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“There’s no point, mom. She doesn’t want to see me again.”
That stopped her. When she spoke again, she sounded concerned. “How can that be? Fate doesn’t make mistakes, Jackson. If she’s your mate, then you have to keep working at it.”
My mom and dad had told us their personal love story a million times. They’d met in college, and after a year together, my dad finally shared his secret with her. She’d been shocked, but she already loved him.
Winter was miles from loving me. Blurting out she was my mate was not going to help.
I sighed. “She doesn’t have the same instincts that we do, Mom. Fate won’t force her to be with me. She gets a choice, remember?”
She tsked. “So, you’re just going to give up?”
“She says she’s not interested, and I’m going to try to respect her boundaries. You were the one who raised me to accept that no means no, Mom.” She didn’t deserve that last dig, but I couldn’t hold it back. This fucking hurt and I didn’t need my mother poking at the wound.
“I’m not suggesting you force yourself on her. I’m saying don’t lose hope.” Her tone softened. “This is the season of magic and miracles. Anything can happen.”
“I’m not feeling very magical.” Understatement, but I tried not to curse in front of my mom.
“I’ll keep the faith alive for you. I’m so happy you found her. It’s all going to work out in the end. You’re so amazing, she’ll never be able to resist.”
Spoken like a true mom.
I huffed out a breath. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too. Call me later.”
“Bye, Mom.” I reached for a pen, but they weren’t on my desk. The green plastic cup was on the floor with pens spilled all over the place. And then the memory of her taste on my tongue came rushing back. Damn it.
I picked everything up and opened the files again. At least this might distract me from all these fucking feelings for a while.
Ashleigh’s file had been sealed, so I probably knew more about her past now than she and her adoptive parents did. Unlike Winter’s mom who abandoned her with only a note, Ashleigh’s birth parents had surrendered her to the police department.
Some quick googling revealed her birth parents were murdered a couple of months later in a house fire. It had been staged to look like an accident, but the fire department had extinguished the blaze before it engulfed the mattress in the master bedroom. The medical examiner found ligature marks on the woman’s neck and the man’s throat was cut.
But any clues had been lost in the flames. The case went cold.
I rolled my shoulders back. The full moon was only a few days away, and my more primal instincts were closer to the surface of my consciousness. Seeing the medical examiner’s report was proof that what the ghost had told Winter was true. Someone had been hunting for them.
And Winter was probably on their list too.
My phone rang, but this time the name on the screen flashed Jim Bloodstone. I frowned and pressed accept. “Jackson Walker.”
“Have you made any progress on locating my talisman?”
“Not yet.” Funny, I’d been hired to find a man, but suddenly my client didn’t seem to care about him anymore. Almost like he knew the man was out of the picture. My gut was telling me things were off, and my gut was rarely wrong. “It would be helpful if I knew what I was looking for. I thought my target was your treasure hunter.”
“I just sent the photo.”
I took the phone from my ear, eyeing a new text. The picture looked like an antique broach of some kind. I enlarged it and squinted. “Does it have words on it?”
“Yes.” He lowered his voice as if someone else might hear. “It’s very rare and precious to my clients. Jonas found it in the wreckage of the Whydah, but he vanished before he could deliver it.”
Or he didn’t deliver it and Hinterland and Bloodstone ended him. I was leaning toward that scenario judging by the scene I’d seen on the boat. “I’ll check the pawn shops and antique stores. I’ll let you know when I have it.”
“You do that.” He hung up, and I stuffed my phone into my pocket.
At least I had something to keep my mind occupied. I needed to get my shit together before the Christmas party. In two days, I’d be in the same room with Winter, and I’d be a day away from the full moon, so my wolf would be closer to the surface, making my more primal emotions harder to control.
I took pictures of Ashleigh’s file with my phone and headed out. As long as she hadn’t gotten married, I should be able to find her pretty quickly. If her last name had changed it would be a little trickier, but not impossible.
