BirthStone (20 page)

“
Yes, Sir.”

Silas nodded at Rose. “Make an appointment
for Julie at the hospital tomorrow after two pm. Talk to Doctor
Kelly, he is expecting her.”

“Yes, Sir,” Rose said as Jacques walked
in.

Silas frowned at the silly grin plastered
across his friend’s face. Jacques strode past him into the inner
office, waited for Silas to enter, and then closed the door behind
him.

“What?” Silas demanded when Jacques stood
mute in front of him, smiling.

“Good news… I have found my mate.” Jacques
raked his fingers through his hair and yanked before releasing it.
“I cannot believe….after all this time…” he murmured, and then his
gaze snapped to Silas.

“You… you my friend have done this.” He
grabbed Silas hand, pulled him close and embraced him. “Thank you
La Patron. Thank you.”

Silas’ mind spun. Who was Jacques talking
about? If it was one of Jasmine’s family members, his friend was in
for a world of pain. He pushed back and eyed Jacques.
“Congratulations, who is the fortunate person?” He tried to inject
happiness in his tone but knew he failed when Jacques eyed him
before laughing.

“Oh…you will not detour me. I know what you
are thinking. You think after that bitch Arianna I cannot make a
correct assessment. But you are wrong, this woman, this
wonderful…beautiful…magnificent…”

“I get it,” Silas said. “She’s wonderful,
but who is she?”

Jacques smile dipped a bit. “Victoria of
course. You did not know?”

“No. I just met her last night for the first
time. And why would I know who your mate is, you told me Jasmine
and I were mates, remember?”

Jacques waved him down. “You knew she was
your mate, you simply refused to accept it. Today, the moment I
entered the room, my senses sharpened. It was as if a string that
had been afloat for centuries finally found it’s anchor. The air in
the room changed and I was smitten by her beauty.”

Silas fought against rolling his eyes at the
flowery words. “She’s engaged to marry another.”

Jacques rolled his eyes and waved his hand.
“I heard some other believes she is his destiny. They are mistaken.
I am her mate. I will claim her before I leave.”

Hearing Jacques talk of leaving reminded
Silas of the job he needed his friend to work on. “We can discuss
that later, right now I need you to focus on this file.” Silas sat
at his desk, and pulled up the file on the computer. “What station
are you using?” He glanced up. Jacques remained in the same spot,
except he was gazing out the window and smiling. Silas released a
breath to reign in his aggravation.

“Jacques, have a seat.”

“Oh…okay.”

Silas leaned back in his chair and decided
to bring his former assistant current. After telling Jacques in
explicit details about the bombs, about Jennings and Asia, he was
pleased the goofy smile had been replaced with the sharp thoughtful
expression he had counted on in past decades.

“Bastards,” Jacques hissed. “I will pull
open the file and begin at once, Sir. We will beat the insolent
bastards at their own game. My Victoria cannot leave, Sir. I
understand this is not the best time for a family visit. But she is
my mate and I cannot stay if she leaves.”

Silas nodded in understanding. “I am aware
of how mates work. But if she rejects you, I cannot allow you to
make her life more difficult. She is human and does not know who or
what we are. Be mindful of her human lover, they plan to wed. To us
that means little. But my mate disagrees with me on that, it’s very
important to them.”

“But it can be easily broken,” Jacques said,
standing.

“Yes. I know. It’s not a mating, my friend.
It’s marriage.” Silas watched as Jacques left his office with a
befuddled look on his face. “Welcome to the world of living with a
breeder,” he murmured, knowing the confusion his friend now faced
was the tip of the iceberg.

“
Silas
?”

He smiled at the purring Jasmine put in her
voice. “
Yes?”

“
We are going to the nursery; mom wants
to see the kids.”

“
I will meet you. Do not go in without
me…please
,” he added.

“
You need to be there when we arrive; I’m
not going to hang outside the door like I cannot go in to see my
children.”

He heard the bite in her voice as he headed
for the door, “
Give me a head start. I'll meet you in five, make
that ten minutes.”

“
Okay. Love you
,” she said, adding
that purring sound that went straight to his groin.

“
Keep that up and I’ll have you up
against the wall like I did last night, and it won’t matter who’s
around.”
He waved at Jacques to follow him.

“We’re going to the nursery,” he called out
over his shoulder to Rose as Jacques fell in beside him.

“Will it be possible for me to speak
directly with Asia, to get some context and nuances,” Jacques asked
as they reached the elevator.

“Yes. I would be interested in your opinion
of her.”

“Thank you, Sir. We are going to see my
Jacqueline?”

“Yes. Jasmine’s family didn’t get to see the
pups last night, and her sister just got in this morning. I have to
be in the room whenever strangers are present.” If it bothered
Jacques to be considered a stranger, he never said. Silas strode
down the hall in silence, his mind on the various projects in the
works. He stopped in front of the nursery door, glanced over his
shoulder at Jacques, and then stepped inside.

All four pups had his inky black hair, the
girls had his eyes, while the boys' eyes were various shades of
brown, like Jasmine’s.

Adam and David were playing a game on the
floor with a ball. Silas’ chest expanded with pride every time he
watched his pups interact. When one was upset or distressed, the
others would attempt to sooth or calm that one. He had witnessed
them crawling or scooting close and huddling into a puppy pile
until the pup calmed. Despite their human side, their wolves made
them operate on instinct. Jackie worked on her puzzles and Renee
used a crayon to draw on a piece of paper, but the moment they saw
him they stopped.

Grinning over the “Da’s” that were coming
fast as well as the raised arms, Silas stooped and picked up the
girls first. “This young lady is our artist, Renee.” He placed a
kiss on her forehead. “And this one, who loves to figure out
puzzles, is our future strategist, Jacqueline.”

“They are both beautiful, Sir,” Jacques said
with genuine awe in his voice. His fingertip touched Renee’s cheek
and then Jackie’s. Jacqueline reached for him and after Silas
nodded, Jacques took his namesake into his arms.

Silas shook his head at the instant
connection and headed to his sons. David had stopped playing and
now watched Silas. When he placed Renee on the floor next to Adam,
Silas picked up David and hugged him tight. “So serious all the
time,” he murmured.

“Sir?” Jacques said from behind Silas.

“This is my son, David. David, this is my
friend Jacques.”

Jacque’s brow rose at the introduction.
“Hello David.”

David stared at Jacques in silence. When
Jacques reached forward to touch David’s face as he had done with
each girl, David pulled back out of his reach. Silas was surprised.
He had never seen his son react like that with anyone.

“Sorry,” he said to Jacques as he placed
David next to Renee and picked up Adam. “This is Adam, he was the
first of the litter.”

Adam wrapped his arms around Silas’ neck,
but peeked at Jacques. When Jacques touched his cheek, Adam laughed
in delight. Jasmine, her mother, sister, and Mark entered the
nursery. Renee crawled as fast as she could toward Jasmine,
squealing and talking gibberish. Jasmine lifted her from the floor
and swung the small child around, placing kisses on her cheek.

“And who is this tiny fellow? I bet you’re
David. I’ve seen your pictures,” Victoria asked, looking at David.
He stared at her a moment and then lifted his arms. “Oh my… how
handsome and strong you are.” She placed a kiss on his cheek. David
said a few words of gibberish, but stopped when Mark came
close.

“Honey, this is my grandson, David. David,
this is Mark, your future grandfather.” The words fell flat and
Silas didn’t need to glance at his friend to know he was unhappy.
Mark took David from Victoria. David stared at the man for a moment
and then screamed his displeasure. Adam, Renee, and Jackie stopped,
turned, and tried to get to David. Silas handed Jacques a squirming
Adam and went to get his son, but Jasmine got there before him.

“Sometimes he takes longer to warm up to
people,” she said, comforting his son. Renee held her namesake,
laughing and teasing the child. Silas turned and saw that Mark now
held Adam and Victoria held Jackie. Jacques stood to the side
taking it all in.

“
We have a problem,
” Silas said over
their link.

“
David will be fine, he doesn’t like many
people
.” Silas watched from across the room as she changed
David’s shirt.

“
Jacques believes your mother is his
mate.”
He grinned as Jasmine stopped mid-motion and turned
toward him, wide-eyed. He sensed her disbelief through their link.
“Oh yeah, this christening has just gotten interesting, don’t
you think?”

“
But…but…she’s with Mark. How can… oh my
God, is he sure? I mean after the deal with Arianna, how can he be
sure?”

“Well, he didn’t pick Renee.”

Chapter 17

“Take the breeder straight to the hospital
and then remain in the observation room,” Silas said. “Security is
in place, and the doctor will check her out and try to find out
what’s wrong with her. If your mom is right and she’s willing
herself to die, then there may not be anything that can be done to
save her.” He didn’t care one way or the other, but his mate did,
so he would at least make an effort to help the woman.

Tyrese put on his sunglasses and pushed them
up the bridge of his nose. “Mom has a sense about these things,
she’s usually right. The human body fights death tooth and nail, so
I’m surprised to hear Julie’s actually shutting it down through
sheer will.”

“That’s one of the things Matt will be
looking into once the preliminary work is done at the hospital.
It’s possible there is more going on than we know.” Silas glanced
at Leonidas, one of his newer security workers, as he approached.
He and Tyrese would handle this job.

“Sir,” Leonidas said when he came to a stop
behind Tyrese. With hooded light brown eyes and his tawny head
lowered slightly, he appeared the essence of calm. But boiling hot
energy rolled off the young wolf. Silas wondered how the young man
stood so still. Every once in a while, one of Leon’s shoulders
quivered. Silas made a mental note to plan a run for the younger
wolves before tempers exploded and fights broke out.

Silas greeted Leonidas with a nod. “I just
went over the instructions with Rese. I expect to hear from you
once she is delivered to the hospital. I don’t think she will
attempt to leave today, but I want round the clock surveillance.”
He had instructed Tyrese to use the small room in the hospital he
had used before.

“Yes, Sir.” Tyrese turned to leave as Tyrone
walked up. The twins nodded to each other but didn’t speak. Silas
suspected they were having a private conversation and waited a
moment or two for them to finish.

“I have the report on Corrina Griggs,”
Tyrone said, handing Silas a disk, “She’s Arianna on steroids.
Personally, I think she’s top dog for the breeders and running the
show. She’s old, older than Arianna, and hates full-bloods.”

Silas took the disk with a shrug. “Hating
full-bloods seems to be the new thing these days.”

Tyrone chuckled and walked beside him toward
a vacant conference room. “Her name has changed three times over
the past two hundred years. I think she came from Europe and was
one of the early settlers. Her family name was Graves.” He glanced
at Silas. “Ring a bell?”

“No, should it?”

Tyrone shrugged before continuing. “Just
asking. Amanda Graves settled in Virginia near Jamestown. Her
family had money, owned a large plantation with lots of slaves. She
married young, I think in her late teens, sixteen or eighteen.”

“That was not young back then,” Silas said,
remembering that era fondly as he entered the room. He hadn’t been
a farmer. Instead, he'd financed many ventures and dealt in
commerce, staying ahead of the action. The women had been lovely
and specialized in playing a nice game of 'come and get me.'

“Yeah? Hmm, glad I missed that time period
then. But she was active in the community, quite the organizer. She
had two daughters. They died at childbirth. Then she had a son, he
lived until he was forty-five, and died right after her staged
death. She then changed her name to Virginia and reappeared in
Georgia posing as a relative of her Virginian family. She married a
Henry Cochran, no children with him. She 'died' at the age of
forty-eight, leaving him free to remarry, which he did. His new,
young wife promptly provided him with four children. Her current
name is Corrina Griggs.”