“I did something wrong?” Father Norbert asked, concern pinching the corners of his eyes. “I did not mean to offend.”
“You did nothing wrong nor did you offend,” Luuk assured him. “I would have insisted on you going first.”
Jameson nodded when Norbert checked with him. “Really, it’s fine. Please don’t treat us any differently than you have been—like friends.” That meant so much to him, because the whole shifters dropping to kneel at Luuk’s feet was weird, and made Jameson fear he’d never have any friends other than Luuk. Be hard to, if everyone was all but sitting on the ground.
“It’s not like that, and I’m not like that, and the shifters, our people, aren’t like that,” Luuk told him, amusement in his mental voice. “That would drive me insane in no time. Mem did the appropriate thing, though, as it is our first meeting, and she wanted to show her loyalty. She won’t be doing it every time she sees us again.”
“God, I hope not,” Jamie thought back. At least he’d got distracted from Mem’s eyebrow.
Inside the house, the walls were smooth stone, polished almost to a gleam. The thick rocks used on the outside also made the interior walls, and warm golden wood had been laid for the floors. Large, colourful rugs covered most of the flooring, and paintings of all sorts hung on the walls. The place was cavernous, but had a homey feel, which Jameson couldn’t quite make sense of in his mind.
Then he saw the food on the table and quit worrying about it.
“Please, sit and help yourselves. The others are not to bother us, not until you have rested. Patrik has gone to bring Piotr to us.”
They sat and Mem put glasses full of dark, rich beer in front of them.
“I thought Piotr was your cousin,” Jameson said as he tried to decide what to get first. The roast was beyond succulent-looking, and there were vegetables in something that might have been a brown gravy, he wasn’t sure. Loaves of fresh bread were still steaming in their loaf pans, and there were desserts and other side dishes… Jameson just wanted to eat it all.
“Norbert is family whether we share blood or not.” Mem set a small dish with butter on it between him and Luuk.
“Yes, I would not trade Mem for another,” Father Norbert said. “Once I tried her bread, at least.”
Mem barked out a laugh and took her seat. “True. If Patrik had not been my mate, I would have won him over with my cooking.”
Forty-five minutes later, Jameson was convinced she was right. He wasn’t the only one to groan and every one of the men rubbed their stomach. Mem looked well-pleased with herself as she watched them and spoke.
“Now, I will have Jaq show you to your rooms while I clean up. Jaq!”
A teenage boy ran into the kitchen only to skid to a stop as if he’d hit a glass wall when Mem glared at him. “Sorry, Mama.”
Mem shook a finger at him. “You will take their bags and show them to your grandfather’s room. Norbert knows where he will be sleeping.”
“Yes, I do, and thank you for the lovely meal, Mem.” Father Norbert waved at Jaq. “When you have time, come and tell me how you are doing, Jaq.”
“Yes sir, Uncle Norbert.” Jaq beamed until he looked at Luuk, then his eyes almost bugged right out of his head. “Eep.”
Luuk’s lips twitched and Jameson was torn between laughing and feeling sorry for the teenager as he clearly felt mortified for squeaking.
“It’s fine,” Jameson blurted out, moving towards Jaq. “He’s intimidating, isn’t he?” Jameson thumbed at Luuk. “But he’s also a good man, Jaq. And I am Jameson, Luuk’s mate.”
Jaq wavered, and Jameson thought he might be on the verge of passing out, then he realised Jaq was fixing to kneel, and started to protest.
“Let him, Jamie. Not for me, or you, but for himself. He needs to feel that he hasn’t embarrassed himself to the point of hopelessness.”
“It’s not—he’s not—” Jameson started just as Jaq knelt, head down, tipped aside. Seeing the pride that Mem felt as she watched her son, Jameson looked at Jaq. The boy was kneeling, showing respect for Luuk, yes, but also for himself and his family.
“Stand,” Luuk said, touching Jaq’s nape as he had Mem’s. As soon as Jaq was on his feet, Luuk held out his hand. Jaq gulped but shook it.
“It’s good to meet you, Sir…Sirs—both of you.” Jaq bobbed his head as the handshake ended.
“The pleasure is mine,” Jameson returned, because it was the truth. Jaq had taught him a little more about shifters in the few seconds he’d knelt. “We need to get our bags then you can show us to our room.”
“I can carry them for you,” Jaq offered, and after a quick check with Luuk, Jameson agreed.
The returned to the car and took out their duffle bags and Norbert’s as well. Jameson carried the laptop bag. “There is Internet, Father Norbert said?”
“Yes sir. I can show you how to access it, if you want.” Jaq darted a nervous glance at Luuk. “Um, if that is okay with the Alpha Anax.”
“I do think young Jaq here has a budding crush on you, Jamie, and who could blame him?” Luuk thought while telling Jaq, “Yes, that would be very nice of you to show us how it’s accessed.”
Jameson wanted to tell Luuk the little territorial ‘us’ was unnecessary, but all things considered, with the way some shifters only respected a show of force, Jameson let it go. It wasn’t like Luuk had hiked up his leg and marked him.
“And don’t even think about doing that, Luuk. You can’t hide your amusement from me.”
“I wouldn’t even try, on either count. But you should know, water sports are not anything I care to indulge in.”
Jameson wrinkled his nose. “I wouldn’t call it an indulgence—”
“This will be your room, Sirs,” Jaq said, stopping before a wooden door carved with numerous wolves. “It was my grandfather’s before he passed.” Jaq looked up at Luuk for a second before averting his gaze. “He fought for you. It would be an honour for you to stay here.”
Luuk put a hand on Jaq’s shoulder and urged the young man to return his gaze, which Jaq did. “The honour is certainly mine, and Jameson’s. Your grandfather’s sacrifice will not be wasted. I am sorry you lost him, you and your family, and sorry I can’t thank him.”
“Or maybe you can, in a manner. When you have reclaimed your packs, and once Jaq is old enough, he would be a very fine guard, don’t you think?” Jameson asked.
Luuk squeezed Jaq’s shoulder gently. “Perhaps, while I am here, we could discuss your goals for the future, once you are an adult.”
“Oh,” Jaq sighed more than said. “Oh, I-I—yes, yes sir!”
Luuk had clearly made the young man’s day, possibly even his week and month. Jaq was all boundless energy and enthusiasm after that, and it wasn’t long before Jameson sighed, exhausted on every level. He sat on the bed, moaned at the firm mattress, thinking it’d feel damned awesome beneath him while Luuk fucked him like a beast. He closed his eyes and began rubbing his chest, want pooling in his groin.
“Jamie, come here, please.”
Jameson opened one eye and lifted his head up so he could see Luuk. He sat at an aged wooden desk, the laptop open in front of him. “Did you hear from your brother?” Jameson asked, excitement and hope springing him up off the bed. “What did he—”
“It opened to your e-mail. I guess you didn’t log out.”
Jameson’s excitement and hope turned to something else entirely, something shrouded in fear and darkness. “W-why are you telling me?”
Luuk stood and came to him, putting an arm around Jameson’s shoulder, the other around his waist. “Because, Jamie, love, there’s a reply from your friend Adam, and I think you should read it.”
Chapter Twenty
Jameson seriously thought he was having a heart attack, his chest squeezed so painfully tight. His kneecaps seemed to have melted and he swayed.
“Shit!” Luuk jumped up and grabbed him, catching him around the waist and shoulders. “Shit, honey, you scared
the piss out of me!” Luuk rubbed at his chest, the touch calming Jameson’s pounding heart somewhat.
“I’m sorry. I’m such a wuss,” Jameson muttered, embarrassed by his almost panicked state.
Luuk kept up that soothing caress as he kissed Jameson’s brow. “Why are you afraid, Jamie?”
Why was he afraid? Afraid? More like terrified. Jameson sniffed, unaware until then that tears had begun to stream down his cheeks. “Luuk, I—I haven’t contacted Adam in over three years! He’s going to be angry, and hurt, and what can I tell him? What? ‘Sorry, didn’t mean to have to run for our lives and not stay in touch. There are these evil shifters out to get us…’” Jameson hiccupped and scowled. “Yeah, I can’t say any of that in an email, and even so—”
“And even so, as close as you and Adam were…” Luuk stopped and hissed.
“‘Were’. You said it.”
Luuk stopped stroking his chest and clamped his hand firmly around Jameson’s chin, making him look into Luuk’s eyes. “You two aren’t as close now, that is a truth I wish I could undo, but I will not lie to you. The friendship you shared—I saw it, Jamie. I felt the bond between you. Had I not been assured of our mate-bond, I would have been very jealous, and very unkind to Adam. I knew he loved you, and you, him. That kind of love doesn’t just stop. Adam, I can promise you, has known something went wrong those three years ago. He knows, even if he has to get past anger to realise it, that you would never have just blown him off. So stop letting fear keep you from finally, finally, rebuilding the friendship you’ve ached for.”
Jameson couldn’t stop crying, although he did so silently. He hurt inside, almost more than he ever had. Sometimes, when the depression tore into him, he felt lower, less, worse, than should be possible. But it wasn’t that dark evil tearing at him now. Now it was his own fear and shortcomings clawing him inside.
“Jamie, read it. I will be with you, always.”
Jameson nodded slightly and let Luuk lead him over to the laptop. Luuk sat and pulled him down onto his lap. The screensaver had popped up and Jameson’s finger shook as he reached for the keyboard. He tapped the spacebar and the picture of two howling wolves dissipated, leaving the stark inbox with only one email in it—and it was unopened. Jameson looked at Luuk. “You didn’t read it? You said I needed to read it!”
Luuk nodded. “You do. One, I would never read your email without you asking me to. Two, you need to read it. You need to see what Adam has to say. I will be right here with you, loving you.”
Jameson turned back to the laptop and opened the email before he could make any more of a scene about it. He was damned glad Luuk loved him so much that Jameson could let go and not worry about whether he had to be strong or not. Sometimes, he didn’t, and couldn’t, and Luuk never berated him for it. Jameson generally did a good job of that himself.
Tears sprang up anew and Jameson blinked then swiped at his eyes. A few seconds of that, and he was able to make out the reply from Adam—
Jameson, my friend, my brother—
You can’t know what a shock it was, to find your email waiting for me when I got home. The best, best kind of shock, but, I cried for ten minutes before Todd, my best half, calmed me down enough so that I could actually read what you wrote. All that mattered was that you did it, that you were able to contact me. Jameson, I have missed you, every day.
Every. Day.
And we missed you when we were in Amsterdam looking for you. Some things happened that made it necessary for Todd and I to return to the States earlier than we had planned. Maarten was an entertaining host, although I could gladly have strangled him more than once. Sorry, Luuk, but your brother can be quite a pest.
I have not given up on finding you. I know, we know, and there are others in positions of much higher authority who are also aware of what has happened. A new and very good friend of ours, Marcus C., has sent several of his men to assist you when they find you. Know that there are many of us who are intent on seeing you and Luuk safe and happy and back where you both belong.
I have never given up on you, Jameson. Don’t give up on yourself. You and I, and our men, our mates, will meet, soon. There’s so much I want to tell you, share with you, ask you, but the time will come soon enough for us to chase the moon and chat.
Love,
Adam & Todd
PS Pics attached.
Luuk began muttering, reading the message aloud, his voice low and tight. Jameson read the message again too, his pulse skittering at parts of it. “Adam—they came to Amsterdam. Marcus C—”
“Criswell,” Luuk said, holding Jameson tightly. “Has to be. He was the original reason I came to the US. I had intended to meet with him, but there was some kind of trouble, and he was inaccessible. Then I met you…”
“Who is Marcus?” Because Luuk hadn’t explained that.
“The North American Alpha Anax. Possible the most powerful of all of the AAs,” Luuk murmured, leaning towards the laptop. Jameson peered over his shoulder at him, and saw a flare of hope in Luuk’s eyes. “Jamie, love, I—” Luuk frowned and Jameson turned to the laptop again. He moved the cursor to the attachment symbol and clicked just as Luuk said, “It sounds like Adam is one of us, or mated to one of us. Todd—”
“What?” Jameson almost shouted. “I don’t want Adam to be a part of this world! No!” Oh God, his Adam, so happy and trusting, would be torn to shreds by the shifters!
“Jamie, not all shifters are monsters like Luther and his followers.” Luuk’s hurt bled into Jameson as he spoke. “Not even most of them, or many. But evil uses tactics the good ones won’t. We don’t go and slaughter entire shifter packs that disagree with my rule. I would never. You should know that.”
The chastisement made Jameson feel about an inch tall, but it wasn’t unjustified and he knew it. Sometimes his head just…just didn’t seem to work right. Luuk was a good, good man, and Jameson tried to be. He knew, too, that not all shifters were evil beasts, or more animal than human. It just didn’t feel like that was the case, when they were running for their lives.
“My fault. I should have fought,” Luuk told him. “Not right at first, because we had not a chance of surviving if we didn’t run, but…” Luuk sighed. “I should not have waited three years, Jamie. That doesn’t make me a good man, or a good AA.”
“Yes it does,” Jameson argued, although he didn’t have anything more than that to use as proof, and just then the attachments finished downloading. “Luuk, I love you. I know you have always done what was best for me. Always, Luuk. You have taken care of your mate, first. How does that make you anything other than a good man?” Jameson clicked on the attachments then, done arguing as he blasted Luuk with as much love and respect as he had in him.
Luuk’s attempt to refute it crumbled—Jameson felt his walls give, then Jameson gasped as he stared at a pic of Adam, looking just a bit older, but no less handsome than always, in the arms of the attractive redheaded sheriff. The caption read, ‘Me and Todd, 8/3/12. I just finished writing to you.’ Adam’s dark eyes were a little red-rimmed, a little wet looking, and Todd was watching him, a tender expression on Todd’s face.
But Adam’s smile, that brought more tears to Jameson’s eyes, because the last time he’d seen Adam, it had been a farewell, and neither of them had been happy about that. But Adam was beaming, his joy shining right through the laptop screen at Jameson, and it warmed him to his soul.
“He looks happy, very much so,” Luuk said, the words barely given sound. “And his mate, Jamie, I don’t think I’m wrong.”
Jameson wasn’t sure how he felt about that, even with shifters being basically good. He just hadn’t seen much of that so far, but they had been running, hiding, so what did he know? Mem, Jaq, the Fathers, they were all pretty damned amazing, shifters or not. He clicked on the next picture, and any doubt he or Luuk might have had about whether or not Adam and Todd were shifters was laid to rest.
“Look at them,” was all Jameson could say as he to
ok in every detail of the two beautiful wolves frolicking together.
“They are lovely. Happy, too.” Luuk stroked Jameson’s cheek, then touched the screen. “How odd that circumstances—no, Fate—has seen to bring us all to this point.”
Jameson nodded, unable to look away. Adam and Todd—they looked healthy, their coats shiny and thick. Then Jameson saw the tag. ‘Soon, we will be with you and Luuk, and we will run and hunt and play.’
“Oh,” Jameson sighed, no longer angry over his friend’s changing. He was curious as to how it came about, but the idea of running together, all four of them, filled Jameson with anticipation—and happiness. He was smiling fit to be tied as he minimised the pictures. His inbox showed another email, also from Adam. “He’s on now!” Maybe they could chat or…or something?
Jameson clicked the message, and read it eagerly, only to have fear slam up his spine again. “No! Luuk, no!”
Luuk held him and shook his head. “Jamie, I can’t stop them. Adam and Todd are coming, and there’s nothing we can do to stop that. He says as much in the message. We must decide where to meet them, how to do so safely, because I am thinking your friend, and his friends, aren’t going to worry about stealth this time. I think they might just tear this continent apart looking for you.” He tipped Jameson’s head up again, stared into his eyes until Jameson’s fear eased under Luuk’s calm, sure nature. “We haven’t got much time to come up with a plan before that jet lands. Let’s figure out what we can do to keep all of us safe.”
Jameson hoped that was possible. He didn’t know what Adam’s intentions were, honestly. It’d be just like the man to come all this way only to make sure Jameson was really okay. But surely Adam didn’t understand the risks, not truly. Jameson hoped that innocence didn’t cost any of them their lives.
Chapter Twenty-One
Bailey Bradford - Southwestern Shifters 07 - Revolution Page 9