Once she finished her story, I had dismissed her, sending her back to Aidan’s office to wait. I needed time to think everything out, figure out what to do with her. I wasn’t sure if she would stick around, but then I guessed she really had nowhere else to go and she knew we would hunt her down if she left.
The light coming into the room was dim; the windows, covered by light filtering roller shades, the same sterile white as the shiny ceramic tiles, were pulled down and the lights, off. A long, rustic wood table that looked as if a slab was taken from the center of an enormous oak tree filled the room, with the enforcers surrounding it, sitting in matching wooden chairs.
Aidan smiled. It was a bit shy, a lot sweet, and it made the butterflies in my belly dance and shiver. The air around me warmed, as if I stepped into a patch of sunlight. He sat at the head of the table, in jeans and a light gray zip-up hoodie, the sleeves pushed up to the elbows. His light brown hair was sticking out a little, but then he’d been running his hands through it constantly as he listened to the recount. He hadn’t shaved; his jawline looking rough with stubble, and as I scanned him over, if I had to guess, I’d say he hadn’t been sleeping much lately.
“Sweetheart, she’s telling the truth. You can smell it.” The smile that Aidan gave me shifted to something that looked like a challenge, as if he were daring me to disagree, and I resisted the urge to groan and roll my eyes. I knew she was telling the truth, but darn it, I wanted it all to be a lie. He noticed and got up, crossing the room to me. He leaned in close, his voice dropping to barely a whisper as he pressed his lips to my ear. “I love the whole jealousy thing. It’s hot as hell, but you need to be sure your decision isn’t because of my bad choice last night. You need to be fair to her.”
When he pulled back from me and took his seat again, my heart was pounding, and I seriously hoped I didn’t look as guilty as I felt. I looked at Aidan, silently cursing him for pointing out what had already been eating at me. I swallowed down a frustrated sigh.
“Okay,” I said. “Okay.” I nodded a few times, more to reassure myself than anyone else. “I think we can all agree that Erika can’t be my beta. And I can’t very well throw her out of town. She may suck most of the time, but she’s loyal to the pack and right now, we need all the loyalty we can get.”
Craig didn’t look happy, but he grunted, “You’re right,” along with the rest of them, and I started my useless pacing again. I just didn’t know what to do with her. I knew the way the pack worked to a certain extent. If I stripped her title, they would eat her alive. She would be marked as a weak link and that never went well. God, I don’t want to make this decision.
“Where the heck is Jared?” I blurted, stalling. “He should be here for this.”
The second the words left my mouth I heard Aidan’s growl. I stopped in my tracks and cut him a dirty look. “Will you stop that? Seriously, what’s with all the growling?” His response was a sexy smirk and another soft growl.
“Jade, he can’t help it,” Tommy said, chuckling. “Give him a break. It’s his inner-wolf voicing his claim on you. It’ll ease up after you two are officially mated.”
Tommy grinned when I shifted to face him. It was a playful grin, one that told me I was in fact as red as my cheeks felt. I laughed a little and smiled sweetly. “The next person who brings up my sex life is going to be sorry. I swear it.”
Beck laughed, Landon rolled his eyes, and Mark snickered. I groaned. “Okay, if she stays here she needs a mate. The threat of a pissed off mate should keep the pack off her back and I think we owe her that much for what she’s done for us.”
I glanced at Craig and he quickly shook his head. “I won’t mate with her and I won’t house her either.” He let out a painful sounding sigh. “I just can’t do it. I won’t be her fallback plan. I can’t deal with the fact she was with him or anyone just before she crawled into my bed.” He glanced at Aidan then and I was a bit stunned that there was no hostility or blame in his gaze. “At least I understand why she said she wanted to wait.” He stood up slowly, glancing at Beck. “Will you watch out for her? The pack owes her protection. The team owes it to her for bringing Jade to us. Once she’s stripped of the title, she’ll be looked at as weak and with how unsettled the pack is that won’t end well. I just can’t do it.”
Beck nodded, and Craig shifted his focus to me. “You good with this?”
I nodded. I couldn’t really do much more than that. My throat was burning and my eyes stinging. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to tell him I was sorry, but the words were jammed in my throat. But the nod seemed to be enough.
“Good,” Craig said. He nodded, too. “Good.” He looked at Aidan, and said, “We need Jade on the team. I know you want her to step down, but it’ll be a mistake. We need her. She’s the only thing that’s keeping Jared sane right now.”
“Is he okay?” I asked before Aidan could say the blunt no that I could see written all over his face.
A ripple of tension passed through the team and Landon said, “Nope, he’s far from okay. But you need to stay away from him. And I don’t agree with Craig. You need to step down, keep clear of him until everything is ...” he smirked and chuckled, “settled between you and Aidan.”
I clucked my tongue, and began fidgeting, playing with the strings on my hoodie. Aidan was frowning, but at least he wasn’t growling. My stomach dropped and I huffed. “He’s still my friend, guys. I’m not going to just ditch him.”
“He’s not your friend, Jade,” Landon said. “I hate to point it out, but he didn’t give a shit about you until Aidan showed his interest. Might want to ask yourself why.”
Ouch. That was pretty much the only thing that went through my mind as I stared at Landon, my jaw dropping.
“Landon,” Beck said. “Not your place, man. Let it go.”
“What’s not his place?” I asked. My voice was a little rocky and I swallowed hard. I glanced at Beck, but he only shrugged. He gave me a look that clearly said Let it go and glanced in Aidan’s direction.
Mark leaned forward, his elbows on the table, and he rested his chin in his hands. “Did anyone else pick up on Jeff’s eye twitch when Jade told him about Tiffany’s deal with Bruce?”
CHAPTER 16
~ AIDAN ~
Looking back on it, I thought I should have known that there was more trouble with the team than just their normal jerkiness. But with my pack, pretty much everything equaled some kind of trouble and it was beginning to become extremely hard to see the real problems when they surfaced. They were all so testy and high-strung right now that even looking at someone the wrong way caused an issue. So when Jared failed to show at the pack’s headquarters, I really hadn’t thought much of it. I figured he was pissed off, and not showing was his version of throwing a tantrum.
Except this wasn’t just a tantrum. Whatever the problem was, it went further than Jared being pissed off at me. I hadn’t wanted to believe what Tommy uncovered, but after listening to Landon tell Jade to stay away from Jared, I was sure this really did have something to do with the entire team.
Awesome. Another problem to solve. Just what I need.
I pulled up to a stop light, and glanced at Dominic in the passenger seat. He looked as if he were somewhere else, completely lost in his own thoughts. His face was utterly blank, not guarded as usual, and it made him look a lot younger than eighteen.
It only took about five minutes for everyone to agree that I needed to chat with Jade’s dad, and get a briefing on the cougar situation. As far as Jeff was concerned, I’d sent him back to the cougars to gather information for me and if I never bothered to ask him what he found out, sooner or later he would clue in that something was up.
It didn’t take long to set it up. Jeff had been more than happy to meet, and within fifteen minutes, I was back in my car. And although I tried to convince Jade to come with me, she’d ended up hanging back at the headquarters with the guys claiming she wanted to work on strategies.
The light cha
nged, and I eased off the clutch, feathering the gas. After another moment of silence, I said, “So, Jared’s gone. Tommy said that he thinks the guys forced him to leave for a bit.”
Dominic blinked and pulled in a loud breath. “Yeah, figured as much,” he said. He fiddled with the window button, letting the glass fall an inch and then rise again. “Maybe it’s a good thing. Gives you both time to simmer down.”
“I don’t need time to simmer down,” I said, making a right on Clearmont Drive. “I promised Jade I wouldn’t touch him and I won’t. God, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we need him. We need all of them right now.”
Dominic grunted, and cut me a sideways look that clearly said he didn’t agree. Whether his disagreement was about me needing to cool down or us needing Jared, I really wasn’t sure.
The park came into view and I pulled into the lot, parking at the far end. It was vacant, not a single car other than mine, and I wondered if maybe, just maybe, Jeff wouldn’t show. As I pulled the keys from the ignition, Dominic said, “Aidan, be good to her, okay? I know you were just following my advice the last time around, but don’t hurt her again.”
So that was what his quietness was about. I should have guessed. The only time Dominic got that remote look on his face was when he was thinking about Jade. I sighed as I opened my door. “She wants to start over. Clean slate and all that.”
He smiled a little and nodded, as we got out of the car. “Yeah, I figured she’d do something like that.” He scanned the parking lot quickly and asked, “You think he’ll show?”
“Hopefully not,” I said. “It’ll give me a reason to go after him.”
Unfortunately, Jade’s dad was exactly where he said he would be. Jeff was sitting on a worn wooden bench that was nestled under a large oak tree, sporting a lime green windbreaker and khakis. When he spotted us coming across the field at a leisurely pace, Jeff got to his feet, leaving the bench behind as he came toward us. He was smiling a casual nice to see you kind of smile as if he hadn’t just broken my nose this morning.
He stopped a few feet away from us, jamming his hands in the pockets of his jacket. “Didn’t expect to hear from you so soon,” he said. “Did Jade settle in at your place okay?”
I had to give him credit; he was great at the concerned father act, so good, in fact, that I could almost believe it. Almost.
I returned his caring smile, and ignored his question. “Where are they, Jeff?”
Jeff raised his hands, obviously noticing my no-nonsense tone. “Okay, fine, right down to business then.” He let his hands drop and a frown curled his lips. “I’m not too sure. They were relocating when I left. Supposed to get a call in a day or two when they settle in.”
“Did you know the cougars have been coming into town?” Dominic asked, in his typically calm, cocky demeanor. He smoothed a few non-existent wrinkles from his sweater.
“Nope,” Jeff said. He smiled, a cool and confident kind of smile, but his eye started to twitch. “Maybe they’re looking for Tiffany. She made a deal, right? They’re probably trying to find her to collect on it.”
I studied him for a moment as a gust of wind blew through the park. His eye was still twitching, and I wondered if it was because he was lying or if it was nerves. Either way, it made me smile. I might not have been able to pick up the scent from him, but the eye twitch, that was something to go on. Thank you, Mark.
“I got to say, Jeff, I figured you’d have something to tell me by now,” I said, folding my arms over my chest, my biceps curling up thick. I might have promised Jade I wouldn’t hurt him, but I said nothing about trying to intimidate him. I narrowed my eyes. “What were you doing with them?”
Jeff’s smile lost the confidence. “Like I told you,” he said. “I was stalling the recruitment for more women. And I was trying to get a full count for you.”
“What’s the count then?” Dominic questioned.
“I’ll know in a couple days,” Jeff blurted a little too quickly to be believable. His throat worked fast in a bunch of swallows and his smile returned. “Some of the guys were out and no one knows how many were gone. They’re not an organized bunch. I blame it on having no females.”
I took a step closer and he took a step back. “You know, I’m starting to feel like you’re jerking me around.”
His eye started to twitch again, as if it had a pulse. “I’m not your enemy, Aidan.”
“Oh yeah?” I chuckled. “You’re one of them. Kind of makes you the enemy.”
Jeff froze like a snapshot, blinked, and then shook his head and he laughed a humorless laugh. “Careful there, alpha. My daughter might be upset with me, but she’s still my daughter.”
I shrugged. “She’ll forgive me,” I said, except I really wasn’t sure if she would.
~ JADE ~
Landon was trying to draw.
Okay, so it wasn’t really a drawing. It was supposed to be an attack plan. There were stick figure wolves, what I thought were supposed to be trees, and I had no clue why there was a half-moon in the background.
Aidan had been gone for forty-two minutes, and I thought it was totally lame that I actually knew the minute count. But, yeah, I did. I didn’t like that he was meeting my dad. I knew he was more than capable of handling himself and Dominic had gone with him, but still, it didn’t seem like enough. And it also seemed like a waste of time. It wasn’t like Dad was going to tell him anything, but Aidan said we had to play it cool and keep my dad thinking we didn’t suspect him of anything.
I hated that he was right.
I glanced back at the drawing, tilting my head. Maybe if I looked at it from a different angle the thing would make sense. Nope. I tried the other way. It didn’t work. I seriously had no clue what I was looking at.
I got up from my chair and went to the jumbo pad that Landon hovered over. “What is that supposed to be?” I asked, pointing at the half-moon that couldn’t really be a half-moon.
Landon stopped drawing and made a tragic face as if I had insulted him by asking. “It’s the mountain. I was trying to give it a backdrop. To make it look realistic.”
“You drew the wolves as stick figures,” Beck pointed out, chuckling. “I think you lost the whole realistic feel with that.”
“What’s the point of this?” I asked, as I turned from the drawing and went back to my chair, pulling my legs up and crossing them.
Landon shrugged. “Just trying to be prepared,” he said. “And we could use a playbook, don’t you think?”
Craig groaned and leaned forward, planting his elbows on the table and resting his chin in his hands. “If you are going to be drawing our playbook, we’re in serious trouble.”
“Come on, it’s not that bad,” Landon said, cutting everyone an exaggerated I’m wounded kind of look.
“Yeah, man, it is,” Mark said, as he looked over the drawing. He patted Landon on the back roughly in mock consolation. “But keep practicing. You might get better at this whole drawing thing.”
I rolled my eyes at the guys as they continued badgering Landon about his lack of art skills and glanced at my phone, wishing again that it would beep or ring or do something. I’d sent Jared at least five messages since Aidan left, and each one had gone unanswered. I understood why. Really, I did. But still …
“Jade.” Beck’s tone was a harsh bark, letting me know he knew exactly what was on my mind as I started to reach for the phone. He moved silently to the table and leaned against it to face me. “If you even think about texting him again, I’ll confiscate that damn phone.”
I let my hand fall back into my lap. Not for the first time today, I grew angry with the guys, and when I spoke it showed in my tone. “I just want to know where he is.”
“Not your concern anymore,” Mark said softly and firmly, as if he were trying to be absolute on the subject, but at the same time he wanted to be compassionate.
I felt a little hurt, but not so much for myself. I felt it for Jared. Beck looked troubled, but I di
dn’t think he had the right to be. I rubbed my face, my gaze drifting again to the phone.
“What is that?” Aidan said, drawing my attention to the doorway. He was staring at Landon’s drawing with a seriously confused expression painted on his face.
“It’s supposed to be our playbook of attack strategies,” I said, uncrossing my legs and twisting around. “Did Dad tell you anything?”
He shook his head and said, “Nothing useful but I think the eye twitch happens when he’s nervous.”
CHAPTER 17
~ JADE ~
My head hurt, a throbbing pain right behind my eyes. With each throb, a needle prick pinched at the bridge of my nose. My butt was beyond numb and I couldn’t feel my toes anymore. Aidan’s hands kneaded at my shoulders, and rubbed up my neck. His touch felt like heaven — simply amazing.
It was closing in on three in the morning and still, the team was in strategy mode. Each one of them had picked up on different things during our interaction with my dad at my house yesterday morning. Mark noticed the left eye twitch. Beck picked up on a light apple butter scent when my dad had passed him in the hallway. Craig heard a hint of excitement lining Dad’s tone when he had kicked me out. Dominic noticed the way Dad watched Aidan, as if he were waiting for an opening to rip out his throat. And Tommy and Chris, well, they seemed to notice a lot about Jared. Like the way he watched me as if he wanted me dead. I didn’t really blame Jared for that. If I were him, I figured I would probably want me dead, too.
We had taken a quick break at noon, long enough for Beck to sneak out and stash Erika at his house until he could figure out what to do with her. Craig had gone with him and when they had gotten back, he looked completely wrecked and as the hours passed by, he didn’t look any better.
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