I probably should have been asleep, too, but sleep was definitely not my friend tonight. My brain was too full of useless little bits of information. The team was all brothers. I killed their father. Jared wanted revenge in the form of taking Jade. The cougars kept their women in cages. They used whips. They used chains. We didn’t know where to find them. Jade’s mom was innocent and trapped in a house with the devil. The devil was Jade’s dad. I loved Jade. Craig wanted me dead. Jade loved the pack. She wanted to protect the team. The information was starting to sound like a record, with pounding base, playing on instant repeat through my head over and over. There was lots of information, but not enough on any one thing to really do anything with. Utterly useless.
I grabbed my phone from the nightstand, checking to see if there was any news about our sleeping captive. Nothing. It was just after three in the morning. Beck would have just started his shift with Erika in tow. Erika. I really needed to talk to Craig and Jade about that. She couldn’t be babysat forever. Except, I really didn’t have a clue how to broach the subject since it kind of was my bad judgment that led to her being stripped of her beta status. Just another thing to add to the I don’t know what to do with it pile.
I set my phone back down and was about to close my eyes and listen to the god-awful stream of useless information in my head again, when a tinkle of keys caught my attention. A lock clicked. A door opened and closed. And then I heard Dominic. “If you’re awake, it’s just me.”
You’ve got to be kidding me, I thought, and held in the groan, not wanting to wake up Jade. I started to get up, slowly lifting her arm from my chest. She murmured something that sounded a lot like Move over and started shoving at me again as I slid off the bed. With a soft chuckle, I grabbed a T-shirt on my way out of the room, and tugged it on as I headed downstairs.
I found Dominic sitting on my couch. He was in blue — a dark blue T-shirt, blue jeans, and a light blue jacket zipped halfway up, and he was looking happier than he should for three in the morning.
“What are you doing here and why do you have a key to my house?” I asked, in a hushed voice, eyeing him from the bottom of the staircase.
“Of course I have a key,” he said cheerfully, flashing me a bright smile. “I’m your second in command. Why wouldn’t I have a key?”
I didn’t answer that. Over the last month of knowing Dominic I found it better not to give him a reason to go off on one of his mind numbing lectures. I sighed, sitting down in my chair. “It’s three in the morning, Dom.”
He was still smiling a way too sunny smile, and come to think of it, I didn’t think I’d ever seen a real smile on him before. He might smirk or grin, but he never really smiled. “If you want it to work, you need to stop holding onto things that will keep you from moving forward.”
So it wasn’t the boundaries lecture he had in mind. Fantastic. I didn’t particularly want to listen to whatever he had to say. Honestly, I wanted to crawl back in bed and wrap my arms around Jade. But it didn’t look like that was going to happen. “If you’re trying to give me more Jade advice, I don’t want to hear it. I almost lost her once because of your advice.”
Dominic stretched out on the couch, his arms behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. He was silent for a long moment before he said, “Did you tell her everything?”
“Of course I did,” I said, furrowing my brow. “What kind of a stupid question is that?”
Dominic shifted. He steadied his icy blue eyes on me and his smile turned cold. “She didn’t call Mac, figured you were reverting back into that I’m not going to tell her something that will piss her off mode.”
I hoped I didn’t look as annoyed as I felt, but judging by his cool chuckle, I figured I did. “You woke up at three in the morning to come here and ask me if I talked to her,” I said dryly.
His eyes narrowed. “Nope,” he said. “I was over at the headquarters checking in. The hostage woke up. Oh, and I had to break up a fight between Jared and Beck.”
CHAPTER 28
~ AIDAN ~
Jade had adorable bed head. Even though her hair was tied up, the indentations by her temples were visible, and stray strands flipped all over the place. Waking her up had been a bit of a challenge. It wasn’t until Dominic had come in with a pitcher of ice cold water threatening to dump it on her that she finally sprung from the bed. By the time I had finally hustled her out the door and into the car, it was closing in on four in the morning.
She walked a few steps ahead of me, her hands continuously running over her hair and then down her wrinkled hoodie and yoga pants, trying to smooth everything out, but she only succeeded in making herself look more rumpled. The hoodie she was wearing was mine and every few seconds I noticed her discreetly pressing her nose to her shoulder, pulling in a deep breath of my lingering scent, and each time she did, something in my chest expanded and warmed.
It felt complete. Perfectly whole.
The parking lot was pretty close to deserted, only a sparse few vehicles, all of them belonging to the team. The air had a bite to it, stuck in that place where any precipitation could easily change from rain to snow in a heartbeat.
Dominic walked along beside me. He still hadn’t patched things up with Jade, both of them too stubborn to apologize first, I assumed. Needless to say, the drive over had been on the tense side and painfully quiet.
Jade held the door open long enough for me to catch up and grab it before she took off down the hallway at a determined pace. She was focused, in some kind of zone, so she wasn’t really paying attention, and when she reached the doors to the meeting room and they flung open, she startled, stumbling back a step.
Jared grinned as he let the door close and stalked toward her. He was in matte-black tonight — black jacket, black T-shirt, black jeans — there wasn’t a speck of color except for the sparks of gold in his dark eyes. And he was sporting one hell of a shiner. He locked eyes with me as he closed the distance to Jade. He leaned into her, and pulled her into a firm hug and said, “Hey, little girl.”
Clearly, he wasn’t done trying to push my buttons.
Jade flinched away from him as if his touch burned, and cut me a nervous glance. Her face went tight and still, and for the first time ever, she looked at me with something that resembled real fear. She stayed close to Jared and readjusted her stance, spreading her legs hip length apart, squaring her shoulders. There was no doubt in my mind that if I made a move, she would place herself between me and him. The look she gave me had a strange intensity about it, as if she knew exactly who she was, or who she wanted to be, and she wasn’t going to let me change that.
The truth? I loved it. I loved her fire and never wanted it to change.
I swallowed my growl and I folded my arms over my chest, hiding my clenched fists under my elbows. I grinned. It took a hell of a lot of effort to do it, too, but I managed a grin that I hoped looked somewhat real.
She arched a perfectly shaped brow and looked at me suspiciously for a second, and then she was suddenly crashing into me and her hands were in my hair and her lips were pressed to mine with a quick, warm kiss.
“What was that for?” I asked, wrapping my arms around her waist.
She giggled and grinned up at me. “I love that grin.”
And right then I thought that maybe, just maybe, showing her that I trusted her was a big step in the right direction for us. Hell, if it got me more of her kisses, I would keep the damn grin even if it killed me. I smoothed her hair and stole another kiss. “Let’s go see what he can tell us.”
Jared crossed his arms and frowned at Jade (she didn’t even notice) and then he cut me a vile look. He held it for a long moment, before he pivoted and followed Dominic into the room.
Richard had a few new bruises and so did Beck.
That was the first thing I noticed when we walked into the meeting room. The entire team was there: Jared, Craig, Beck, Landon, Mark. Tommy and Chris stood on either side of Richard, and Erika sat in the far corne
r, clutching a brown paper bag. The man was maybe nineteen or twenty, with a sharp face and intense smoky gray eyes that didn’t stay still, roaming the room in a constant, jittery motion. He was sitting, unrestrained, in a wooden chair, his hands on his thighs and fingers splayed. He wasn’t big, not like my wolves, but he wasn’t small either, a medium build.
“Shouldn’t he be tied up or something?” Jade sounded anxious, but even if she was, she walked toward him with a sure purpose.
“Come on, kitten,” Jared said. “You know we don’t need to tie him up.” He was watching her in a far too personal way and she didn’t even glance at him when he spoke. I could tell from the way he was gritting his teeth that he really hated that she ignored him. I, on the other hand, kind of loved it. She kept walking as if he weren’t even there, as if she hadn’t just protected him in the hallway.
“Jared,” Landon snapped and shoved him back a step when he tried to follow her. “Show her and her mate some respect. She’s the only reason you’re here and still breathing.”
“Which one of them hit you?” she asked. I wasn’t even sure if she was aware of what was going on around her. She was focused in a way that I’d never seen in her before. She sounded concerned, she looked it, too, as she crouched down in front of him, inspecting his split lip.
Richard looked confused and he leaned back in his chair, away from her. His eyes darted around and he started to shake when Dominic moved closer. I gripped Dominic’s shoulder, pulling him to a quick stop. I wanted to see what she did, how she handled him. And Tommy and Chris were close. They wouldn’t let the cougar touch her. I locked stares with Tommy. He smirked and nodded, stepping in closer to Jade and Richard.
“It’s okay,” Jade said, in a sweet, soothing tone. “I won’t let them touch you again.”
It seemed to take forever. Richard took in a few hard breaths, searched her face, and then sighed. “Look, I already told them what I know.” His voice was hoarse. “I already showed your boys where they are on this map. I was never involved in the decisions. I don’t know why my pack is all male. I’m not important enough in the ranks. Women came in, they were used, and then they were gone, replaced by new ones. My mate was in the last batch so I took her and ran. All I know is Dog Mountain used to be our town, our territory, until you wolves came along.”
“You’re lying,” she said. There was no malice in her voice, still soothing and calm. She stayed crouched in front of him, her eyes never straying from his. “Why are you really here?”
He let out a strangled sigh and if I had to guess, I thought he looked relieved to be caught in the lie. “Because you’ll kill me fast, Jeff would have made me suffer.” His voice held so much anger, so much pain, and he was speaking the truth. He really believed we wouldn’t torture him. He attempted a smile, but it wasn’t quite right. It was shaky and the look in his eyes made it clear he had regrets.
“What did you do to earn your death sentence?” she asked, clenching her fists, gritting her teeth. Richard paled and he started to tremble as her skin darkened with hair.
“Jade,” I said, calling her attention. She rocked back, and lifted to her feet in a fast motion. She shook out her hands as if she were trying to shake away the adrenaline that I was certain was burning through her veins.
Jade took in a few sharp breaths and paced a few steps as she got herself under control. It would have scared me, how close she was to shifting. She looked as if she were ready to kill him for his lies and we needed him, except the team wasn’t concerned at all. They watched her, but it wasn’t because they were worried she’d lose it, it was because of the man that sat in front of her.
“You’re Jeff’s daughter,” Richard said and made a startled kind of sound which could have been a laugh, but sounded more like a gasp.
Jade’s eyes flared as she turned back to him and nodded. “I am.”
Richard made that startled laughing gasp sound again. “How did you wind up a wolf?”
“Long story, involving that hardheaded, pain in my ass alpha over there,” she said. “If you lie to me again, you’ll wish you had stayed with my father.” She crouched down again and met his eyes squarely. “Why do you have a death sentence?”
He shifted his gaze away from Jade and frowned. “Same reason you all are going to kill me.” He looked back up then, fixing his eyes on me. “I’m the one that killed the girls.”
CHAPTER 29
~ JADE ~
Some days lasted a lifetime. This was one of those days and as the sun set, there was still no end in sight.
My stomach was a little queasy, flipping over and over. The team stood around all looking as if they were more than capable of brutal violence and completely willing to inflict pain. Except the violence and pain was directed at each other.
The team, a strong group of werewolves, with a single-minded purpose of upholding the alpha’s laws and protecting the pack, was slowly drifting apart. It was almost tragic witnessing it. Even when I hated them, I had always kind of respected the bond they’d had. I wasn’t really certain what had changed, but I knew it had something to do with Jared. Whatever ridiculous ideas he was holding onto was driving a wedge between them all.
We spent the entire day questioning Richard. After he finished explaining the real reason as to why my father was intent on killing him, Aidan had taken over with the questions, because, well, I’d come close to attacking the bastard. He had executed the women. It hadn’t been an accident. They were murdered after three months of being held captive, simply because he thought they were no longer fun to play with.
Tommy and Chris finally took him to the cells about half an hour ago and had agreed to stand guard. It was either lock him up out of our sight, or one of us would have killed him.
But he had given us a piece of useful information. Ray had killed Bruce when he first took over the pack in a drunken bar fight and it was because of that fight that there had been a deal struck with my dad. It was Ray’s way of apologizing for taking out their leader. He would look the other way, as long as they stayed off of his land. With Ray gone, so was the deal he’d had with my father.
“So what do we do now?” I asked. I was still trembling with white-hot fury and Aidan reached out to pat my shoulder, stroking my cheek as he pulled back. He smiled, his eyes growing warm as he released a little trickle of his scent to soothe me. He took a seat and stretched out a hand to me. There was no trace of the possessive jealous edge that was usually there when Jared was around. It was simply a hand, an invitation. And I took it, settling myself on his lap.
“He’ll confess his crimes to us and the team with the pack standing as witnesses,” Beck answered.
I craned my neck, looking back at Aidan. “And then?”
His dark gaze turned serious, and his smile faded, and then it was just too much. “He’ll be put down, Jade,” he said.
I stirred in his lap, trying to hold back a shiver. He must have felt my unease because he started rubbing my back. I pulled in a deep breath and shut my eyes for a second. I wasn’t sure why hearing it out loud was getting to me. I’d wanted to kill Richard myself not too long ago. I still did, but handing down his death sentence, as if I were the judge seemed a bit too real.
But it had to be done. The longer we had questioned him, the more certain I was of it. He would kill again, whether it was with his pack or alone. The truth had been in his scent, in his eyes. Hell, he had even stated it bluntly.
And it wasn’t as if we could hand him over to the police. Most people didn’t even know about werewolves. Our town was special in that way. We were able to live in the open here, but it wasn’t the norm.
When it all came down to it, shifters dealt with shifters.
“Why is what they’re doing our problem?” Jared asked.
My eyes popped open at his cool tone and I looked at him. He was straight-faced as if he really didn’t get why we had to do something. “Are you kidding me?” I said. “Of course it’s our problem.”
/> Jared didn’t respond immediately. He was staring at me. I didn’t need to wonder what he was thinking. The detachment was clear on his face. He really believed we should look the other way. “It’s really not,” he said finally. “We’ve done just fine in protecting this town from them. They haven’t threatened us outright.”
My fury got a thorough kick start and I growled, “Tiffany …”
“Is dead,” Jared said, cutting me off. “You killed her, Jade, and her deal died when you ripped out her throat.” There was no emotion in his remark. He was stating a fact.
“We’re dealing with it because it’s wrong,” Beck said with a frustrated growl, and I got the clear impression that this was not the first time the guys had had this conversation.
“People do wrong shit all the time,” Jared said blandly. “I don’t see us running out to stop it, so why now?”
“Because we know who’s responsible,” I shouted. “We can stop them. We can stop my father.” I sounded desperate and I hated it. “Don’t make me regret saving your ass, Jared. I won’t do it again.”
Jared chuckled, a cold, raw sound. “You didn’t save me, little girl, and I’ve got to say, I’m a bit hurt that you think he would actually win against me.”
I bristled and sat a little straighter in Aidan’s lap. A growl tore from my throat and my inner-wolf flipped in my stomach. No one spoke about my mate like that. No one. “Watch yourself, Jared,” I snarled. “I’ll rip you apart if you come near him.”
Aidan chuckled and pressed his lips to my ear. “Easy now,” he whispered for my ears only. He brushed a kiss across my neck and then he rose, bringing me up with him. He started toward Jared, approaching slowly. “You know, I think it’s time we clear the air between us,” he said to Jared.
Aidan’s scent started to thicken in the air, a forceful punch of power and greens. That was never a good sign when Jared was around. My inner-wolf pressed against my skin, ready to break free and defend what was ours. I reached out for him, acutely aware that Landon, Mark, and Beck were moving in closer, their golden eyes fixed on him, but he stepped away from my hand.