Raber Wolf Pack Book Two (14 page)

“Great.” Xavier stands, the bulkiness of him casting a shadow over me, and suddenly I feel small. “Kenly, you and Max get on that. “ He looks to Zara. “First, you need to talk to Maggie about Nana O and then I think we need to go see Marvin for a bit.”

“Wait a minute.” Zara stops. “You mean, Nana O’s best friend Maggie is Kenly’s Grams?”

“What’s Nana’s name?” Even though she was talking to Xavier, the curiosity got the best of me.

“Opal,” Zara says and my eyes widen.

“No freaking way! I grew up with Opal coming to visit my Grams. It was always at Grams’s place, but I know her!” This is so strange.

“It looks like we were destined to know each other.” Zara gives a slight chuckle.

“I guess so. Do you thinking Grams can find your Nana?”

“If anyone can it’s her.” Zara smiles as she steps out of the room with Xavier.

Max laces our fingers together and kisses the top of my hand. Damn, I like that. I could so fall in love with this man. It would not be hard at all. We enter the living room where my young and hot grandmother sits with a group of guys swarming around her. She’s laughing a beautiful laugh. It sounds like her—at least the her that I remember—but younger, way younger. Holy shit.

Her head turns. “Kenly.” She races over and wraps her arms around me hugging me tightly, which I reciprocate. “I’m so relieved you are okay. How do you feel?” She brushes a loose hair from my face, just like she’s done hundreds of times before.

“I’m good, Grams. Different, but good.”

She gives me one more squeeze and pulls away, but before I get a word out, swarms of men and women head my way. “What’s going on?” I ask Max, panic creeping in my voice as I push against him for protection.

“They are welcoming you to our pack.” One by one, each of the wolves in the room wraps me in their arms and squeezes. It is strong, but nothing I can’t handle. Between Max’s growls at some of the men taking too long and the amount of people, I’m a bit overwhelmed, but also, I feel like I’m home. Shit, did I just say I was home? I look to Max who now has a huge smile on his face. Damn man.
Get out of my head!

There has got to be a way to block these people out.

Finally, the last one is little Natalie. “I’m so happy you’re here.” Her little arms wrap around me, and it takes everything I have not to let the tear in my eye fall. She is unbelievably sweet and thoughts of having a little one like her swirl inside my head. I try not to turn to Max, but my gaze hits his, telling me he understands.

“I’m happy to be here with you.” With my index finger, I tap her nose to which she giggles and runs off. Before anyone else comes up, I need to get Grams. “Grams. Gotta talk to you. It’s important. Follow us.” She doesn’t hesitate to fall in step.

After closing the door, I lay it all out for Grams. At least what we know. She takes it all like the champ she is, never even batting an eye. All she says is, “If it protects you, I’m in.” Damn, I love this woman.

“Zara needs to talk to you about Opal. Apparently, she is her granddaughter.” Grams’s head snaps up like she just put pieces together of a large, hard puzzle.

“This is the Raber pack…” she trails off as I wait. “Zara is here? She’s safe?”

“I am,” Zara says, stepping into the room. “And from the fact that I can’t read you, you know about my powers.”

“I block all powers from reading my thoughts, but…I can’t believe this.” She shakes her head.

“Do you know where Nana O is? I’m desperate to find her,” Zara implores and my Grams’s face falls.

“I don’t. She took off and hasn’t connected with me.” She pauses, sucking in a deep breath. “I’m sorry for not being able to talk to you and brushing you off the way I did. When you called, your father was making rounds to anyone and everyone that had connections with your family. Some he murdered on the spot. I was pretty terrified.” She shakes her head in disgust. “That’s no excuse. I should have done more.”

Zara walks up to Grams and wraps her arms around her, squeezing tightly. “I know how he was. I understand, but now we have to find her.”

“I’ll try to get ahold of her, but no promises. She’s avoided me for weeks now.” Grams dials her phone, getting nothing on the other end. “Sorry.”

Zara hangs her head a bit. “It’s okay. We’ll find her.” She begins to walk away. “Wait, did you know about all of the spells?”

“I know of the protection spell, any others, I do not.” I sit here stunned, watching the conversation in front of me like a pingpong game going back and forth.

“What about the crystal?” Zara asks and Grams’s head tilts to the side in thought.

“I know nothing of a crystal. What is it?” she asks Zara who exhales in a huff.

“Nana O gave it to me when I was a child. I never took it off, but lost it. Kenly found it, but when she was chased, lost it too. I just feel this need that I have to find it and I don’t know why, thought you may have some answers.” Zara’s voice almost sounds defeated, but I don’t believe it for a second. She’s too much of a fighter.

“I’m sorry, child. I wish I could help, but I don’t know.” Zara stares at her and must gather that she is telling the truth as she nods and slips out the door.

“Now, we call my parents,” I say, not skipping a beat and not excited about this in the least. The phone rings loudly through the speaker I just put the cell on. On the fourth ring, it connects. “Hello?” my mother’s voice comes through clearly.

“Hi, Mom.”

Nothing comes over the line and I stare at the phone thinking maybe I lost the call. “Mom?”

“Kenly, what is going on, dear? You know your father and I are on vacation.”
And you’re bothering us
, she leaves out.
Ugh
.

“This is important. Do you know a guy by the last name of Camp? David Camp?” She makes some movement on the other end, like she’s covering up the speaker and talking, hopefully to my father and not one of her flavors of the minute.

“No. Your father and I don’t know anyone by that name. What is going on, dear?”

And this is going to be the hard part. “Mom, I need you to put Dad on the phone for a minute.”

She hmphs.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Dad. I have Grams here with me.”

“Hi, son.”

“What is going on? Is something wrong?”

“Son, we need you and Mary to get on your private jet and come to us. It’s very important,” Grams demands more than asks.

“Are you hurt?” My father actually sounds a bit concerned. Just a bit though.

“Not anymore, but I could be if you don’t come.”

“Son. For once, listen to your mother. She knows.”

He sucks in a deep breath. “Kenly knows?”

“Oh, son, she knows and now she needs your help.” There is so much more to this story that I want to know, but right now isn’t the time.

“Shit,” he mutters.

“Dad, how long would it take you to get here?”

“I can have the plane ready in twenty minutes. Shit. Kenly, are you sure you’re okay?” For that brief moment, I actually feel his concern. It’s kind of nice and I’m holding onto it. Don’t know when I’ll ever get it back.

“Yes. I am fine. But I really need your help. What airport can you fly into?”

“First, you’d have to tell me where you are.”

“I’m near my apartment in Lakeside.”

“Then we’ll land at the airport there in about four hours.” Four hours. Geez.

Tell him that there will be two guys with a sign that says Conner and they need to go with them,
Max says in my head.

“Dad, there will be two guys at the airport. They are helping me and I need you to come with them. They’ll be holding a sign that says Conner.”

“I think you should just give me an address, young lady, and your mother and I will meet you there.” I look to Max. This is how my father is. Wants everything his way or no way. Control freak.

“Sir, this is Max. I need you to come with the guys. Your daughter needs your help.”

“And who are you?”

“My boyfriend,” I jump in. No need in scaring the shit out of him yet. “Just hurry up and get here.”

“Fine.” My father disconnects.

“Well, he sure is something,” Max groans, flopping down onto the bed.

“Try raising him. He totally abandoned all of the magic and went on to be a doctor. Not that I’m not proud of him for that, but he never should have denounced the magic. Never.”

All of this is very interesting, and I want to know it all, but not now. I’m tired and need a break.

“Grams, I need a nap. All of this is too much and I need a break.” I plead with my eyes.

“And that is my cue.” She smiles. “This may not have been what I thought your life would become, but this is your destiny and you need to embrace it. And not just the wolf inside of you. The magic too.” She smiles, leaving the room.

“Magic,” I whisper. Never thought everything would flip so far upside down in my life. I flop down next to Max who wraps me in his arms, kisses the top of my head, and I fall fast asleep.

Kenly

MY NERVES ARE SHOT. Not only am I pacing, but my wolf is too. I feel the urge to run and run far. But I can’t. Gary called a bit ago and told Max they were on their way with my parents in tow. What if they refuse to go along with this? What if I can’t convince them to?

Strong hands grip my hips, stopping my movements. Max. I feel him all the time. When he went to get something to eat for us earlier and was only gone for like ten minutes, my wolf whined and I felt horrible pains in my chest. As soon as he got back, perfectly fine.

So I’m really rethinking this whole moving away thing. If I can’t be without him for ten minutes, how in the hell am I going to be away for days? My wolf growls. I hear you, sister.

“Relax. It’s going to be fine.” He pulls me into his body and I suck him in, completely relaxing my wolf. I love that he can do this for me. I love that one simple touch erases all the anxiety in my body. It’s like he takes on the burden of it and lets it rest on him instead.

Xavier and Zara enter the room, his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Their love is clear as day, but from what I hear they have only been together a short time. In my old human world, it would never work, but here it just does. It’s strange but beautiful.

“All right, Kenly. You know the plan?” How could I not? We’ve gone over it and over it the past hour, backward, forward and inside out.

“I know it, but I also know my parents. If it will affect their careers in any way, they will have issues. And this will.” I sigh. “But I’ll do my best to convince them.”

“Where is your grandmother?” I haven’t seen her the past thirty minutes. She said she needed to do something, so I left her to it.

“Who me?” The woman I knew as my Grams is just a figment now. A stunning young woman stands in her place. I’m not sure how long it will take me to get used to this.

“Hey, Grams. They’re on their way.”

Grams glides into the room, almost floating on air. Wow. “Child, whatever happens we will deal.” Max’s arm tightens at her words. “My son is stuck in his ways, but we will figure this out.”

She’s not lying. I always wondered had I grown up with normal parents, how different my life would have turned out. Had I had the ones that would watch a movie or play a game with me, instead of pawning me off on whoever was around at the time. What if my dad took me for a hike in the woods or to the father/daughter dinner I asked him to, which he excused himself from because he had to work.

Xavier’s phone rings. “Yes.” He nods, putting his phone away.

“They’re here. Walking up to the steps.” I suck in a breath. Shit. This is it.

Max pulls me into his body, squeezing me tight.
It will be fine, babe. Breathe.
I try to follow what he says but it seems as if my chest is constricting. This is not how one is supposed to act when they see their parents.

The entryway door opens and all eyes focus on my parents. One look and I want to roll mine. Both in pristine tailored suits. My mother in a soft gray and my father in charcoal gray. Well, aren’t they matchy-matchy.

My mother’s brown hair is pulled back into a tight bun at the nape of her neck and her makeup is done to perfection. You won’t see a pimple on that woman’s face. My father’s dark hair is cut and styled with so much with gel or something that it would probably prick someone if they touched it. Their eyes are clouded in confusion when they focus on me.

“Hi, Mother. Hi, Father.” I give a slight wave and the nerves really kick in. I start bouncing from foot to foot, almost swaying. Max pulls me tighter, halting me, and I’m thankful, his presence calming me.

“Dear, where are we and what is this all about?” My mother steps to me but her eyes are taking in the home, every single detail. When her brows scrunch as she looks at the dining area, I say nothing. She’s not ready to hear that we have huge pack of wolves that will be here to eat in a few hours. I need to get her past this first.

“Mother, this is Max…” Shit, do I call him my mate or how does that work?
I’m your mate,
his words demand in my head. “My mate,” I finish to a gasp from my father.