I want to ask her some questions, but I don’t know how to start. I’m pondering on what I should say, then, as if she reads my mind she answers.
‘I don’t really remember much at all, Jared. I remember them taking me… I remember fighting and them holding me down while he tried—’ she shakes her head pursing her lips holding back her tears. ‘Jared, my mother was there.’ I tense up. I’m not sure what look crosses my face but whatever it is, has her looking down like she’s ashamed.
‘Baby, what do you mean your mother was there?’
‘She—she—held me down so he could rape me…’
I jump up to my feet and start pacing. I’ll fucking kill that cunt. Why? What the fuck kind of mother does that? Devon is mumbling now. I stop and kneel in front of her.
‘Baby, it’s okay. We don’t need to do this now.’
Her face pales and her hands go up to cover her mouth as her eyes fill with tears. Oh, Jesus, she’s remembering.
‘Maiya!’ she cries out. ‘They have Maiya, Jared!’ What? Why?
‘Devon, are you sure? Why would they have Maiya?’
‘Because they want to use me. She made me, Jared. I’m just a pawn in her war. My mother played my dad. She knew all along what she wanted—a hybrid. Me. That’s why she left. I was supposed to live as a wolf—learn their ways. Then she was going to use me to infiltrate her enemy pack. She said ‘this island has nothing she wants’. She was planning on taking me back to North America, Jared.’
Fuck me, this can’t be for real?
‘Jared, they were using Maiya as leverage to get me to cooperate. Because I refused, the other part of their plan was to use me to make more hybrids.’
‘Fucking hell, baby.’ I rub my eyes and face, what the fuck? I need the rest of the pack in on this. We need to wipe these cunts off the face of the earth. I want revenge, but more importantly, I need them gone so this fucking idiotic plan they’ve formed won’t ever come to fruition.
‘Listen, I wasn’t planning on telling the pack about you not being full blooded, but I think they just moved the goal posts on us, baby. I think they need to know the truth behind why you were taken. So we can go head to head with these bastards and not be at a disadvantage.’
She nods.
‘I agree with you, Jared, but I’m scared they’ll see me differently.’
‘Listen, they know you. It changes nothing—they’ll see that. They have to.’
Again she nods, but she’s chewing on the inside of her cheek. Nervous.
‘Baby, I need you to know that whatever happened there, you can talk to me about it, you can talk to me about anything, you feel me?’
She nods her head. I call the meeting.
I have everyone sat around the table. Devon, Zoe, and Imogen to my left. Howard, Logan, and Brad to my right. Harrison, Jacob, and Dom have joined us at my father’s request. They are excellent trackers and have the skill set we need in finding these kitsunes. My father has given me the green light to find and take them out. I can’t help but feel like it’s a test to see how I deal with it. But whatever, I’ll do it my way. I look at Devon, and she has a look of terror on her face. I’m about to reveal her secret to the table. I’m nervous, but I have faith in my pack, so I’m hopeful they will all be open-minded and accept her for who and what she is. Kristen is absent. No one has any idea where the fuck she is—she’s been out for days. I rap on the table with my knuckles to get everyone’s attention.
‘Okay, so as you all know, we need to make plans to move on the kitsunes.’ There are mumbles of agreement around the table and a clear, ‘Fuck, yeah, we do,’ from Brad. I chuckle at his enthusiasm, but I get back to business when I turn and lock eyes with Devon. She’s shaking. I fucking hate this. I pull her hand into mine and lace our fingers.
‘I’m not going to beat around the bush here. There is something you all should know. But before I tell you, know this—I’ve known for a long time and chose to keep it from you all. That’s on me. I’ve accepted it and want you all to do the same, but it’s something you’ll need to decide on your own.’ I look over at Devon—she’s almost drawing blood she’s biting her lip so damn hard. Everyone else is looking at each other, wondering what the fuck is going to come next, but they all stay silent, which is my queue to carry on and get this the fuck over with. I take a deep breath. Here goes nothing. I squeeze her hand in mine as reassurance. She slides in closer to me.
‘So there’s a reason the kitsunes took Devon. It’s not what we thought originally. It’s not to get to me or dad. I believe that if they had achieved their goal, we wouldn’t have heard from them again because they’re not local, not even from this country. They followed Devon here, and it’s her they want.’ Devon is like a rod next to me, so stiff she could snap. I haven’t even got to the why yet. Again heads are turning, but all I see is confusion and anger on some faces. No one has spoken though or questioned me—they’re all waiting me out.
‘The reason they want Devon is because she’s different to all of us.’ Again, I look into a lot of very confused eyes. Brad starts to crack a joke, but one look from me and his mouth snaps shut. It’s not the time. Howard is the only one who knows what’s coming next.
‘Devon isn’t a full blooded wolf. She’s a wolf-kitsune hybrid.’ Gasps and shouts erupt around the table.
‘Fuckin’ hell.’
‘Jesus fuckin Christ, Jared?’
‘Is that even fuckin’ possible?’ Someone else asks.
Brad chimes in then, ‘If they have a wet hole to stick a dick into then yeah, I’d say anything is possible.’
‘Oh my God, Brad. You’re a disgusting pig, seriously,’ Zoe tells him. The girls sit with a wide-eyed look of shock on their faces, but they don’t say anything, Devon has tears in her eyes, and I can feel the thrum of her body as the need to flee takes hold of her. Everyone is talking and questioning what I’ve just told them. I turn to Devon and kiss her lips.
‘It’s gonna be okay, baby. I promise.’ She doesn’t answer me, just nods her head minutely before looking back down at her feet.
‘I’ve got a question,’ Brad addresses me.
‘Shoot.’
‘Why the fuck are we only just finding this out?’
‘Because I didn’t think it was important before but now I do.’
‘Are you fuckin’ kidding me?’ Jacob chimes in. ‘You didn’t think it was important to tell us that we have a fuckin’ kitsune among us?’
‘No.’
‘Well, that says it all, doesn’t it! Fuckin’ ‘ell, Jared. You could have your pick of females, and you bring a fuckin’ kitsune to get your dick wet with.’
I move pretty damn fast—so quick he doesn’t see my fist coming until it’s too late. I floor him—hovering over him to give him another if he dares to spout any more shit about my female. When he raises his hands in defeat, I step away and wait for him to return to his seat before I take my position next to Devon again.
‘Like I said earlier, Devon is a hybrid, not a fucking kitsune,’ I say, glaring at Jacob. ‘But not a full-blooded wolf either. So she’s no more one than the other—’
Devon interrupts me by placing a hand over mine and starts to look around the table. ‘I just want to tell you all that I grew up as a wolf, with my dad, I’m naturally drawn to my wolf side. It’s the more dominant of the two. I also want to say that I had no idea that I was different or why until I had already met you all, and as soon as I knew, I told Jared. That’s… that’s all.’ She talks like she is on trial and has to defend herself. Which pisses me off.
‘Look, as far as I’m concerned, this doesn’t change a fucking thing. Devon is my female, and I protect what is mine. So no matter whether you agree or don’t agree, I’ll be finding these cunts, and I will be putting an end to them. So all I need to know is if you are with me or not. I’ll give you until the morning to make up your minds.’
‘Jared, what about the alpha? He may not want us doing this if he knew the truth
,’ Harrison speaks this time.
‘My father knows everything, and he accepts that Devon is my female and will be treated as such. The only reason I am giving you the facts now is because it’s the reason for this whole fucking mess. Otherwise, you would all be blissfully un-a-fuckin-ware, and we’d be fighting these fuckers to the end, so go and do whatever it is you wanna do tonight and be back at this table for nine am—no later. I want an answer then.’
‘Jared, I don’t need time. You know where I stand,’ Howard says,
‘Thanks, man. I do, I do.’ I stand grasping his shoulder. That’s what I want from them all, but I need to give them time to process what we’ve just told them. I needed a day or so too when she told me. But if they didn’t want her here, they can go and take a long walk off a short fucking pier. No, they won’t need the walk. I’ll show them the end of the pier with my size fucking tens up their ass. Let’s just hope they all make the right decision in the morning. If they don’t, they can fuck off and find another pack.
I take Devon out into the woods. I want some peace away from the house. We sit on a felled tree. I can tell she’s terrified about what the guys back at the house are thinking through. No doubt bitching about too. But it is what it is. They would either have to step in line with me or step out and fuck off.
‘You okay, baby?’ I ask her. She’s been quiet ever since we left and she’s in her own little world, staring out into the trees. At my question, she turns, and I can see it on her face. She’s scared. ‘Talk to me?’ I want to be her shoulder to cry on, her sounding board, and her best friend. I want to be all that and more.
‘I’m okay. This is all just so much, you know. Asking them all to fight for me when they hate what I am. Hate everything about me. It’s a lot to ask of them, Jared.’
‘One, they don’t hate everything about you. They fucking loved the bones of you before they knew this shit, and I’m fairly confident they still will, and two, we’re a pack. It’s not a lot to ask of them. This is what we do for each other, and especially for those we love.’
‘Yes, but has that ever been a kitsune?’
‘Granted no it hasn’t, but listen to me, stop referring to yourself as a kitsune. You’re just as much wolf, so stop beating yourself up over something you have no control over, okay?’
‘I used to hate my dad you know, as a kid. I hated that we moved so much and that I wasn’t allowed to be myself. He would recite our rules over and over, every night before bed, so I would go to sleep thinking about it and wake up with it in mind. But now I know why he was that way. Imagine if they’d have found me sooner…’ I can’t even contemplate that. ‘My mother did say that I was no good to them unless I was brought up as a wolf, so I guess they wouldn’t have taken me much sooner, but I’m guessing my dad had a good idea they were sniffing around because coming here without him was a real sudden decision.’
‘Maybe we should give him a call. Clue him in?’ I ask. Maybe he would have some info that we didn’t. A way in. Anything would be good at this point.
‘No, I’d really rather we didn’t worry him, Jared. He’s only just let me out of his sight, and this happens. He’d be on a plane in minutes.’
I disagreed, but I’d go with it for now. Whatever she wanted. I nod as she carries on.
‘What do you think they will be doing to her, Jared. I can’t stop thinking about it.’ Her eyes fill with fucking tears again, and I don’t know what to say to her. It kills me that she’s hurting over this.
‘I really don’t know what they’ll do to her. She’s human, so I can’t think what they would want her for except—’ I stop. I don’t want to upset her more by telling her the sick fuckers might rape her friend. ‘I think they’ll keep her alive for leverage over you.’ I actually don’t know if she’d be better off dead. This girl doesn’t mean shit to me, but my girl is hurting badly, and she will have to live with whatever guilt comes with this shit, and I’m not going to let that happen. So we will get this girl back and at the same time kill every last one of them. I put my arms around her and slide her up onto my lap—not in a sexual way, I just want to comfort her. Fuck me, a month ago I would never have given a shit about a woman’s feelings. But I’d kill for this one. I will kill for this one. When I get my hands on them.
Nine am comes around quickly. I’m a mess. I’ve never, ever felt like this before—never making friends, forging bonds or attaching myself to anything. Now, in such a short space of time, I’ve come to love Jared and all that comes with him. I feel like I’ve found my place finally and found a group where I fit in and belong and all that could disappear in just one conversation. I feel sick. We walk into the kitchen, and everyone is already seated at the table. It’s quiet, and I can’t help but fear the worst. I can’t look at anyone as I sit. I don’t want to see the look in their eyes. I want to turn and leave, but I feel Jared’s hand on mine, and as he squeezes, I look into his eyes and see resolve. He’s confident. I’m glad. But I’m still so unsure.
‘Okay, so I’m not here to give a speech, and I’m not here to hear one. Let’s just get on with it. A simple yes or no will do.’ I melt beside him. His no-nonsense attitude is so fucking sexy. I could jump on board and ride him right there, except this is seriously not a good time. Obviously.
‘Howard, I know your answer.’ Howard nods. ‘Brad?’
‘I’m with you.’ He smiles at me and winks. ‘You’re one of us, Devon.’
Jared moves around the table, and it’s unanimous. I sag in relief. The girls move to give me a hug.
‘It was never in question, Devon,’ Zoe whispers in my ear.
‘So let’s get down to the real issue here, Jared. What’s the plan?’ Brad says, and everyone stops murmuring. They all sit back down, and all eyes are on Jared. His chest expands as he inhales a long breath, and I’m overcome with emotion. I love him so much, and his pack has accepted me. I literally have to hold back the tears. I think Jared senses my emotion because he looks to me.
‘Baby, you don’t have to stay for this part. I can handle it if you need to leave?’ I nod and move to stand.
‘I’ll come with you.’ Zoe stands, takes my arm, and hooks hers through it. We leave the kitchen and go into the library room. I head for the window, and Zoe closes the door behind us.
‘Are you okay?’ she asks. She’s looking really glam as always—wearing red heels with jeans and a red top. She doesn’t even have to try and look good, she just does. Her hair is always perfectly done and never out of place. She’s naturally beautiful, inside and out. I crumple into the chair at the window, and I cry. ‘Aww, sweetie don’t cry. It all worked out just fine.’
‘I know. It’s just all so much to take in, Zoe. I’m so relieved, but I’m shit scared too.’
‘Devon, all you need to know is you are one of us, no matter what, okay?’
I nod as I wipe the tears from my face with the back of my hand and snort in an unladylike way so I don’t snot all over myself.
‘Thank you, Zoe.’ She purses her lips and shakes her head.
‘You have nothing to thank me for, hon. Friends have each other’s backs, and we’re pack sisters now,’ she tells me grinning as she pulls me into a hug.
‘I’m so grateful for you, Zoe. I really am.’
‘Ditto. I feel like I’ve known you forever.’ I hug her back with all I’ve got. She’s definitely a keeper. Now we just need to get Maiya back, and all will be right in the world.
‘Come on, let’s get you cleaned up and go back to see what they all have planned.’ She takes my hand, and we go up to Jared’s room where I sort myself out in the bathroom while she waits. I can’t describe exactly how I feel at this moment, but I’m happy and confident that we’ll find Maiya. I can only hope and pray that Maiya comes out of this whole. I wash up and try to make my face look a little less puffy and red. It doesn’t work. Zoe decides makeup is the best way forward and she drags me into her room where she does a full makeover on my blotchy face. Then tells
me I look beautiful when she’s done. We head back into the kitchen, and everyone is still around the table just as we left them. Jared puts his hand out to me, so I walk straight to his side, where he tucks me under his arm and kisses my head like he’s missed me.
‘I think we’ve covered everything for today, so let’s get to it. You all know what your jobs are?’ Murmurs of, ‘Yes, boss,’ echo around the room as they all filter out, Brad takes Zoe with him, no doubt giving her the details so she can do her part, and then it’s just me and Jared. He lifts me onto the table in front of him and slips his arms around my waist.
Forbidden Love (Stone Pack Book 1) Page 23
