As if his men knew he was thinking about them and Dia, Stone's cell phone rang.
Putting his hand up to halt Caleb from anymore discussion, he looked at the number on the screen then picked up the phone.
"Update?"
Brandt was the one to answer him. "I made it into the hospital, found her floor and room in the hospital's system when a nurse's back was turned at the main desk. Went up to scope out her room and could hear her talking with the nurse. She's awake and lucid, but I overheard a nurse on her floor say she's lost all her memory."
It felt like the floor dropped out from beneath Stone. "How bad is her memory loss?"
"From what I overheard, she remembers nothing and no one. Didn't even remember her own name when she woke up."
"Fuck!" Stone roared, lifting his arm, ready to throw his phone against the wall. What Brandt said next stopped him from doing it, though.
"There's more."
Taking a deep breath, Stone put the phone back to his ear and prayed the "more" was good news. "Yes?"
"She's pregnant."
Stone would have never thought it possible, but at hearing that news, his wolf went ballistic. Their mate was pregnant with their cub, and he was nowhere near her to protect her. The logical side of his brain reminded him that was a good thing. Someone was out to kill Dia because of him. However, the primal, animalistic part of him was raging to run to his mate and protect her.
Waring emotions ran through him until he just wanted to kick Caleb out of his place so he could be left alone to process everything. What happiness and joy he felt at the knowledge that he was going to have a baby with the woman he loved was quickly overshadowed by the reality of their situation. Now he had two people to protect instead of one. Dia was carrying his son or daughter, and there wasn't a damn thing in this world that he would ever let touch his child.
Turning his attention back to Brandt, he ordered, "Stay as close to her as you can without being noticed. In fact, is there a waiting room near her room?"
"There's a waiting room just down the hall from her. What do you want us to do?"
"The three of you rotate in shifts, staying in the waiting room. Close enough that you can hear what's going on without tipping anyone off that you're not supposed to be there. Call me anytime you learn something new. Caleb and I will continue to work on things from our end. If anyone from the pack calls you, tell them I sent you on a business trip."
Brandt sounded a little confused when he asked, "Are we not telling the pack that Dia is hurt?"
Looking straight into Caleb's eyes, he made sure the man was paying attention to his conversation so he only had to say this once. "No, we're going to tell the pack that Dia died from complications. As far as the pack is concerned, she's dead to them. Understood?"
"Yes sir," Brandt answered, and then Stone hung up the phone.
Caleb, however, looked less understanding and more confused than anything. "Why are we going to tell the pack that Dia died?"
Stone pursed his lips together and narrowed his eyes. "You heard what Brandt said. Dia is pregnant with my cub. There's no way in hell I'm letting you talk me into using her as bait now. No, we'll figure something else out and leave my mate and child safe in Nashville."
"Have any ideas how you want to lure out her would-be killers, then?" Caleb asked.
Shaking his head, Stone told him the truth. "Not a fucking clue. Put your thinking cap on because I want this mystery solved as soon as possible. Until we figure out a way to draw them out, we have a pack to go tell that their alpha's mate is dead. Let's go get this shit over with."
Chapter Nine
One week later …
"It's almost time for you to leave."
Dia clenched her hands together over her stomach, thinking about the baby that lay just beneath them. Giving voice to her worries, she asked the nurse, who had been so kind to her this past week, "Where will I go? I don't know anyone or anything. I don't know if I have any extended family or friends. I don't even know if I have a place of my own, or if I was staying with my parents in the house that exploded! And, if all of that isn't bad enough, I'm pregnant and don't even know how I got that way or who the baby's father is!" She was almost sobbing by the time she finished her sentence.
The nurse held her hands up in a silent request for her to stop. "Hold on, honey. Just calm down. That's what I'm here to talk to you about. There's a place a little ways from here that takes in expecting mothers who have no place to live. I've called them, and they said you could come stay with them."
"Yeah, but for how long?" Dia asked desperately. "How long will they let me stay? I may never get my memories back."
The nurse sat down on the side of her bed and patted her hand. "Don't worry about everything at once, honey. You need to take things one step at a time. Right now, the best thing you can do for you, your baby, and your memory is get back to living life. What's not good for you is to stress too much."
Letting her head fall back on her pillow, Dia couldn't help the tears that started running down her face. How could she not stress right now? She was a woman who was almost three months pregnant, with no home and no money. That was a tough situation to bring a baby into.
She felt another soft pat to her hand and looked back at the nurse.
"It's gonna be all right. I've been on the phone with some churches and charities. The other nurses and I are gonna do everything we can to help you and the baby. Until then, honey, you have to keep the hope alive. Your memories can return, and while that won't solve everything, it's still something to look forward to. Until then, look forward to that precious bundle you're carrying. In a little over a month, you'll be able to find out if you're having a boy or a girl. Isn't that something to look forward to?"
Dia glanced down at her belly, which was now starting to show a small baby bump. It was more like a pooch, but there was no doubt in her mind that it was her baby under that small mound. She thought about finding out the baby's sex and found the thought bittersweet. That was probably something she should be doing with the baby's father, if she only knew who he was. The nurse was right about one thing, though. She needed to try to stay positive for the baby's sake. It was important for her to take care of herself while she had the proverbial bun in the oven.
The nurse's voice brought Dia out of her musings. "Do you want a girl or a boy, honey?"
Dia gave her the only answer she could think of. "It doesn't matter to me. I just want a family, and this baby is going to give me that."
Chapter Ten
"How are you doing, Alpha?"
Stone was standing at the fake memorial service for his mate, hoping that whoever had tried to kill her was in this room. He had been without her for far too long, and he was more than ready to figure out this mystery so he could bring Dia home. Even though his patience was non-existent, and his wolf was raging inside of him, he somehow managed to play the part of a grieving widower to the little old lady standing before him.
He let some of his agitation show because that was how a wolf who had recently lost their mate would act. A twitch of his eye, the tightening of his hands, and a low rumbling growl in his chest. Then Stone reeled it all back in so he didn't give in to the urge to bite his packmate's head off.
"It's very kind of you to ask, Mrs. Jones, but to be honest, I'm not doing well. I'd rather have Dia here with me more than anything." The words he spoke were true, even if no one in this room beyond Caleb knew that his mate was actually alive in Nashville. Everyone would assume he meant he would rather have his dead mate back. It was a simple trick of the words so that no one could discern he was lying.
The hunched over, ninety-year-old woman clucked her tongue at him. "Now, now. Wouldn't do for the alpha to give up on us. Perk up, my boy; it'll be okay. I lost my Wilbur fifty years ago, and I'm still chugging along. You will, too."
Utterly shocked at her words, Stone didn't have a chance to respond to her callous statement before she moved away. He watched her toddle over to her great-granddaughter, Danielle, who stood next to the building's door, fidgeting from foot to foot. Her hands were clenched in front of her and nervousness rolled off her in waves.
Stone felt someone stop next to him and knew it was his beta by the scent, so he muttered under his breath where only Caleb could hear, "Someone looks nervous."