She stopped, her tail tucked down, and her eyes saddened. “You have no reason. It’s over. I belong to Rylee’s pack.”
Damn. She was right. He had no reason to pursue the matter. She was no kin and certainly not a mate. However, he would someday give the Wyoming alpha a piece of his mind. Throwing out the weakest member of a pack was just wrong. “Very well then.” When they returned to human form, he’d call Jesper and ask him to fill him in on Cricket or rather Abella’s past. Explain to Jesper that knowing why she’d been thrown out would help him understand his partner better.
Chapter 11
Slade and Cricket ate breakfast at a country café. His phone vibrated.
Jesper texted, “Call me.”
Finally. Earlier, he had texted Jesper to get him a little background information on why Cricket's pack kicked her out. Anything. “I have to take this.”
“Business or pleasure?”
“Personal.” He narrowed his eyes. “Stay put.”
Cricket sipped her coffee. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Slade winked at her. “Enjoy your cup.” He walked behind the café and into a wooded area. Away from perky little ears. “Hey, Jesper, what do you have?”
“Sir, I found her background bio kept in her private file. Quite detailed, but I don’t see how it will help.”
Slade had pushed him, perhaps too far. “Knowing her past will help us work better as a team.” His fangs itched to escape and bite the phone. “Tell me.”
“Very well, sir. Her father, Cade threw her out, but not because he wanted to.”
Slade’s hackles rose. “Only the alpha can…wait…her father was the alpha?”
“Correct, sir. Cade had an affair with an omega named Chloe. Her mother.”
“An omega?” Not too unusual to have an omega as a mistress, but to have pups with her? Unheard of. “Did he not have an alpha mate?”
“He did. A royal princess alpha, Tessa, from one of the richest packs in Canada.”
“An arranged mating.” Yet, if he hadn’t felt the chemistry would he go through with it for greed? More than likely to avoid the public shame of having an inferior mate.
“Indeed. Tessa is still beautiful and powerful.”
“Yet, Cade continued his dalliance with the omega.”
“Cade loved Chloe since before the change, and later she gave birth to a daughter, Cricket. His alpha mate, Tessa produced three alphas, including the pack alpha, Colby. Tessa expected Cricket to die during the change, but when she survived, the alpha bitch insisted Cricket be thrown out.” Jesper’s breathing grew heavy. “Cricket mentioned her upbringing to me when she first arrived. She suffered miserably at the claws and paws of her two alpha half-sisters, Dacia and Oriana. I remember when Rylee first brought her here. Nothing, but skin and bones.”
Slade cringed. His pack had always been protective of the weakest members, never abusive. “Her brother allowed bullying?”
“Colby had no love for Cricket, a runt who seemed to win the favor of his father.”
“I will meet her father.”
“No sir, you can’t.”
“I can and I will.”
“He’s dead.”
“When?”
“After he kicked Cricket out of his territory. Imagine, doing this while she still lingered close to death after the change. They found him dead on Chloe’s grave. Shot himself.”
His heart ached for Cricket. Abella. A lycan’s first three years of living as a wolf should have been one of feral joy. Instead, she’d lived in abject misery. “Tragic indeed.”