Have a good morning.
Love you,
Alicia.
Jason grinned and re-read the letter, before folding it and tucking it away in the nightstand on his side of bed. Having already showered the night before, he threw on some clean clothes and went down to the main hall of Shadowbrook to see what was for breakfast.
He found Ben, Lana, Josh, and Harper having breakfast together. Derek was in the kitchen nursing a mug of coffee and brooding.
“Did Grace get called into the station too?” Jason asked, pouring himself a coffee and turning the sausages frying in the pan.
“Yeah, apparently the police want all the Carnegies dealt with as quickly as possible so they can be transported to Boston.”
“Honestly, I don’t blame them. The sooner that bunch is out of Lenox, the sooner everything can get back to normal,” Jason said, coming to sit down beside Derek.
“Yeah, I can’t wait for Grace to have some time off,” Derek said, his tone brightening.
Jason grinned, happy to see his best friend’s spirits lifting. “Yeah, you two’ve got a wedding to plan. Have you set a date or are you having a long engagement?”
Derek moved away from the counter for a moment to serve up the sausages and slice them onto sandwiches, adding a liberal amount of barbeque sauce, just like he and Jason loved. He slid a sandwich over to his friend and joined him back at the breakfast bar.
“There’s a few things I need to do first. I think Mr and Mrs. Alcott want to have some sort of official party and invite all Grace’s family, but before that I’m going back to physical therapy to ask about having a prosthetic limb fitted. When I marry Grace, I want to be able to walk down the aisle with her on my arm and have our first dance together. Like normal couples do.”
Jason clapped his friend on the back. “Bro, never think just because you’ve lost your leg you’re not normal. Grace loves you if you have a prosthetic limb or not.”
Derek smiled. “I know. I’m not doing this for her; I’m doing it for me. I want to be able to walk again and I want to see if I can shift without a leg. I miss being in my wolf form and running through the forest.”
“That I can understand. I need to get out there myself. Why don’t we do a little experimentation after breakfast?”
Derek looked uncertain, which Jason couldn’t blame him for. If he’d lost his leg, he’d be wary about shifting too, but he didn’t want his friend slipping into depression, so he said, “Come on. It will be just the two of us, so if you can’t shift, no one else will know. I’ll help as much as I can.”
Derek still looked skeptical, but a small smile slipped across his face. “Okay, we’ll give it a try.”
Jason grinned. “Excellent. Are you having lunch with Grace later? Alicia left me a note asking me to meet her at the station.”
Derek raised an eyebrow. “Did she now? I noticed you two snuck off last night.”
Jason smirked. “A gentleman never kisses and tells. I’m surprised you even noticed; you were so wrapped up with Grace.”
Now it was Derek’s turn to smirk. “Oh I noticed. What’s the deal?”
Jason couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. “We’re together. I can feel in my soul that she’s my mate. Which is just crazy, given you, Ben, and Josh all claimed human mates too. What is it with Shadowbrook alphas and human mates?”
Derek laughed. “It is a bizarre coincidence, but I think it’s proof of what we’ve been trying to tell the rest of the pack - integration with humans is vital. They’re not our enemies.”
“You’re preaching to the choir, Bro, and I think the others are realizing that too. You know Kevin took a bullet for one of Alicia’s officers?”
“Yeah, Grace told me. It’s high time things change. Isolating ourselves never did us any good.”
“Agreed,” Jason said, his tone sombre for a moment, before turning playful again. “But that’s all in the past. It’s time to look to the future, and the first step is getting you back out there. Come on.”
“Okay, let me just clear up first.”
“Nah, you cooked, let me,” Jason insisted, grabbing their plates and mugs and carrying them over to the sink.
Once the breakfast things were cleaned up, Jason and Derek headed outside to the grounds of the Shadowbrook estate. With no embarrassment between them, they’d shifted together plenty of times before, Jason helped Derek undress. Then, still sitting in his wheelchair, Derek tried to shift. At first, he couldn’t do it and Jason could see the frustration on his friend’s face.
“You can do this,” Jason encouraged.
Derek took a deep, cleansing breath and tried again. He let out a howl of agony, but as Jason watched, Derek started to transform into a wolf. Still sitting in the wheelchair, Derek changed into his wolf form, although he was missing his back right leg from above the knee. Cautiously, wolf-Derek climbed out of the wheelchair, unsteady on only three legs.
Jason undressed and transformed so that he could support his friend. As as Mexican wolf, Jason leaned up against the tawny wolf that was Derek so that he could regain his balance. After a few hesitant steps with Jason supporting him, Derek became more steady. Jason picked up his pace and Derek followed. Though he wasn’t as fast as he had been, Derek could still run on three legs and together the two packmates raced through the forest.
An hour later, Jason and Derek returned to the spot they’d started from, where Derek’s wheelchair remained untouched. Wolf-Derek climbed back into his wheelchair and shifted back into his human form, the process going much easier than it had for him to turn into a wolf. He sat back, breathless, as he pulled on his clothes. Jason transformed back into human form as well.
“How are you feeling?” Jason asked, pulling on his boxer shorts and jeans.
“Exhausted, but exhilarated,” Derek replied with a grin, as he re-dressed too. “After Rebecca shot me I never thought this would be possible.”
Jason smiled at his friend. “I think we’ve both discovered things we never thought possible. I never imagined I’d be settling down with a cop!”
Derek raised an eyebrow as they made their way back inside. “Settling down? Something you want to tell me, man?”
Jason laughed. “I’m not planning on proposing anytime soon, if that’s what you’re wondering. But there’s no one else I ever want to be with. When the time is right, I want to marry Alicia and start a family with her.”
Derek smiled up at his friend. “That’s great news, Bro, but what about the pack? Should we expect a new alpha soon?”
Jason shrugged. “I don’t know. I want to remain alpha, but if Alicia wants to stay in Boston I’ll probably join her. Stepping down from the pack appeals more than trying to make it work long distance. We’ll see how it goes. I want her to meet my parents first.”
Once inside the house, Jason and Derek went to their seperate rooms to shower and change so they were ready to meet Alicia and Grace for lunch. Derek waved off Jason’s offer of help, letting him know that even though he and Grace had moved into a bungalow together, Ben had made sure his room was fitted with equipment, wheelchair access, and a sit-in shower.
They took Derek’s car, though Jason drove to the station. The young woman on the reception desk, who Jason had learned was called Natasha, let them through to the main room. From there, they went to Officer Alcott’s office to ask where Alicia and Grace were.
“They’re both downstairs in the interrogation rooms still. I think they’d appreciate your assistance. Rebecca and her family aren’t being very forthcoming with information.”
“I can’t imagine why,” Jason quipped, making light of the situation, though he knew he’d rest easier once the Carnegies were in the Massachusetts Correctional Institution.
Jason and Derek made their way to the elevator to take them down to the basement floor of the police station, Captain Alcott promising she’d radio Grace and Alicia to know to expect them.
As soon as they stepped out of
the elevator, Jason could hear Rebecca Carnegie screeching, her high-pitched voice ringing through the corridor. “You won’t get anything from me.”
A door down the hallway opened and Alicia strode out, her face brightening when she saw Jason and Derek.
“Thank God you’re both here. That woman is a nightmare,” Alicia said, joining them.
A moment later, Grace emerged from a different interrogation room, looking frustrated. “Oh, you’re here,” she said, her tone lightening, as she ran down the corridor to meet them.
“Everything okay?” Jason asked, wrapping his arm around Alicia.
“Better now you’re here,” she said, standing on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. “Let’s get out of here and I’ll explain everything over lunch.”
The quartet entered the elevator and rode up to the main floor of the police station. As they moved out into the room, Grace asked, “So, where are we headed?”
“Fancy grabbing something to eat at the Maple Inn?” Derek asked, crossing the parking lot to his car.
“You drove?” Grace asked.
“No that would be me,” Jason said, taking the keys out of his pocket and twirling them around his finger. “But Derek does have something to tell you.”
“Oh?” Grace asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I shifted and went for a run around the estate grounds.”
“Oh my God, that’s amazing!” Grace said, tears shimmering in her eyes. “How was it?”
“Difficult, but I had my brother by my side,” Derek said, looking to Jason gratefully.
Alicia laced her fingers through Jason’s and kissed him on the cheek.
They got into the car and drove a few blocks over to the Maple Inn, where they sat in a booth out of the way so they could talk without any eavesdroppers lingering near-by. The server took their lunch orders and brought drinks over, and then Alicia launched into how terrible her and Grace’s mornings had been.
“Despite the fact she hasn’t got a leg to stand on, Rebecca is demanding reduced sentences for her and her family.”
“On what grounds?” Jason asked, incredulous, as he took a sip of his drink. “We have numerous witnesses to her child abduction and testimonies that she’s been harassing the fire department.”
“Right, but she’s playing the ‘no one knows about the shifters’ card and threatening to tell Captain Rogers and the press in Boston everything she knows about the Shadowbrook pack unless we agree to her demands,” Grace said, her tone growing angry.
“She can’t do that. Whatever way she spins it, she’s going away for a long time for the crimes she’s committed. She’s in no situation to bargain,” Derek raged, raising his voice so a few patrons looked in their direction. “Can’t we swear her to secrecy or discredit anything she says?”
“We haven’t got the legal rights to,” Alicia said, her tone tight. “Shifters existing is unprecedented so there’s nothing we can do to stop her telling anyone she pleases, regardless of the charges against her.”
“Then we’ll have to hold a pack meeting to decide what to do,” Jason said finally. “It’s our only choice. We’re not negotiating with Rebecca Carnegie unless we have no other choice. I’m hoping the pack agrees to telling Captain Rogers. Then, maybe he would be able to do something to silence Rebecca.”
“He’s a reasonable man. If you do speak with him, he’ll listen,” Alicia said.
“My mom will help too,” Grace pointed out. “As the police captain of Lenox, she and Rogers have a good working relationship. If she vouches for you, he may be more willing to cooperate.”
“Plus, we’ve done nothing wrong. Rebecca is the child-abducting murderer, not us,” Derek said, his voice still full of hatred. Jason understood his friend’s anger perfectly. Even though they’d caught Rebecca, she was still finding ways to torment them.
Would they ever be able to move on in peace?
80
Alicia
The quartet of friends drove back to the police station in tense silence. While lunch at the Maple Inn had been enjoyable, and the news Derek could shift again gave them all a welcome boost, Rebecca Carnegie and her demands loomed over them like a dark cloud.
Alicia couldn’t wait until this whole thing was over and the Carnegies were safely locked away at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution. She was glad she’d caught Rebecca and the rest of her family, and she’d be forever grateful that the case had bought her and Jason together, but she wanted this whole nightmare to be over with. She wanted to move on with her life and begin her future with Jason.
“Will you come back to the interrogation room with me?” Alicia asked Jason as they arrived at the police station. “It might help Rebecca realize how serious we are if you speak to her.”
“If you think it will help, I’ll do it,” Jason said. Alicia was grateful beyond words. She’d never arrested and interrogated anyone as difficult as Rebecca and wanted the deranged woman dealt with as quickly as possible.
“I can come in with you, too, if you think it would help,” Derek offered Grace, and Alicia’s heart warmed. Every interaction between her best friend and her boyfriend - No, fiance, Alicia corrected herself - made Alicia more and more certain that Grace and Derek were perfect for each other. Alicia knew her best friend would have a happy future with her mate.
“Thanks,” Grace said, scooting closer to Derek on the backseat to kiss him.
Alicia and Jason slipped out of the car to give the newly engaged couple a moment of privacy, crossing the parking lot to the nearby woodland area that surrounded the station.
“It was good of you to help Derek with his shifting this morning,” Alicia said, leaning back against a tree.
Jason stood just inches in front of her, his tight white T-shirt stretched across his muscular torso, his long dark hair hanging loose around his shoulders. She remembered their time together the night before and longed to be alone and somewhere private with Jason.
Jason shrugged. “It was nothing. He’s my brother; I’d die for him.”
“While I hope it never comes to that, I’m glad you have each other,” she said, pushing off the tree so that she closed the space between her and Jason and wound her arms around his neck.
Jason lowered his lips to hers and kissed Alicia slowly, making her heart rate pick up and a pleasant heat started to form between her legs.
“Once we’re done with Rebecca I’m locking you in my room for at least a week,” she whispered huskily against his lips.
Jason laughed and nipped her bottom lip. “It will be my pleasure.”
Their mouths melded together again, and Alicia lost herself in the moment, the stress of the morning drifting away as Jason slipped his tongue in her mouth and gripped her hips, pulling her flush against his hard, strong body.
They didn’t get a chance to go any further though, as Grace yelled over, “Oh my God, get a room you two!”
Alicia chuckled and stepped away from Jason, then walked out of the wooded area to join her friend and Derek in the parking lot. “Well, we would have used the car, only someone had already taken it.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Grace replied with a blush, her clothing and hair looking a little rumpled.
The group entered the police station and made their way down to the basement floor, but before they went to the interrogation room, Alicia said, “Jason and Derek, while I appreciate you coming in there with me and Grace, please remember neither of you are officers of the law. I know you both have strong feelings about Rebecca and her family, but I ask you to keep your tempers in check and remember these are official police interviews.”
“Got it,” Jason and Derek replied in unison.
“Okay, let’s go in there,” Alicia said, gesturing forwards.
Grace and Derek entered the room Grace had come from that morning, while Alicia led Jason to the interrogation room where Rebecca was waiting for them.
The moment Rebecca saw Jason she let out a bitter lau
gh. “Couldn’t handle me on your own, Officer Ripley, so you brought your little guard dog along with you?”
Beside her, Alicia felt Jason tense, but she slipped into the seat opposite Rebecca and regarded the woman cooly. “I thought it only fair for Jason to be here, seeing as you’re threatening to expose his pack.”
“His pack?” Rebecca asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought Ben Stokes was the alpha. Or was it his brother, Josh? No, I remember now, it was that mongrel I shot in the leg. What was his name, Derek something? I hear he's a cripple now!”
Again, Alicia felt Jason tense and under the table, she laid her hand on his leg to calm him. Her touch had the desired effect, and Alicia felt Jason’s body relax.
Regarding Rebecca, just as cool as Alicia had moments before, Jason said, “My pack elected me leader because I promised to bring you to justice, and I’ve delivered. You’re here under arrest because of me. I think that’s more than justice for what you did to Derek, but I’m here now to ensure you’re locked away for a very long time.”
“Oh, so Officer Ripley has told you about the ultimatum I gave her, did she? And what? You’re here to tell me your pack will risk being exposed to more humans just to make sure I go to prison?”
“That’s exactly it. Because despite what you think, Carnegie, humans and shifters can peacefully coexist. In fact, we’re joining together as one community.”
Now it was Alicia’s turn to tense. She didn’t know how much Rebecca knew about the Shadowbrook pack and which shifters had taken humans mates, but she feared how Rebecca would react if she learned she and Jason were a couple.
Rebecca smirked and sat back comfortably in her chair. “Oh I know all about the human whores who’ve defiled themselves with you animals. Yourself included Officer Ripley, but then I suppose someone like you is practically an animal already.”
While Jason bared his teeth and growled, Alicia let the comment roll off her back. She’d heard the same - and worse - before. Carnegie’s words couldn’t hurt her.
Firefighter Wolves Shifters (A Paranormal Romance Series Boxset) Page 42