by Sydney Addae
She nodded, spun around and moved in the direction she had just come.
When he stepped back inside, Jasmine sat in the other chair and spoke softly. “I’m from Colorado originally, a town called Aurora, not far from Denver. I have a sister, she’s older and we are close. Growing up, we played a lot of softball at the park near our house. I loved dodge ball. There was something liberating about throwing that ball as hard as you could.” She sighed as though she were reliving the games.
“I played volleyball… in school, or at least I think it was a school. My hair was short in a small afro,” Asia said softly. “Someone spiked the ball and I dove forward to make the save for our team.” Her voice sounded wondrous and then she cringed. “Oh my God that hurts…it hurts…”
The pinging sound filled the room. Silas opened the door, glad to see Dr. Passen on the other side. “You called for me, Sir?” He glanced around the room before his eyes landed on Asia. The doctor’s eyes widened. “Is she okay?”
“No. She has a piece of metal digging into her brain,” Silas said in a somber tone.
“What?” Jasmine said, staring at him.
He nodded but continued watching the doctor’s expression change. “It’s complicated, but I will help you find it again,” he explained to Passen. “Right now give her something for pain, and then you can pull a team together to run more tests.”
“Yes, Sir.” The man left the room.
No one spoke although the atmosphere was pregnant with tension. Moments later the doctor returned and gave Asia a shot. He rubbed her arm a few times before speaking. “Better?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes, it took the edge off. Thanks.”
“Sir?” Dr. Passen looked at Silas. “Do you need to talk to me now or…”
Silas glanced at his watch. He needed to talk to Captain Samson regarding Jenkins. The detective had completed his time at the compound and Froggy had signed off on the health of the detective’s wolf. According to Froggy, Jenkins and his wolf had developed a healthy pack mentality and the man was eager to assist in any way Silas deemed necessary.
It was time for Detective Jennings to return to work. There were a few things Silas needed to discuss with the captain. The Merriweathers were restless over the stalled investigation of their relative’s death. Silas had given the detective instructions to close the case. For that to happen, Jenkins needed to be back behind his desk. The Captain needed to be made aware of the new security devices to be installed in the precinct as well.
Alpha Jayden and Silas were officiating the upcoming Alpha Challenge for West Virginia in a few weeks. The Alpha had requested a conference call this morning to discuss the security arrangements. Silas would be tied up in meetings for the next few hours.
“Yes, Dr. Passen we can talk as we walk.” Silas held out his hand to Jasmine. “Let’s go, she needs her rest. We can visit later to finish that discussion.” He softened his tone at the flashing of her eyes. She waited a beat before taking his hand. He loved having his spirited bitch back.
Her eyes softened as he placed a kiss on the back of her hand. “I need you safe. She is still wired to those who would destroy us. I cannot leave you alone with her.”
She nodded while glancing over her shoulder. His gaze followed hers. Asia had moved to the bed and lay curled in a fetal position. If anyone deserved a break, the young bitch certainly did. Silas hoped the discovery he'd made would set her free to live a decent life.
Chapter 4
Once Silas explained in detail what he'd seen in Asia’s brain, Dr. Passen left at a fast clip to put a team together to re-examine the woman. Jasmine and Silas walked a few feet down the hall. She placed her hand on his arm to stop him. “My mom, her husband, and Renee will be here in a couple of days for the christening.” She ignored the tensing of his arm and continued while holding his gaze. “I know you’ve been busy, I’ve been busy. Everybody is busy, but we will be having guests soon and you need to spare some time for my family.”
He frowned.
“Some quality time, Silas. I mean it.” She stopped him from making a comment. “My mother remarried and I haven’t met this guy. Rose has all the background checks for my former pastor.” She glared at him. The man had no shame requiring a man of God to undergo the same scrutiny as one of his Alphas.
“And your mother’s husband?”
“Yes, she has Mark’s background information as well. I think she even has one on Jacques.” She waited for him to defend the need for his trusted friend to receive a clearance, when he didn’t, she moved on before he came up with a reason to leave.
“Tonight, I want to go over an outline of how the christening will flow. Since we don’t have godparents, I was thinking we could cut out that part.”
“God-parents?” He frowned, staring down at her.
Jasmine pointed a finger at him. “Don’t.”
“What? I’ve never heard of that term.”
She pressed her finger into his chest. “I mentioned it to you, three weeks ago before the depression hit.”
“You did not.”
She pushed him. He did not move, instead he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. “Silas, I don’t like this.” Her eyelids fluttered as tingly sparks raced through, awakening her libido.
He inhaled deeply behind her ear and placed a kiss in that spot. “Yes you do.”
“No. I don’t like it when I explain things about my culture, things that are a part of my upbringing and a part of me, you don’t listen.” She shoved at his chest again. But he held fast.
“I do listen. I don’t remember the discussion you’re referring to. But I listen to you.” He tipped up her chin. She searched his eyes. He appeared serious.
“Godparents are individuals chosen by the parents to care for the children in the event of the parents’ death or inability to care for the children,” she explained, hoping he understood, because she would hit him over the head the next time he asked for an explanation.
“No.”
“What do you mean no?”
“To set someone up in that position is sending the wrong message to my enemies. I cannot do that. I agree with you, we will exclude that from the ceremony.” He placed a kiss on her cheek. “I like this dress,” he murmured as his palm rubbed over her butt, inching the peach colored fabric upward.
“I bet you do,” she said, glancing around the corridor and removing his hand. Stepping back, she gazed up at him. “I am going to explain the half-breed thing to mom and Renee. Since mom is a breeder it won’t be too much of a jump. Renee… she’s not bringing her girlfriend, Mandy, who would make the leap easier, but I think she’ll be okay. Do you need to scan them as well?”
“Yes. When I shake their hands –”
“Mom will probably hug you.”
“I’ll do a quick mental scan, just to be sure no one slipped anything into their drinks or anything like that.”
Although the idea bothered her, memories of recent surprises killed her qualms. “The pastor flies in Saturday morning around eight, does the christening at noon, and then flies back to Washington at four that afternoon. Rose made arrangements through your service.”
“That’s fine.” He gazed up the hall and she knew her few minutes were up, but at least they had covered quite a bit of the event. After her bout with depression he had suggested they postpone the christening, but she'd held firm since almost everything had been done.
“Rone and Rese have to be at the christening, do you have someone else covering security?”
“Yes, Cameron will be in charge.”
Her eyes widened. “Cameron’s not going to be at the christening?”
Silas met her gaze and responded slowly. “No. Should he be?”
Jasmine’s heart plummeted. He still didn’t get it. This was a family event. A time when everyone came together to celebrate the newest family members. Cameron was like a son to Silas and in a roundabout way, the catalyst for Jasmine and Silas coming tog
ether.
“Yes. He should be there.”
He stared into her eyes a moment longer. “Okay,” he said softly. “He’ll be there. I’ll put someone else on security. Tonight, give me the exact date your mother arrives and I’ll make sure I’m here to greet her and your sister. Whatever you need to make this a good event, you got it.” He squeezed her hand and placed a kiss on her forehead.
He had used his 'I want you' voice, which always turned her to mush. The man still revved her engines when he looked at her with that gleam in his eyes. “I just need you.” She leaned into him.
He held her tight. “You have me and everything that goes along with me.” He brushed his lips against hers, she grabbed his head and deepened the kiss. He tasted like sunshine and coffee, sweet and decadent.
“Mmmm, I love the way you taste.” She breathed deeply as they stepped apart. “You smell so good, too.”
He smacked her on her rear cheeks. “Your special scent keeps me grounded and your taste is my morning meal and midnight snack. Now stop distracting me, I’ve got to get to work. See you later, sweet bitch.”
Feeling better about the upcoming event, she patted him on the ass and turned in the opposite direction toward the elevator. “Okay, wolfie, it’s a date.” She watched the smile cross his face and then disappear. No doubt his mind was on the next fire he needed to put out. At least there hadn’t been any more bombs or kidnappings recently. While waiting for the elevator, she released her breath. That week had been a living nightmare. Her doctor had no idea the types of challenges she had experienced after the birth of her babies. It was a miracle the depression was the only thing she'd fallen prey to.
The elevator doors opened and she stepped inside. Rose worried over Tyrone’s obsession to take the shot to level the field with Tyrese. Much of the twins' identities were locked within each other. Rose had tried to talk him out of it, but he claimed his connection with Tyrese was off balance and the shot would fix it. Her daughter-in-law had asked her to keep quiet over her concerns. It had been hard. Seeing her sons in the lab earlier, she was certain they were there to get the drug. When the elevator stopped, she headed toward Rose’s office.
One thing for sure, if anything went wrong with the injection, Rose would know immediately through the connection. Since Jasmine couldn’t sit with Tyrone to make sure he was okay, she’d do the next best thing.
She noticed something was wrong the moment she stepped inside the dimmed office. “Honey, you feeling okay?” she asked Rose as she stepped inside.
Slumped in her large leather chair with her fingertips pressed to her forehead, Rose groaned an unintelligible response. Thick black hair was pulled from her face with a white headband. Her normally dusky complexion appeared two shades lighter, and her pinched lips were pale.
“Not really. I think Rese is blunting it, but some of it is seeping through.” She pushed back, grabbed the trashcan and pulled it up to her face. Jasmine rushed to the small mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle of water so Rose could rinse out her mouth when she finished vomiting.
“Oh my…” Rose panted. Beads of perspiration dotted her forehead as her small hand opened and closed spasmodically.
Jasmine placed the bottle of water on the desk and placed her hand on Rose’s back. “Come on, you need to lay down, get as comfortable as you can.” She thought back to what Silas told her had happened with Tyrese. It hadn’t lasted long, but he had been in a life or death situation. Did that have something to do with how the drug impacted you?
“No…no. I can’t move…it hurts…I can’t –” She snatched up the trashcan again. The sound of retching and the unpleasant odor rose swiftly, spilling into the air with equal measure. Unable to watch the painful sight, Jasmine strode to the private bathroom in the office, inhaled the fresher air deeply, wet a towel, and brought it to Rose, who lay with her head on the desk.
“Let me put this on your forehead.” Jasmine eyed the trashcan sitting next to Rose’s foot.
Rose whimpered. “I can’t move, everything hurts.”
“I’m so sorry. So sorry.” Jasmine placed the cool towel on the section of exposed forehead she could reach.
“Ah…that feels good, thank you,” Rose whispered.
“It’s okay. I wish I could do more.” Jasmine sat in a nearby chair, prepared to wait until the pain receded, signaling that her son was doing better.
The phone rang. “Owww… too loud.”
“Who’s covering today?” Jasmine asked as the ringing continued.
“I don’t remember, but they need to pick up, the noise hurts,” Rose moaned.
The ringing stopped. Jasmine released a breath, hoping Rose would feel better soon. It bothered her to see the young vibrant woman in so much pain. Especially when, in her opinion, it wasn’t necessary.
Just as Jasmine thought to check on Tyrone, if Rose had it this bad, her son had to be in worse condition, the phone started ringing again. Seeing Rose flinch at the sound, Jasmine picked up the receiver and spoke.
“Silas Knight’s office.” Out of consideration for Rose, she softened her voice.
“I’d like to speak to Mr. Knight.” She knew the person on the other end was human because Silas had another set of protocols in place for wolves to contact him.
“Mr. Knight is unavailable at the moment. Can I take your number and have him return your call.” She searched the desk for a piece of paper and grabbed a pen out of a nearby cup full of writing utensils.
There was a long sigh on the other end. Jasmine wasn’t sure how much longer she would stay on the phone waiting for him to make up his mind. Rose did not appear to be getting better, which made Jasmine more anxious to check on Tyrone. Normally, the twins didn’t give her much reason to stress or worry, but knowing Tyrone was willfully altering his body to be like his brother placed them both in the ‘you’re stressing me’ category.
She frowned.
“Miss…can’t he even afford good help…miss,” the man on the other end yelled.
Jasmine snapped out of it, catching the tail end of his remarks. If she had not been thinking of other things, and ignoring him she would take offense at his crude remarks. Instead, she sucked it up.
“You’d like to leave a message?” Hell if she called him sir or any other pleasantries.
“Yes. Tell him Alfred Merriweather wants to discuss the situation in the caves. I have some information I think he will be interested in.” His voice had taken on a condescending edge that rubbed Jasmine wrong. She took an immediate dislike to the pompous sounding man. Something bogus about him sang through the phone.
“I’ll tell him.” She scribbled the name knowing Silas would never meet with this creep. First off, he made it seem as though Silas should be happy to talk to him and second, he had been rude to her. Two things guaranteed to piss her mate off.
“I’ve left my number before, would you like me to give it to you again?”
“No. He’ll contact you if he has time for a meeting.”
“The polite thing would be to contact me either way, to say he can or won’t meet with me. I’m assuming the great La Patron understands how to conduct himself in business and society.”
Anger, hot and potent, flashed through her at the insult. His dig hit its target. Her control over her emotions had been skewed since the postpartum debacle. The only reason she hadn’t mentioned the outbursts of rage and tingly hot energy across her skin to Silas is because she wanted to explore this new area on her own. It gave her something to focus on besides her domestic duties.
Jasmine eyed Rose, who lay on the desk whimpering with her eyes closed. Turning, so she could lean against the desk, and knowing that Rose could hear her, Jasmine responded to Merriweather.
“I think you misunderstand, Merriweather.” Her tone was low and hard. ”La Patron schedules meetings with Presidents of countries, stateside and abroad, he has friends in the Senate, the House, and on the bench. He is the ruler of his nation, and the fact he does not
return your call, someone who does not rank on his societal scale, says nothing about him but everything about you.”
“Wwwhaaat?”
“I believe we will have a discussion with the good Lieutenant over how you have this very private number. Don’t bother calling again, your line will be blocked and I will report you to the captain for stalking.”
“I’m not –”
“Of course you are stalking Mr. Knight, Merriweather,” she said, grinning, quite enjoying the exasperated sounds he made on the other end as he tried to out-talk her. But the experience of raising two outgoing sons held her steady while she took the conversation in the direction she wanted it to go.
“By your own admission, you said you’ve called before, and I know for a fact you’ve called three times this week.” Rose had been complaining about the man’s attitude and told her that he was becoming a pest by calling so often. It was a calculated guess on Jasmine’s part that it was more than twice.
“I have important business to discuss with him. If he doesn’t want to talk to me, then fine, I’ll find someone who will listen. We’ll see how big he is then, won’t we. I promise you this, Silas Knight will pay for killing Robbie. On my honor, I promise you that.” His voice had dropped to a low snarl.
The air in her nostrils stilled. Her heartbeat stuttered as each word he spoke registered. Rage, red and potent, curled within her belly. She sensed her mate’s attention and shut down their connection. She would handle this.
“Are you threatening Silas?” Jasmine asked in what she hoped was an even tone. Her body tightened at the idea of danger to her mate. She unclenched her fist while waiting for him to answer.
Silence met her question, followed with a delighted chuckle. “Ah…this is better than I hoped. Ms. Bennett, how wonderful to hear your voice. It is truly an honor… I mean I am most fortunate of men to have this gratifying opportunity to speak with you.”
Frowning, Jasmine removed the receiver from her ear and then replaced it. “You have been speaking with me for the past ten minutes. I ask again, are you threatening Silas?”
