I’m it. Me, myself and I. And Slugger.
“She can’t see how important she is,” Stax finished. “Even with Dani, Kaya and half the town at her side. But she’s vital to more threads than I can count. It’s like Dani’s favorite holiday movie,” he said suddenly. “The one where the man wishes he wasn’t born.”
“It’s a Wonderful Life?” Davide suggested.
“That’s the one. She even has the same name.” Stax chuckled. “Maybe that’s why I thought of it, but it doesn’t change my point. Without her, no one offers Dani an under-the-table job so she can get away from her would-be murderer and spend an unforgettable night with me.” His smiled turned slightly wicked at that. “Which would be sad for everyone, whether they’ll admit it or not. Without her, Kaya has no social life, works her fingers and powers to the bone out of guilt and loses her chance for happiness. And for that, her grandfather would probably blame yours truly. There’s more, but I believe you see where I’m going with this.”
“What about Bailey?” Cam asked. “She’s vital to other people’s happiness, other people’s stories, but doesn’t she deserve some of her own?”
Stax scowled. “What do you think I’m doing here? And she was fine until you two lovebirds came swooping in looking for… What were you expecting to find here? You saw an old picture and thought it was a clue leading you to a written confession? An apology from Calvin for being a deadbeat? A magical medallion of leadership he neglected to pass on to you?”
“Are you a seer?” Cam asked harshly. Shifters with the sight were rare, but they existed. “How do you know about my grandfather? How do you know why I came here?”
It seemed like fate, the day he’d stumbled on that photograph. There’d been a pile of potential property files with a specific list of criteria on his desk, and that picture had fallen out of one of them, as if by magic.
That was all he had to go on. A crumbling photo from the nineteen-forties. Two women blurred but obviously laughing on the barely recognizable porch of the recently opened inn. And in the foreground, sharp and clear, was his grandfather. Calvin Locke. He’d been smiling at the women as if he didn’t have a care in the world. As if he were happy and hadn’t left his wife and children, or his newborn grandson, behind.
“He felt it, like you do,” Stax said quietly. “The pull to make this place his own. He fell for a woman, like you have. But there were differences that couldn’t be denied. Things about his past,” he added meaningfully, “that led me to believe he wasn’t worthy of the responsibility. He wasn’t the one I needed, so I sent him on his way.”
“You did?”
“Don’t get distracted.” His gaze was quelling. “And yes. I did. It was unfortunate though, since I was fond of his mate and her sister.”
Tension corded Cam’s shoulders. “He abandoned his pack, left his family without protection. Now you’re telling me this place still welcomed him? He found a mate here?”
“Yes, well…” Stax grimaced. “His abilities were impressive, but his actions didn’t serve him well in the end.”
In the end. “He’s dead then.”
“He is.”
Cam was almost relieved. At least he had one answer. “And the sisters from the inn. From the picture. The stories say they were murdered. Was he responsible for that?”
“Not murdered.” Stax got to his feet and started to pace. “And that’s a story for another time. Today we’re discussing your mating with Bailey.”
“Are we?” Cam tried to contain his anger. “Fine. Then get to the part where this has anything to do with Bailey and whether we can be with her or not. Because to be honest, so far all I’m hearing about are failed matings and reasons why it’s still a bad idea.”
Stax spun toward him, hair whipping around his shoulders like black rain. “This has to do with you, Alpha Locke. This is what you came here for. The chapter you felt compelled to close. To prove to yourself once and for all that, despite your instincts and unspoken desires, you were right to dismiss your heritage and drag your pack around the world and back again just to avoid it.”
Cam got to his feet, his anger threatening to boil over. “My heritage? Every person I care about has been abandoned, abused, or excommunicated for who they are. That’s pack heritage. Aaron was nearly dead when we found him. Mohammad and Davide were starving. Bunny didn’t trust anyone and she may never tell us why. That is how my heritage treats the vulnerable and different. Their young.”
He held up his hand when Stax opened his mouth. “My grandfather thought he was better than a small pack in the middle of nowhere. Then he came here, to one of the most powerful places I’ve ever experienced, and according to you, was still incapable of being what everyone proclaimed him to be. Alpha. Leader. Is that what runs through my veins? What I could look forward to if I took up that mantle? I would never leave behind the people who needed me. I would never put my ego before my family. I am a better wolf, a better man because I am nothing like Alpha Locke.”