Her revengeful Bastard

A bookstore and a mother

*Kai*

As my car moves smoothly through the street, I stare out the window and try to concentrate on my encounter with Kyle and how best to take advantage of our upcoming meeting, but my mind keeps drifting to sweet Anna … and my plans for her. They require a bit more finesse. She isn’t the type of she-wolf who is likely to arrange a rendezvous with a scoundrel. Ensuring our paths cross so I can lure her into my arms is going to be a bit tricky. The affairs she attends are not ones to which I am invited. At least not presently, but in the near future …

“I suspect you don’t want Mum to know about your true purpose in taking me to the gardens tonight”. Lea says, and the tone in her voice alerts me that I am going to pay dearly for her silence.

I might view her as an innocent child, but she has always been too smart by half. When I would come home, battered and bruised, it might have been my sister Gina who patched me up, but it had been Lea who had squatted on her haunches before me and watched with keen interest, declaring when all was said and done that she was in need of sweets to keep her mouth busy so it didn’t tell our mum what she had seen.

She is most fortunate that I love her as much as I do. “What’s the price?” I grumble. Most men take a step back when I use that tone. She merely smiles sweetly.

“A bookshop”. She announces.

I furrow my brow. “You want to go shopping for a book? ”

“No you dum-dum. I want to own a bookshop”. Another sweet smile.

My laughter echoes through the car. “Don’t be daft. You will be married within the year”.

She looks thoughtful for a moment. “Funny, because earlier you claimed that I would never marry”.

“Yes, well, I might have misspoken. The truth is, Lea, that seeing you well married is my goal … everyone in the family's goal, to be honest.”

“Tonight’s efforts were a part of that goal ?” Her eyes narrow.

Crucial to it. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it”.

She gives me one of those looks, but then smiles. “Until my marriage comes to pass, I could have a shop”.

“Lea …”. I start.

“You’re putting up all those buildings anyway. Why not give me a shop ? You helped Gina acquire her bar”. She is not giving up.

I know she has me in deep water. “It’s different with Gina”.

“Why ? Because you don’t think any man will have her ?” She huffs.

“Because I don’t think she will have any man. She’s too independent by half, always has been”. I shake my head slightly.

She kinda scrunches up her nose. “I would like to be independent, as well”.

“You will be. You will just be married and independent … To a ranked wolf”. I glance out the window. “We’re home. Let’s leave it there”.

As the car comes to a smooth halt outside the rundown residence in one of Blackstone city's most notorious rookeries, I deeply regret that my mum refuses to accept my offer to be moved to a more luxurious home. I suspect her refusal is twofold: she doesn’t think she is deserving of anything nicer than the squalor that surrounds her and her irrational fear that whoever moves in after her will do a bit of gardening and discover the dark secrets buried behind the residence.

I had been eight when I had uncovered them. I hadn’t been trying to plant a new bush or shrub but had been searching for buried treasure. What I had found was the truth about my past.

Before my driver can reach the door, I shove it open and leap out. Turning back, I reach out my hand to my sister, helping her out. She has only recently returned from boarding school to live here. I had also offered to provide her with an apartment or a town house in a fancier area, but she doesn’t like the thought of our mum living alone. It is my hope that in time, Lea will convince Mae Tempest that it is in everyone’s best interest to leave all her sins behind.

I don’t bother knocking, but simply open the door, allowing Lea to precede me into the warmth of the dwelling. Although it is impossible to tell from the outside, the inside is quite welcoming. Me and my brothers have seen to it, gutting most of the residence and rebuilding it to ensure our mum has the comforts to which we think she is entitled. The landlord had not objected. Indeed, when I confronted him, he had been only too glad to hand over all his properties in the area for a very modest sum.

Eventually I will tear down everything and build something new. But doing that will uncover all the skeletal remains, so I bide my time.

Smiling at us, my mum shoves herself up from the plush orange and yellow brocade chair by the low fire. She never complains of being cold now that I have coal delivered every day. I wanted to hire a live-in maid to see to her needs, but again, her fears wouldn’t allow that. I can’t stand watching the tears well in her eyes … which they do anytime I suggest some change to how she lives.

She shuffles toward the small kitchen area. “I’ll put the kettle on.” She is always offering tea.

“None for me”. I say gently. “I won’t be staying”.

She glances at me over her shoulder. “Why must you always rush off ? You have not been around much lately”.

I give her an apologetic smile. “I have been busy”.

“Surely you can spare a few minutes”. She says softly.

“He surely can”. Lea says, hanging up her coat before taking over the task of preparing the tea. “While I see to this, convince him that I should have a bookshop”.

Whenever the females of this family gang up on me, I know my only defeats.

My mum returns to her chair and sits, placing her feet on the small, embroidered stool. “She has always loved books. I might have done better by all of you had I known how to read better, but it was always a struggle to make sense of the letters”.

Taking the wingback chair opposite her, I stretch out my legs. “You did well enough by us”.

She shakes her head lightly. “You have had to work so hard”.

“I take pleasure in the work”. I assure her.

“I would like to know that sort of pleasure”. Lea calls out. “The satisfaction of accomplishment”.

“I paid for you to attend a posh school for a reason … to give you the refinement you needed to marry into a good pack”. I call back.

She instantly answers. “Why can’t I marry and have a shop ?”

“She has a point there”. My mum says.

“She will be a Luna or a beta’s wife and way too busy to muck about in a shop”. I try to say.

My mom looks at me. “How is she going to meet a gent of quality ?”

“I am working on that”. I huff slightly.

The woman who has raised me studies me intently. Most of her black hair has turned gray, and she swears to know which strands each son is responsible for turning. I fear most are a result of my actions.

“I’m worried about Gina”. She says softly, changing the topic to one that periodically concerns her.

“She can take care of herself”. My other sister is nothing if she isn’t self reliant. As a child, she had always hung on my tail. Perhaps I should have been more protective, but at the time, we had been striving to survive.

“But managing a bar. . .”. Her voice trails off as though she can’t quite decide what to make of that.

Gina more than manages it; she owns it. I had seen to that. Neither of my sisters is going to be under any man’s thumb as our mum had been. I am going to make damned sure of that, no matter the cost. “I’ll stop by and see her tonight”.

Relief washes over her wrinkled features. “Thank you”.

“With that, I should be off”. I stand up.

“Oh, no you don’t”. Lea approaches, holding a tray. “I’ve only just finished preparing your tea”.

Slipping a finger beneath her chin, I tilt up her face and wink at her. “Why settle for tea when Gina will give me her best whiskey ?”

Walking over to my mum, I bend down low and press a kiss to her forehead. “Don’t worry too much. I have everything well in hand. Ask Lea to describe the fireworks to you”.

She pats my cheek. “You’ve been a blessing from the beginning”.

“As have you”. Heading for the door, I slip my hand inside my jacket pocket and rub my fingers over the faded and fraying threads that formed the emblem of the High moon pack, all that remains of the blanket in which I had been swaddled when the Alpha handed me over to her.