Chapter 63
63 Secrets and Truths
Maureen POV
I hold my breath as he bends down to her. “Penny, my friend Carter here is going to take you to meet Miss Desiree” he says so
sweetly. I pull her close to my side. He stands and leans in so he is close enough for me to feel his breath on my face. “If you
want your daughter to be safe from harm, you will listen like the good mate you’re going to be.” “I want her to stay here with me,
Damien. I came here willingly so please don’t take her from me.” “She will be right next door and as soon as we finish talking I’ll
have her brought back. You have my word.” His word, I can’t wait to rip his head from his body. “Mama I’ll be OK” she says
before she takes Carter’s hand. I bend down, hugging her. I link her so he can’t hear “please be careful.” She pulls back with that
beautiful smile that normally brings me such peace, but not even that is helping right now. They head for the door and once it
shuts, Damien places his hand on the small of my back. He leads me to a chair in front of his desk. I want to openly gag, but
right now I need to play along. He takes a seat behind his desk and the smile on his face makes me believe he suspects nothing.
“I’m glad you came home, Maureen. This is where you and Penny belong. You belong here with me. We are going to be a
family.” I look at him like he is crazy. I have my hair covering John’s mark but I want to stick it in his face. “I’m not sure what you
think is going to happen here, Damien. My mate is dead and I have no desire to have another.” The words taste awful on my
tongue but I don’t mean one word. “Even if I did, what makes you think it would be you? I have never shown any interest in you,
Damien, after Richard was killed.” The smile that he so proudly wore slips from his face, replaced by pure anger. “Maureen, I
know you are not stupid, so please don’t act like you are. You have no choice in this. You will either let me mark and mate you or
I will hurt your precious Fae pup.” I give him the reaction he’s looking for by feigning shock. The smirk returns to his face. “Yes I
know exactly what she is and what Richard was.” “You killed my mate and now you expect that I will mate you.” He laughs and I
feel like I’m in a bad movie when the evil doctor laughs because he thinks he’s won.
“Yes I did and, honestly, you are just a means to an end. So you can get on board and have a chance to see your daughter grow
up or you can die here today.” “I will never allow you to use my daughter as a breeder.” This time it’s his face that has shock
written all over it. “I see Carter has loose lips. He’ll be dealt with as soon as I’m done dealing with you.”
Damien POV
That ba**ard betrayed me after all I have done for him. I made him my second in command when he was nothing to me. Now he
brings her here, for what? Does he really believe this she-wolf stands a chance against me? She came here thinking she will be
the one walking out in one piece. How wrong she is because I don’t need her to control the brat since I have Desiree. I’ve put up
with her this long. I can use her a little longer. She stands and I mimic her movement. “You’ll never make it out the door, so I
wouldn’t even try Maureen.” I start around the desk and before I can reach her she is gone. Crane growls and I’m ready to shift. I
rush from the office outside expecting to find her with some low-level witch. There is no other way she teleported out of my office
on her own. Instead, I find wolves and a warlock who has his arm wrapped around Maureen. I’m ready to shift into Crane. This is
not how this was supposed to go. “You still have the brat”, Crane growls in my mind and I smile. He’s right, one word from me
and Desiree will kill her. “You forget I still have your pup. Even if you manage to kill me, Desiree will have her dead before you
can ever reach her.” A smile of victory breaks out on Maureen’s face and all the confidence I just had about having the upper
hand seems to fade away. What the f**k is going on?
Carter POV
I lead her into the cottage where Desiree is waiting. I stop outside the door that leads into the living room. “Please wait here,
there is something I need to do.” She nods and I walk into the living room where Desiree is sitting on the couch. “Where is she,
Carter” she says with irritation in her voice. “I came here because despite all you have done you have a chance to make things
right.” She rolls her eyes “Carter, I have made it perfectly clear to you that I will never be yours. Damien is the one I want.” Her
words hurt me as much as they did the first time she said them when I realized she was my mate. “I had hoped that you would
realize the value in the gift the goddess gave you, but honestly you’re not worthy to be anyone’s mate.” She conjures a black ball
of energy in her hand “I would be careful Carter because we are nothing to each other and I will think nothing of ending you
where you stand.” “You’re right Desiree, you are nothing to me. Lily, you can come in now” I say, and the door opens. “What the
hell did you call her” Desiree asks. Before I can say a word she shimmers and where Penny stood Lily now stands. She throws
the energy ball in my direction and like it’s a child’s ball, Lily catches it. “Carter, you can leave now” she says. “Are you sure”, I
ask and she smiles. “Yes, go check on Maureen.” “You betrayed him” she screams and Lily whips her head in Desiree’s
direction. The look on her face leaves no doubt Desiree is about to suffer for all she has done. I turn to leave, closing the door
behind me. I can hear her scream out my name and I feel nothing. The little remaining bond was gone the minute she made her
choice.
Lily POV
As I stand outside the door and listen to the fact that Carter is that b**ches mate, I can feel the anger grow which I didn’t think
was possible. She chose to spit in the goddess’ face and torture this poor man by choosing that disgusting wolf over and over
again. Once the door is closed, she starts to scream for Carter. I’m sure she realizes my power as I release my masking spell.
“What seems to be the problem, Desiree? You couldn’t detect me with your pathetic powers.” “I don’t know who you are but I’ve
done nothing to you.” I can see she is trying to teleport with no success. The panic on her face is quite comical. “What are you”
she asks. “I’m a blessed witch and much stronger than you will ever be.” I paralyze her before I invade her mind to see exactly
what her crimes are. As the images flow to me, I see the day she went to Lucas for the potion that killed Richard. I can’t believe
all the lives he destroyed. I’m glad he’s dead and this b**ch is about to join him. I release the mind hold on her but she is still
frozen in place.
I force my will, making her walk toward me. “You are about to tell Maureen all you have done before I end your pathetic life.” Her
eyes get big and I teleport us between my family and that ba**ard. Damien runs toward me and John raises his hand, stopping
him like a statue. He nods to me and I face Desiree. “Show them now” I say. She starts to cry looking at Carter. “No one cares
about your tears. Show them the monster that you are”, I say, forcing her memories to play like a reel for everyone to see. I know
that Maureen needs to know what happened because I have been there. She needs this to let go of the questions she has about
what happened to Richard. When the reel stops she buries her head in John’s chest. “He made me do it, please have mercy”
Desiree pleads. “Mercy is for those that are sorry, not for those that are sorry they got caught.” I raise my hand lifting her off the
ground. “The only fitting punishment is for you to feel all that you did.” Her eyes get big and the fear is palpable. I start to chant
and her screams fill the air. “I hope you and your cousin will enjoy the goddess’s wrath together”, I say, before I drop her lifeless
dried out body to the ground. I turn on Damien but before I can deal out his punishment, a hand is on my shoulder. I turn and
Maureen is looking in my eyes. “Thank you, for all you have done, but he is mine.” I step back and Neal wraps his arm around
me. Lincoln and Amelia both nod at me.
Maureen POV
As I watch what they did to Richard, I feel sick to my stomach. I bury my head in John’s chest. Most people wouldn’t understand
the need to know exactly what happened but Lily did. I have grieved but now I can let all that go and move forward. John kisses
the top of my head and I pull back, looking into his eyes. No words are exchanged between us but he knows. He nods and I stop
Lily from killing that pathetic excuse for a wolf. She steps back and I face this man. John still has him frozen in place, but I will
not kill him like this. “You took something from me and my pup that you had no right to. Unlike you, who gave Richard no
opportunity to defend himself, I will allow you to fight back.” I look at my mate, who has nothing but love in his eyes and he nods
at me. I back up, “Clarice, it’s time.” “Yes it is and I’m so proud to be your wolf.”
I shift and as soon as John releases him, Damien shifts too. Clarice is bigger than his average size wolf. He is an ugly brown
color that looks like mud. As we circle each other, I think about all the pain he has caused me. The anger builds and Clarice
growls. He lunges at us but she side-steps. We turn so we are facing him. As we head toward him, Clarice builds up speed and
when we reach him she clamps down on his shoulder. He starts to shake trying to free himself from her jaws. We hear the bone
break and she finally lets go. He limps but continues to come at us. This time he manages to swipe across our chest. I can feel
the warmth of the blood running down and dripping onto our paws. “Clarice”, John yells, and I pray he doesn’t interfere. I can feel
Clarice’s anger that he made the mark. She growls again and this time the wolf steps back before he runs toward us. Clarice
manages to clamp down on his front leg. She shakes her head back and forth. We can hear the tearing of bone and flesh. After a
few seconds, she has pulled the leg from his body. He starts to try to drag himself from us but she is having no part of it.
She begins to circle his pathetic body lying on the ground. She bites down on his hind leg this time. After a few minutes of
shaking and his cries filling the air, his leg is again pulled from his body. She comes around until we are standing over his broken
body. She growls and the wolf’s eyes turn. Without any warning, he shifts back into human form. What’s left of him lying there
waiting for death to come. “Finish him, Clarice, and send him to the goddess.” She bends down, showing more mercy than he
deserves. She takes him in her jaws and bites down, breaking his already broken body in half. Clarice turns heading toward
John. When we reach him, she lays down in front of him. He bends placing his head against hers. It’s over, it is finally over.