My mother and I were sitting on my bed, our tears long-since dried. I was in a state of absolute shock. I had already run all of the possible scenarios in my head, each one worse than the last, until finally my brain just stopped processing it.

I couldn't handle this. I couldn't even think. My body had grown cold and I couldn't process any information.

"Rosemarie, we have to tell Brendan and your father," my mother whispered into the silence.

My head whipped towards her, the first movement I felt I had done in ages.

"Why?" I croaked out, my voice still raw from my earlier sobs.

"Rose, I think that Brendan at least deserves to know he is going to be a father," my mother said softly and touched my hand with her own pale fingers.

I looked down at her warm fingers on my old cold ones. I briefly wondered if I actually was in medical shock and that was why I was so cold. My body started to shake a little. Of course my mother would think Brendan was the father. Why would she think any differently with all the information my father was force-feeding her?

Mom noticed my lack of any response. She hesitated for a moment before continuing:

"Unless something happened to you while you were with the Merphate pack. Please tell me they didn't do anything to you."

"Brendan isn't the father." I whispered to her so low that if she wasn't a werewolf she probably wouldn't have heard me. "Jackson Merphate is."

There, I said it. I let the proverbial cat out of the bag. What else could I do? To save the pack I would gladly throw myself under the bus a hundred times over. But my innocent growing baby? Jackson's baby? I couldn't, I just couldn't. I closed my eyes and sent a brief prayer up to the Goddess for forgiveness.

My mother's face contorted in fury. She moved to get off of the bed, but I leapt over and grabbed her by the arm.

"Where are you going?" I asked quickly.

"I am going to tell your father what that beast did to you!" She said, trying to twist her arm away from me.

"Mom, wait you don't know the whole story!"

"The whole story? Don't tell me you have some sort of Stockholm Syndrome? Rose what he did to you is not okay." She stopped struggling and turned to face me, concerned.

I shook my head gently and let go of her arm.

"Mom, you have to promise not to mention a word of this to Dad. He can't know I told you any of what I am about to say," I warned in barely more than a whisper. You never know who was outside the door.

"Darling, I don't understand. Why can't I tell your father?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you a word of this," I whispered. "But circumstances have changed and if I have any hope I need someone else to know and someone who is willing to help me."

"Rose, what are you talking about?"

"Mom, Jackson Merphate is my mate."

She gasped and took a step back from me. I was worried I lost her: lost her love, her help, her empathy and any possibility I had of getting out of the situation I was now in. I continued, hoping to at least stun her enough to hear the whole truth.

"Daddy knows. He has known for months. I wasn't abducted by the Merphate Pack. Phil didn't kidnap me. He released me and helped me get away. I was being held prisoner in this room, like I am now."

My mother shook her head in horrid disbelief.

"It's true," I continued quickly, "I met Jackson at my birthday party. When Dad found out that Jackson was my mate he locked me in this room. Last month I escaped and made it to Jackson and his pack. We completed the mating bond, Mom."

Mom brought a shaking, freckled hand up to cover her mouth. Her eyes were wide with horror. She began shaking her head slowly, her auburn hair waving back and forth like a flag as she tried to grasp what was happening under her own roof without her knowledge.

"No, all of that couldn't be happening without me noticing. I would know if you were being held captive here, Rose. I think this Jackson Merphate planted ideas in your head to turn you against us. This pregnancy can be terminated, if you want Rose."

"No!" I yelled awash in horror and stepped back from her as far as I could, wrapping my arms around my belly.

How could she even suggest such a thing?

My mother looked astonished and worried and I reigned myself in a bit.

"Mom, no. It's my mate's baby. Please help me Mom."

"I don't know what to believe," she said honestly. "If I believe you that means I acknowledge that I am mated to someone capable of locking up his own daughter. If I don't believe you, what kind of mother does that make me?"

I walk over to her slowly and pull her hands into my own.

"I don't blame you for anything, Mom. You don't know the whole story. I will tell you everything. But, I need to know that you will help me when I prove it is true."

"Sweetie, if it is true I will do everything in my power to help you."

"Dad has been pulling the wool over your eyes for years and I am sure he is going to come up with some lie to explain everything. I want you to get in contact with Jackson. He will explain everything to you. If you still don't believe him ask Phil. You were close friends with him for a long time."

My mother nodded her head. I took a pen from my nightstand and wrote Jackson's number on her arm under her sleeve.

"Meet with him in the city. Don't talk to him on the phone here, it isn't safe. Memorize the number and wash it off as soon as possible."

"Honey, really-"

"Promise me, Mom."

"Okay, I promise."

I sighed in relief. Jackson would explain everything to her; Jackson would know what is going on.

"If you want proof that I am trapped here after you leave hide around the corner. One of the pack members will come by and lock my door soon after."

She nodded and pulled me into a fierce hug.

"I hope that none of this is true for your sake, Rosemarie. If it is, I promise you won't be left in here if I can do anything about it."

I pulled back and smiled sadly at her. I pulled her into a tight hug.

"Jackson is going to have a hard time believing that you are helping me. There is too much bad blood between him and Dad," I explained as I pulled away. "This is what I need you to do. Go to The Globe Hotel and ask for Bill. Tell him who you are and what you are doing. He knows everything. You can contact Jackson from there. If he refuses to meet you, tell him it is about time he meets his mother-in-law."

"You mean-?" She asked wide-eyed.

"We're married, Mom."

-----------------------------------

Jackson

The shrill sound of my phone ripped me out of my stupor. Groggily, I reached out in search of my cell phone. I hadn't gotten any sleep except for an hour here and there to keep me going since Romy left. My hand came into contact with the cool metal of my phone. I grabbed it and picked it up to check the caller ID: The Globe.

"Hello?" I answered, my voice still scratchy from sleep.

"Hello, is this Jackson Merphate?" A woman's voice replied from the other end.

I was instantly awake. My personal cell phone number was only known by a very select few people and this wasn't one that I recognized.

"Who's asking?"

"Rosemarie gave your number to me and asked me to contact you. She told me that you are her mate. I have news for you."

I sat up instantly at the mention of my wife. She had been gone for weeks and I have been trying to devise a tactical plan to bring her back. But then again, this could be a trap. Her father was well aware that we are mates and he could locate my cell number if he tried hard enough.

"Who are you?" I asked gruffly. "This could easily be a trap, so I hope you can see why I am having a hard time trusting you."

"I need to speak with you. Meet me at The Globe in an hour. I am Rosemarie's mother and she said that if you didn't believe you to let you know that it is time that you meet your mother-in-law."

There was no way Romy would have told her mother about our marriage unless she trusted her and it was important to get a message to me.

"I'll be there."

------------------------

Meeting Romy's mother, Susan, was surreal. She and Romy were almost exact replicas of each other. Susan's hair was several shades darker than Romy's, which made me wonder if her own would eventually fade to an auburn instead of the fiery copper it was now. It made my heart heavy to see such a clear reminder of Romy and to remember that she wasn't at home, safe, where she belonged.

Bill, as always, was too good to me. He set us up in the back in the employee only area in a meeting room for privacy.

"Is it true that you two have married?" Susan asked.

I nodded and pulled the necklace that hung around my neck out and showed her the rings that dangled from it. When I had found Romy's necklace laying on the note she left, my heart stopped beating and hasn't started up since. I took the rings off and added them to my own. I carry all three with me wherever I go.

"Our wedding rings," I explained. "We married here in this hotel last month. Romy left hers with me when she returned to her father."

Susan took a staggered breath and collapsed farther into her chair.

"If this is all true, why did that silly girl come back?" She whispered desperately.

All of the hair on my body raised and my pulse jumped into something erratic.

"Did something happen to Romy?" I asked darkly. "Is that why you are here?"

"No. No, she is still alive and well, Jackson."

"Then what is it that you needed to tell me? Did she come up with a plan to get her out of there safely?" I asked urgently.

"She hasn't thought of a way out of her situation that I am aware of. Now that I know what has happened I will do my best to do what I can to return her to her," my mother-in-law said earnestly.

"But I do have some happy news for you," she finished.

"Happy news? How could any news be happy right now? My mate is being held captive by my greatest enemy."

The woman looked at me and beamed.

"Jackson, Rosemarie is with child."

My eyes widened. Had I just heard what I had thought I heard? I stared at the woman in front of me for what seemed like an eternity, unbelieving. Romy was pregnant. My mate was carrying our child as I sat here, twiddling my thumbs in a hotel.

I had to get her back at any cost before that psychotic father of hers found out.

I jumped out of my chair and raced towards the door.

A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me back slightly, halting my rampage.

"I will protect her as best I can, Jackson," Susan said to me. "But you have to think of your wife, your child and your pack. Rushing into mine will cause war and there is no guarantee either of you will all come out alright at the other end. Please, give me a little time to figure out how to help you both."

My nostrils flared in anger. My wolf was howling and growling in absolute fury, but Susan was right. I had to be careful about how I approached this situation. Very careful for everyone involved. It was like tiptoeing on broken glass.

"Do not, under any circumstances, let your husband discover the child," I warn Susan. "Soon, she will smell differently and he will figure it out. We need to get her out before that."

She nodded and touched my arm gently before departing. When the door shut firmly behind her I buried my head in my hands and slide down the wall, collapsing on the floor.

How in the world was I going to make all of this okay?

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