Jeffery nodded silently, his jaw working to suppress his emotions. It didn't work as well as he wanted it to. A single tear slipped out from beneath his battered glasses, glittering in the light of the full moon. Jordan couldn't help it any longer. He slid his hand over Jeffery's and squeezed. Jeffery returned the pulse, closing his eyes tightly as two more tears dropped down his face.
"I waited a century to find my one," he confessed, in a whisper. "A century. There were others, I flirted with the idea of bonding a few times before I met him, but... he was it for me. He seemed to be everything I ever thought I'd want in anyone, ever. He asked me to be his Omega, and I agreed. I never thought I would. Never thought I would volunteer to carry that burden in my body; to willingly subject myself to that pain. But I'd do it for him. I would have done anything for him. Anything but let him walk away with a clear conscience," he finished, angrily.
He was trembling, and Jordan's heart hurt for him. He'd loved Alex too, but it had been different. They hadn't planned anything, ever. They tingled when they met and rode the sparks into infinity, and then it was over. Jordan hadn't even known him well enough to recognize his expressions on Darla's face. He saw Alex's features; it was impossible to miss those. But Darla expressed herself in a way that was one hundred percent unique to her, and there had been many times that Jordan had wondered if Alex would have expressed himself in the same way. He hated himself for not knowing sometimes, and that loathing was palpable in this moment. Jeffery hadn't exploded with Alex, he'd fallen in stride. He'd sacrificed, but all of Jordan's sacrifices had come later, when he was struggling to parent their impossible child alone.
Jordan moved to wrap an arm around Jeffery's shoulder, while holding his hand with the other. They sat in silence while Jeffery wrestled himself under control. The sun had disappeared completely over the horizon, leaving them wrapped in velvety darkness and kissed by the light of the moon. It was peaceful here. Outside of himself if not within, though there was peace there too. It was all of the in-betweens and past problems and future what-ifs that were wreaking all of the chaos. The spell was broken when Jeffery breathed a shuddering sigh and wiped his eyes.
"You ready?" he asked, his voice still watery.
"Yep, go for it."
"Boris Allen. Rank: Delta W. Status: Confirmed. No sub category."
"Sub category?"
"Steel has offshoot packs all over North America. He can't effectively run them all personally, so he delegates to other Alphas."
"Got it. So Montague hasn't created offshoots?"
"He may have, won't know for sure until we go through all of these. Okay, next. Cherise Adams. Rank: Omega F. Status: Confirmed. No sub category."
"What are the letters you're saying after the rank indicating?" Jordan asked.
"Delta W. Means delta warrior. Deltas are the muscle. They come in a bunch of different letters: W, S, P, and G off the top of my head. Warrior, security, police and guard."
"Gotcha. And the F after Omega?"
"Female Omega. Omegas are the breeders, nursemaids, home makers, school teachers, that sort of thing. Breeding and raising offspring."
"I see."
"Moving on. Dennis Ayes..."
They continued like this for hours as Jeffery identified the outliers and Jordan cataloged them immaculately. At the end of the first file, they had a grand total of one hundred and thirteen wolves watermarked for Montague. Only one of those had been marked deceased, and only three of them had been marked missing.
"Is that a lot? You said you came from a colony, right?" Jordan asked, as Jeffery frowned at the page. Jeffery's mouth had gone dry and his hands were sweating. There was only one reason that he could think of for Montague to have this many people in these rank clusters.
"This is just over the last five years," Jeffery said, feeling his throat strain against his panic. "There's no telling how many he collected before that, or how fast they're breeding. And look at these ranks. Delta W's and Omegas. Nothing else listed. Montague's building... and breeding... an army."
"Shit."
"Yeah."
They sat in silence for a while, staring at the evidence. Jeffery hadn't felt this combination of dread and slow-rolling adrenaline since he'd made the mistake of working as a military freelancer, and he didn't enjoy the taste of it. This wasn't his job, his brain screamed. This is a problem for the Betas and Deltas, but not him. He'd shed his Delta rank and embraced his Upsilon duties ages ago. He didn't want to go back to that, not ever. The screams still haunted his dreams. He shuddered, shaking the memory away, and then Jordan's strong, warm arm was around his shoulders again. It warmed him to his core in a way that no one's touch had in a very long time, and it nearly broke the barriers he'd built inside of him as he dragged his attention back to the files.
"Do you think the same password will work on these?" he asked.
"I don't think so," Jordan said, removing his arm. "The numbers at the beginning and end of the password are the years, though, so maybe... let me see."
He leaned over and trickled his fingers over the keys. Each keystroke vibrated Jeffery's thighs, and he had to deliberately ignore the stimulation in order to focus on what Jordan was doing. It was more difficult than it should have been, and a flash of guilt writhed through Jeffery's core. He didn't know why. He hadn't allowed himself to feel in so long, it was almost like his body was rejecting the awakening emotions out of hand.
The file popped open under Jordan's gentle coaxing, and the two of them got back to work. They found an additional eighty-four shifters to add to Montague's ranks, and again, they were all warriors and breeders. It wasn't looking good. They worked their way back through the full twenty years of records, and in the end they found a total of three hundred and eighteen shifters, most listed as active, and all but two listed as warriors and breeders. The other two were a Beta and a female Beta Omega.
"What's a Beta Omega?" Jordan asked, curiously.
"I've never seen that rank used before," Jeffery said, with a frown. "But I would assume that she is his second in command, and also his mate. I don't know how that fits with this other Beta though."
"Extra protection? Distractions?"
"Could be either," Jeffery agreed. "Or it could be a poly relationship. The one thing I haven't seen in any of these files is an actual physical address for any of them, or phone numbers, or any way to get in touch with them. They're either in hiding or they're building their own colony somewhere."
"Wouldn't that information be in here?"
"Not necessarily," Jeffery said, with a shrug. "If Montague never told April, she wouldn't have put it in the file."
Jordan snapped his fingers.
"When Montague came to meet me, he mentioned that he had just settled down in the suburbs with his new bride. It took him an hour to get from wherever he was to the center of town. Do you think he's got something around there?"
"He might," Jeffery said, nodding. "I'll let Bates know. He'll send a team... oh. I guess he won't. He'll know how to handle it better than I do; I'll let him know. That's it for the years."
"What are these files down here?" Jordan asked, pointing at the line of files which Jeffery hadn't been able to open.
"I don't know," Jeffery said. "The file names don't give me any clues, but they might for you. Just looks like random strings of letters, numbers and symbols to..."
"Who's Shania?"
Jeffery did a double take, his mouth agape.
"How do you know that name?"
"It's right there, see it?"
Jeffery looked at where Jordan was pointing. He didn't see the name Shania; he saw 81026052@!n@#$. His face heated and he felt stupid, which was really a standard feeling in his life, but there was an angry edge to it this time. He felt like he was being gas lighted by this human.
"That doesn't say Shania," he snapped.
Jordan pulled back and looked at his face, his eyebrows raised in mild surprise.
"No, look. Remember the
first part of April's clue? Leet looking glass. Leet means that she took every letter that she could and replaced it with a symbol or number that looked similar. Looking glass means she did it backward. So, if you read this from right to left and swap the symbols out for letters, this reads Shania 25062018."
"June twenty-fifth?"
"Yeah."
"That's the day she died. Her sister's name is Shania. Can you get into it?"
"I don't know, it's not like the others. But maybe if we just flip and decode..."
Jordan typed a string of numbers and letters, and was granted access. The two men's eyes widened when they saw what was contained in the unassuming little folder.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Dear Shania,
If you're reading this, I'm dead. Either that or you went through my stuff again, and you're about to get your ass beat. (Love you.) And while my being dead sucks, it doesn't suck as badly as what's about to happen. Monty has been lying to us both. He isn't working for Steel, he isn't part of the Outreach, hell he isn't even part of Steel's pack. He's creating his own. His Delta Warriors? They aren't warriors at all. They're recruiters.
Montague has infiltrated Steel's pack. I don't know how, who, or how deeply they've infiltrated, but I know it goes beyond the Deltas. Trust no one.
I can't tell you how I came upon this information, because it would put someone else's life at risk. But you need to be aware in case I don't survive long enough to tell the Outreach. Montague has created an army of Deltas whose sole purpose is to turn humans. My records don't even scratch the surface of what Montague has done. I don't know how many of them there are, but I do know what they're planning. He has it set up like a pyramid scheme. Each turned werewolf can earn a higher rank if they turn a certain number of people. The Deltas in my files are the wolves he sired personally. Each of them has a quota. Each of their spawn has a quota, and so on. This has been going on for five years as of June, 2018.
California is first on the list. Their goal is to turn the state in its entirety by 2021, then spread like a horde of locusts across the continent. Humans won't stand a chance unless this is nipped in the bud.
You just told me that Nero Hunt is here. That'll save me a phone call.
Love you.
Jeffery whipped out his phone and dialed the second he'd reached the end of the passage.
"Come on, pick up. Pick up, damn it."
"Bates," the muffled voice answered.
"Bates, get the hell out of bed, we have a problem."
"Excuse me? How dare you take that...?”
"Bates! Montague has an army of Deltas turning humans, and the turned are required to turn. He's taking California."
"What?"
"I got some help, I cracked April's computer, she's got... God, she has a lot of information here. We found over three hundred shifters belonging to Montague, all but three are Deltas and Omegas."
"And the Deltas are turning the humans?"
"Like wildfire, apparently. Even her sister Shania."
"I thought the Shania person was your primary suspect?"
"Not anymore. I'm pretty sure now that the Deltas are using our code name. The file I'm reading to you from was created the day April died. I would assume that Shania was turned the same day, since she doesn't show up in any of the records, and April doesn't address it in her note to her."
"Who's helping you?" Bates asked.
"Jordan Hacker."
"As in Darla Steel-Hacker, Hacker?"
"One and the same."
"Where's the princess?"
"Safe, with me. I don't want to give my location over the phone."
"Because...?"
"Because April's file says that Montague has infiltrated the pack. She says the infiltration goes beyond the Deltas."
"Have they made it to the Outreach?"
"She doesn't say. I don't think she knew."
"Shit. Alright. Code sky rat."
"Yes, sir."
The line went dead and Jeffery blew out a shaky breath.
"Did he say 'code sky rat'?" Jordan asked, incredulously.
"Yep."
"What, exactly, is code sky rat?" Jordan sounded as though he was suppressing a laugh.
"Sky rat, pigeon, homing pigeon, go home. You got leet looking glass but you didn't get code sky rat?"
Jordan burst out laughing at that, and Jeffery had to chuckle in spite of himself.
"So where's home?" Jordan asked, after he'd recovered.
"Washington," Jeffery said. "Moorside. Spitting distance from the border. Can't fly back; God knows who's watching the expense accounts. Can't go back without the princess; Steel will skin me alive. I can offer you protection if you come with me."
"Protection from...?"
"The pack," Jeffery said, matter-of-factly. "Standard protocol doesn't allow humans into the Shifter Services building or into the colony. They're protected spaces."
"So if I were to go on my own, somehow, with Darla in tow..."
"They would take the girl and put you in the ground."
Jordan visibly started, staring at Jeffery.
"That's what you were planning to do when you stepped out of my trailer, wasn't it?"
Jeffery didn't say anything. What could he possibly say? Of course that was his plan, the second he realized that Jordan wasn't a shifter.
"So why am I still alive?" Jordan asked.
Jeffery dared a glance at the other man's face. Jordan didn't seem angry; just legitimately confused. That was understandable, Jeffery decided. Now if he could just think of an answer that was equally understandable.
"I um... wanted to know what you knew about Nero Hunt," he said, after frantically searching his mind.
"Right. You mean the guy you haven't asked me about in hours?"
"Distracted by the child hurting herself."
"Cut the crap, Moranis. Why didn't you just take her and run?"
Jeffery blew out a breath and gazed up at the twinkling stars. His heart felt heavy in his chest, and he knew that nothing would make it feel lighter if he didn't unburden himself. Jordan had proved to be a steady, safe conversation partner so far. And hell, if he did turn out to be psychotic, Jeffery could still take Darla and run.
"I was watching you play with her, back when you stopped at the play place," he said.
Jordan stiffened defensively, and Jeffery winced.
"I wasn't being a creeper or anything, I just peeked out to see where I was. I was struck by how you were with her. I mean, the simple fact that you even dared to take her to a public play place... well, at first I assumed you were an idiot, but after watching you play with her for a minute... I don't know. Darla's important for all kinds of reasons. Important to the pack as an heir. Important to Steel as his granddaughter. Important... because she's Alex's daughter. My highest priority is keeping her safe, physically and emotionally, and... I really think she would be worse off without you in her life. The way you handled her scrape. She wasn't in any mortal danger, you knew that as well as I did. The bandages were essentially pointless. But you took her from nuclear meltdown to sunny spring day with nothing but your natural human skills."
"I'm her dad," Jordan said, simply. "She's my life."
Jeffery nodded.
"I'm sorry I never considered that a human would be willing or able to raise a werewolf. I mean, when she's twenty-five and hormonal, you might find yourself in a bit of a pickle if you don't turn before then. For the moment though, you're the best thing she has. She's already lost one good father. I don't want to be the one to make it two."
"Appreciated," Jordan said. "What will happen to you if you bring a human in?"
Jeffery shrugged and looked away.
"It'll be another screw up on my record. There are plenty of them already; it'll get lost in the shuffle. Maybe a demotion. Probably a demotion. No, definite demotion. But fortunately that doesn't come with death anymore; we're civilized enough to bump you down a rank and call it a day."
<
br /> "They used to kill people?"
"Yeah."
Jordan shuddered, exaggeratedly.
"Makes my less-than-ideal job situation look like cake," he said.
Jeffery chuckled.
"If you turn, you'll be given what you need at the colony, and set up with a decent position if and when you decide to leave."
"That's the second time you've mentioned me turning," Jordan said.
"It's on my mind. How else could you raise Darla?"
Jordan said nothing. He didn't have an answer.
"I won't lie. It's not just about her. It's a little self-serving. If I bring you back human, we'll both be screwed. You'll probably be given the option of turning, simply because of Darla's status, but it really will be a life-or-death ultimatum."
Jordan nodded, staring at the ground.
"What is it like?" he asked.
"What, turning? It's... explosive. It's something you'll remember for the rest of your life. It's like sneezing and orgasming and turning inside out. It's excruciating. With the right care and support, it can be made to be merely painful. You essentially die and are reborn within yourself."
"That sounds terrifying."
Jeffery shrugged. "You want me to tell you it's easy?"
"No. I prefer to know the ugly truth over the pretty lie."
Jeffery liked him more every time he opened his mouth. Alex, as incredible as he was, had required a certain amount of sugar coating to make intense ideas palatable. Jeffery had never been good at that, and he'd felt like he was walking on eggshells toward the end. Jordan blew out a heavy breath.
"How many different ways are there to turn? Are some less painful than others?"
"Absolutely. Like day and night. You either get bit, deeply enough to maul you, or you get laid."
"Seriously?"
Jeffery nodded. "That's what I was trying to express before, but it felt awkward in front of the kid. Semen will turn a human just like a bite will. The turn itself is still traumatizing, but getting there is much more pleasant."
Raising Wolves Page 10