by Jana Leigh
“Oh my God.” He whispered and tried to reach through Levi and Trent to pull her into the room. Both guards growled a low a menacing growl and the man looked at them in surprise.
“Levi, Trent, stand down.” Jaden ordered and both men nodded and stepped aside. Jo clung to Tey"s arm and looked back at the man. He looked a little familiar. Like a dream, she had when she was small of a man coming and rescuing her from Frank and Tina.
Tey pulled her forward and they entered the room fully. Quin and Jaden were standing by his desk, while Braden and the rest of the Council were sitting in chairs against the wall. There were a few other people in the room she had never seen, but her eyes were on the man who opened the door.
“Let me introduce you. Jo, this is Oliver Tand, the head of the Council, Mr. Tand this is…” Tey said quietly.
“Josephine.” The man whispered and once again reached for her. The older man was tall and handsome. He had gray distinguished hair that was very long. It was braided down his back. His face was angular and handsome; she had his eyes, she thought as she looked at him.
This time Tey allowed him to take her hands and pull her closer. He was taller than her, but not by much. The older wolf leaned in and sniffed then began to cry. “I never thought you were alive. If I had known, I would have searched until I found you. I am sorry I failed you, my sweet daughter.”
Jo felt tears gather in her eyes, and she looked at the man who was supposed to be so strong. He looked like a broken man. She leaned in and looked him in the eyes. “You have nothing to apologize for. You had no idea; I would never say that you failed me. If anything, you saved me. Knowing that I am not related to those bastards, and finding my wolf has been the greatest gift I could have ever been given.” Oliver fell to his knees and began to sob before her. She knelt next to him, took him in her arms, and comforted him. She held him while he cried for her mother and her brother. Wishing they had also been found alive. Slowly, Jo began to feel the people around her. Now she could feel their feelings and emotions as well. It was strange; she did not have time to think about it because Oliver looked up at her and smiled. “My daughter, my beautiful daughter.”
Jo nodded and pulled them both to their feet. Braden stepped forward and smiled at Oliver. “She is back.”
“Yes, Braden, this is my Josephine.” Oliver said and wiped his eyes. “Forgive me for blubbering like a baby, my dear.”
“I would have wondered if you had not at least shed a tear.” Jo said.
Tey came and stood by her side and smiled down at her. Then the room burst in noise as they all came forward to congratulate Oliver and welcome her back into the Pack. Jo had not seen Cami, but felt her best friend"s arms close around her from behind. She was glad she was here. Turning she looked at the tears coming from her eyes and then hugged her friend.
“We have some things we need to talk about. I am really sorry we have to break this up, but later we will have a celebration.” Quin said.
Tey looked at his Alpha and frowned. The serious tone sent red flags up. “What is going on now?”
“Let's sit.” Jaden said and motioned all of them into the chairs that had been arranged in the center of the room. Tey sat on one side of her while Oliver sat on the other, both holding one of her hands.
Cami sat in the middle of her two mates and the rest of the wolves sat. Jo noticed that each of them had a man standing behind them; Jo looked back and saw Levi and Trent standing behind her and Tey. She assumed all the men left standing were guards.
“Oliver, as you know, when we first contacted you, it was because we discovered that Jo was a White Wolf.” Quin started and then Oliver nodded.
“Yes, but at the time you thought she was one of your Pack. Now you must realize that she is part of the Council Pack. You will have to arrange for transport as soon as possible for us. We have to return before they find out she is my daughter and a white wolf. I will not put her at risk again.” Oliver said.
Quin sat and stared at Oliver trying to think of the best way to phrase his response. Jo could feel his uncertainty.
“Hang on. Don"t I have a say in this?” Jo said.
“My dear, you don"t understand. You were born into this Pack. That is where you belong.” Her father said.
“I understand that I was born into your Pack. However, I am now mated and have not been a member of your Pack for many years. I know that if females mate they generally join the male"s Pack.” Jo said softly.
“That in most cases is the truth. However, you are my daughter, one that was kidnapped and thought murdered. You need to be protected until the threat has passed, also you are a white wolf that will make you more susceptible to people who want to hurt you.” Her father said.
“We are fully prepared for this situation. I think Jo has a right to make up her own mind.” Quin said.
Oliver looked at Jo and said, “I just thought you would come home with me, there is so much we have to learn about each other.”
Jo"s eyes teared up and she said. “Please understand, I just found out about you, and yes I would love to get to know about you and the rest of my family. Nevertheless, I have a life here with Tey. Cami is my best friend, and Quin and Jaden are like family to me.
They took me in and helped me get to where I am right now. Without them, I would not have made it this far. I cannot leave.”
“I see.” Oliver said and leaned back in his chair. “May I at least ask if there is a place I could stay while we get reacquainted with each other?”
“Certainly, Alpha Oliver.” Quin said and leaned back, the tension going out of his shoulders. “Now we have to discuss Jo"s kidnapping. We have found out a few things, since we last talked. Frank and Tina were obviously not Jo"s parents, and we have been unable to track where they disappeared to. However, we do know that Frank"s brother was Rogue, and we have actually figured out where he is.” Quin looked at Jaden and Tey before continuing. “He is here, his name is Roarke.
Frank's brother is the Rogue that we have been fighting. From that, we have been able to piece together, he has had his hand in a lot of the things that have been going on around here. When he discovered that Cami was my mate, he knew who she was. We are not exactly sure what his plans are. But we do know that he is keeping track of Jo.
Also, he has been responsible for the attacks on Jo, Cami and another female in the Pack, and he has lured Jo"s ex-boyfriend to join him. The Rogue has moved, and we no longer know exactly where they are. Until we can get a line on where they are, or what their plans are, we have to be on alert.”
“Why are they so interested in Jo? I know she is a white wolf, and they are highly coveted but it seems some of these attacks happened before Jo was even in the picture.
What is he trying to accomplish?” Braden said.
“We are still looking into that. None of it really makes sense.” Jaden said.
The Seer stood up; she had been sitting in the corner and said loudly. “I may have an idea.”
Everyone turned to look at her, and she smiled at Cami first and then Jo. “You ladies both have something special that they want. I do not think it will end here. There are other things we do not know about, and have yet to come into my sight. I told your father Quin, the Triad was a special thing, and the spirits gave you a gift to help for something in the future. I am seeing several things right now. The children you are carrying Cami are going to be very important. I believe that is why they tried to replace you with another female. They thought if Jaden and Quin impregnated this other woman, that she would be the vessel to obtain what they want. Jo you are a white wolf and something that they want. Whatever they are trying to gain, they need the both of you to do it. I see there are more women who need to be brought into place before they will truly make a bid for all of you. They need you; the attacks thus far have been a warning. The leader now knows that he needs these specific women in order to get what he wants.”
Jo shuddered and looked at her friend. Quin, Jaden and
Tey looked like they wanted to kill someone. Oliver stood and said. “If this is the case then you will need the Council behind you. There is too much at stake to just sit back and wait. Seer, who are these other women that we need to find and protect?”
“I am not sure.” She said quietly.
“I do.” A voice from behind them said.
Quin stood up quickly and went to the newcomers. A man and a woman dressed in business attire. He was very tall, taller than Quin was but there was a resemblance.
Dark long hair and a regal appearance let Jo know that it had to be Quin's father and mother.
"Father.” Quin said and embraced the man and then turned to the woman and said,
“Mother,” then embraced her. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going to wait a few months.”
“Oliver is one of my close friends, of course I wanted to be here for him, but also I think I may be able to add a little to the subject.” Quin"s father said.
“Thon and Aris, please come in and tell us what you know.” Oliver said. “I am so glad that you decided to come when I was here. It has been a long time.”
“Yes it has, although when I finish talking, you will remember what I am referring to.
Unfortunately, it took me this long to remember this important tidbit.” Thon said and stood in the middle of the circle.
“Father, what are you talking about?" Quin said and his mother hushed him.
“Dear, do not rush him, he has been on a plane for hours trying to figure out this mess for you. He thinks he is to blame.” Aris said.
“It is because I am, we all are. On the day you were born Quin, Jan 1st; the Seer came to the Council and told us the spirits had spoken to her. She said that only twelve were children would be born on the first day of months in that year. They wanted there to be peace among all the Were. So they declared that these twelve children would be the future Council, they would lead us into a new time when there would be peace and prosperity. We would be able to come out of hiding and allow humans to know what we were without fear of recriminations. I was to seek out the children and make sure they were all taken care of. Jo was born on February 1st. I went to Oliver and told him what the Seer had told me. We were so happy the spirits chose our children. Each month we would wait and watch, when the child was born, we would approach the family and tell them. We were in the final month, waiting for the last of the twelve to be born, and Jo was kidnapped. The Seer asked the spirits to help find her, but you received the blanket, and we all thought she was dead. We thought that we had made the spirits mad by not taking care of the children.” Thon said.
“I remember the Seer was so distraught she went into exile. She thought the spirits would punish her, because she had told too many people and allowed the Rogues to realize that their days were numbered. Hell, I was even pissed at her.” Oliver said and looked at Jo. “I blamed everyone for not taking care of you. I was so angry. If only I had believed the spirits would never have allowed you do be taken from us.” Jo sat feeling so confused. What the hell was going on? She just wanted a normal life, and this was turning out to be anything but.
“So who are the other twelve?” Cami said from behind Quin.
“Wait, there is more. I would love it if it were so easy to just find the twelve. They also said that they had to be mated and with child for the spirits to recognize them as the rightful Council.” Oliver said and looked at Cami and then Jo.
“Well at least there is one bun in the oven.” Jo drawled and laughed when her friend threw a balled up piece of paper at her.
“That would make two.” Tey said and grinned.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jo demanded.
“He is right; we could smell you when you walked in the door. We were just waiting for you to announce it.” Quin said.
“God damn it, I thought we discussed this. No more sniffing.” Cami said loudly and Jo laughed.
“Wait, so you are saying I am pregnant?” Jo said slowly. “How can you even tell, it has only been a day.”
Tey nodded and looked at her with love in his eyes, “I knew right afterward, your scent changed almost immediately.”
Her father started to cry again. “At least I will be there for my grandchild.” Oliver said and hugged his daughter.
Cami was bouncing up and down, and Jo finally understood what they were telling her.
She was going to have a child, the one thing she had always dreamed of, a family of her own.
“Woooo Hooo!” She yelled when Tey swung her around in a circle.
They celebrated briefly before Braden said loudly. “This is all wonderful and we can have a party later, but first we have a few things we need to discuss. Like who are the others and where are they?”
“Part of that is simple. There is a list, but we will not need it for one of them.” Thon said.
“Why?” Quin asked.
“He is here already. Devon.” His father said and everyone in the room turned, and looked at the hulking man who was standing behind Quin"s chair. He had been his Beta, his right hand man, since they were kids.
“Fuck, no.” Devon laughed and turned red. Tey laughed out loud when he saw how uncomfortable their Beta was when discussing his future mate. He knew the big man had issues about his size and gruff nature, but Tey knew from experience, when you found your mate it was totally different.
Chapter 10
Later that night, Jo and Tey had finally broken away from the group of people who were planning and plotting what they were going to do next. They were also trying to assure Devon that they would all help him find his mate. That had not gone over real well, but Tey was sure his friend would see the light.
Oliver and Jo had taken a few hours to talk. It had been emotional, but she felt much better about their future. The father she had dreamed of, she now had. Jo had even told him about Frank and Tina, of course it made it a little touchy for a few minutes when her father shifted and was ready to find them and kill them. It had taken Thon and Braden to come into the room and talk him into changing. Jo felt bad for upsetting her father, until he explained he was sorry for reacting like that. He just wanted her to understand that she was the most important person in the world to him, and he was so pissed that he had not looked for her.
Cami had even come into the room and talked to him about Jo when she was a child. He laughed at some of the stories the two girls told him about the trouble they could get into.
Finally, Jo thought they had spent enough time talking and claimed to feel tired. Really, she wanted to be alone with her mate and reconnect with him once again. It felt like if they were apart for more than a few minutes that they were too far apart. The Seer had told them it would only get worse as her pregnancy progressed.
“So, you smelled me?” Jo said running her hand over the bedspread and looking at him over her shoulder.
“Listen, I know it sounds gross, but you know your senses have been heightened, I couldn"t help it when they said you had to be pregnant. It just sort of popped out.” Tey said blushing.
“Next time, do you think maybe you should tell the mother before you tell the rest of the people in the room?” Jo teased.
Tey growled and picked her up and threw her on the bed. “Next time?”
“Yep, we are going to have a bunch of little pups running around here.” She said pulling him down and kissing him.
Tey laughed and said, “I guess I will have to find a bigger place.” Jo smiled and looked up at her mate. Her life felt like it was complete. They left her father downstairs with the rest of the Pack, but she knew in the months to come that she was going to have a great time getting to know him. Cami and her mates were thrilled that they would be having pups at the same time and joked, they would take turns running to the store for cravings.
Now they just had to worry about what was coming. Quin's father produced the list of the remaining of the twelve, and they were planning on sending someone out to bring them b
ack to Denver as soon as possible.
In the meantime, they had a lot of loving to do, and she was just the woman for the job.
Table of Contents
Book 2
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10