Her Brother, Her Mate

Parker POV

“She does not come here again. Do you understand? That was….horrible of her. Absolutely horrible of her. My mate has been,” I bite my l*p, not able to finish my sentence. I’ve been yelling at my dad on the phone for the last ten minutes and I don’t feel any better. I still want to kill both of them for doing that to my mate tonight.

Carli is currently in our room crying into her pillow, not wanting to talk to me or even move. She is trying to go numb and I can see her slipping into her depression once again, which scares me. I wanted to be 100% sure and take her to the doctor later this week, but I can faintly pick up the change in her scent. It’s a dangerous time for her body if I’m right in my assumptions to be so stressed and in a whirlwind of negative emotions.

“She was defensive. She didn’t mean what she said, but you know how she gets when she feels cornered.”

“AND HOW DO YOU THINK CARLI FELT!?” I scream at him through the phone line. “How do you think she feels right now?! You guys had no right to show up here and demand anything, especially of her. If the time you do get to spend with our daughter isn’t enough then maybe you shouldn’t see her at all.”

“Don’t be like that, Parker. You know we both love that little girl. That would destroy your mother.”

“If you love Rosie, you love her mother too. That woman, who is not my mother, by the way, destroyed that relationship herself, and after today I’m not sure I want to indulge her anymore. You wouldn’t tolerate someone treating your mate like s**t, why do you think I will?”

My dad sighs heavily, cursing under his breath. I know he’s stuck between a rock and a hard place, but I don’t care. I’m not going to allow them to hurt my mate anymore.

“I’ll control your mother. I’ll….I’ll see if I can get her to apologize to Carli. I love my granddaughter, Parker. Please don’t take away the few hours a week I get to see her.”

“Don’t make me. We are dealing with enough s**t here, and you guys just added another thing to my plate,” I tell him. Carli comes first to me, before anything else. I’m going to have a s**t time working now trying to focus on anything besides her. With a psychotic fairy boy after one of my members and the everyday stress of being alpha, I’m going to have a hard time until I know Carli is in a healthy place again. The last time she was like this, work helped her to crawl back out of her depression. I have a feeling that won’t work this time.

“What are you dealing with? Do you need help?”

Vampires and fairies are not my father’s favorite. His prejudice towards other races is well-known. Maybe he could help with everyday issues of the pack, though….. No. He would be around more and that would bring Mary around more which could worsen Carli’s condition.

“I don’t need you and your mate sticking around here, making everything worse. I don’t want Mary around Carli again.”

Dad sighs heavily, “I can ensure that she stays home. She won’t like it, but I know she doesn’t want to make things worse either.”

I gnaw on my bottom l*p contemplating his offer. If I had his help, I could focus more on Carli.

“Let me talk to Trevor and see. We have vampires staying in the packhouse too right now. You will have to not only be polite but accepting.”

“Why are there vampires staying there?” he asked in a measured tone.

“Carli’s best friend ended up being mated to one and one of our head warriors is mated to another. We have some crazy fairy after Simone too so you’re going to have to accept other races coming and going all day. We are working closely with the Fairy Knights to resolve the issue.”

He sighs, “I just want to help, son. I won’t get in the way of your work or step on any toes.”

I hope I don’t regret this, but I need to free up some time. If Carli is pregnant, and if she stays in this funk, I can’t break her trust by putting tracking devices in her things again. I’m going to have to be super attentive until I know for sure if she is or isn’t. That damn motorcycle needs to be hidden until then. Maybe I can talk Elena or Tommy into taking it and hiding it? Or maybe send it to be worked on and pay the guys extra to be as slow as possible.

“Okay, dad. Can you be here in the morning?”

“Sure, son,” I can hear the smile in his voice, “Thanks.”

“No Mary,” I tell him firmly.

He is silent for several seconds then agrees, “No Mary. I will talk with her and see about getting her to apologize too.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I breathed out a sigh of relief while hanging up.

Now I can just focus on my mate and finding this Aiden fucker who is hiding better than a flea on a mutt.

I peak into our bedroom and see Carli is now asleep, though her body is still shuddering with broken sobs. It breaks my heart to see my fierce, strong-willed wife, mate, and mother of my child so broken and shattered.

I strip down to my boxers, crawl in bed behind her, and pull her to my chest. Carli rolls in my arms, nuzzling her nose to me and after a few breaths full of my scent, her body finally relaxes, and mine does the same. I love this woman so much. Seeing her in pain causes me pain too.

I rub my hands down her side and rest them on her belly. If my baby is in there right now, I hope all the stress surrounding us at this moment doesn’t jeopardize them. I want my mate and children to experience nothing but happy things.

“Good night, baby,” I whisper, talking to both Carli and her belly, “I love you, and I’ll make sure to make this right.”