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“She…” Doris glanced to her pack members. They were gathered up behind the trucks, leaning forward, ears perked. She drew a little closer and lowered her voice. “About four months ago, Melony discovered that she can’t have children. She didn’t take it well.”
“I can imagine.” I really could, and I didn’t like it one bit. Melony, who was obsessed with me and convinced I was her mate, discovering that she was unable to conceive, shortly after Felicity realized she was pregnant. Already, this story spelled out disaster.
“I arranged for her to see a therapist,” Doris continued. “She was even talking about taking a trip down to Texas to clear her head. I thought it was a sign she was making progress. The farther away from you she was, the better.”
“Can’t disagree with that.” Shame it hadn’t worked out that way.
“Only, she never went to see the therapist. After your brother apprehended her, I called and checked. Never made it to a single appointment. She was just using them as cover to help her father evade everyone. Including me.” Doris reached across her body, rubbing her forearm. She shifted from one foot to the other with discomfort. “I wish she would have talked to her doctor instead. She needed it. Badly.”
“Because she was depressed?” My eyes narrowed. Depression was a bitch, but that wasn’t an excuse for stealing my sons.
“It was so far beyond depression, Xander,” Doris said. “She was delusional. Manic. There were days she was convinced she really was pregnant. I was trying to keep Felicity’s pregnancy a secret from her as a result, but I imagine that went right out the window once she and her father linked up again.”
I gritted my teeth. Kingston and Malik had brought Melony to Morrow Manor, where Quincy and Ma had nearly killed Felicity and half the Portersmith pack in order to break Melony free.
If they’d just let her be, let her keep putting trackers on cars and having her delusions where Doris could at least try to manage her, maybe my sons would be at home right now, safe in their mother’s arms.
“You think she kidnapped my sons out of spite?” I guessed.
“No,” she said quickly. “I mean, maybe. I can’t say for certain. Melony is… She’s very unwell. But she very much wants to be a mother, Xander. Almost as much as she wants to be your mate. There’s a chance…” Doris shrugged as her voice trailed off. “Whatever she plans to do with your boys, I don’t think she wants to hurt them.”
I nodded, mulling that over. It was the best-case scenario, all things considered, but I had to keep in mind that Melony and her baby fever weren’t the only influences at play.
“You said she was talking about going to Texas?”
“Her mother had a ranch there. She left it to Melony in her will. It’s been vacant for a long time, but…” Doris tilted her head to the side. Her eyes flashed when it clicked. “You think Melony might have taken the babies there?”
“It’s the only lead we have.”
“Then, I’ll give you the address.” She reached into her back pocket, pulling out a notepad and a pen. “There’s something else I can offer you, too.”
“I’m listening.”
“This is the number for a man named Dennis Kerry,” she said as she wrote. “He’s a wolf shifter—a sigma. Once, he was finest tracker and bounty hunter on the East Coast. When Quincy’s father…” Her expression twisted for a moment, then relaxed. “When he went feral, this was who I called.”
“A shifter bounty hunter?” I’d never heard of such a thing, but then again, I’d never needed one before.
“Sometimes it takes a shifter to find one,” Doris explained. She tore off a sheet from her notepad and handed it to me. “He’s ex-military. Efficient. Professional. I know you must already have the entire country out looking for your boys, but if you’re looking for someone more… specialized…”
I glanced down at the piece of paper. It bore an address, a number, and Dennis Kerry’s name. “I’ll give him a call. Thank you, Doris.”
“If you really want to thank me, you’ll lift this blockade.”
“I will,” I promised, tucking the paper into my pocket. “Once I can verify that this information checks out, of course.”
“Oh, it’ll check out,” she assured me. “Let me know when your men are gone. Carter’s Creek never wanted any part of this. Neither did I. Quincy, Melony… I know you’re just doing what you feel you must, but I won’t see my people punished for their actions.”
“I’ll give you call when we clear out.” I met her eyes, meaningfully. “Maybe you answer this time.”
“Yeah.” She scoffed. “I’ll be sure do that.”
“Doris?” I called out to her as she turned to leave. She stopped in her tracks. “Just one more thing.”
A sigh. “What now?”
“Do you know how to break a blood curse?”
Her brow furrowed. “Oh. That’s…that’s very kind of you, but you don’t need to bother with that on Melony’s behalf. She did what she did. She needs to live with the consequences of it—whatever those may be.”
