Page 40 of Planet Wolf

They sat down across from me, and for a second, they didn’t answer. Finally, the one who had been to the right answered me. “I’m Casey. I’m the youngest of us all. Next to me, here, is my oldest brother, Paul.” He’d been standing in the middle. “And, here to my right, is Anthony.” He visibly swallowed. “I’m sorry, but I have to ask you right off—why were you raised by Amy’s family? Where is she? Why didn’t she raise you herself? We know she’s not dead. We would’ve felt that.”

“Before I tell you anything more…” My anger surprised me, but it was there, and I couldn’t ignore it. I had fathers, but I’d never met them. Nowtheywanted answers? “Why don’t you tell me how you lost her.Us. Did you do something to make her run away?”

If either of my present mates had any problems with my attitude, they weren’t indicating it in a way I could understand. Of course, my nose blindness meant that they might all be talking to each other in some way I’d never comprehend. Although I didn’t think they’d exclude me—not intentionally, anyway.

Paul looked down at the floor for a second before he answered. “We met your mother on one of our spy missions. We went to a planet where they were illegally selling weapons so we could get the name of the dealer. Your mother was there waiting tables. She called herself Amy the waitress, and she’d grin, not elaborating. We knew she was our mate.”

It was hard for me to picture it. I never knew my mother when she was functional, let alone joyful. What a sense of humor she must have had. The guys in front of me seemed much more serious.

I must get that from them.

“We convinced her to come back with us,” Anthony said then sighed. “We knew it was frowned upon to have a human mate, but we hoped things would improve. We only thought it was frowned upon, we didn’t realize there would be so much hatred toward the idea. Meanwhile, her game continued.I’m Amy Blue Sky. I’m Amy Trees.It didn’t matter. She wasn’t keen on talking about her past, so we thought… we thought maybe she’d been abused.”

I shook my head. “Not that. She came from a very rich, powerful human family. Maybe she didn’t want you to know that. Maybe she had her own reasons or issues with them. I don’t know. She never told me.”

“She was ours,” Casey said fiercely, then looked at his feet again. “It wasn’t until she was pregnant that we realized how much trouble we were in. There were movements that wanted her off the planet. They’d ejected most of the humans two decades before, but there were a few still around. Jadon.” My father lowered his eyes. Was that a submission thing? “Your father was among the worst of those who wanted her gone.”

Carl nodded. “We’re aware of our fathers’ bigotry against humans. We know it very well.”

It looked like I was replaying my mother’s issues on this planet without even knowing it. I rubbed my eyes. “And then?”

“We don’t know what happened, exactly. We woke up bound, and then were eventually thrown out of a ship onto an all-but-abandoned mining planet. It took us six years of trying to get off that planet. There were few ships that would come. Each year… it was like Amy got further and further away from us. It’s hard to explain it.”

Actually, it wasn’t. She did get more and more distant from them… mentally. “Why would you have come back here? Where they did that to you?”

“Well, at first it was because we thought maybe Amy was here. We’d been taken, but we didn’t know what happened to her. Then, we thought maybe she was being held captive. We kept looking. She was pregnant—where could she go to raise a Wolf shifter? We went to Earth, but trying to find an Amy on Earth was like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

Okay, I understood that concern, as it was the same reason I knew I couldn’t find my men if I made it back to Planet Wolf without knowing their names. I reminded myself I hadn’t walked in their shoes. I didn’t know what they’d been through. It was sort of… awful to imagine, especially when I remembered being parted from my own mates.

I tried to explain what I knew, which wasn’t much. “My mother became mentally ill after I was born. No one could explain why, and she wouldn’t tell anyone where she had been or the identity of my father. Her mind seemed to just… go away. That’s how it was described to me, at least. She heard voices. She’d wander the house, and no one would know what she was doing.” I was glad not to remember it. That was a gift. “Eventually, she stopped taking care of herself and couldn’t take care of me. I think it broke my grandparents’ hearts to have to put her away, but they did because they couldn’t take care of her at home. That’s what they said.” I sat back. “Maybe they could have? Maybe they could have brought someone in to do it? But the floating space station near Earth is such a good place for care. We visited all the time, I’m told. At least until she didn’t know who we were anymore. Then I was raised by the rest of her large, extended family.” I forced myself to meet their gazes. None of it was my fault—I’d been four years old when decisions had been made about my mother’s care. Even if I felt guilt and responsibility over the situation, I wasn’t in the position to change anything for her, not when it mattered. “We stopped to see her on our way here. Alfie said he could see to it that she would receive better care here, so Jadon said he’d send someone to get her.”

Jadon nodded. “Apparently, I’m sending the three of you. I sent the coordinates to your tablets while she was talking.”

“Female mates, when they’re separated from their male counterparts for long periods of time, can get very sick. They can lose reality, even.” Carl leaned forward. “We know what’s wrong with your mom now, too, Esther. It’s all becoming clear.”

I was glad it was for them, because to me, it all just seemed insane. “So, what happens? She sees the three of them and, boom—her mind becomes clear? All the years wash away? Music plays? Everything is fine? Roll credits?”

Jadon shook his head. “I doubt it will be that easy. Few things ever are.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Anthony got to his feet. “She has to be with us, even if she doesn’t know it. I need her.Weneed her. Just her presence. Living without her is hell. It would be my honor to care for her every day of her life from now on. We’ll leave immediately.”

Casey stared at me. “We wanted you so badly, please know that. We all just wanted to love you, to be a family. You’d have been here, on the planet. You have true mates. They would’ve been right here. I mean… how easy would that have been? You might just have bumped into them.”

Ihadsort of bumped into them, but that was our story, and I wasn’t feeling particularly like sharing. “I like how we met. Maybe it was harder, but it was ours.”

Alfie leaned in the doorway. “It was very special.” He came in holding something in his hand. “Eat this. It’s just a pill that I wrapped in honey for you.”

I stared at him.He has to know better than this by now.“We both know the honey might not be okay on my stomach.”

Paul jumped to his feet. “You have been so sick, I can smell it, yet you’re also so strong. You looked like us. We knew you had to be ours, and yet right around your eyes? That is all Amy. The shape of them, the way they must look when you smile... I hope that I can someday see you smile.” For a second, I thought he might kiss me on my head, only he didn’t move. Instead, he nodded and the other two followed him from the room.

“You can trust me.” Alfie nudged me. “This is not going to hurt you. Now that I know… I know.”

I took it. The stickiness made it hard to chew. “Is it okay to suck on it?”

“Yes.” He sat down next to me. “There are vitamins that we need as Wolf shifters to survive. We get it from our food sources, and also from the sun here. Not all half breeds can shift, that’s normal. Some do, some don’t, but they need the same vitamin regardless. And, here’s where it gets complicated—some half breeds can’t make it. You’re one of them. The health issues—they’re because you’re completely depleted of something you need. In fact, other than the time you were here, you’ve never had it anywhere. The sun doesn’t do for you on Earth what it does for you here. It has to do with our atmosphere.”

The vitamin actually tasted good. “You’re right. It’s not upsetting my stomach.” In fact, it was delicious. I loved it, like I’d loved that pig. I could eat and eat the pill he gave me to suck on with the honey. “Can I have more?”