“I don’t think I agree with you,” he said, but he was smiling. That smiled faded as he said, “You going to tell her?”
“Yeah, I’ll talk to her tonight.” I dug my keys out of my pocket and rounded the car. I pulled the door open and paused. “Wrap things up here and meet me back at the headquarters. I want you and Mac to take her home. She needs some friend time.”
“Will do,” he said with a nod, as I slid into the car. He watched me for a moment as I started it up, giving me a look that I didn’t even try to understand, before dropping his gaze and stalking off toward Erika.
CHAPTER 5
~ JADE ~
The rain sounded more like hail beating against the window. The downpour had started about twenty minutes ago and it didn’t look like it would be letting up anytime soon. It was a soothing sound, so soothing it almost washed away all the nervous turmoil that was shifting through my belly. Almost.
I was sitting on the couch with a cozy light blue fleece tucked around me, wondering if the guys had made it back before the storm hit and waiting (a little impatiently) for Aidan to come home. It had been a couple of hours since he’d shown back up at the headquarters to find me passed out on the couch in his office. He’d woken me with a sweet press of his lips on my neck, which had led to an even sweeter press of his lips on mine, which then led to a kiss that was not sweet, but it was delicious.
Once he’d finished kissing me awake, he’d sent me home with Marcy and Dominic claiming I needed some friend time. He didn’t say a word about the phone conversation Luken had had with my father and I hadn’t asked. I also hadn’t protested, not even a little, about needing friend time.
Now, though, I was kind of wishing I had.
“I’m telling you, you need to get a new beta,” Dominic growled, not for the first time since we’d walk through the doors. He was getting annoyed at me, but then that wasn’t really anything new. Dominic was usually annoyed at me for one thing or another.
I pulled in a deep breath through my nose and let it out slowly. “And I’m telling you I’m not ready to pick one.” And it was true. I wasn’t. It wasn’t as if the first one I’d pick had turned out all that well, and with everything going on, well, I didn’t think it was smart to rush into a decision like that.
Dominic groaned. It was his frustrated groan, short and abrupt, and he cut me a look that matched his groan. He was sitting in the big leather chair in the corner, knees spread, and leaning forward, his elbows resting on his jean-clad thighs. His bleach-blond hair was, as always, spiked and gelled, and his blue eyes bore into me as he clenched and unclenched his jaw.
“Don’t start with the groan fest, Dom,” Marcy snapped. She was testy, too. She’d been testy since he’d picked us up at the headquarters and brought us back to Aidan’s. “If she doesn’t want a beta, then she doesn’t have to pick one.” She was curled up beside me, her feet pulled up underneath her, hugging her arms around her waist. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, out of her face, and she had a soft gray fleece tucked around her.
“Stay out of this, Mac,” Dominic growled and shot her a dirty look. “There’s a lot at stake here.”
“You think we don’t know that?” she shrieked. She tossed her hands toward me in a dramatic gesture and the fleece fell, pooling on her lap. “You think she doesn’t get what’s at stake?”
“I thought this was supposed to be friend time,” I muttered, pulling my blanket up and tucking it under my chin. When Aidan had first suggested friend time, I’d pictured the three of us vegging out on the couch, watching a movie, eating junk food, and avoiding talking about anything that could lead to tears or arguments. What I did not picture was us fighting about whether or not I needed to pick a new beta.
Dominic looked at me, and whatever he saw made his eyes warm and soften, and when he spoke, his tone matched his eyes. “Honey, you’ve got to understand that when we move on them everyone’s going to be watching you. They can’t be worried about having your back, they need to be focused. You having a beta will relieve some of that worry.”
“Dom, please drop it,” I said softly, dropping my burning eyes to my lap. “I know you’re worried, and I’m sure you’re right, but I just can’t deal with this today.” And I really couldn’t. My brain, my body, every part of me was exhausted. “I’m not going to risk the pack and I won’t do anything to jeopardize my mate. I get what’s at stake here probably better than anyone. My pack, my mate, my family. I’m going to lose something no matter what happens.” I paused, swallowed down the burn that was creeping up my throat, and then huffed. “We can assign someone to stick close to me and let everyone know.”
“Are you having second thoughts?” Marcy asked delicately, inching closer to me on the couch and pressing her shoulder to mine.
“No,” I said with a certainty that I didn’t even come close to feeling. “My father needs to be stopped. I’m just worried about Mom.”
“The pack will look after her,” Dominic said. “We’ll take care of her.”
I offered him a smile that really didn’t feel anything like a smile. The burn in my throat started again, along with my eyes. I knew they would look after her. But knowing that didn’t change anything. She was going to be devastated, and I found myself wondering if I should call her. I thought that if I were in her shoes, I’d want to know what was happening. I’d want some kind of warning. I’d want to know everything. If it were Aidan, I’d want to know that he was a monster.
Silence fell. It wasn’t a comfortable silence, but I had to admit, it was a needed one. It was a breath of air, even if that air was thick and heavy and stale.
It was Marcy who broke it with a small laugh. She nudged my shoulder and asked, “You remember when we were eight and your dad caught the three of us hiding in the crawlspace under your house?” She shook her head and smiled. “You swore you saw a cat crawl in there.”
Dominic chuckled. “And I wanted to rescue it.”
“You were going to grow up to be a superhero,” I said, smiling a little. “God, your superhero phase lasted two years. You were trying to rescue everything, whether it needed rescuing or not.”
Marcy giggled. “We used to stage trouble just so you could save us.”
“I remember that day,” Dominic said. He shook his head and grinned. “Your dad lost his mind when we crawled out with that damn skunk. I’ll never forget the look on his face when it sprayed him.” I laughed, and Dominic flashed me a big wide smile. “Still don’t have a clue how we managed to pull it out without getting skunked ourselves.”
~ AIDAN ~
Looking at them sitting on the couch in my office, I wondered how I never realized that the four of them were brothers. They might not look alike, but they had the same mannerisms. The way they sat, the way they held themselves, their facial expressions; it was all a lot of the same.
Tommy and Chris were propped against the wall by the door. They looked exhausted. Hell, we all were. It had been a long day, already closing in on 8:00.
After sending Jade home, my office had been a revolving door. I was pretty sure I’d had face time with every pack member, although after the fifth one had stormed in, everything had sort of blurred together. They’d all said something similar, confirming (heatedly) in one way or another that they were behind Jade and me, ready to fight for the pack and our territory.
I drummed my fingers on my desk, waiting for one of the guys to speak up, but they kept watching the door, waiting. Waiting for Jade to show up. The storm had blown in just before they got back, and the rain was coming down in sheets now. There was no way I was going to drag her out in it just to see the pain return to her eyes when she saw them again.
“She’s at home with Mac and Dom,” I muttered, after another long beat of silence. “I’m not calling her to come in either. What did you guys find?”
Six sets of concerned eyes landed on me, all of them asking the same question, a question that I wasn’t ready to hear the answer to. I ro
lled my hand impatiently, prompting them to start talking, and then resumed drumming my fingers. I was restless, so was my inner-wolf, and all I could think about was going home. I needed — we all needed — this day to end.
“I counted twenty.” Beck spoke up. For a split second he looked disgusted, before his face hardened. “Plus three kids. One girl, two boys. But we couldn’t get close enough. There could be more.”
Shit. I stilled my fidgety hand, only to drag it across my face and through my hair. Kids. Shit! Of course there’d be kids. The women were there to be used, to breed males for them.
“The girl ...” I started and then paused, swallowing down a rush of bile that gathered in my throat. My inner-wolf pressed against my chest and I bit the inside of my lip, tamping down the urge to let him out. “Was she ...?”
“She looked young,” Mark said, but he didn’t sound sure. “Too young. Maybe fourteen.”
“They were smiling and laughing with her,” Landon added. He sounded stunned, as if he weren’t sure he could believe what he’d seen. “They were playing with her. I don’t think ...” He shook his head, letting his words fall short, and his frown deepened.
“Good.” I nodded, although it sure as hell didn’t sound good, but I found myself repeating, “Good. What about the boys? Any idea on their ages?”
“Toddlers,” Tommy said. “Still in diapers.”
I nodded. “Okay,” I said and swallowed hard. “Anything else? Security? Lookouts?”
“There was no security, at least none that I could see,” Craig said. “They seemed pretty relaxed, barbequing, drinking. I’m going to guess that Jeff isn’t on to us. I figure they’d be on alert if he was.”
“Or he is on to us and doesn’t want us to know,” I said, meeting each one of them in the eyes, searching for anything that showed they were holding something back — something that Tommy or Chris might not have noticed — but I didn’t see or scent anything off. “He called after we dropped off the body. He wants Jade to move back home.”
“Good for him. She won’t be doing it,” Beck bit out. His gaze darkened with anger. “What did she have to say about it?”
I sighed and raked a hand through my hair. “She doesn’t know yet. Luken took the call and I guess she was pretty upset so he told her he’d talk to me, let me decide if she needed to know or not.” Beck let out a laugh and I held up my hand to keep him from saying what we were all thinking. “She agreed with him, guys. She didn’t fight it. No argument. She even walked away so he could call me.”
I quickly filled them in on the conversation, telling them about Luken’s accusations and about Jeff’s admittance that there was more going on than we thought. The entire time I spoke I waited for one of them to snap, because Luken was right. I was sure that if one of them thought that I’d actually hit her, they’d be all over me for it. Jade was, after all, one of theirs. She wasn’t just their alpha female. As far as they were concerned, she was part of their team and they loved her like a little sister.
But they didn’t snap. Actually, I thought they even looked a little sorry for me, which was kind of weird.
“She okay?” Landon asked, concerned, when I finished.
“Honestly,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t know.” I pushed my chair back, standing up. “Go home, guys. Get some sleep. I’ve got to go fill her in.” I stepped around my desk and headed for the door. “Let’s meet for breakfast tomorrow, all of you. Be at the diner for eight.”
CHAPTER 6
~ JADE ~
My belly hurt and I felt as if I were about to pee myself, but I couldn’t stop laughing. Each time I thought I was almost done, and I tried to catch my breath, Dominic or Marcy would start, and their laughter would set me off again. It was like a chain reaction; one of us started and it caught on to all of us.
I wrapped my arms around my stomach, trying to hold myself together as my body shuddered through the side-splitting laughter. It hurt so much, but I had to admit, it also felt really darn good.
The skunk had definitely been the highlight of our summer that year.
Aidan crashed through the front door, which flung back and hit the wall with a startling boom, and then he slammed it shut. I jumped — literally jumped — flying off the couch, my heart in my throat.
“I hate rain,” he muttered, wiping his face on his soaking wet sleeve. He was soaked through, his hair plastered to his head, and water running down his face and neck. He pulled off his jacket and it fell to the floor with a watery smack.
“You scared the crap out of me,” I muttered. He looked a little pissed off and really tired, and he continued to curse the storm under his breath, not even looking up at us.
My lips started to twitch as I watched him shuck off his water-filled sweater, and I swear I tried seriously hard to hold it back, but then he mumbled something that sounded like, Stupid damn rain, and a burst of laughter tumbled out of me. And with that, Marcy and Dominic started howling right along with me.
Aidan snapped his gaze up, focused on mine. He looked a little shocked to see us all watching him, but the shock didn’t last. He lifted a brow. “Something funny?” His voice was growled, but his lips were curving up at the corners.
I tried really hard to straighten my face and gave him my best serious look, which probably wasn’t all that serious since I was still giggling. I shook my head. “Nope. Nothing funny.” I darted over to him, went up on my toes, and planted a sloppy wet kiss on his cheek. He chuckled, and I swore he looked relieved. He reached out for me and I managed to duck away before he could pull me into a soggy hug, and called, “I’ll grab you a towel,” as I shot for the stairs.
By the time I got back downstairs with a towel, Aidan was down to his boxers, which only looked a little damp, leaning against the wall in the entryway. Dominic and Marcy were at the door, pulling on their jackets.
“You guys don’t have to go yet,” I said. “You can wait out the rain if you want or crash here.” I padded across the room and the minute I reached Aidan, his hand came out, wrapping around my wrist and pulling me in tight to his side. He plucked the towel out of my hand and rubbed it along his hair without letting me go.
Marcy smiled. “I promised Trevor I’d be home,” she said and giggled. “And I think your man wants some attention.” She pulled open the door and she visibly shuddered as she looked out at the rain. “Is it unlocked?” she asked, looking back at Dominic. He nodded and she said, “See you tomorrow, guys,” and with a little wave, she ran out to the car.
Dominic held back for a moment, giving Aidan one of those expectant start talking kind of looks. I glanced up at Aidan, saw his frown and the slight shake of his head, and he said, “Give Tommy a call and get him to fill you in.”
Dominic frowned. He held Aidan’s gaze for a minute and then nodded. “Sure,” he said, but he didn’t sound happy about it. “See you guys tomorrow.” And then he stepped outside, shut the door, and it was just me and Aidan.
Aidan was quiet, stroking a hand absently up and down my back, seemingly content to stand in the entryway holding me. His gaze was on the door, but I didn’t really think he was seeing anything. He looked lost, buried under the weight of his thoughts.
“Everything okay?” I asked, shifting in his arms and eyeing him carefully, the exact same way he was eyeing me.
Aidan smiled a little and caressed my cheek. “Not sure how to answer that, sweetheart. A lot of shit happened today.” He leaned into me, pressing a soft kiss on my lips, and said, “I need a shower. Why don’t you go get ready for bed? We’ll talk when I’m done, okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” I said, but I wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him to me, and inhaled a deep lungful of his scent.
He chuckled. “I won’t be long. Promise.” He gave me another quick kiss, a tight squeeze, and reluctantly, I let him go.
I stood there for a long moment after he vanished upstairs, just listening to the rain pelt against the window. I don’t know how long I stood t
here waiting to feel the nerves that I was sure had to be just itching to fill my belly. I thought I should probably be nervous. Aidan was most likely going to tell me what my dad wanted and what the guys found out. But oddly enough, I wasn’t. Maybe it was the friend time, maybe it relaxed me, or maybe I was just exhausted, but for the first time today I felt stable. Solid.
I made my way upstairs and paused, hovering outside the bathroom for a second, thinking again that at any moment I would feel the nerves, but again, nothing. So I moved on and did what Aidan asked. I got ready for bed.
After changing into a tank top and pajama shorts, I curled up in bed. I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew I was jumping at the creak of the door hinges.
Aidan chuckled softly. “Tired?” he asked, as he walked over to the dresser. He rummaged around in the top drawer and pulled out a pair of plaid pajama pants.
“Yeah, I guess I am,” I said. His back was to me, and I thought I should probably look away as he dropped his towel, but um ... well, I didn’t. Instead, my gaze wandered along the muscular plains of his back, watching them ripple as he stepped into the pants and tugged them on.
He turned, catching me watching him, and smirked, that sexy half smirk. I wasn’t really sure how I managed it, but I rolled my eyes at him, and somehow I didn’t blush, not even a little at being caught.
Aidan’s eyes never swayed from mine as he crossed over to the bed. He climbed in beside me, his arm went around my waist, pulling my front snug against his side, and I rested my cheek on his chest.
Once he had me situated where he wanted me, he let out a slow breath and said, “Your dad’s making a play. That call that Luken took, well, he wants you to move back home. He even went as far as saying that I hit you.”
“Okay,” I said, not sure what else to say. There was nothing, absolutely nothing that he could do to make me move back there, and his accusation was a joke. Aidan wouldn’t hit me. He just wouldn’t. “Um … did you talk to him?”
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