"Elliot-" Elliot was getting really tired of Tommy trying to placate him. It wasn't like he was the most dangerous person in the world. He couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag. He just refused to let anyone harm his mate.
Elliot turned back and leaned up to nuzzle the underside of Tommy's chin. "They shouldn't have attacked you."
"I know, pretty baby, and we'll figure out why they did in a moment but first we need to calm this situation down. It's not going to do anyone any good or get any of our questions answered if everyone is jumping at everyone else."
"I'm willing to discuss it if they stay away from you." Tommy's soft chuckle was a balm to Elliot's soul. He could listen to the man's amusement for the rest of his life. It was a beautiful sound.
"I think we all need to take a step back here," Tommy said as he looked across the room. "This is getting none of us anywhere. We're never going to have any of our questions answered if we're at each other's throats. Agreed?"
Donovan and Chase seemed to grumble a bit, but both men nodded their heads and went to sit down on the couch, Jim standing directly behind Donovan. Tommy looked at his father to see his reaction to everything. He was surprised to find his father looking at Elliot with confusion instead of anger.
"Dad?"
Daniel blinked as if just coming back from a deep thought and turned his attention to his son. "Yes, Thomas, everyone needs to calm down so that we can discuss this like reasonable adults."
"What's reasonable about them attacking Tommy?"
"Elliot, Donovan didn't really attack me," Tommy said. "He was just trying to restrain me."
"He put his hands on you!" Elliot could feel his anger starting to surface again. He flexed his hands several times, his fingers starting to ache with his need to extend his claws. "No one has the right to put their hands on you except me."
"You're right, Elliot," Daniel said, surprising Elliot. He turned to look at the man, wondering what his game was. "No one has the right to touch your mate except you, and especially not to keep your mate from defending you."
Elliot growled.
"And Donovan and I will be discussing that when we're done here," Daniel continued as if no sound had come out of Elliot's mouth. But it had, and everyone heard it, Tommy's arms tightening around him as the others in the room tensed. "In the meantime, we do need to discuss what happened here."
"He threatened my mate!" Elliot didn't understand how everyone else couldn't see that.
"Elliot, please!" Tommy whispered into his mind.
Elliot turned his face back into Tommy's neck and drew in a deep breath of the man's unique fragrance. It was probably the only thing on earth that could calm him down at the moment, and somehow he knew that.
"Elliot," Daniel began after a moment of thick silence, "what can you tell me about your mother?"
"I told you before, I never really knew my mother. She died when I was a baby."
"I know that, but is there anything you do remember?"
Elliot frowned and leaned back against Tommy's chest. "I don't remember much, and I really have no idea how old I was when she died. My father refuses to discuss her with me."
"Elliot, you've already told us this. We need to know what you haven't told us. Think hard, son. What did she look like? What did she smell like? Did she sing to you or have a special name for you?"
Elliot's frown deepened. "She had brown hair, like a deep chestnut color, and it was really long. She always wore it in a braid down her back."
"Good, Elliot," Daniel said. "What else do you remember about her?"
Elliot couldn't understand why Daniel was so interested in his mother unless it was because she might be his shifter parent. Tommy said it had to be one of them, and he didn't think it was Elliot's father.
"Please, Elliot, this is really important."
Elliot sighed and leaned farther into Tommy's arms as he glanced over to the window. He wanted to remember his mother, really he did. But his memories were just too fuzzy. It had been so long, he didn't know what was real and what was a fantasy he built in his head.
"She smelled like summer rain," Elliot whispered. "You know, the first one of the season when everything has time to settle and the ground soaks up the water. There's a certain fragrance that it gives off. I can't quite describe it but-"
"No, it's okay, Elliot. We know what you're talking about," Daniel said. "What else?"
"She called me Bumba because I was always bumping into things." Elliot's forehead wrinkled as he frowned, turning to look at Daniel. "I think I was just trying to walk when she died."
"Okay, what do you remember about when she died? Did she get sick or what?"
Elliot couldn't remember. His memories were so distorted. "I remember white walls, a lot of white walls. I don't know if she was sick, but I do remember she cried a lot." Elliot sniffled a little. "And then one day she didn't cry anymore."
"What happened then, Elliot?"
"My father came fro – from-" Elliot frowned and sat up a little. "I don't remember where my father was, but suddenly he was there. He smelled bad. I remember that he smelled bad, like old, musty, moldy books." Elliot glanced back at Tommy when the man suddenly stiffened. "What?"
"Exactly how did he smell, Elliot? Describe the scent as much as you can."
Elliot shrugged. "He smelled moldy."
"Moldy?"
Elliot nodded. "Have you ever been in one of those old secondhand antique stores? Sometimes they have old books, but there's this musty smell about them, like the pages are rotting. That's what he smelled like. Why?"
"We'll answer that in a moment, Elliot," Daniel said, "but first we need to know a little more about your father."
"Okay, what do you want to know?" Elliot was so confused.
"You said you were sick growing up, that you saw a lot of doctors and had a lot of tests. What do you remember about that time? Did you ever overhear any of the doctors talking or your father talking with the doctors?"
Elliot shook his head. "No, they always gave me something to put me to sleep before any of the tests. I thought it was because whatever tests they were running were painful."
"Then how did you know they did tests on you?"
"I had bandaged spots where they took blood and stuff." "Do you know what kind of tests they were running?"
"No, but I know they drew blood and stuff. And one time they did some sort of surgery on my hip. It hurt a lot afterwards."
"Did you hurt yourself?" Tommy asked quickly.
"No, they just said it was some sort of biopsy of something." Elliot shrugged, not understanding why everyone was staring at him with horror on their faces. "I figured everything was okay with the tests when no one said anything to me."
"You mentioned that you still have to go in for blood tests once a month," Tommy said. "Why?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" Tommy snapped.
"I never asked."
"Why the hell not?"
Elliot blinked. Tommy sounded pissed. "I've always had tests."
"Okay, we're getting off point here," Daniel said.
"I think we're very on point, Dad," Tommy snapped. "Someone has been doing tests on Elliot, and he has no idea why. I want to know why not."
"And yelling at him is going to get what you want?"
Elliot pressed his lips to keep from laughing when Tommy started to look like a little boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar. But, as much as he found it amusing, he couldn't allow his mate to feel uncomfortable. Elliot reached back and stroked his hand down Tommy's cheek.
"Thank you for being concerned, Tommy."
"I just don't like the idea of people doing things to you that you don't know about. It's wrong, Elliot."
"You're probably right." Elliot shrugged. "I guess I just got so used to it that I never questioned it. It's been going on my entire life."
"And it kept your father off your back."
"There was that." Elliot giggled. "I remember once while I was in college. I went on holiday with some of my friends and missed my monthly appointment. You would have thought I missed the coronation or something. My father had a fit. He actually hired a helicopter to fly me to the house for my monthly exam. I wasn't even allowed to go back to my friends. I had to stay home for the next week."