“Grampies, huh. I kind of like the sound of that. I guess I can share a little bit.”
The dress that Jacks had picked out was BoHo chic. It was the perfect dress for her, the flowers were pale pinks and off white; they were also beyond beautiful. She couldn’t have picked out a more perfect dress or flowers herself. Their times together might have been short, but Jacks knew her so well.
The girls helped Ryleigh get into the dress and Ava and Tory did her hair. She felt beautiful, and all she wanted to do Jacks again. Walking down the boat launch to the sandy shore, Ryleigh finally got a good look at the man of her dreams.
The sun was shining and the wind was blowing his hair, and that sexy smirk was right where it was meant to be. Cash stood next to him with the rest of the guys all dressed in khakis and white short sleeved button ups shirts. She would have loved to have seen them in all their military finery, but this image was just as good.
When Jacks noticed Ryleigh for the first time, his smirk turned into the biggest grin she had ever had the pleasure of seeing on his face, and she wanted to brand that image into her memory.
Declan asked, "Ready honey?"
All Ryleigh could manage to get past the lump in her throat was a whispered, “Yes.”
Her Dad took control, like he away did, and delivered Ryleigh to the love of her life and the future she knew thought she would have.
Their vows were simple, and everyone said that decorations were gorgeous. But Ryleigh only had eyes for one thing, and that was Jacks. After the minister, had pronounced them husband and wife, Jacks asked if she was ready to make it official. Confused for a second, Ryleigh was a little startled when Jacks took her hand and headed straight for the water. After he had plunged them into the cold water, he warmed her with the best kiss yet and said the lake needed to christen their union too. Ryleigh knew it was just a bunch of bunk; he was probably hot or something. But it was still beautiful, especially when the entire wedding party including her dad, jumped right in after them. As everyone played in the water, in their wedding finery, she knew everything was going to be alright. They had come so far in such a short period of time. We will be happy healthy and stronger, together, Ryleigh thought.
Ryleigh wished that Kayden, Zoey, and the rest of the team leaders could have made it. Then the day would have been truly perfect, but this was a strong second. That night and the next were beyond her expectations. They may have only been together for such a short period, damn a month, barely. They still had some things that they needed to work out, but she knew their love would stand the test of time. Jacks held her heart and soul in his hands, and she held his.
Suddenly, the man that was in them rather rudely interrupted Ryleigh from her daydream.
“Baby, you need to take a break. You look like shit,” Jacks declared. “When is the last time you ate something?”
“Thanks, Jacks. That is the best compliment I have gotten all day,” Ryleigh countered.
The truth was that she did feel crappy, and it was getting worse. Cash said she looked like hell, and Wyatt said that she should at least try and brush her hair. Or at the very least, change her clothes.
“We need to find something, Jacks,” Ryleigh said. “We are getting some good Intel from this drive but not the Intel we need. We are running out of time. Kayden and Zoey didn’t come up with anything at that facility, except more questions.”
“Baby, I just talked with Milo. He has a strong lead, so they were heading that way. It seems Kayden and Zoey came to some kind of agreement and have decided to stick together until Cassie is found.”
“That’s good,” she replied. “Dang it. I just hope Zoey and Milo can get along; he seems a little rough around the edges.”
“Baby, is that your nice way of say Milo is an ass? Believe it or not, he is a pretty good guy. He’s saved my butt and a few of the others more than a couple of times.”
“Well then, I will give him the benefit of the doubt, for now,” she said. “I like your butt right where it is.”
“Hilarious, Baby; really cute. I have to say I am quite fond of where my butt is too.”
“Dang it, we just need something, and I couldn’t eat a thing right now. Bas was making breakfast this morning, and I had to leave the room before I threw up. Whatever he was making smelled horrible.”
“Baby, he just made a regular breakfast; eggs, sausage toast and coffee, nothing terrible.”
“But Jacks, just thinking about it makes me want to hurl. I’m sorry our honeymoon has taken a back seat. To this I promise I will make it up to you. I just need to get through some more of this data. I found and embedded file and sent it to Wyatt. He is going to break the encryption and send it back to me.”
“Don’t worry about the honeymoon. We have the rest of our lives to go on many, many honeymoons. Baby, when was your last cycle?” Jacks questioned.
“What?”
“You're period, Baby. When was the last one you had?”
“Ah, Jacks, I don’t know. Why would you want to know? That it is just gross.”
“No Baby, I don’t want my red wings. Please, just think about it. When was your last cycle?”
“I don’t know. Wait a minute. I always write it down,” she said shuffling through her desk drawer for her journal. “What, are you afraid you’re going to be cut off?”
“Oh my God, Jacks.”
And with that Ryleigh ran to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet in time. Jacks sat behind her on the floor and rubbed her convulsing stomach while holding a cold washcloth to her neck.
“Are you on birth control, Rye?”
“No, oh my God, Jacks. Do you think? Oh Jacks, I swear I didn’t do it on purpose. I just never even thought about it; some genius I am. Oh my God, our baby could be right here Jacks, our baby,” she said, rubbing her stomach.
“Yeah, Baby, I know. I noticed the changes in your scent this morning. Looks like in a couple of months we could be holding our baby. How do you feel about that, Ryleigh? How do you feel about having my baby? This all is happening really quickly for you; barely a month in and already married and pregnant.”
“Oh, Jacks. I didn’t even think. Jacks, we are having a baby.”
Ryleigh was crying right there on the bathroom floor with the man she loved more than life, cradling her stomach.
“A baby, I don’t regret it Jacks. I didn’t plan him, but I don’t regret him either.”
“Neither do I, Baby, neither do I.”
Chapter 45
Jacks knew he was there the moment he stepped onto his territory. What he couldn’t figure out was why the bastard didn’t come through the front door. Not wanting to wake Ryleigh, Jacks carefully extracted his arm from behind her head and inched out of bed. Giving his mate one last look, he left the room to find out what was going on.
The lodge was eerily quiet. None of the guys were roaming around like he expected to find. If he didn’t know any better, he would have assumed that he and Ryleigh were alone, but his Shifter senses told him otherwise. Each of the team seemed to be in their rooms. Walking towards his office, Jacks got a feeling of foreboding. Something wasn’t right.
Opening the door, he glared at the cause of his discomfort. The reason he wasn’t snuggled in his bed with his mate and the only person that could ever get him to do something he didn’t want to. Declan “Senior” Quinn sat behind Jacks desk, tumbler in hand with what Jacks assumed was his 50-year-old scotch; the stuff he had hidden for those times when he needed something a little stronger.
“Hey, make yourself at home,” Jacks quipped.
“Oh, hey asshole,” Senior replied. “I figured that since you made yourself at home with my daughter that this is the least I could do to pay you back.”
Fuck Jacks knew this was coming. Senior gave his blessing, but they had yet to talk about everything that had happened. Jacks was kind of hoping they never would.
“Yeah, sorry, but I’m not going to apologize for that. Ryleigh is my ma
te; fated and claimed, blessed by the Gods. Sorry, old man, but as much as I might want to agree that I deserve some type of punishment from you, I’m not one bit sorry about what all happened.”
“Yeah, figured as much. It doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Senior chimed in.
“Seems like if what I am scenting is correct, you’re going to be getting a taste of your own medicine soon, Ryleigh is with child,” he continued.
Jacks shouldn’t have been surprised that Senior knew about Ryleigh’s pregnancy. He was Alpha, but Senior was the Alpha of Alphas. He had lived longer and seen more than any of them put together.
Jacks didn’t say anything. He needed to wait out his own Alpha. The man wouldn’t have come in all cloak and dagger is if wasn’t important.
“Here is the deal, Jacks, you know I have been training you to take over for a while now. With that comes great responsibility. You have to know when to show your cards and when to keep them close to the vest. Do you think you can do that? Do you think that if it is for the great good that you could keep your team in the dark? What about Ryleigh?”
“No disrespect, sir, but I don’t see where keeping my most trusted men or my mate in the dark would ever be for the greater good. We are better and stronger together than we would ever be apart,” Jacks declared.
“Really? What about Eli?” Declan countered. “Up until a couple of weeks ago, you considered him part of that team; your brother, one of your most trusted men. Hasn’t what happened opened your eyes even a little bit? What would you do to keep my daughter safe and healthy?”
Fuck, Jacks didn’t want to admit his failure to his men or Ryleigh. He had no idea Eli was a traitor. To him, the man had been his brother a friend, not the enemy until he showed his true colors. That was Jacks shame to bare. But there was one thing that really bothered him.
“Really, Sir, it is nice to point fingers, but answer this for me,” Jacks added, “how is a man as connected as you not have any idea we had a traitor in our mix? What about Abernathy or the Association? How about Franklin, Pandora, or Davis Defense? It seems kind of funny to me that you would have left so many unanswered questions and dangers at our door.”
“Ah, there is the Jacks I know and love,” Senior replied. “Always questioning, always expecting more than people are willing or able to give. Don’t forget who you are talking to, son. I have tried to keep everyone safe and sometimes that means not divulging everything I know.”
“Are you ready for that Jacks? You are my successor you have known that for years. Are you willing to make the hard decisions for the people you love? Can you keep them in the dark if it means they live another day? How about if it gives them peace of mind? Do you think you can carry that burden?”
“Let’s cut to the chase, Senior. Why are you here and why are you trying to keep that fact from your daughter? She is the only one that wouldn’t have sensed your presences.”
“Fuck, listen. My time is short. You will be moving up the ranks sooner than either of us realized, and I need to know that you are up for it. I put the teams together so that all the Alpha’s would have support. Like with like and what not. But we are at a crossroad. We don’t know what is coming next and we can trust the people that we have always relied on. I need to give you information, but I can’t do that if you are going to tell Ryleigh. I will let you decide on how much involvement your team has.”
“I will not keep things from my mate, and I think you’re fucking suck for trying to make me.”
“She might be your mate, but she was my daughter first, and nothing will change that.”
Jacks was taken aback by Seniors vehemence. His Alpha nature made him cocky, and for the most part, Senior allowed it, never stifling him. But the truth was that Jacks might be the Alpha of Alpha Team, but Senior was all of their Alpha. The man had more power than all of them put together.
“Shit, asshole. Calm the fuck down,” Senior said. “This is for her own good or are you blind? Ever since you have gotten back here, she has been working her ass off. Not taking breaks to eat or sleep and you have been letting her. The only thing keeping her going is her need to find the answers she seeks. They aren’t in that fucking data.”
Senior continued.
“It’s your job to keep her happy and healthy. Do you even look at her? Shit man, you are only weeks into your mating. She is fucking pregnant. She should be the picture of good health; glowing and shit. All I see are dark circles and weight loss. You’re not doing your fucking job.”
Jacks didn’t want to be chastised like a child. He knew Ryleigh was obsessed with Franklin's data but figured once she went through it all, she would go back to normal. The truth was that he didn’t want to admit that they were just getting to know each other and he was at a loss of what to do. That showed weakness and Alpha’s weren’t weak.
“Listen, we are just finding our way. Once things settle down, I will have a better gauge of how to handle Ryleigh. I promise I will keep her happy, but sir, she is my mate. That means back the fuck off. We are the first; no fucking examples to go by. I make sure she sleeps and eats, even if she doesn’t want to. You know my animal wouldn’t allow anything less.”
“Shit, listen. That’s exactly what I mean, you have no fucking clue on all that is going on around you,” Senior said. “You have to make decisions for everyone, not just Ryleigh and your Team, but all the teams. Can you handle that Jacks? Are you ready to make those decisions? If you aren’t, you’d better tell me now. Kayden is next in line and I don’t think he will have as much as a problem with it.”
“You and Ryleigh aren’t the only mated pair. Zoey and Milo have mated as well as Dane and Cadence have mated and been blessed. From everything that has happened, we believe that the first group of Franklin’s so called “fail experiments” are somehow all fated mates to the Alphas. Do you understand what I am saying? We can’t be 100 percent sure, but so far, we have 3 matches out of the six. The others haven’t come in contact with each other, yet, so we can’t be sure. But it means we need to look into how the first group was made; what those fuckers used to enhance them.”
“Why wouldn’t you want me to tell this to Ryleigh?” Jacks questioned. “She would be happy for her teammates, just like I am.”
“Because, Jacks, you know my girl. I raised her human; she didn’t have any idea about Shifter lore or traditions. If you tell her, she is going to start looking for answers and making assumptions. First and foremost, that the claim the bond you have isn’t real. That Pandora and Franklin did something to her, and what she feels or her reaction to you isn’t what it is but something else.”
“Fuck,” Jacks replied.
“There is more. We have breaches in all the teams. We need to figure out if any of the other guys are a member of The Association. Right now, I only have one person working on fretting out the traders if there are any. But it’s like trying to find a fucking needle in a haystack. Alpha Team has already been cleared of all traitors, Eli was the only one.”
“What do you mean Alpha Team has already been cleared by who and how? I trust my guys, but what the fuck else have you been keeping from us.”
“Listen. I brought Matthias in and he has been going through the teams, one by one. I was able to link several outgoing communications to untrustworthy sources but couldn’t pinpoint who was making the calls or sending the communications. It could be team members or support members. We just don’t know; that is why I brought him in. You know Matthias, he is a fucking Ghost. It is his job to not be seen or detected, and he is damn good at it. He will find the answers we need, and we will take it from there.”
Jacks was livid. His team had been investigated and he didn’t have a clue. He also knew about Matthias and his work. Senior was right; he was a ghost. If he didn’t want to be seen, he wasn’t. NAC only brought him in on the worst cases. The guy had a screw loose but was excellent at his job. But that brought more questions.
“How do you know the data Ryleigh has wo
n’t give us anything, Senior?”
“Because I’ve already been through it. The information is basic, some dates, locations and an approximate amount of how many children the fucker created; nothing else. But Ryleigh needs to concentrate on something right now, and it seemed like the best fix. I never expected her to become so obsessed.”
“Yeah and you expect me to pick up the fucking pieces,” Jacks re-joined. “Listen, I would appreciate it if you let me handle my mate from here on out. Ryleigh is off limits. You and Matthias can play your games, and I will do my job. The Alpha Team is going off the grid. No more cases or missions until we have more answers or Ryleigh gives birth, got me?”
“You might not agree with my tactics, Son, but they are necessary. As for missions, I couldn’t agree more, but I also know you and your men. There will be more missions. As things start to unfold, you will be called upon, and you will answer the call.”
“Like I said, there is going to come a time when you have to make the hard decisions, Jacks. NAC will be yours along with everything that entails. I don’t plan on retiring anytime soon, but my Dragon isn’t like the rest of you. Shifters might be stronger and live longer, but we have flaws too. I have been doing this a lot longer than you, and there will come a time when I can’t control my beast any longer. We all know the possibilities without a fated mate to bond with we are lost. I’ve held out a lot longer than most but my time is coming, and you need to be prepared.”
“There is a chance,” Jacks responded. “You just said that you believed the first of Franklin's babies were matching with Alphas. Who’s to say one of them isn’t yours?”
“I am, Jacks. I’ve met all of The Holly Team, and I felt nothing but comradery or friendship. Plus, do the math. We have six teams, and there was only six women. I’ve accepted this, and you need to too.”
“Shit, couldn’t you have just punched me or something? You know, for taking your little girl. That would have been better than all this crap you just laid at my feet. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can see your point, but I also don’t want to live with the consequences secrets always have. You get my drift? Because if I kept this shit from Ryleigh and she found out, wouldn’t that be worse? At least I know we could work through it. I could show her what she means to me. Take her to the Elders so she could hear the stories from them. Keeping her in the dark just seems wrong, and I won’t keep my team in the dark. All I can promise you is that what you have said here won’t leave Alpha Team.”
Jackson: NAC & The Holly Group (Alpha Team Book 1) Page 27
