His mother grabbed his arm and pulled, indicating he should leave.
"Caleb and I will deal with this. You go track down Danielle."
Stopping her on the house's doorstep, Stone said, "Wait, Mom, there's something I need to tell you."
Stone knew he was doing the right thing by telling her his secret when his mother looked at him with sad eyes.
Pulling her closer so he could whisper in his mother's ear, Stone told her the truth, "Dia survived the blast. She's alive in a Tennessee hospital." Pulling back, he looked for his mother's reaction and found tears and a shocked smile on her face.
"Truly?" she whispered, almost as if she was afraid to hope.
He nodded then leaned in and whispered again, "And she's pregnant."
His mother grabbed at his shirt and tugged him into a hug as she sobbed for joy. They stayed that way for several minutes. Anyone who would have seen them would never know that the alpha female was crying tears of joy, instead of tears of loss. It was their secret now, until he could bring his mate home and explain what had happened to the pack.
Eventually, his mother pushed out of his embrace and wiped the tears from her face. "Go. Find Danielle so we can finish this. We're overdue for some peace and good news in this pack."
It was easy to understand what his mother wasn't saying, never knowing if there were other ears listening. Hurry up and finish so I can be a grandma.
Turning away, Stone somehow managed to hide the smile that threatened to break out across his face as he headed toward his truck. He was mentally going through the possibilities of where Danielle might have gone when his cell phone rang. It was the Sulphur Springs' alpha's phone number.
Putting his guard back up, Stone answered the phone while keeping his anger at bay. "Hello."
"I do believe we have a problem, Alpha Blaylock."
"Oh? And what problem would that be?" he asked cautiously.
"I have one of your packmates here. One Danielle Jones. Familiar with that name?"
Stone barely held the growl back when he spoke again. "Yes. I'll be there to get her shortly."
"That's where the problem lies, Alpha. I'm keeping her here for questioning."
"Why?" he asked the Sulphur Springs' alpha, worried the man was trying to give asylum to one of the people behind his mate's attack.
"Because she has just accused my daughter of being part of a scheme to kill your mate. And until I figure out if she's lying or not, her ass isn't going any-fucking-where."
Stone knew he would need to be careful about what he said next, so as to not escalate the situation too quickly, but there was something he needed to know.
"What will you do if you find out your daughter was involved in my mate's attack?"
"Exile her from the pack." His statement was sure and swift. Except, that wasn't the answer Stone had been hoping for.
"The punishment for attacking an alpha or his mate is death," he reminded the other man.
"Don't ask me to kill my own daughter."
"Are you so sure that she's guilty that you would need to worry about that?" Stone asked, trying to gauge the other man's frame of mind.
There was silence for a few seconds on the other end, but finally, the Sulphur Springs' alpha answered him. "Suspicious enough that I'm calling you first before heading the investigation myself, instead of just snapping your wolf's neck."
The line went dead, and Stone wished it hadn't. He had just been about to tell the man to go ahead and snap Danielle's neck, anyway.
Pushing that thought aside, he felt a sense of relief crash over him. He knew who had attacked his mate and some of the why, all because one old bitty had been prejudice against humans, and apparently didn't believe in mixing races. Hopefully, the Sulphur Springs' alpha would get the rest of the answers he needed shortly. Until then, he was going to do what he hadn't been able to do in months. He was going to go see his mate.
It had been so hard staying away from Dia to keep her safe. But when you loved someone, you made sacrifices for them. There was nothing he wouldn't do for his mate, and staying away had been paramount when he hadn't known why someone had attacked her parents' house and almost killed her. Now he knew the truth, and that the fact he had stayed away and told everyone she was dead had probably spared her life. There was no doubt in Stone's mind that, if Mrs. Jones had found out she was alive in that hospital, and pregnant, too, she would have gone there to try to kill Dia and the baby.
Now, barring what might happen with the Sulphur Springs pack, it was safe enough to bring his mate home, and there wasn't a thing in this world that could stop him from doing just that.
Chapter Thirteen
Sneaking into the hospital was much trickier than he thought it would be. Then again, it was in the middle of the night, well after visiting hours. Nevertheless, Stone didn't care. He needed to see his mate, and he needed to see her now. That was why it was three o'clock in the morning, and he was sitting here, watching her sleep.
He wasn't going to wake her up, knowing she needed to rest. The chance to just sit here and watch her like this was all he needed.
His sweet Dia had changed so much since he had seen her last. Her hair had been cut short, and while he had loved it long, she was just as beautiful with the chopped strands. She looked healthy, with creamy skin and pink cheeks, although he could tell she had lost a little bit of weight.
The thing he couldn't take his eyes off, though, was the small baby bump underneath the blanket. That was their cub lying safely in his mother's womb.
And there was no doubt for Stone that it would be a boy, because his family had not birthed a daughter in their line since as long as it could be traced on the family tree. Hundreds of years.
He couldn't wait to see Dia more round with their child. Her breasts heavy with milk. She didn't know it yet, but he hoped they would have many children together. Stone had hated being an only child and didn't want that for his child.
If he was honest with himself, it was also because of the baby making process. What red-blooded male didn't want to touch and taste their mate as often as possible?
When Dia started to stir, Stone was aware of every small movement she made. He could tell she was waking up, and for the first time in his life, he was truly worried, knowing she wouldn't remember him. Therefore, he stayed in his chair instead of rushing to her side, and waited for her to slowly wake up.
It took her a few minutes as her body fought her mind to wake up. She tossed and turned, ending up on her side, facing him, making him the first thing Dia saw when she opened her eyes.
She gasped in shock, and he felt horrible for scaring her, but he didn't move a muscle. The best thing he could do right then was to remain as calm and soothing to her as possible.
"Who are you?" Dia asked with a nervous voice.
How little did she know that those words cut like a knife through his soul.
Stone knew she couldn't help it, but still, some part of him had hoped she would take one look at him and remember everything. Regardless, he had already thought of the best way to answer this question on his way over here, just in case she didn't remember him.
"I'm your husband."
Confused, she started to shake her head. "You have to be joking. I've been here for over two months. If you were my husband, you would have been here by now. They would have been able to find you in records and contacted you."
Stone shook his head. "We didn't get a chance to file the marriage certificate yet. I had to leave for my job, and you wanted to tell your parents in person that we had gotten married before we did it."
Dia's eyebrows scrunched down. She looked as if she were thinking too hard.
A silent moment passed between them before she finally said, "We got married and didn't have my parents there? Why would I do that?"
At this question, Stone gave her a smile. He knew it probably looked like a sad smile to her, but he couldn't help grinning at the memories of his courting her.
"This is going to sound unbelievable, but you could say we had one of those ‘love at first sight' relationships. We didn't know each other very long before we got married, but that was because we love each other so damn much."
She looked surprised at his answer. "Are you telling me we had some whirlwind romance?"
Stone nodded, then pointed at her belly. "I didn't even know you were pregnant when you went to see your parents."
Bringing her hand up to her forehead, Dia started to rub it as a look of pain crossed her face.