Chloe held her gaze for a moment, then with a slight nod, she lowered herself to the floor. Then ever so cautiously, she reached out and ran trembling fingers over Thaniel.
“See, Mommy, he’s so soft, and if you keep petting him, he purrs,” Lilly said with a big grin on her face that had everyone grinning.
As Sami dropped to the floor beside her, Tierney noticed the stranger watching them all with wry amusement. Then her gaze landed on Bastien. The wistful look in the teen’s eyes tore at her. “Bastien, come, you can pet him too. He won’t mind,” she said, making room for the teen, but Lilly was the one to move over.
“Sit here, Bast-yin,” she said and when he did, she took his hand and guided it to Thaniel’s fur.
A few minutes later Jax rose to his feet, and Tierney followed him, knowing that Enyowas had come in to talk to them.
“Will you be taking Elianna back to your clan?” Jax asked, getting right to the point.
Enyowas frowned. “I will, but not right away,” he started to say, but when Jax began to interrupt him, the Were-cat held up a hand. “She’s right in the middle of her heat, in a day or two she will be through the worst of it and we can go.”
Then Sami was beside them, and a moment later Hellfire walked in and up to her mate. Tierney smiled when Sami put an arm around Hellfire and pulled her close. “Did you leave last night?” Sami asked Enyowas. They had taken a chance of bringing a stranger up here, but the male had promised not to disclose their location to anyone, and for some reason, they believed him. Now, Enyowas nodded. “Yes, I got a call, one of my cats was found dead last night.”
“I’m so sorry,” Tierney said, feeling bad for the guy, but Enyowas just shrugged. “It was a long time coming, just surprised it took this long.”
“Who was it?” Hellfire asked.
Enyowas sighed. “It was Tito.”
Tierney could feel Sami’s anger toward the Were-cat who had dared to hurt his mate, but Hellfire just frowned. “You don’t seem too upset,” she said, watching Enyowas intently.
The male shrugged. “Tito was part of the clan, but he wasn’t trustworthy. He would snitch for anyone who paid him, and he’d been playing both sides of the fence for many years now. Still, I like to think I held a bit of his loyalty.”
Movement by the fireplace had them all looking over to see everyone on their feet and that Thaniel had shifted back into human form. Tierney grinned to see that once again, he had shifted back wearing clothing.
“I’m sorry for scaring you,” Thaniel said to Chloe with his head lowered and through their bond, Tierney felt her new mate’s worry over Lilly’s mom’s reaction. It didn’t matter that the woman had just spent the last few minutes petting him. Then they all smiled as Chloe hugged Thaniel. “Thank you for protecting my baby,” she said.
Tierney then felt Thaniel’s surprise and subsequent happiness. When Chloe let him go, he blushed and then made his way over.
“Thaniel, this is Enyowas,” she said, putting her arm around him as she introduced him to the Were-cat. “He came to help Elianna out.”
“I’m sorry about how I reacted,” Thaniel said, then stopped speaking at the look of shock on Enyowas’ face.
In the blink of an eye it was gone, making Thaniel think he’d imagined it.
“You did well. You sensed a threat and wanted to protect the vulnerable,” Enyowas said. Thaniel nodded and studied the other male. Tall and dark-haired with green eyes, Enyowas smelled of cat, but not leopard. He held Thaniel’s gaze in return.
Thaniel shivered at the feeling that this man could be very dangerous, but with Tierney, Jax, and Sami beside him, he found he wasn’t scared.
“Is everything all right?” Sami asked with a touch of menace in his tone at the silence. Enyowas glanced at him and then took in the rest of them. Then he nodded and turned back to Thaniel. “Nice to meet you, Thaniel,” he said. “Sorry, you just remind me of someone.”
Tierney felt Thaniel stiffen up and knew what he was thinking. “I know. I look just like my father,” he said and his unhappiness was clear to all.
“Your father?” Enyowas questioned with a raised eyebrow, drawing frowns from Tierney and Jax.
“Yeah, the Tomlee of the Were-leopard clan,” Thaniel said while Jax muttered “Asshole” under his breath.
Enyowas scowled for a moment before his expression smoothed out. “I’m surprised you are here then,” he said, and Tierney hugged Thaniel as Jax’s arm slid around him as well.
“Thaniel is part of our clan,” Jax said, daring the other male to dispute it.
Enyowas held up a hand. “No offense meant, just surprised is all, the Were-leopards don’t usually let anyone go.”
“They tried to get Thaniel, but they didn’t feel like going through all of us to make it happen,” Jax told him and while Enyowas just nodded, Tierney caught the gleam of satisfaction in his eyes.
After talking for a few more minutes, they all began to drift to the kitchen, when Tierney saw Enyowas nod at Jax. “Can I speak with you in private?” he asked.
Tierney looked at Jax, wondering if he wanted her to stay with them, but he just nodded. “It’s fine. Go get something to eat and feed Kitty.”
“All right, but let me know if you need me,” she said and felt his love through their bond.
“I did it again,” Thaniel said proudly as they walked to the kitchen, and Tierney knew he meant changing back into clothes. “Yes, you seem to have mastered it,” she said, giving him a squeeze as she smiled at him. Thaniel grinned at her.
“Thanks to Kyrian.” There was so much relief in his voice that Tierney chuckled.
Chapter Sixty-Six
Psychopath
JAX LED ENYOWAS TO ZANDER’S OFFICE and then closed the door. “What did you want to talk about?”
“How well do you know Thaniel?” Enyowas asked. Jax bristled, but Enyowas held up a hand again. “I mean no offense,” he said, then told Jax what he knew.
A minute later, Jax waited while Enyowas made a phone call.
When the Were-cat was done, he turned back to Jax, worry bright in his eyes. “He’ll call when he’s there,” the Were-cat said and then left the office.
Jax just sat, staring after the guy.
Finally, once he got his pounding heart under control, he got up and went out to the kitchen.
“Everything okay?” Tierney asked as soon as she saw him. Thaniel also stopped what he was doing and waited for Jax’s answer.
“Fine,” he said and strengthened his shields, ignoring Tierney’s frown. “We need to talk after breakfast,” he said instead, then went and began to help Thaniel get breakfast started.
“We have another appointment this morning,” Tierney said to him after he was done explaining what Enyowas had told him.
Jax frowned. “We do?” Tierney nodded and something in her eyes set him on alert. “Where?” he asked, feeling a touch of anxiety set in.
Tierney walked up and pulled him into a hug. “We are going to talk to Chloe’s husband.”
“How did you swing that?” he asked and she smiled.
“I just called in some favors.”
Jax stared at her. “Do I even want to know?”
“No, probably not,” she said.
Jax nodded, then hesitated. “Do you really think that this is a good idea?”
Tierney nodded. “Yes. You need answers.”
Jax knew she was right, but he still didn’t know how he was going to deal with it, if it turned out that he was the reason for the man’s killing spree.
“We will deal with it together,” she said, staring into his eyes.
Through their bond, Jax could feel her love and assurance. Finally he nodded. “All right then.”
“Should we see if Thaniel wants to go?” she asked and he nodded, mind on where they were going. Then, as they made their way to the workout room where Thaniel had gone with Mark, Jax paused. “Wait, maybe we shouldn’t take him there.”
***
TIERNEY THOUGHT ABOUT THE DAY they went looking for Jax and shook her head. “No. As much as I want to take care of him, keep him safe, we have to give him the choice. We will ask and let him decide if he wants to go,” she said and with a reluctant nod, Jax agreed. Then he pulled the door open and waited for her to step inside the workout room before following her in.
Mark and Thaniel paused and looked at them questioningly.
“We need to talk to Thaniel a moment,” Jax said.
Wiping the sweat off his brow with a towel, Thaniel came over to them. “What’s going on, is everything all right?”
Tierney nodded, but couldn’t help the smile that lit her face at the sight of him standing there only in shorts, all sweaty. Muscles that they hadn’t realized he had until the night before gleamed and Tierney had to stop herself from drooling. “We need to go talk to Chloe’s husband and want to know if you want to come with us,” Tierney said.
Realizing the importance of what they were doing, Thaniel nodded, then he turned to Mark. “I gotta go,” he said.
“All right, see you later,” Mark said and got on the treadmill.
Tierney sat between Jax and Thaniel as they drove, still marveling at the fact that they were a threesome. She kept the conversation light, asking Thaniel about working out with Mark, and then they discussed the male that Goldy seemed hung up on. She purposefully avoided the reason for their trip, knowing how tightly Jax was wound.
They pulled up to the building where Chloe’s husband was being held and without a word, Jax shut off the car, although Tierney noticed that he hadn’t eased his grip on the steering wheel.
Leaning over, she laid her hand over his. “Thaniel and I will be with you. It’ll be fine, you’ll see.”
Jax continued to stare out the front windshield, but finally he turned to her and the self-doubt and torment in his eyes broke her heart.
“What if it isn’t?” he asked.
“Then we deal with it together,” she said quietly, repeating her earlier words. Jax stared at her, then he nodded. Taking a deep breath, he opened his door.
They climbed from the car and Tierney was so concerned about Jax, that it took a moment to catch Thaniel’s nervousness. “Do you want to wait here for us?” she asked him quietly as Jax came around the car to them.
Thaniel shook his head. “No, I want to be there for Jax.”
Tierney’s heart felt like it was melting. “You are, love, but you don’t have to go in if you don’t want.”
“I know, but I’ll be with you both, I’ll be safe,” he said, and she smiled at the confidence in his tone.
Ten minutes later they were sitting in a room, across a table from Jeff, Chloe’s bully of a husband.
“I remember you, you did something to me,” Jeff said, but when Jax didn’t respond, he looked at Tierney. “You too. You were there that day.” He turned his gaze back on Jax. “What the fuck did you do to me?”
Still Jax didn’t say anything and Tierney could feel his disgust and revulsion at the jowly motherfucker seated across from them.
“What do you want?” Jeff asked and they all caught the shake in his voice.
“Why did you do it?” Jax asked. “Why did you kill all those girls?”
Jeff glowered at him a moment, then glanced at Thaniel on Tierney’s other side, before looking back at Tierney. She shuddered inwardly when his hungry gaze raked her appreciatively. “You aren’t really my type, I prefer blondes but still—” He licked his lips.
“Enough,” Tierney said and began to draw on her power. “We want answers.”
“And if I refuse?” Jeff asked with a smirk and Tierney grabbed Jax’s hand under the table when he tensed up. She could feel his power growing and they didn’t need him shifting here.
“When did you start to kill?” Jax asked in a low growl, but Jeff just shook his head. “I’m not telling you a thing.”
He really didn’t need to answer out loud. Drawing on more of her power, Tierney opened her mind and listened. Seven seconds later, she gasped and withdrew from the psychopath’s mind, immediately throwing her shields back up.
“What did you see?” Jax asked and Tierney wanted to be sick.
“Tierney?” Thaniel asked.
She gripped both their hands under the table. “Just give me a sec.” Trying to get some distance from the filth she’d seen, she thought about the wonderful place that Jax took her to in his mind not so long ago. The sun had been setting, pink streaking the sky, and the breeze had been warm. A moment later, she drew in a deep breath and met Jeff’s eyes.
The creep had been studying her, and obviously enjoyed how uncomfortable he made her.
“You are a sick bastard,” she said and squeezing both Jax’s and Thaniel’s hands, doing what she’d done only once before, she drew on their bond and combined power, letting it mix with hers. Then she spoke, weaving Jax’s compulsion into her words. “You will admit to all your crimes,” she said, and while not normally very strong at compulsion, Jax’s power was the added touch she needed as she infiltrated Jeff’s mind, letting him see the pain he would experience if he failed to do as she demanded. “You will tell anyone who will listen what you did to all those girls. Then you will disclose where all the bodies are buried.” At her words, Jax tensed up, but she sent love through the bond to him.
When Jeff looked like he wanted to object, she drew on more of her mate’s power and let it lace her words. “Do you understand?”
It took a moment, but finally Jeff nodded.
“I can’t hear you,” she said.
Jeff frowned, but a second later, he nodded again. “Yes, I understand.”
“So what are you going to do?” she asked.
“I’m going to tell anyone who will listen, what I did to those girls.”
“And?” Tierney prompted.
“I will disclose where the bodies are buried,” he said.
As they walked out to the car, Jax turned to her. “You do realize what will happen to him when he starts telling everyone.”
Tierney nodded. She hadn’t specified who he should tell, just everyone who would listen, which would mean his inmates. “Yeah, but he deserves everything he gets, don’t you think?”
Jax nodded, expression grim. “That and so much more.”
Tierney knew Jax was itching to know what all she’d seen in Jeff’s mind, but with the possibility of cameras watching, they all just continued on to the car in silence.
Still, once they got to the car, Tierney held her hand out for the keys. Jax raised an eyebrow, but she just shook her head and a second later, he handed them over. “Get in the middle,” she said and could feel Jax’s sudden worry.
Once they were all in the car, Tierney started it up and pulled out. She drove for a little bit and then pulled over in a secluded spot. She could feel Jax’s eyes on her, as well as Thaniel’s worry and curiosity.
Turning off the car, she turned to Jax, then reaching over, she took his face in her hands. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want anyone to see us, since we were supposed to be there in an official capacity.”
Without taking his eyes from hers, Jax just nodded and then swallowed deeply. “What did you learn?”
“That it wasn’t your fault,” she said, staring back into her soul mate’s eyes. Although the stuff she’d seen in Jeff’s black mind had threatened to suck her in so deeply, she’d been afraid she’d never get back out.
“It wasn’t? I mean, are you sure?” Jax asked, and she could see and feel his hope, along with his desire to believe, combined with the soul-eating worry that he’d caused all these deaths.
“Yeah, love, I’m positive.” Leaning close, she met Jax’s lips with hers in a tender, loving kiss. Then she pulled back and gave him a little smile. “You had nothing to do with it, his mind—” She shuddered and closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them, she shook her head and her glance took in Thaniel who was watching, wide-eyed, before looking back at Jax. “Jeff’s m
ind is so twisted, I couldn’t stay in there long, the things he’s done, the things he wanted to do—” She paused and sucked in a deep breath before letting it out. “Jax, the things he did to Chloe, the mind games, along with the abuse. I saw what he wanted to do before you stopped him. Gods, Jax. If you hadn’t done what you did four years ago, he’d have killed them both, and just so you know, he’s been doing this since just after he married Chloe.”
Jax stared at her, completely shocked. Then she could feel his anger building. His eyes began to darken and glow. “What a sick fucker!”
“Yeah,” Tierney nodded and wrapped her arms around him. She could feel how angry and upset he still was through the bond. Glancing at Thaniel, who appeared shaken at what she’d said, she reached out and pulled him close as well, knowing how much they all needed each other.
The drive home was made in silence as they all thought about the horrific crimes Chloe’s husband had done and wanted to do. But they hadn’t gone far when Thaniel inched a little closer to Jax, and Tierney knew he was trying to offer comfort, but was still a little uncertain.
Jax, also able to feel Thaniel’s uncertainty, put an arm around Thaniel and pulled him close. A moment later he lay his head against Thaniel’s and stayed that way for the rest of the drive home.
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Not Tomlee
TIERNEY WALKED back into their home with Jax by her side and found Goldy and Hellfire rushing around. “What are you guys doing?” Tierney asked.
Goldy paused. “I hope you don’t mind, Sami said it would be okay.”
Tierney frowned, not sure what she was talking about. Goldy grinned and nodded at the open door in the corner of the great room.
“We thought we’d open up the dining room, since there are going to be so many eating turkey dinner tomorrow,” Hellfire said.
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