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Or out, I add silently.
Because, yes, I did try the front door to my suite last night after Maxim left and was frustrated, but not surprised, to find it locked from the outside.
“His ring has a keycode inside it,” she says, “like the kind they use at hotels, but it’s not hard to hack those sorts of things, if you know how. Which I do. But I wouldn’t if Maxim let me live my life instead of trapping me in this tower like a tragic, shifter Rapunzel. So really, it’s his fault I’m snooping into his private business right now.” She smiles and adds a little sheepishly, “And yours. If I’m being too pushy, it’s cool to tell me to back off. My feelings won’t be hurt. I’m just so curious. I’ve heard tons of whispering this morning, but everyone shuts up when they see me coming. So, I figured I’d come straight to the source, you know?” She wiggles her thin brows. “So…why are you here? How do you know Maxim? And were you making out with him until one a.m. last night? Only yes or no on that one, no details, because he’s my brother and that would be gross.”
I briefly explain my predicament, then add, “And no, we weren’t making out. We were arguing about whether or not I should be allowed to stick around and help raise my child if I do happen to be pregnant.”
“Shit.” She shakes her head, the humor vanished from her expression as she sits back in her chair. “I’m so sorry, Willow. That really, really sucks.”
I bob a shoulder. “Yeah. It does, but…I’m not sure anything I can say to your brother will change his mind. He seems very stubborn.”
“He’s impossible, but we will change his mind on this. I’ll make sure of it. If your baby stays here, you stay, too.” Her dark eyes begin to shine. “I lost my mom when I was really young. I don’t remember much about her, but what I do…” She swallows. “Well, those are some of my very best memories. Kids need their mothers. And I can already tell you’ll be a great one.”
I nod, surprised to find myself getting emotional, too. “Thanks. My mom was…is my hero. I always hoped I’d get the chance to use all the things she taught me with my own babies.”
Diana’s brows pinch closer together. “Is she sick or something?”
I shake my head. “No, just…gone. And I’m not sure if I’ll ever get to see her again.”
“Why?” she asks, then winces. “Sorry, I’m prying again. I can’t help it. Maxim says I have no boundaries. But Dad says I’m just a people person, like him.” Her eyes widen, and she leans in again, adding in a softer voice, “That’s why Maxim’s being such a dick to you, by the way. Someone poisoned my dad last year. He almost died and he’s still not back to normal. He’s super tired all the time and in occupational therapy to learn how to walk and stuff. And he can’t play guitar anymore, which is super sad, because my dad was like…famous.”
“Yeah, I know,” I say. “I mean, I knew he was a big jazz musician. Jukebox Thorn, right?”
She beams. “Yeah. His real name’s Jimmy, but everyone calls him Jukebox. Music is his life, except for pack and family, of course. So…it’s been hard.”
“I can imagine,” I say, reaching over to give her hand a squeeze. “That’s so hard, seeing someone you love struggling. But I honestly had no idea anything had happened. In The Parallel, the gossip was that he handed the pack over to Maxim so he could write a memoir.”
“Yeah, that’s the story,” she says. “Maxim wanted to keep it super quiet until he could figure out who did it. But so far…not so good. He thinks this guy Shane, a refugee we took in last year, did it, but literally no one else thinks that. Not even Hermione and she’s got great instincts.”
I pick up my coffee cup only to set it back down again as the meaning of her words penetrates. “Shane? Shane Green?”
Her eyes widen. “Yeah. Do you know him?”
“Yeah,” I say, nodding faster. “He’s such a cool guy. He plays guitar, too, and is a phenomenal cook. He used to bring the most amazing dishes to study group. The rest of us were chips and box cookie losers.” I frown. “But he just…dropped off the face of the earth. A little over a year ago. No one had any idea what happened to him.”
“Um…your mate happened to him,” she says, baring her teeth in a cringe-smile. “Sorry. Should we call him that? Are you guys like…automatically divorced or whatever since you ran away?”
I lift a cool shoulder and let it fall. “I have no idea. And at this point, I don’t think it really matters. I’m more concerned about whether he’s going to let me live than our marital status.”
Her eyes darken. “He’s such a monster. Shane was almost dead when we fished him out of the river. He had such a deep wound in his leg, the doctors said he might never walk right again. Apparently, he told Pax to leave his little sister alone at a club one night. Pax and his friends were waiting for him when he left, beat the crap out of him, then stuck his leg in a bear trap and left him to bleed out. It was a miracle he escaped.”
I push my plate away with a shake of my head, the last of my appetite ruined. “God. That poor man. I don’t suppose he’s still around?”
“No. He was already gone when Maxim went looking for him. He knew Maxim was super suspicious of outsiders. I bet he saw the writing on the wall and ran. My brother has a reputation for locking people up first and figuring out if they’re guilty or innocent later.”
I arch a wry brow. “You don’t say?”
She winces and lets out a sympathetic moan. “Ugh. I’m so sorry. And you didn’t even do anything! I mean, how would he feel if the shoe were on the other foot? What if I ran to another pack for protection after my mate turned out to be an abusive shit and they locked me up and treated me like a criminal?”
“You might mention that to him,” I say, even though I don’t expect it would make much of a difference.
Empathy doesn’t seem to be Maxim’s strong suit.
“I’ll try.” She runs a hand through her long hair with a sigh. “But fair warning he’ll probably ignore me. It’s one of his favorite things to do. But sometimes that works in my favor…” She glances over her shoulder toward the window at the dazzling fall morning outside before turning back to me and adding in a hushed voice, “If we can get him to loosen the leash on you a little, I have friends on the outside who might be willing to help. I’ll have to ask them to know for sure, but… Well, my boyfriend is totally cool and he’s tight with the big cat shifters in Spanish Harlem and their sister pride in Albany. They have an entire division devoted to helping outcast shifters. They don’t usually take wolves, since we’re so annoyingly vengeful and shit, but they might be willing to make an exception if I vouch for you. I mean, my boyfriend’s a panther shifter and I might end up being one of their pride someday, so…”
I fight to school the surprise on my face, but some of my shock seeps into my tone as I ask, “Really? And Maxim’s okay with that?”
I mean, I’ve heard some packs in Europe are okay with inter-shifter dating, but on our side of the pond, most Alphas would rather lose a wolf to the street wars than to love outside our species.
