I clamped my hand to my mouth, holding in my own scream. I wanted to look away but I couldn’t. It was as if I needed to see this, even if I didn’t want to. I needed to know the terror he’d caused was over. I heard his last breath, and I saw his struggle stop. It was fast, and it was deadly, and it was a horrible way to die, being torn apart.
CHAPTER 28
~ AIDAN ~
It would have been better if Jade hadn’t watched.
Jade wouldn’t look away, even after her father took his last breath. Her eyes were wide and filled with horror. It was as if she were frozen, not wanting to watch and not able to move. I could hear her heart pounding within her chest, and her scent was thick and bitter.
A sickening crack filled the air, and she flinched, but still, she didn’t look away.
I trotted over to her side and rubbed up against her leg, nudging her and nipping at the torn wool blanket that was wrapped snuggly under her arms.
Her hand fell to my head, and that’s when she finally tore her eyes away from her dad. They hit mine, and the horror faded into something that looked like worry. But she smiled a little. “I’m fine, Aidan,” she said, and her body trembled through a shudder. She gave my head an absent little pat. “Go help the others.” And then she turned and started to walk away.
I opened my mouth and let out a loud growl, protesting. She didn’t look fine. She looked lost and kind of defeated, and if she looked around, she’d see that the pack didn’t really need my help. The cougars were falling quickly, and the last few that were still fighting were battling against the team. Some of our pack had even started shifting back to human. The fight was pretty much over.
She stopped short at the sound of my growl, and spun back to face me. “Don’t growl at me,” she said, placing a hand on her hip. She smiled tightly, the strain showing clearly in her features. “Go on. Find Tommy. I need to go and meet the kids.”
I growled again, but it was useless. Her face was set in that stubborn determination. I knew that face and I knew it well. No matter what I did or said, she was going to do what she thought she needed to do.
But still, I shifted anyway.
My inner-wolf didn’t even try to stop me. I thought he was probably just as worried about her as I was.
Jade noticed and waited, with her hand still on her hip, for me to get to my feet. I figured she knew I’d only chase after her if she started to walk away again. And as she waited, those big brown eyes of hers never left mine.
I stepped in close, and pulled her into my arms. She didn’t protest, not even a little. As soon as I touched her, her hand fell from her hip and she wrapped her arms around my waist, holding onto me tightly.
“I wish you didn’t watch that,” I said, pressing my nose to her hair, and breathing in a deep drag of her scent. “I’m sorry you did.”
“I needed to see it.” Her voice was freakishly composed, and she pressed her hand to my chest, pushing gently, until I let her go. “Please find Tommy,” she said. “I really want to go make sure those kids are okay.”
I studied her for a moment and then, nodded. “Sure, sweetheart.” And even though the last thing I wanted was to let her go, I stayed put and watched her walk away, although the entire time I thought I should probably follow her. Actually, it was a serious effort not to follow her.
But I didn’t, because well, I believed her. She really was okay.
My girl is okay.
When she rounded the corner of the cabin, I turned back to the yard, surveying the scene. Mark and Craig were finishing off the last werecougar standing. They were doing it quickly, efficiently, and with two well-placed bites, the beast laid limp on the ground.
And it was over.
All those weeks of games with Jeff and it was finally over. It felt ... good. I felt ... lighter, knowing we’d stopped those monsters before they could hurt anyone else.
Beck had shifted and he was jogging the tree line, with Landon on his heels. They were counting the dead, I realized, watching their lips move with the silent numbers. Beck noticed me and veered my way. “We got the thirteen from the tree jumping ambush and another sixteen down here,” he said, when he reached me. “But it looks like that other full shifter got away.”
“What about our pack?” I asked. “Is everyone okay?”
“A few cuts, but nothing that won’t heal,” Landon said. “We found Tommy. He got snagged up in one of those tree snares. Everyone’s accounted for.”
I nodded and swallowed a few quick swallows. “Let’s get the dead buried then,” I said. Tension that I hadn’t even realized was there, melted from my shoulders and the knots in my gut loosened. “And then we go home. We’ve got some ashes to spread tonight.”
Beck smiled. “Sure thing, boss,” he said, and as they took off, I turned back to the cabin, and went to meet the kids.
~ JADE ~
Dominic and Luken were playing Go Fish and they were losing.
I found the kids along with Dominic and Luken inside the cabin. It wasn’t much. One large room with bunk beds lining the back wall, and what looked like a sleeping loft with a log-style ladder leading up. There was a propane stove, a small sink, and a large wooden fold-up table surrounded by chairs.
Dominic grumbled something under his breath as the girl with the blond ringlet curls snatched a card from his hand. He’d dressed — kind of — in an orange jacket that was open and far too small, and a pair of camouflage pants, which were identical to Luken’s get-up. The girl was giggling, a delighted little giggle, and her cheeks were stained with an excited blush.
Not really what I’d expected to find, that was for sure.
A little boy, maybe three, tiptoed up beside Dominic and rose up on his toes. He had curly red hair, and his chubby little cheeks were dotted with freckles. He held a hand over his mouth, trying to hold in his giggles as he peeked at Dominic’s cards.
He took a good look and then, he ran over to the girl and whispered loudly, in a way only a child could. “He’s got a two of hearts.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. As the one boy whispered, not so quietly, another boy about the same age was doing the tiptoe thing to Luken. He was adorable, with white-blond hair, and crisp blue eyes, and he had a heart-stopping smile, with two little dimples.
Luken shifted in his chair, ever so slightly, and passed his cards from one hand to another, so the boy could get a better look, without being too obvious about it.
I laughed again, harder this time, and Dominic looked up at me, grinning widely. “Tara’s kicking my butt at cards,” he said. “And Joel and Cody are helping her do it. They’re all little cheats!”
“Is that Jade?” Tara asked. She looked up at me, and her pretty little smile vanished.
“That’s her,” Dominic said. He put his cards down and leaned back in the rickety looking wooden chair.
She fixed me with a cool stare and folded her arms over her chest. “He said that you’re going to make us go to school. He said we’re going to live with your pack now. Is that true?”
“Do you want it to be true?” I asked hesitantly, because I really couldn’t tell if she liked the idea or not. Her scent said she was excited, but the body language … well, it was cold and a little angry.
“Will my dads be coming with us?” she asked, her sweet sounding voice turning harsh.
“Um …” I started, and then just stopped. I didn’t know how to answer that. I wasn’t sure if I should tell her the truth or if I should sugarcoat it. I thought she probably heard the commotion outside, and I figured she was old enough to know what had happened. But still … she was just a kid.
I looked to Dominic for some help, but he only shrugged as if to say he had no idea how to proceed.
As it turned out, I didn’t have to say anything.
Suddenly, Aidan’s warm weight settled in at my back, and his solid arm looped around my waist. “No, sweetheart,” he said, “they won’t be coming with us.” His tone was gentle, soft even. ??
?Your dads had to go away.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “You mean they’re dead.”
Somehow I hadn’t quite expected the snark in her response, or her blunt statement. I thought she’d be upset, maybe even shed some tears. I’d seen the way she’d been with my dad. I’d noticed the smile, and the eager expression. And yes, I’d really thought it had been real.
But I was beginning to think that maybe she’d been playing the sweet and innocent card because the bottomless look in her eyes right then told me that she’d seen more horror in her short life than anyone should have seen.
I wasn’t the only one that was left speechless by her statement. Dominic’s eyes widened and he sucked in a quick, sharp breath. Luken’s jaw dropped, stunned.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Erika, Laura, and Jo inch forward. They’d come in, probably behind Aidan, and I hadn’t even noticed. I glanced over my shoulder quickly to find all of the females from my pack squashed in behind Aidan and me, and outside there were quite a few of the males hovering.
I felt equally shocked and proud at that moment, seeing my pack crowding into and around the cabin, making sure the kids were okay, that we were all okay, and it sent tingles all over my body.
If Tara had noticed them, she wasn’t letting on. She kept her eyes fixed on Aidan, waiting for an answer.
He hesitated for a second, and then he sighed. “Yes, they’re dead. They hurt a lot of people, sweetheart, and they weren’t going to stop.”
“I know.” She looked down at her cards and frowned. “I saw Jade and her friends in the cages. I know what happens to the girls that go in there. My mom died in one of them a few months ago.” She lifted her tiny shoulders in a shrug. “Too bad you didn’t come sooner.”
And right then, my heart broke. Just shattered.
There were a round of gasps from the pack and the scent of their heartbreak spiked in the air. I’m sorry was murmured over and over, and I heard a few sobs, too.
“Sweetheart ...” Aidan said. His voice cracked, and his arm loosened from my waist. He started to step around me, to go to her, and I noticed he’d fastened one of the blankets from the cages around his waist, covering him up.
But Tara didn’t seem to want his sympathy. She held up a hand, asking him silently to stop, and said, “I like the idea of going to school. Dominic said there would be other girls my age there. Can I have my own bedroom when we move from here?”
“You can have anything you want, baby,” I said, and there were tears in my voice. “Anything.”
She nodded and watched me wearily for a moment before turning to her brothers. “Come on, boys,” she said, standing up. “The faster you pack your things, the faster you’ll get to play with that fire truck Dominic told you about.”
They didn’t waste any time jumping into action, and as I watched them rush around packing up their belongings, I realized that not only had we killed my father and defeated the werecougars, but thanks to my incredible pack, we were going to give these three children the chance at a real life.
After all the pain and misery, things were finally starting to look up, and I thought that today just might have been one of the worst, and probably the best, day of my life.
EPILOGUE
~ JADE ~
Aidan had promised that we’d do something boring when the battle with my dad was over. I couldn’t say that boring was what I got, but I did get normal, and normal, well, that was just as good as boring.
The hallways in the pack headquarters were abnormally quiet for a Saturday. Everyone was tiptoeing around and whispering, and that could only mean one thing: the boys were having a nap.
I glanced back over my shoulder, taking one last peek at Tara as she strutted out of my temporary bedroom in her new knit dress. Dominic let out a whistle of approval and I smiled, and then, I snuck away down the hall to track down Aidan and the two sleeping monsters.
It had been just over a week since we’d brought the kids home, and it had been nothing short of chaotic. We’d held Jared’s service right after we got back from the hunting camp, spreading his ashes in the clearing. I’d been right; it had been a good thing for the team and for the pack. A little closure after a lot of death. And thanks to Marcy, it all went smoothly.
Mom had taken the kids during the service, and well, I was pretty sure she fell in love with them during those two short hours. The kids, all three of them, were now living with her. She’d been adamant about it, and although both Aidan and I were planning on taking them in, we were also glad she’d said no to that idea, because well, we might be the alpha pair, but we were just barely adults ourselves, and definitely not ready to look after three children on a full-time basis. But being a big sister and brother was a heck of a lot of fun.
After the kids’ living arrangements were settled, there were shopping trips and school registrations to handle. At first those two things hadn’t seemed like a lot, but it was. The kids had never been to a store. They’d literally lived their lives in the bush.
On the first trip to a mall, I thought I was going to have to rush Tara to the hospital. She’d hyperventilated herself into unconsciousness, passing out in the first store we went to that sold girls’ clothing. Who would have thought buying a dress could be that epic? Well, for Tara, it was. She even told me so, over and over and over, and well, over again.
And the boys … Aidan had taken them to a toy store and let’s just say that nothing — absolutely nothing — could have prepared him for that one.
It was during that experience that I decided that my mom wasn’t just awesome, she was a superstar. Aidan had called her, explained the nightmare he’d found himself in, and she’d come to the rescue, and quickly wrangled the boys.
On top of getting the kids settled in, Aidan and I had been living at the pack headquarters because our house was currently undertaking a massive overhaul. The carpets were being torn out, the walls repainted. Even the kitchen and bedrooms were being renovated. And today was the day we’d finally get to move back in. I had to admit, I was crazy excited about that.
But even if it was hectic, it was normal, it was fun, and having the kids around, even if they weren’t living with us, made everything a little … better, easier. The kids were going to be okay and that made what we did, what the pack did, to stop my father, worth it.
As for the pack, well, life just went on. Some went back to work, others went back to school. Things just went back to normal. Okay, maybe not entirely normal; we were werewolves after all, but other than the whole changing into a wolf thing, it was all pretty ordinary.
The team was back to training, and each day they spent time hunting Jason, the full shifter who got away. So far they hadn’t found him, but they weren’t giving up, and if Jason was ever stupid enough to come back into our territory, they’d catch him.
They’d also added Tommy and Luken to their ranks, and as for the head enforcer, we’d let the guys vote. Surprisingly, they’d voted Landon into the position. I’d expected it to be Beck, but I had to admit, Landon was doing a fan-freakin-tastic job at it so far. Since he’d taken over, the rest of the pack were warming up to them, talking to them. They no longer walked in the other direction when they saw an enforcer coming.
It was nice. A nice, and much needed, change.
Somehow I hadn’t expected things to just go on. But I guessed that was how life worked. You went on. You moved forward. And ultimately, you became stronger for it.
I reached Aidan’s office and I inched open the door, trying to keep quiet. The last thing I wanted to do was wake the boys again before Mom got here to pick them up. They were both sprawled out on the couch breathing evenly, and Cody had a thumb stuck in his mouth. It was probably evil of us to let them sleep now. They’d be crazy hyper when they woke up, but secretly, I thought Mom liked it that way.
Mom hadn’t asked about Dad yet. She didn’t question us on what happened or ask where the werecougars were. But I thought she probably alread
y knew. Actually, I was sure she’d figured it out the moment we brought the kids home with us.
Aidan glanced up from his computer and smiled. It was a relaxed, contented smile, and seeing it made my entire body warm. I’d never seen him so content, so happy, and I loved it. Simply loved it.
I went straight to his desk, pulled out the chair he was sitting on, and plopped down on his lap, exhausted.
“Where’s Tara?” he whispered, wrapping his arms around my waist, and pressing a light kiss onto my neck, just below my ear.
“Modeling her new clothes for Dom,” I whispered back. “He’s helping her pick what to wear for her first day at school on Monday.”
Aidan chuckled and shook his head. “You’re a very mean girl, Jade Shaw.”
“No I’m not.” I cut him a look. “He likes it, I swear. He used to do it with me and Mac all the time.” I snuggled into him, resting my head on his shoulder. “Anything interesting happen while we were gone?”
“Maybe,” he said with a mischievous edge to his voice. I wiggled on his lap and looked up at him, arching a brow, and he chuckled. “I thought Mac was the gossiper.”
“Spill it, buddy,” I said in the sternest voice I could manage, which really wasn’t that stern since I was still whispering. “I mean it. Tell me or you’ll be sleeping here tonight.”
He made a face that clearly told me he knew that was an empty threat, and he leaned into me and kissed me in that place just behind my ear, that place that always made me shiver.
“I might have walked in on Erika and Craig in the gym changing room this afternoon,” he said.
“And what were they doing in the gym changing room, Aidan?” I asked, trying not to let his kisses distract me.
It wasn’t working.
He continued to feather those light lip touches down my neck and as he did, I felt as if I were falling, falling into that wonderful, warm place that I only ever found within his arms.