was a plate loaded with sandwiches, another with pickles and peppers and different kinds of olives, and a big bowl of chips. What Gabe thought of as comfort food. He shot a quick grin at his mother and she smiled broadly. She’d guessed right, and he could tell she was thrilled he’d recognized her efforts.

“Go ahead and start,” Anton said. As they reached for sandwiches, he said, “Mei and Oliver, you’ve always been part of my family, but now it appears we’re linked even more profoundly. Keisha and I are so happy to have Em join us as Gabe’s mate.” He smiled at the two of them. “I can still see Em and Luci following Gabe and Aaron around, idolizing them when the girls were little, and then driving them nuts as they got older. I used to imagine the two of you as mates, but I honestly never thought it would happen. I am so glad you’ve proved me wrong.”

It might be too soon to open up this particular can of worms, but he had to. Em was already trembling, and the longer they all pretended to get along, the worse she was going to be. He shot an apologetic look in his mom’s direction, and said, “Thanks, Dad. We’re mated, but it almost didn’t happen. Uncovering a past Em didn’t know she had was, to put it bluntly, a painful experience.” He slipped his shirt over his head. Mei and Keisha both gasped. Em couldn’t even look at him.

“Emeline’s memories returned when we were in the midst of our mating link. She shifted into a snow leopard and did her best to gut me, and if Eve hadn’t appeared and gotten Alex and Annie to come rescue us, it could have turned out pretty ugly. We were able to complete the mating bond last night after walking Em through some absolutely terrible buried memories, but we have a lot of questions, and we need answers. I think the four of you are the only ones who can tell us what happened twelve years ago.”

“How did you find out?” Oliver’s question sounded like more of an accusation than curiosity.

And Em told him. Told all of them how Annie had told her the story that she didn’t remember, how it had triggered more of the darkness she’d never been able to get away from. They went through the entire process of discovery, including Em’s time in the man’s house. And while Em talked, Gabe watched her parents.

Mei was obviously shocked by the details, and Gabe wondered if she’d ever known the whole story. Oliver, though, seemed to shrink in upon himself. He couldn’t even look at his daughter, he avoided looking at Anton and Keisha, and the one glance that Gabe caught coming his way was filled with such loathing that it raised shivers across his neck and arms.

That was unacceptable. He faced Oliver without malice, thinking only of what this was doing to his mate. “You look at me as if I’m at fault, as if whatever happened to Em is somehow something I’ve done. Why, Oliver?”

“She forgot. She didn’t remember any of the horror she’d been through when she got home. She was smart enough to push it all into the background and she was fine. She didn’t even have nightmares. She’s a brilliant, beautiful young woman and she was doing great until you came along. You did this to her, Gabriel. So selfish that you had to push her, had to force her to confront a past better left in the dark.”

Gabe merely nodded and silently cautioned Em not to react. She squeezed his hand so tightly the bones shifted. His father had remained silent and Gabe sent him a silent thank-you as well. This was his fight. His and his mate’s. “The memories were there, Oliver, a festering, seething mass of darkness that has kept her from being a part of the pack since it happened. When I met up with Em last week, she had never run with a pack, had cut herself off from the family she loves, and had never even made love to one of her own kind. By fostering the loss of her memories, no matter how horrible they were, you have crippled your own daughter.”

“That is not true.” Oliver stood and planted his hands on the table, but he was absolutely furious. “You’re lying, Gabriel. She forgot all of it. Until Annie told her what happened, she didn’t remember anything. We made sure of that, and Eve helped us.”

Gabe ignored Oliver’s outburst. He turned to Em and held both her hands.
Do you want to explain what it was like? How you felt when you found out the truth?

Yes.
She sat up straighter in her chair, but she held tightly to Gabe’s right hand. “I may have made myself forget the details, but the darkness has haunted me for twelve years. The first time Gabe and I made love, I lost it. I was terrified. He saw the darkness and was able to control it, surrounding it with light so that it didn’t frighten me, and it worked. Do you realize that was the first time I ever had an orgasm during sex? I’m Chanku, Dad. We don’t have issues with sex, but I did.”

Oliver sat down, but he still looked furious. Gabe tried to read him, but his thoughts were locked tight. Em glanced at Gabe and then focused on her father again. “When Annie told me what had happened, I didn’t believe her. I thought she was making it up, but her story felt right, and I had no memories at all of myself during my teens. At least in the years between fourteen and about eighteen, when I left for college. But you know what the worst thing about this is, the most awful thing any parent could do to their daughter? You took away something that should have changed my life in a good way. Yes, I was kidnapped, I was raped, I would have been murdered. But you know what’s important here? What you denied me all those years?”

She stood up and planted her hands on the table and faced her father. He blinked, jerked back in surprise, but he watched her. “I survived. Not because someone rescued me but because I rescued myself. I killed the bastard before he could kill me or anyone else. I waited for someone to rescue me. I didn’t want to kill him and have it come down against the pack, have some reporter turn it into a story about those murderous Chanku. I called out for help for two fucking days, Dad. No one heard me. I finally figured it had something to do with his alarm system. It had an odd buzzing noise that made me dizzy, so I figured I was on my own. Then I found an album and it was filled with pictures of young girls, teens and young women, all of them dead. He’d carved pictures into their flesh, and I was looking at that and trying to figure out how I’d get away when I smelled the same gas he’d used to knock me out. Gabe said it’s chloroform, but he was coming up behind me with it and I didn’t think about the pack or what the news would report or anything but saving myself.

“I shifted, and I chose the leopard because of something Mom had told me, that people are so busy looking at their teeth and front claws, they ignore the threat of their hind feet. I jumped him and I gutted him and I bit down on his windpipe just enough to eventually kill him, but I wanted him to die slowly and painfully. I wanted him to know how those young girls, those women and teens, had suffered. I could do that because I was stronger than him. I could have done it a day earlier, but I was so afraid of getting the pack in trouble I held off. And for all these years, I’ve felt like a victim, not a survivor. I had no idea I could be that strong.”