My phone buzzed, startling me out of my thoughts, and I reluctantly pulled away from Sabrina to fish it out of my pocket.
“Who is it?” Sabrina asked, concern etched on her face as she sat up straighter.
I scanned the text quickly, feeling my stomach plummet like an anchor thrown overboard. “It’s my mom,” I said, barely able to get the words out. “She says I need to come home now. It’s urgent.”
Sabrina’s eyes widened with fear, and she gripped my arm tightly. “Liza, you can’t leave. It’s not safe.”
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but if my mom needs me, I have to go.” My stomach clenched as I imagined what might be wrong. I was going, come hell or high water.
“Call Dominic. Maybe he can help,” Sabrina suggested, her grip on my arm unrelenting.
“Fine.” My fingers fumbled with the screen as I nervously dialed Dominic’s number. He wasn’t exactly someone I’d automatically think of when I needed help, but he lived on the same property and was still the beta of our pack.
He picked up after just two rings. “Hey, Liza. What’s going on?”
“Something’s wrong at my parents’ house,” I blurted, trying not to sound as panicked as I felt. “My mom just texted me saying I need to come home right away. It’s urgent.”
Dominic exhaled sharply, clearly conflicted. “I know Ty doesn’t want you leaving the house...”
“Damn it, Dominic,” I said, my patience wearing thin. “My mother is telling me to come home, and I’ll be damned if I ignore her.”
Dominic’s silence lasted only a moment before he finally relented. “Fine. But you’re not going alone. I’ll escort you myself, along with some of your guards.” Relief flooded through me, and I thanked him before ending the call.
Sabrina’s worried expression made my heart clench. I pulled her into a tight hug. “Stay put, okay? You can help yourself to food in the kitchen or take a long shower upstairs in my room.”
She smiled slyly, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “I know what happens in that shower, Liza. I think I’ll pass.”
I rolled my eyes but was happy to see my friend smiling again. With a final squeeze, I pulled away from Sabrina and made my way to the front door, where Dominic and a group of guards were already waiting.
“Are you sure about this?” Dominic asked as we climbed into a blacked-out SUV.
There was no room for doubt in my mind.
“More than anything. My mom needs me, and that’s all there is to it.”
“Okay, then. Let’s go.” Dominic nodded, and the vehicle sped off toward town.
The scenery outside blurred together as we raced to my parents’ house. My hands curled into fists, my nails nearly breaking the skin of my palms.
When we finally arrived, I leaped out of the SUV and sprinted up the walkway, barely registering the concerned calls of Dominic and my guards behind me.
An overwhelming dread clawed at my heart as I burst through the front doors. “Mom?” My voice cracked as I called out for her, but there was no reply.
Shaking with fear, I tiptoed through the dimly lit rooms, my pulse beating loudly in my ears.
“Mom!” My hands shook as I tiptoed through the familiar rooms. The eerie quiet that filled the house sent shivers down my spine, my wolf pacing restlessly within me.
And then I found her, my innocent mom, lying on the kitchen floor, blood pooling around her head. I screamed, my heart shattering into a million pieces as I rushed to her side. With dread like I’d never felt before, I placed two fingers on her neck. There was a pulse. She was alive. I shouted for Dominic to call an ambulance.
Gently, I took one of my mom’s hands in mine. It seemed so small and frail. A montage played through my mind’s eye of all the things she’d done for me: kissing my booboos when I fell, standing beside her in the kitchen covered in flour as we made cookies, helping me get medication to hide the truth of what I was when we discovered I was an omega, her face on my wedding day when she looked on so proud. When I lost my biological mother, I’d been blessed to be given another. A mother of the heart. I didn’t think I could survive if I lost her.
I knelt on the floor in her blood and called her name over and over until she finally stirred.
“Liza. Run...” she mumbled weakly, her eyes barely open.
“Mom, what happened?” I begged, tears streaming down my face.
“Run, Liza,” she said again. The urgency in her words confused me.
