The call didn’t even last a minute and he shoved his phone back into his pocket. The waitress appeared in front of them, menus in her hand, but they waved her away, and took up a post just inside the doors, as if they were waiting for friends to show before grabbing a table. And I figured that’s exactly what they were doing. Waiting for friends.
“Jade,” I said sternly, shifting in the bench seat to face her. “This place is packed. We have to …”
Jade cut me off. “Aidan, there are only two of them.” She waved a hand in their direction. “Not really what I’d call threatening. Even if that phone call he just made was for back-up, the guys can handle it.” She huffed out a breath through her nose and folded her arms over her chest. “And we’re in public. You can’t go all wolfy and attack them here in the diner. People might be used to seeing wolves around town, but they never see the violence. You’ll just freak everyone out.”
I let out a frustrated growl and she gave me the eyebrow. It was just one, lifting on the right, and matched with the look in her eyes, it clearly said, I dare you to argue. You know I’m right.
Jade, the freakin’ voice of reason. When the hell did that happen? She was more of an act first type, and besides that, she’d also been an emotional mess all morning, yelling at me one second and close to tears the next. But now, there wasn’t a single trace of nerves in her scent. She was focused. She was thinking. And she was completely in command.
Her gaze swept over the room before returning back to me. “Stop looking at me like I’ve grown another head,” she said with a little laugh, placing a hand on my cheek. “You knew damn well they’d try again after last night. You even told me so this morning.”
“Exactly,” I said. I was losing patience, so was my inner-wolf. My skin felt as if it were crawling. Coarse hair darkened my forearms, and I was certain my eyes were a nice shade of gold. “Which is exactly why you need to move that cute butt of yours before I move it for you, sweetheart.”
I glanced back at the entrance. The men still hadn’t moved. They were leaning against the wall to the side of the doorway, with their gazes locked on our table. Waiting.
“What happened last night?” Landon asked. He sounded concerned, but his scent screamed guilt.
I leaned forward, rested my forearms on the table, and glared at him. “If you’d bothered to answer your phone, you wouldn’t have to ask.”
The others shifted uncomfortably in their seats, making clear efforts not to glance at Jade or me. But Landon … he was going to argue with me. I could see it. He even muttered something, but his words were lost in a growl that ripped from his throat.
Jade smacked her hands on the table. “Enough,” she said, quietly yet fiercely. She waited a second, making sure we were listening, and then with certainty she said, “They’ll come to us.”
“What are they waiting for?” Beck asked.
“I’m guessing they’re waiting for more to show.” She pulled out her cell phone and started tapping out a message. Seconds after she sent it, her phone chirped with a response. She smiled, looking extremely proud of herself, and she glanced up. “At least half the pack will be outside in five minutes. The rest won’t be far behind, so chill out. We are not going to cause a scene in front of this many people if we don’t have to. It wouldn’t be good for our image.” Her smile faded and she glared at me then, long and hard, before shifting that glare around the table. “We’ll finish our discussion later. Got it?”
The guys nodded and mumbled what sounded like an agreement. It never failed to shock me how quickly the team responded to her orders. It confused me, amazed me, and troubled me all at once. But then, most things to do with Jade left me feeling like that.
“Who’d you message?” I asked, wrapping my arm around her shoulder, attempting to look calm, but I wasn’t sure if I succeeded. My inner-wolf was going crazy within me. He wanted to defend our territory. He wanted to protect our mate. He wanted blood. And sitting here doing nothing, was putting him (and me) on edge.
Her response was an eye roll, as if the answer was obvious, and she said, “Dom.”
Jade had been right. The cougars came to us. It took another three minutes for the men to finally push off of the wall and make their way over to our table. It seemed to take forever for them to reach us. They moved slowly, with a cocky self-confidence that seemed out of place since it was just the two of them and there were six of us.
“You’ve got a good step up out there,” the tall one said with a sly smile when he reached us. “Good, but not great. It only took about an hour to slip through your patrols.”
“Wait until you try to get back out,” Mark drawled with a lazy grin. He lifted his mug and took a sip.
“Don’t see that being much of a problem,” the short one said. He grabbed a chair, spinning it around, and straddled it, resting his arms on the top of the backrest.
I growled. Their scent so close made my skin crawl and it took everything in me to sit still and keep my arm around Jade. My inner-wolf was jerking against my skin. That guy really needed to stop eyeing Jade’s cleavage or he was going to find himself dead shortly. She was barely showing any skin, dressed in jeans, her plum zip-up hoodie, which was open with a form-fitting black tee underneath. The neckline scooped barely below the crease of her breasts, but the way he was looking at her chest, it was as if she had nothing on.
Jade wiggled against me and I felt the shudder of her skin as she pressed her back to my chest, facing them. She pushed her palm against my knee as another growl bounced around my chest and she snapped the fingers on her other hand, drawing the man’s attention away from her chest.
“What can we help you with?” she asked sweetly, as if she was genuinely interested, but she didn’t quite manage to hide the growled roughness of her inner-wolf in her tone.
“You’re Jade, right?” the tall one asked from his spot behind the jackass in the chair, arms folded. “Jeff’s daughter?”
“That’s me,” she answered with another sweet as sugar smile.
The one in the chair let his eyes drop to her chest again, and my inner-wolf pressed against my ribs. “Do it again,” I snarled. “Check out her chest again, and I swear, you’ll be dead before you can suck in one more breath.”
“Aidan, baby, chill,” Jade said, looking over at me. Her eyes were screaming at me to rein it in, but her tone was still sugar sweet.
The team was watching her curiously, and by their soft chuckles, I thought that they were probably getting a kick out of her sweetness, which we all knew was a joke. It wasn’t that Jade wasn’t sweet. She could be — sometimes — but I thought the fluttery eyelashes were pushing it a little.
I smirked at her, forcing my inner-wolf back. “Jade, sweetheart, I’m completely chilled.”
I knew what she was trying to do with her sweet and innocent act. She was buying us time for the pack to show. It was probably smart. No. It was definitely smart. There were too many people here. Too many witnesses to drag them out back and beat the shit out of them like I wanted. Doing something like that would probably ruin the werewolf/human relationship in Dog Mountain.
There was a beat of silence and then the chubby one in the chair said, “Your dad’s pretty worried about you. He sent us to bring you back home.”
I laughed at that. So did the guys. But Jade didn’t. She gave him a look that was a little sad and a lot concerned. “What did you do to get on my dad’s bad side?”
The tall one shook his head in confusion. “Not on his bad side.”
“Really?” she said. “It seems to me you have to be.” She sighed and her frown deepened. “I just can’t think of any other reason why he’d send you guys in here while I’m with my mate having a meeting with our pack enforcers.”
~ JADE ~
I almost felt bad for the two men in front of me. Almost. They glanced at the guys, their faces turning a sickly shade of gray. Obviously my father hadn’t bothered to tell them who I’d most likely be with when
they tracked me down. It made me hate him even more. I knew he didn’t have much concern for human life, but really, did he not even care about his own pack?
I opened my mouth to tell them as much, but was stopped short by a high-pitched shout. “Get out of my way, Dominic!” My heart tripped at the panicked voice. Mom. There goes not causing a scene. I swiveled in my seat and winced, catching sight of her pushing and shoving at Dominic’s chest, trying and failing to get past him. “I’m serious,” she shouted. “Get out of my way!”
I glanced back at the werecougars, taking in their smug grins. Every cell in my body buzzed with awareness. These two weren’t here to bring me back to my father. They were only here to track me down. I was sure that my dad knew they’d never stand a chance, just the two of them. And I was also pretty sure that he didn’t expect to see them again. They hadn’t been calling in reinforcements. They’d been calling for my mother.
I had to admit that it was actually a pretty smart play, sending in someone I loved who couldn’t defend themselves against a bunch of shifters. Dad knew I wouldn’t ignore her. That I’d protect her. That I’d leave with her to get her out of harm’s way.
The tall one chuckled and I shot him a dirty look. He shrugged. “Like I said, we’re not on his bad side. Your mom’s pretty worried, too. She wasn’t too happy to hear about how your mate manhandled you and tossed you into a car.” His expression changed to one of mock concern. “If he does that in public, one can only wonder what kind of a beating he gave you when he got you back home.”
I laughed once, feeling sick and cold and a little shaky. “Dom!” I called, drawing his attention. People were starting to look. At us. At Mom and Dominic.
I waved him over. Mom stopped flailing and yelling, and she stepped around him. She rushed toward us with a determined gait. She’d dressed in a hurry. I couldn’t remember ever seeing her leave the house in jogging pants before. Her face was splotchy and tear-stained. Her hair, a tangled mess.
I needed to think. If Dominic was here, most of the pack would be with him. I took a quick look out the large front window, spotting the two wolves and a few other pack members in human form pacing the parking lot. People walked by the wolves, barely paying them any attention, as if seeing them in town was a normal occurrence, but then, I guessed it kind of was normal. It should have made me feel better, but at that moment it really didn’t.
When Mom reached our table, Aidan let his arm drop from my shoulder, and he sat a little straighter beside me. “Hi, Pam,” he said casually, if not a bit cautiously. He offered her a smile, which actually looked pretty believable, but it didn’t fool me. His scent carried a hot spike of anger.
Mom completely ignored him, keeping her tear-filled eyes on me. “Jade, honey. You need to come with me, right now.” She held out a hand to me, her eyes pleading with me to take it.
I hesitated. I didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t stay here and I wasn’t going to leave with her and go to my dad. I didn’t know what lies she’d been told, but by the way she was glaring at Aidan, I could take a pretty good guess.
“Pam, why don’t you sit down for a minute?” Beck said, waving to the empty place beside me.
Mom dropped her outstretched hand. She glanced at Beck, and then at the others as if she were only noticing them now. Her face crumbled and she made a strangled sound from the back of her throat. “I trusted you boys,” she whispered. “How could you let this happen to her?”
Resolve settled itself in my belly as I listened to my mom and saw the heartbreak in her eyes. It was time. She needed to know everything. Beck opened his mouth, but I jumped in before he could get anything out. “Aidan, give me your keys.”
The werecougar who’d sat down, rose from his chair and said, “You’re not going anywhere.” He folded his arms over his chest. I thought he was probably trying to go for tough, but he failed. He was short, stubby; he might be a shifter, but he clearly wasn’t a match for the team or Aidan.
I laughed once, a startled sound, and slid out of the booth. “You really think you can stop me? Look around this table.” My voice was rising, coated with anger, and I waved a hand toward the front window. “Look outside.”
The men looked to where I pointed and they cursed under their breath. They started to back away, but didn’t make it far. Landon and Mark were out of their seats in a blink, blocking their way.
I looked down at Aidan, still sitting in the booth. He hadn’t moved to grab his keys. He was giving me a look that said he wasn’t letting me out of his sight. “I need a pedicure,” I said and held out my hand to Aidan.
“Shit,” Dominic muttered, from his place behind my mom. “Jade, maybe that’s not …”
I cut him a look and didn’t let him finish. “It’s time, Dom. Call Mac, okay?” I looked back to Aidan, and held his eyes, pleading with him not to argue. “Give me your keys,” I demanded. “I’m taking Mom back to our place.”
He frowned. I knew he was confused. I knew he had no idea what I was doing or thinking. He glanced at Dominic, then at my mom, and then he dug his keys out of his pocket and tossed them to me. “Take Mark and a couple other members with you.”
I leaned into him, kissing the corner of his mouth. “Love you, baby.”
CHAPTER 10
~ AIDAN ~
Jade needed a pedicure.
At one time, not very long ago, I thought that having Jade in my life would never be boring. I wasn’t wrong. Since meeting her, I hadn’t had a boring day. I hadn’t even had a boring hour. I remembered being happy about that, knowing that no two days would ever be the same. I was glad that she didn’t back down with me. She challenged me. She surprised me. She kept me on my toes.
Now, though, a part of me wanted the boring. We had two werecougars at our table. We still hadn’t come to a decision on what to do with the team. Her mom thought I was abusing her. Her dad was clearly done pretending to be working with us. The werecougars were not only trying to bring in more women, but there were three kids, one of them, a young girl within their clutches. And Jade thought now was the time for a freakin’ pedicure. I seriously didn’t even know what to think about that.
Jade wrapped an arm around her mother’s waist and ushered her through the diner, Mark following closely behind her. She didn’t look back, not once, and in a few short seconds, she was out the door.
Letting her go went against every protective instinct I had. I wasn’t the only one struggling with it either. The team, Dominic, we were all on edge. But that determined glint in her eyes … I knew if I didn’t give her the keys, she would have left anyway. Having the car with doors that locked made me feel a bit better, but not much.
When the door shut behind them, I met Dominic’s eyes and arched an eyebrow. He knew I wanted to know what this pedicure crap was about, but he only shook his head. He looked conflicted as if he weren’t entirely sure if he should stop her or let her go. It was obvious that he knew exactly what Jade was up to. He huffed and shook his head again and then he yanked out his phone, most likely to call Marcy.
“I’m still thinking that these morons pissed off Jeff,” Craig said. He rose slowly and stretched his arms over his head lazily.
“Yep,” I agreed. “Or he just forgot to give them an exit strategy.” I lifted my shoulders in a half-hearted shrug. “Maybe it’s just a simple oversight.”
I looked at our guests. I didn’t have a clue what to do with them. I couldn’t just let them go. Except right then, that’s exactly what I wanted to do. If only to give me the time to go after Jade and find out what the hell she was up to.
“You all aren’t going to do anything,” the chubby one sneered. “We’re in public.”
“We’re in a town that loves our pack,” Beck said. He was smiling, a manic kind of smile, that actually gave me a little chill. He jerked his chin toward the front of the diner, pointing out the wolves still pacing in the parking lot. “No one even blinks at our presence.”
The waitress started our
way, a couple menus clutched against her chest. Her bright smile was gone, a forced one in its place. She stopped at our table. “Menus?” she asked, looking at our company and then back to me. Her scent told me she was a bit nervous, but she was far from scared. I couldn’t really blame her, not after watching Pam’s little freak out with Dominic at the door.
“They won’t be staying,” I said, smiling as warmly as I could. “And we won’t be either. Could you put a stop on our order?”
She nodded and her face fell, disappointed. “Sure.”
I pulled out my wallet and tossed a few twenties on the table to cover our bill, before standing up. I waved my hand in an after you kind of gesture to our guests and said, “Let’s go.”
The guys moved in around the werecougars, forcing them to walk through the utterly quiet diner. People watched us move, although it wasn’t with fear. It was curious gazes that followed us out, and I found myself thinking that it was actually kind of nice that the town knew about us, trusted us. It sure made some parts of pack life a hell of a lot easier.
The werecougars didn’t put up a fight. No. They moved out the doors without a word, heads hanging. I thought they were probably cluing in to the fact that no one was coming to help them. That Jeff had thrown them to the wolves — literally. At least these two had some sense of self-preservation, unlike the idiot who’d bitten me last night. Or maybe they had just simply given up. The truth? I didn’t really care either way.
In the parking lot, there were more pack members in wolf form than I’d noticed from inside. Six wolves, all various shades of brown, circled Beck, Craig, and Landon, as they put the cougars into a truck and got in. A couple of the pack members hopped into the truck bed, and then they pulled out of the lot. The wolves loped after them and I gave out orders for everyone else to head back to the headquarters.
Deadly Pack (Deadly Trilogy Book 3) Page 7
