“This is your problem, Carnegie, you see everyone who isn’t part of your family as lesser than you. But the Shadowbrook pack keep on proving you wrong, and now they have the whole town of Lenox supporting them,” Alicia said evenly.
“And soon, the Boston Police Department will support us too,” Jason added. “I will be speaking with Captain Alcott in a moment to arrange a conference with Captain Rogers from the Boston P.D. We’re not going to bow to your insane demands.”
Alicia thought Jason was taking a risk by not only revealing his plan to Rebecca, but also making bold statements when he hadn’t even spoken to his pack yet, but Jason’s bluff seemed to work and Rebecca paled. She obviously hadn’t expected Jason to refuse her demands and challenge her like he was.
“I think we’re done here, for now,” Alicia announced, rising from her seat and motioning Jason to do the same. They’d unnerved Rebecca, that was enough. Now they needed to speak to Captain Alcott, and then Jason needed to talk to his pack about what was going on.
They met Grace and Derek in the corridor leading to the elevator, both of them looking rather pleased with themselves.
“How did it go?” Alicia asked.
“Good,” Grace replied with a grin. “The second he saw Derek he spilled his guts and gave us lots of dirt on Rebecca that we didn’t have before. No matter what she says or does now, she's going down.”
“That’s awesome, because I just told her I’ll be speaking with Captain Alcott to arrange a conference with Captain Rogers. She already thinks the pack has agreed to reveal ourselves to the authorities.”
Derek gaped at Jason. “What if the pack doesn't agree?”
“I’ll have to be very persuasive,” Jason said, and Alicia could tell by his posture he was already second-guessing his words to Rebecca.
“It’ll be okay,” she said, taking his hand. “Between you, me, Captain Alcott and Captain Rogers, we’ll make sure she gets locked away for as long as possible, without exposing the pack.”
When they got to the main floor of the station, Alicia suggested she and Grace should speak with Captain Alcott and arrange a conference with Captain Rogers, while Jason and Derek return to Shadowbrook to speak with the pack and get them onboard with Jason’s plan. The guys agreed to Alicia’s plan and then made their way to the parking lot.
“It will all work out,” Alicia assured Jason, looping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips to his, as they stood besides Derek’s car to say goodbye.
“Thanks. I appreciate your faith in me,” he said nuzzling against her neck and inhaling her scent.
“You haven’t let me down yet,” Alicia told him, kissing him a final time before stepping back so that Jason could help Derek into the car. Then she and Grace returned to the police station.
Once seated opposite Captain Alcott, Alicia filled her in on the situation. “Rebecca Carnegie is trying to get a lighter sentence by threatening to expose the Shadowbrook pack to Captain Rogers and the press in Boston. Jason and Derek have gone to speak to the pack now about agreeing to telling Captain Rogers themselves. They are hoping, if the pack agrees to tell Captain Rogers, that they can get his assistance shutting Rebecca down. They’ve asked if you could arrange a conference on their behalf.”
“Certainly,” Captain Alcott said. “You know as well as I do that Rogers is a reasonable man, and he wouldn’t want someone like Carnegie getting a reduced sentence. We all know that the Shadowbrook pack are loyal and dependable members of our community. I’ll do anything I can to help. I will call Captain Rogers now and ask him if he’s available for a conference in about an hour?”
“Perfect. Thank you. I will message Jason and let him know the timeframe we’re working with,” Alicia replied, then she and Grace stepped out of Captain Alcott’s office to give the older woman privacy to make the call.
An hour later, Jason and Derek returned to the station, bringing the news that the pack had agreed to Jason’s suggestion.
“They said they trust my judgement completely,” he told Alicia, the pride clear in his voice. “I’m to do whatever it takes to stop Rebecca and her family escaping justice.”
Alicia stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. “That’s excellent news, because Captain Alcott spoke to Captain Rogers, and he’s willing to have a conference call with you. Captain Alcott said we can use her office, and Rogers should be calling back in about five minutes.”
“Thank you for helping me with this,” Jason said, taking Alicia’s hand as they walked to Captain Alcott’s office, Grace and Derek following behind them.
They all gathered in Captain Alcott’s office and she switched the phone to conference mode, ready for Captain Roger’s call. When the phone rang, Captain Alcott greeted the captain of the Boston P.D and then handed the call over to Alicia.
“Thank you for agreeing to speak with Mr. Sullivan,” Alicia began, speaking respectfully to her captain. “We have a unique situation on our hands, but I assure you, having been in Lenox for the past few weeks, I can vouch for the integrity of Mr. Sullivan and his colleagues at the Lenox Fire Department. I’ll hand you over to him now.”
Alicia watched, trying to keep her tension at bay, as Jason spoke to her captain. “Thank you for agreeing to speak with me, Captain Rogers,” he said. “And thank you for sending Officer Ripley and her taskforce to apprehend Carnegie. They were an asset to you and your department. Thanks to Alicia, Rebecca Carnegie and the remaining members of her family were arrested. However, there’s an issue we previously withheld from you for our safety.”
At this point, Captain Rogers cut Jason off, and Alicia feared her boss was about to reprimand them all for withholding information. Instead, he surprised everyone in the room by asking, “Do you know Governor Steven Templeton in Pittsfield?”
Alicia frowned, not understanding where her captain was going with this, but to her surprise both Jason and Derek were grinning.
“We know him, yes,” Jason replied.
“I thought so,” Captain Rogers said, his tone sounding lighter. “He has a family similar to your own, doesn’t he, Mr. Sullivan? That’s why you withheld information from me, isn’t it, to protect your family?”
Alicia’s eyes widened in shock. The emphasis Captain Rogers put on the word family made her certain her boss knew about the existence of wolf-shifters, and the reason he knew was because Governor Steven Templeton in Pittsfield was alpha of a pack there.
“That’s right,” Jason said, confirming Captain Roger’s question and Alicia’s suspicions. “Me and my family at Shadowbrook are like Governor Templeton’s family. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you before, it’s sometimes difficult to know who to trust.”
“Completely understandable. I’ve heard all about what Rebecca Carnegie and her people did to your family, and I’m certain if they hadn’t been arrested, they’d have targeted Governor Templeton’s family and others like them.”
“She said as much before we arrested her. She told her people once she wiped out the Shadowbrook family they’d search the state for more like us, and one of her followers has since confirmed the Carnegies have plans to take their campaign state-wide. Even now, she’s not going down quietly and has threatened to expose my family unless we give her a reduced sentence.”
“I can see you’re in quite a predicament, and, Mr. Sullivan, I want to help. Let me speak with Governor Templeton to see what we can do to ensure you and your family, as well as other families like yours out there, are safe from Rebecca and that she is sent to prison for her full sentence,” Captain Rogers said, and Alicia breathed a sigh of relief.
They ended the conference with Captain Roger’s instructions that Rebecca Carnegie and her family should be processed and transferred to Boston immediately, and his assurances that the truth about the Shadowbrook pack would be protected.
As they went down to the basement level of the police station to let Rebecca know her demands wouldn’t be met, Jason said, “Well, that went better than expected. Who’d h
ave thought Captain Rogers already knew all about us?”
“I wish he’d said something to me,” Alicia replied, though she understood why her captain hadn’t. It wasn’t his secret to share, and he had only spoken about Governor Templeton and the pack in Pittsfield once he was sure Jason knew too.
With the support of two police captains and the state’s governor, Alicia felt certain they’d be able to silence Rebecca Carnegie. It looked like her reign of terror was finally over.
81
Jason
Jason walked into the interrogation room where Rebecca Carnegie was being held trying desperately to suppress his smug grin. After his conference call with Captain Rogers and the revelation that the head of the Boston P.D knew about shifters and would do all he could to protect them, Jason knew Rebecca Carnegie had just lost her last bargaining chip. And he couldn’t wait to tell her.
He and Alicia sat down opposite Rebecca, who sneered at them. “Come to accept my request?”
“The opposite, actually. I’ve just come from a conference call with Captain Rogers in Boston. Did you know he’s good friends with Governor Templeton in Pittsfield?”
Rebecca’s eyes widened and her face turned chalk white.
“Ah, so you do know of Governor Templeton, I see?” Jason said smugly. He kept his gaze trained on Rebecca as he told her, “Well, Governor Templeton and Captain Rogers are formulating a plan, as we speak, to make sure you can’t spread hatred and endanger any more shifter-packs. Captain Rogers has promised you and your family will receive full sentences for what you did. It’s over, Rebecca, you’re being transferred to Boston within the hour.”
“This will never be over,” Rebecca screamed leaping from her seat and lunging at Jason. She knocked him back to the ground and started striking Jason all over his body.
Jason felt white hot pain surge from where Rebecca hit him in the neck, the fire travelling through his veins as his vision dimmed and black spots appeared before his eyes.
The last thing he heard before he passed out was Rebecca screaming, “If I’m going down, I’ll at least take one of you mutts with me.”
Jason awoke in a strange room, his nostrils assaulted by the smell of chemical cleaners. Bright lights overhead stung his eyes and he tried to sit up. The moment he did a fiery pain engulfed him and Jason lost consciousness again.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when he woke again, and though his body still felt as though it was in an inferno, the pain was less intense than it had been.
He opened his eyes, croaking out, “Where am I?”
“You’re at Fairview Hospital, in Great Barrington,” Alicia said softly from beside him and he felt her squeeze his hand.
As Jason’s eyes adjusted the room came into focus and he could see the whole pack was there and Grace too, just like when Derek had been shot.
“Fuck. What did that crazy bitch do to me?” he asked.
“We think she poisoned you,” Ben said, stepping forward and laying a comforting hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Though with what, we’re not sure.”
Jason felt the fire filling his veins again, then a moment later, the pain dimmed and he looked to his right, away from Alicia and Ben, to see he was hooked up to an I.V that was pumping him full of pain killers.
“Have they tested me for silver poisoning?” Jason asked weakly, knowing the metal was the only substance that could truly hurt a shifter.
“Yes, and while the tests came back positive, it appears as though she’s created some sort of unique compound. The doctors can’t work out what it is, so they can’t remove it from your system,” Ben said, and Jason could tell from his tone the former alpha wasn’t giving him the full story.
“What? What is it?” he demanded.
His demand was met by Alicia bursting into tears. “You’re dying,” she sobbed. “No doctors can find out what’s wrong and they don’t think there’s time to send you elsewhere for more extensive testing. Whatever Rebecca injected you with is slowly killing you.”
For the first time since Rebecca had attacked him, Jason felt cold. “I’m going to die?” he asked weakly.
“I’m so sorry,” Josh said, joining Alicia and Ben at Jason’s bedside. “The doctors are doing all they can, as are the pack and the police department. But no one can work out what Rebecca combined the silver with, so we don’t know how to flush it from your system without doing more damage.”
“Where is she?” Jason growled, sitting up, only for the fire to flair in his body again, forcing him to sink back down onto the mattress. “Bring her to me and I will make her answer me, before I rip her throat out.”
“I’ve been questioning her whenever I’m not here, and I have Officer Collins on the case when I come to visit you. But Rebecca is refusing to speak. She won’t even agree to make a deal with us. She says if she and her family are going to prison for life, she wants at least one shifter to die.”
“And I’m the sacrificial wolf?” Jason joked weakly, regretting his flippant remark as Alicia started crying again.
The future he’d fought so hard for, the future he wanted to have with Alicia, was slipping away from him, just like his lifeforce, all thanks to Rebecca damn Carnegie. If he was going to die, he was damn sure taking that woman with him. There’d be no prison for Rebecca - he’d tear her limb from limb.
“How long do they think I have left?”
“Based on your latest test results, they think you have a few days left, at most,” Alicia told him, and the tone of her voice broke his heart. She’d resisted falling for him to protect herself from heartache like her ex had inflicted upon her. He’d promised he’d never do the same. Now, thanks to Rebecca Carnegie, he was about to betray Alicia in the worst possible way - by dying before they even had a chance to start their lives together.
“Can I have some time alone with Alicia, please?” Jason asked, his throat feeling tight.
“Of course,” Ben said, patting his shoulder again, before he and Josh moved away and the pack left the room.
As the door closed, Derek shot him one final look of despair and Jason’s heart broke for a second time. Not only would he never live to have a future with Alicia, but he wouldn’t get to see his best friend marry Grace and walk down the aisle with her.
“Fucking Rebecca Carnegie,” Jason said bitterly as the door finally shut and Alicia sat beside him.
“Right. I almost beat the living daylights out of her after she attacked you. The only thing that stopped me killing her was getting you to hospital. One way or another, I’m going to make her pay for this.”
“Bring her to me. I’ll make her pay,” Jason said darkly, and an unspoken understanding passed between him and Alicia. Under any other circumstance, neither of them would condone murder, but Jason had nothing left to lose and wanted to take out the woman who’d robbed him of a future. It seemed, in her grief, Alicia supported this idea too.
“But before you do, I have something I want to ask you,” Jason continued, he turned as best as he could so that he could take Alicia’s hands in his. “Alicia Ripley, I love you with my whole heart, you’re my mate and the only person I want to settle down with. I know we won’t have the lifetime together we deserve, but will you marry me?”
Alicia’s eyes widened and she started crying again. “Yes, a million times yes. If I’m going to lose you soon, I at least want to spend the last few days I have with you as your wife.”
Jason smiled weakly. “That’s what I hoped for. I don’t want to leave you, ever, but it seems I have no choice, so the last thing I’m choosing to do is make you my wife. If you’ll have me?”
“Of course I’ll have you, but how are we going to do this?”
“The hospital chaplain should be able to perform the ceremony. You’d need to arrange the license and everything else. I can ask Derek and the rest of the pack to help, so it takes the pressure off you.”
Alicia nodded, wiping her eyes. “Yes, let’s do this. Let’s get married.”
She pressed her lips against his and kissed him fiercely, before standing from the chair and crossing the room to call the pack back.
“We’ve decided to get married,” Jason told everyone once they’d gathered in his hospital room.
“Congratulations! What can we do to help?” Derek said immediately, not even questioning Jason and Alicia's choice. Some might have said it was too soon. Jason was grateful his best friend wasn’t one of these people and Derek supported Jason’s decision fully instead.
For the next hour, the group of gathered shifters and humans discussed what they’d need to prepare so Jason and Alicia could marry, including getting the hospital chaplain and securing a marriage licence. Eventually, everyone had a task, and they departed to do their part, leaving Jason alone in his hospital bed while they prepared.
Alicia kissed him passionately before leaving with Grace to buy a wedding dress, and the moment his soon-to-be-wife left the room, Jason broke down.
The tears flowed down his cheeks as the severity of the situation hit him. He was going to die. Likely by this time next week, he would no longer be here, and his beautiful Alicia would be a widow. Worse still, neither his parents or hers would see them get married. When Jason’s diagnosis had come, his parents had been informed and they were currently making their way from Texas to Lenox, but they wouldn’t make it in time for the wedding. He just hoped they made it in time so he could say goodbye. Alicia said it would only stress her out more having to deal with her parents rushing to Lenox, and she wanted to enjoy her wedding and what time she and Jason had left together, so she would tell them later. After he’d died, Jason assumed.
Life is so fucking unfair, he cursed, wishing he could change things. He’d do anything to live. He’d step down as alpha, hell, he’d give up his abilities to shift, as long as he lived and could have a proper future with Alicia, and not just a few meager days with her.
When Derek arrived with the hospital chaplain, Jason pulled himself together. He hadn’t really been a man of faith for many years, though his parents were both Roman Catholics (to varying degrees of devotedness), but seeing a man of God now lifted Jason’s spirits. At least his and Alicia’s marriage would be an official one. He just hoped he’d lived a good enough life that when the time came, he’d be reunited with his grandfather in heaven, instead of joining Rebecca Carnegie in hell.
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