by Olivia Arran
Gary’s eyes narrowed, his lips twisting in a vile smirk. “He doesn’t know you’re here, does he, Jay? After everything he’s done for you! He’s going to kill you, you can bet on it! Traitor!” Spittle flew from his lips as he lunged forward, the restraints catching and holding him an inch away from Jason’s unflinching face.
“Jason, what’s he talking about? Do you know him?” I was having trouble processing Gary’s words. For some reason they didn’t make sense.
“Sounds like he does.” Oliver’s low growl alerted me a second before he crashed into Jason, sending him sprawling to the floor. His large body covered Jason completely, pinning him to the floor, but I could see the coyote’s face—could see how it was frozen in confusion.
“Oliver! Get off him!” I screamed, trying to drag him up, but it was like trying to shift a ten-ton truck.
“You heard Gary. The coyote needs to talk.” Oliver grunted as a large fist slammed into his jaw, sending his head snapping back.
“This coyote would like to get off this damn floor and try to figure out what the hell that asshole is talking about!”
In the little time I had known Jason, I had never really heard him curse. Had never seen him lose his temper. But, boy, was he losing it now, and fast!
“You better let him up, Oliver, before he beats the crap out of you.”
Oliver adjusted his grip, pinning Jason’s arms. “Like he could,” he sneered.
A quick jerk and a twist later, and a fist pummeled into Oliver’s jaw for a second time.
“I not only run a personal protection firm, I’m also mean and fight dirty. You’ve got no chance of holding me, and if you don’t let me up right now, I will wipe the floor with your face,” Jason snarled, his eyes a violently swirling violet.
Oliver hesitated, and a second later he was the one flat on his back, Jason pinning him easily.
“Damn. You’re going to have to teach me that move,” Oliver muttered, blinking as he was suddenly the one staring at the ceiling.
That was it. I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but it sure as hell wasn’t going to get sorted with them rolling around on the ground. “Enough!” I grabbed Jason’s arm and yanked him off Oliver.
I’m pretty sure if he hadn’t wanted to move, then I wouldn’t have stood a chance, but he moved with me, rolling to his feet and dragging me against his chest.
“You only had to ask,” he murmured.
His sudden closeness both thrilled and shook me to my core. I wanted to melt against him. My wolf was yipping and jumping around inside of me, lapping up the attention from her mate. But my human side needed answers.
It didn’t help that during the scuffle his hair had gotten all messed up, and was now tousled and falling over one eye. Irresistibly messy, it almost brought him down from his too-good-to-be-true status.
One minute, I was staring up at him, the next, my hand was pushing the white-blond strands out of his eyes, smoothing them back in a slow caress.
“What did he mean, Jason? Why does he think he knows you?” I held his gaze, searching for any hint of deception, any sign of a lie.
“I don’t know him, and I don’t think I know this Bert, though he must have been the one to punish me and—” His voice broke and my heart clenched in my chest, breaking a little for him.
I wanted to believe him, I truly did. If I chose to trust my wolf, then I had no doubts. She couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t believe our mate.
But— “He knew your name…”
“Jay,” Oliver added, watching us from the doorway, his face creased in a frown.
He obviously didn’t approve of Jason, but at this precise moment, I didn’t give a shit. Didn’t care what anyone thought. I was having a hard enough time trying to figure him out myself.
“You don’t believe me.” It was a statement, not a question, but I answered anyway.
“I want to,” I whispered, not able to bring myself to lie to him, “but you’ve got to admit—it’s a weird coincidence. We could ask him again, get him to explain what he meant—”
“No point. He’s not going to tell us anything, just feed us with more lies. If I want a real answer, and to prove to you that I’m not working with these idiots, then I need to go to the source.”
He let go of me abruptly, his jaw clenched, and strode to the door.
Oliver moved out of the way without a word, his gaze watchful. “Stay safe, stay careful, Macey,” he called after me as I followed Jason out of the door. “I’ll keep working on this son-of-a-bitch.” He slammed the door shut behind me, and I could hear the bolts scraping closed.
CHAPTER SIX
Macey
“Wait! Where are you going?” I hustled to keep up with Jason, who was striding toward the main house, his long legs eating up the ground.
He didn’t wait, didn’t answer me. Just continued walking.
“Jason, wait! Listen to me!” A hint of panic threaded my voice. I didn’t know how to do this. We’d only just met and I was messing things up.
He paused, still not looking at me.
Shit! What was I going to say?
Huffing a little, I finally caught up and grabbed his arm, just in case he suddenly decided to tear off again. “What I said— I didn’t mean I don’t believe you, it’s just—”
He sliced a hand through the air, cutting me off mid-ramble. “Don’t. Please. If I need to prove myself to you, then I will. That’s all there is to it, nothing more to talk about.”
“He’s a man of action, this one,” a masculine voice rang out from behind us.
I spun round, praying to the Mother of All that my ears needed testing. Fuck! “Dad,” I croaked out. What the hell was he doing here, at the packhouse of all places?
He strode toward us, his steps powerful and full of purpose, his eyes fixed on Jason. “I asked you to come back and see me once you’d found your coyote. I understand now why you didn’t.” He nodded briefly at Jason, then carried on up the steps, pushing open the front door.
“He’s your dad?” Jason asked, his voice low as we both turned to follow the older man inside.
When my dad summoned you, you did what he asked. That was the end of it. I nodded quickly, dreading what I knew was going to be a big reveal.
Ahead of us, I could already hear the clatter of people standing, chairs skidding back against wooden floors, the low voices of greeting.
How was I going to explain this secret?
I sidled into James’ office, for once not cutting straight across the room to perch on the windowsill, this time clinging to the wall as close to the door as possible.
“Why is everyone looking at him like that?” Jason’s voice was a low whisper in my ear, so quiet I doubted even another shifter could hear him.
“You’ll see,” I muttered under my breath. My chance of a normal life was about to blow up in my face.
James had risen from behind the desk to greet my father, his hand outstretched in greeting, a puzzled look on his face. “Council Member, it is an honor to have you here at Colstone Pack. How can we help you?”
“Ah.”
I snuck a glance at Jason’s face. He didn’t seem shocked, or in awe, not like the rest of the pack. Then again, he had been living with humans for so long, shifter politics probably didn’t interest him.
“Call me Gregg,” my father replied, shaking James’ hand, then taking a seat opposite him, James following his lead.
“So, Gregg, what can we do for you?”
“I just thought I’d drop in and see my daughter if that’s alright with you? How are you and your lovely mate? Is she around? I’d like to give her my best while I’m here.”
James’ face froze in puzzlement, and I could tell that he was frantically trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
“Of course, Kara would love to see you. Your…daughter?”
“She hasn’t told you? Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. She does like to do things her own way, pro
ve herself.”
James shook his head, and I glanced around the room. Everyone had the same look on their faces, one of disbelief and confusion. Everyone except Cole, who sat on the couch, a wide grin on his face, sliding me smirking looks.
There was nothing else for it. I had to out myself, before either Cole or my father did.
I pushed away from the wall, straightening up. “That’d be me.”
James sat back in his chair, a stunned look on his face. “That explains a lot of things.”
“That’s exactly what I said, too,” Cole added.
James’ head swiveled to eye his lieutenant. “You knew?”
“Only recently. And she asked me not to say anything.”
“What is going on? Why are you all so shocked?” Jason’s voice was low, but it carried across the room.
“Turns out Macey is the daughter of a Council Member,” Cole explained.
My dad was just sitting there, a small smile on his face. What was he playing at?
“And? What does that mean? Why does it matter?”
Finally my dad deigned to speak. “I am a Council Member because I rose in power level until I outranked all those below me. It meant leaving my pack to take my seat at the Council, but I decided that it was a fair sacrifice. My job allows me to protect shifters as a whole, protect our way of life.”
Jason brushed a hand against the small of my back, the gesture meant to comfort, but all it did was send a trickle of heat coursing down my spine to pool in my stomach. Something I definitely didn’t need right now. Especially with my dad in the room.
“And? I think I must be missing something here. Why does that affect Macey?”
My dad shrugged his shoulders. “It does, and it doesn’t. If people knew who she was, she might be targeted. Also, she is the only one of my line, which means she is most likely the one to rise in power to take my seat when I vacate, as I did when my father left this world, and he, his father, and so on.”
I nearly choked on the words, but they eventually made their way out. “But I’m a girl.”
“Targeted in what way?” Jason demanded, moving put his large frame a fraction in front of mine.
My dad eyed him thoughtfully, then answered, “You’ll do for my girl. It is a good match. The Mother of All has done well.”
“I said, targeted in what way?”
I had seen my dad bring a man to his knees for speaking to him like that, but this time, he just nodded, his lips curving up even more. “A very good match. Targeted for blackmail or ransom, that’s one option.”
“The other?”
It was like they were the only ones in the room, the others having fallen silent, listening with open mouths.
“Macey is a beautiful woman—I think you’ll agree with me there. Add to that, she most likely will hold a seat on the Shifter Council one day…a lot of men would go to great lengths to control that seat.”
Jason’s brow creased as he processed the information. “But you said that she is powerful, or that she will be one day. How would any man control her?”
“Through conditioning. If she were to be tamed and controlled before she came into her full power…”
“I see.”
And suddenly, so did I. My dad hadn’t wished I were a boy, hadn’t trained me so hard, pushed me so much, because he didn’t care—it was because he did care about me. He’d toughened me up out of love, to keep me safe. It was as if a cage had been unlocked, all the hurt and disillusion that had smothered me all my life floating away.
I launched myself into my dad’s arms, burrowing into his welcoming embrace, my mind reeling with the fact that I had been so wrong. I wasn’t a disappointment. I didn’t need to prove myself.
“I’m so sorry, Papa,” I whispered, using the endearment I hadn’t used since being a young pup.
Loving hands stroked my hair, hugging me tight. “I’ve always been proud of you, my little girl. And I’ve always loved you. It just had to be from afar, until you found your mate or came into your power fully. It was just too damn dangerous for you to be near me.”
***
Jason
I was glad that Macey was making up with her dad. From what I had gleaned so far, she’d had a tough childhood. It wasn’t right for any child to grow up thinking they were unwanted, that they were not enough. No child of mine would ever feel that way. I would love them no matter what, cherish every moment with them, because you never knew what was around the corner, when a family could get ripped apart.
But would you be able to love them unconditionally? Your child would be a shifter, like you… The stray thought flashed through my mind, hitting me square in the chest. Would I try and change my own child? Teach them to ignore who they really were, to be ashamed? I wasn’t ashamed, but I had my own reasons for turning my back on my past. They wouldn’t even have that choice.
My gut instinct was to immediately deny the sly whispers of doubt, to insist that I would never consciously hurt my own flesh and blood like that, but was I really sure?
Shoving the disturbing revelations to the back of my mind, I replayed what Macey’s dad had just revealed. She was vulnerable. A target, especially now more people knew. I had no reason to trust this group of wolves; any one of them could betray her.
My pulse sped and my chest pinched as I sucked in a strangled breath. The low voices around me faded in and out, buzzing in my ears. I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry and gritty.
The thought of something happening to Macey…my beautiful, vivacious, spunky mate. I couldn’t allow it. I had to get her out of here. Protect her.
“Macey, we need to leave.” I hadn’t meant my voice to sound so harsh, but it certainly caught her attention.
“Leave? You mean go to Sunclaw?”
“No. The others can deal with that. We need to go back to the city, disappear. It’s safer.” Change of plan, I would tell James the exact co-ordinates, once we were safe. Once Macey had agreed.
The room had fallen silent, everyone listening to our exchange.
Macey stood up, her mouth set in a thin line. “Jason, I’m not going to the city with you.”
Right. Because she didn’t believe me. In my panic I had forgotten that little fact. Frustration roared through me. Why couldn’t she just believe me? She felt the same pull toward me that I had to her. I could see it in her eyes, in the way her body reacted to mine. Sweet Mother! I could still remember the smell of her arousal, even now!
Okay, back to Plan A.
“If I take you to Sunclaw and prove to you that I am not working with them, will you then return to the city with me?”
Cole sprung to his feet, marching over to Macey and hugging her to his side. “You can’t make her go anywhere with you, coyote,” he growled, his large frame tense and ready for action.
“Move away from her, wolf.” My coyote reared up inside of me, coiled and ready to attack. Flashes of purple danced across the room, coherent thought bleeding into territorial reaction.
“Cole, move away from my daughter.” Gregg’s voice was low and firm. “You are messing with an Alpha shifter’s mate.”
“Alpha? Him?” Cole sneered, not moving.
“Did you think the Mother of All would pair my daughter with anyone less? He might be a loner, but he is still an Alpha. Now, I suggest you move before he rips off the arm you have curled around my daughter.”
Their voices sounded far off, in the distance. I could hear what they were saying, but it didn’t make any sense. All of my attention was on the aqua blue eyes in front of me. They were the only thing that was keeping me from drowning in a sea of rage. If she blinked or looked away…
“Stand down, Cole,” James ordered.
Shrugging, Cole let go of my mate, his movements nonchalant, trying to front that it was his decision all along.
“Calm your mate, before we have another interspecies war on our hands,” Gregg murmured in Macey’s ear.
“He’s not my mate! Not yet an
yway. I haven’t decided.”
A low growl trickled from my lips as she glanced at her father, breaking our connection, denying my claim. I lurched forward a step, my eyes flitting around the room. The wolves were a threat. One I could easily eliminate. They were watching me, eyeing me, like I was eyeing them. Searching for weaknesses.
“Stop being stubborn. You’re just like your mother. She denied me at first, too, but it was inevitable.”
“I can make my own choices, thank you very much!”
Take down the one in the far corner first, then the one behind the desk. He is the most dangerous, but shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
“You’re running out of time. Look at his eyes. He’s held the coyote back for too long; it’s riding him now.”
“Well, fuck.”
A split second before I threw myself forward, she was in front of me, a small hand pressed against my chest, another gripping my chin and forcing my eyes down to meet hers.
“Stop!”
“They’re a threat. They’ll take you from me. Hurt you.” The words were nearly intelligible, my vocal chords already having started to shift.
“No. They won’t. They’re my friends. And I can look after myself, buster!”
I pushed forward, the urge to shift riding me, my bones aching, my jaw throbbing. “I have to protect you. Mate.”
“What you need to do is shift, but not here. Come with me and we’ll shift and run together. You’ve gone too long.”
My bones ached and my blood was on fire. “Hurts.”
“I know,” she whispered, stroking a finger along my jaw, her touch sparking a trail of heat, distracting me from my targets. “Come with me.”
I sucked her scent into my lungs, pure and clean. My coyote howled inside of me, racing forward.
She took my hand and turned toward the door.
My feet stayed frozen in place. I was unable to rip my eyes away from the wolves. The urge to fight, to dominate, surged through me. Sweet Mother, it hurt. I gritted my teeth, the sharp pinpricks against my lips a telltale sign that my fangs had lengthened.
She tugged on my hand insistently. “Jason, come with me.”