"You'll have to find me first!" Liane's tone was belligerent. She stood up, stumbling slightly, and pushed her chair back. "Screw this stupid town. Screw Montana. I'm sicka the cold weather. I'm sicka shifters. I'm outta here." She staggered out the door and down the street.
Valerie and Morgan waited until she was out of sight, then slowly walked back across the street to the candy shop.
"We'll get her on parental abandonment," Morgan assured Valerie. "To say nothing of child endangerment, with Teddy wandering off and nearly freezing to death like that."
"Do you think Nelda is willing to take her on permanently?" Valerie asked, worried.
The candy shop door opened, and the Rosemonts trooped out. Honoria and Homer had taken some of the packages from Arthur. His face was peeping out above the stack now.
Teddy stopped to look at Valerie with concern. She gave her a long, slow once-over, her little forehead wrinkling in dismay.
"What is it?" Valerie asked.
Teddy looked up at Nelda. "She's wearing white. It's after Labour Day," she said, shaking her head and making a tsking sound. Then she looked back at Valerie with a mixture of understanding and pity. "It's okay, though," she said, patting Valerie on the hand. "You're only human."
Nelda seized Teddy's hand and looked down at her as if Teddy were minted of platinum and studded with rubies.
"Arthur, isn't she the most precious thing ever?" she breathed.
"Yes, ma'am – I mean Nelda – I expect she is."
"Would she be willing to keep her?" Morgan whispered to Valerie. "I think she'd bite the face off anyone who tried to take her."
* * * * *
The festive mood was dimmed that afternoon when Morgan called the entire family and all of the household servants into the living room.
"I just got a call from the police department," he said. His voice was deadly calm. "I suppose I've been in denial up until now, because I really didn't want to believe that anyone in my pack was capable of this kind of devious, cowardly behavior. A death challenge, yes. But this? The brake line to my car was punctured. Somebody tried to kill my mate." There was murder in his eyes, and his ears went pointy and furry. Claws sprang from his fingertips.
"And my son," Elmira said indignantly. "I suppose you don't care what happens to him."
Morgan looked at her. "I care about attacks on any member of my pack. My brother and sister were also in that car. However, it's clear that Valerie was the intended target. Everybody knows that Valerie drives that car. Festus getting into the car was a last-minute thing, and the same with my brother and sister."
His gaze slowly swept over them, and the bones of his face rippled and cracked. His face melted into wolf form, then went human again.
His mother looked at him indignantly. "Alpha. I sincerely hope you're not looking at me," she said, her tone severe.
He ignored her and addressed the group. His expression was grim.
"For Valerie's safety, I will be by her side twenty-four hours a day until the culprit is caught," he said. "I have pack members guarding the cars to ensure that they are not tampered with again. And I don't think I need to tell any of you that attempting to harm the Alpha's mate is an offense punishable by death. It is an attack on the Alpha, it is an attack on the integrity and honor of the pack, and it will not be tolerated. I will find out who's behind this, and I will end them."
He put his arm around Valerie's shoulders, and they left the room together. Valerie's face was glum as she trudged up the stairs with him.
"You'll be safe, I swear," Morgan assured her.
"I know you'll protect me," she said unhappily. "Nobody will try anything while you're with me."
That wasn't what was bothering her.
Chapter Sixteen
Early that evening, Valerie and Morgan were talking to Arthur in the living room when they heard howls of pain coming from the kitchen.
They rushed in and found Festus lying on the floor by the stove, curled up and clutching at his stomach. A ceramic bowl lay next to him on the floor, shattered to pieces, and stew had spilled out on the flagstones.
DeeDee knelt next to him, her hands fluttering frantically in the air, her eyes huge. "What do I do? What do I do?" she cried out.
Camden came racing in and knelt next to his brother. "What happened to you?" he demanded. "Did someone attack you?" He looked up at them with a ferocious glare, as if trying to decide who to bite first. "Nobody hurts my family!" he barked angrily.
Festus vomited onto the floor. "The stew," he moaned weakly. "My stomach. Poison. Don't eat it … " Sweat was pouring from his forehead and matting his hair.
The rest of the pack began piling in. Elmira saw her son lying there and burst into tears.
"My son! Who did this to him?" she cried, looking around wildly.
"What happened?" Morgan demanded of DeeDee as Arthur dialed 911.
"He came into the kitchen and helped himself to some of the stew that I was cooking for dinner," DeeDee said, shaking her head and looking bewildered.
"Who had access to the kitchen?"
"Anyone." She was in tears. "I'm not by the stove every minute – anyone could have come in here. But … everybody would have been served that stew. All of you. And the kitchen staff too."
"It's you," Elmira hissed, glowering at Nelda. "You've always wanted revenge. I will kill you for this."
"No, you won't!" Teddy shrieked. She hurled herself at Elmira and latched on to her wrist with her teeth. Elmira snarled, started to shift, and Nelda shifted first and knocked her to the floor. The pack members pulled them apart as Camden knelt by his brother, stroking his sweat-soaked hair and growling softly.
* * * * *
Tears burned Valerie's eyes as she paced around in the hospital's underground parking lot. It was dim and creepy down there, and despite her wool overcoat and warm clothing, she was chilled to the bone.
She'd told Morgan that she was going to use the ladies' room, then snuck out and headed down here. Her car was parked nearby, and in a minute she'd be climbing in and driving away from him forever.
Festus was still in the ICU, with his mother and brother by his bedside. He would live. He hadn't eaten much of the stew, fortunately.
But there was only one way to ensure that this would never happen again – that the attacks would stop. There was only one way to protect Morgan's family from another Christmas heartbreak.
She heard angry footsteps clattering across the concrete toward her. She'd sent a text and asked Nelda to meet her down here – alone.
"What are you doing skulking about in the shadows?" Nelda said irritably. "It smells down here, and I was in the middle of teaching Teddy about how to mix and match patterns without clashing."
Valerie took a deep breath. Be strong, she told herself. "I want to tell you that I'm leaving. Morgan. The pack. I'm leaving town."
Nelda stared at Valerie. "Leaving?" she said, shaking her head slowly. "Why would you do that?"
Valerie was confused.
"I thought you'd be tap-dancing with joy," she said, as tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. She wiped at her cheeks with her sleeve. "I'm going to inform Morgan that I am infertile and therefore disqualified," she went on, her voice hoarse with sorrow. "I heard you talking on the phone about how that would make me ineligible to be his mate. He still has time to find someone else."
Nelda opened her mouth to say something, closed it again, then shook her head. She cleared her throat. "Well, there's always adoption. I don't know what the pack charter says about that."
"What?" Valerie sniffled hard. "No, I'm not actually infertile. I'm just going to tell Morgan that. Well, I'm going to send him a letter." Pain lanced through her, and she swallowed a sob. She took a deep breath and told herself again to be strong. "I can't tell him to his face."
"You're saying my son, my son, isn't good enough for you? You're coming up with some phony excuse to dump him?" Nelda said indignantly.
"No, that's not what I'm saying at all," Valerie protested. "I love your son. But I can't have him lose two parents."
"Well, you are clearly insane." Nelda regarded her with narrowed eyes. "But still. My son loves you. You make him happy. We might be able to find treatment for you."