Chapter 5
Standing in the center of the guest room, Brady looked around, taking in the tasteful, understated furnishings.
It impressed him more than he wanted it to, upending his preconceived notions about the Blackwood Pack.
The wealth this pack had was unmistakable—from the size of their pack house to the fully functioning hospital down below.
But meeting the Alpha, and the rest of the pack quickly disabused him of any notion that they thought they were superior to other shifters.
Shaking his head, Brady realized his erroneous assumption was based on his experience of how wealthy first tier magic users behaved.
Frowning at a covered plate on a small table flanked by two, soft, club chairs, he wondered who’d left it there and why.
Even though he was impressed with the low-key vibes he’d encountered downstairs, he wasn’t willing to toss all his doubts aside.
There was too much at stake. Failing at his first attempt to free the lower level magic users had broken his heart but now, for whatever reason, the Fates and gods saw fit to give him another chance and there was no way in hell he was going to screw it up again.
Unzipping his overnight bag, Brady took out his kit bag and headed for the bathroom.
Entering, he stopped short at the size of it.
It was easily four times as big as the one back at his cottage, but like his guest room, it oozed a welcoming feeling, tempting him to spend the next few hours soaking away his worries in its huge tub.
Knowing that wasn’t going to happen now, Brady quickly unpacked his grooming items, lining them up in the precise order he used them.
Hearing a knock on the door, he hurried out of the bathroom, moving quickly across the room to answer it.
Pulling the door open, he found Mystia waiting for him.
At his request she’d be attending his meeting with Jackson.
“Did Daniel finally let you go?” He smiled, remembering the way the young pup had clung to her.
“After a little persuasion,” Mystia said, her eyes crinkling at the corners in amusement “It’s been a while since Jimmy and I have seen him…actually all our grandpups. I think he was determined to make up for lost time.”
Studying his friend’s face, Brady was alarmed when he saw fear written on it despite Mystia’s attempt to keep it light between them.
He’d never seen her like this, even when she’d risked her life to help him with his trouble at the Witches’ Governing Council.
“I’m not surprised,” Brady said, choosing to keep the conversation easygoing.
“If I were Daniel, I’d want to spend time with my gaga, too.
What did you have to do to distract him? ”
Chuckling, Mystia ignored the question, knowing Brady would tease her about spoiling Daniel if she told him. “Ready to see Jackson?”
“Uhm…” Out of habit, Brady glanced over his shoulder to check that everything in the room was in order before smiling at Mystia. “I am.” Stepping out into the hallway, he shut the door behind him. “Lead the way.”
As Mystia began to walk toward Jackson’s study, she asked, “Did you like Theo’s welcome gift he left on the table?”
Cheeks tinged red with embarrassment, Brady murmured, “I haven’t looked at it yet. Do you know what it is?”
“I do…after I told him about your love for roses, he made you some Rose Petal cookies.”
Stopping mid-stride, Brady was stunned; no one had ever given him a gift like that.
Usually people would joke about his obsession for anything rose, but this bear shifter had understood his passion and made cookies for him.
Spinning around, he headed back to his guest room, intent on tasting them.
Rudeness was not something he tolerated in other people; he definitely owed Theo a “thank you” and sooner than later.
“Where are you going?” asked Mystia.
“Back to have a cookie so I can tell him how much I appreciate his thoughtfulness.” Once inside, he moved quickly to the table and, lifting the pretty napkin from the plate, gasped at the sight of the delicate cookies flecked with pink rose petals. “How stunning,” he murmured, taking one.
Joining him, Mystia said, “Oh my, they smell simply delicious.”
Biting into it, Brady moaned as the delicate flavor beguiled his tongue. “Oh my gods! I must get the recipe for these!”
Picking one up, Mystia took a bite. “Goodness, these are something special, aren’t they?”
Finishing his second one, Brady licked his lips, wanting to taste every last crumb. Then, carefully placing the napkin over the remaining cookies, he asked, “Where would Theo be right now?”
“In the kitchen. He’s been taking over more of the cooking since Dakota is close to delivering his pup and needs to get more rest.”
Nodding, Brady said, “I must see Theo first.”
Raising an eyebrow, Mystia hid her smile at the light shining in Brady’s eyes, raising her hope that everything would work out after all.
“Okay, just so you know, Theo is new to all of this,” she said, waving her hand toward the cookies.
“Dakota has been his teacher, but now, since he’s been forced to take it easy, Theo has been trying different recipes on his own. ”
Nodding at the information, it made the cookies even more special in Brady’s mind. Hurrying out the door, he was eager to thank the young bear shifter for his thoughtful gift. Maybe I should make him my rose petal tea.
~/~/~/~/~
“How close are we?” Glenn asked Sawyer. On edge since leaving the truck stop, he was eager to arrive at the Blackwood Pack where help would be waiting to protect Alex and Sawyer.
Both of them were marked men as far as he was concerned, though he did his best not to convey his alarm to either of them.
Nevertheless, based on Sawyer’s tone, he doubted if he’d been successful.
“Did you hear what tiger mate asked you?” said Alex, leaning in to speak into his phone, sitting in its holder on the dashboard.
“I heard you loud and clear,” Sawyer’s voice came through the speaker. “Maybe ten more minutes. It’s up on your right. The gate will be locked but I have the passcode.”
“10-4,” Alex murmured, reminding his mate.
“Ah, right. Sorry sweetheart. 10-4.”
“Is our tail still with us?” asked Glenn. “I can’t get a good look with you behind us.”
“Yeah, right now there are several cars between him and us but he’s still there. 10-4”
Grinning, Alex said, “This is so exciting. Do you think he’ll try to cut us off? You know like in the movies?”
“I fucking hope not,” muttered Glenn, his eyes shifting from the road in front of him to his driver’s side mirror, trying to get a glimpse of the asshole—or assholes—following them.
Expecting smooth sailing when they left Ghost’s house, Glenn hadn’t taken the time to make sure Sawyer knew what to do if they ran into trouble.
Silently cursing himself for that failure, he quickly shifted through his options and, picking one, he pulled his phone from his pocket.
“Here,” he said, handing it to Alex. “Call Dylon…he’s in my contacts.
Tell him I need the gate open so we don’t have to stop. ”
“Will do, boss.” Turning on the phone, Alex found Dylon’s name and pressed the ‘Send’ button.
“Glenn?” growled Dylon. “Where the fuck are you?”
“Hi there…Delicious Surprise here. We’re coming in hot with a bogey on our tail so we need you to open the gate.”
Taking his phone down from his ear, Dylon stared at the screen, checking who was calling him. When it showed Glenn’s name, he lifted it back to his ear. “Who the hell are you and where’s Glenn?”
“Gimme that.” Glenn took his phone back from Alex. “Dylon,” he growled, “We’re about five minutes out. Can you make sure the gate is open? We picked up a tail…”
“That’s what I said,” Alex murmured.
“On it,” Dylon said.
Realizing Dylon had hung up, Glenn handed his phone back to Alex. “Answer it if he calls. And I know that’s what you told him, buttercup, but Dylon doesn’t speak spy.”
“Ooohhh, why didn’t you tell me?” asked Alex.
“Guys, we’re almost there,” Sawyer said. “What do you want me to do?”
Looking out the passenger-side window, Glenn saw the wall, then peering ahead, found the open gate. On either side were a number of men, shifters by the looks of it, guarding the entrance. “Sawyer, we have back-up. Stay close behind me and don’t stop for any reason. Dylon will handle the rest.”
“Got it. The road will lead you to the pack house.”
“Right.” Decreasing his speed slowly, Glenn waited until the last moment to apply the brakes, causing Alex’s trailer to fishtail before he brought it back under control—just in time to turn onto the driveway. Once past the gates he sped up, checking to make sure Sawyer was behind them.
Looking out the side passenger mirror, Alex watched as the gate was shut behind his mate’s motorhome, closing them all off from anyone driving by. “Wow! This is exactly what happens when the good guys are trying to trick the bad guys.”
Glenn chuckled. If only his mate knew how rarely it ever happened in the field—but then he never had Dylon and his army of enforcers to call on. “Hey, Sawyer, you okay?”
“Yeah, I have some cleaning up to do in here but otherwise everything’s good.”
“Oh my gods, look!” Alex pointed at a man on the porch of the house they were approaching. “That must be Mac. He looks just like our wolf mate!”
Stopping the SUV, Glenn studied the shifter waiting for them, a black medical bag in his hand. Alex was right. He was the spitting image of Sawyer.
Parking alongside his mates, Sawyer spied his brother waiting with a worried look on his face.
Climbing out of the motorhome, he headed over to Glenn and Alex, concerned that Alex might have been injured by Glenn’s evasive maneuver.
Pulling open his mate’s door, Sawyer helped Alex out, steadying him as he gained his footing.
“Yoo-hoo!!” Alex yelled, waving his arm at his mate’s twin. “I’m Alex, Sawyer’s mate…well one of his mates…and you have to be Mac!”
Grinning, Mac descended the steps, immediately liking his twin’s mate.
He also noticed some changes in his brother’s demeanor; he seemed to be calmer than Mac remembered and obviously loved his mate.
Reaching them, Mac held out his hand. “Hey Alex, you’re right…
I’m Mac, Sawyer’s brother. What gave it away? ”
Giggling, Alex brushed Mac’s hand aside before leaning in to hug him. “It was the doctor bag otherwise I wouldn’t have known.”
A bark of laughter escaped Mac. “Touché. You are certainly going to keep my brother on his toes.”
Wrapping his arm around Alex’s waist, Sawyer replied, “Hey, bro, it’s on you for setting it up for him.”
Just then, Glenn walked up on the other side of Alex. Extending his hand, he said. “Hi Mac, I’m Glenn.”
“Glenn’s a secret agent,” Alex boasted.
“Glad to meet you…your mother has been bragging to me about your exploits,” Mac said, shaking Glenn’s hand.
“Why are you here? And where’s Jackson?” asked Sawyer.
“Dylon told me you were in a bit of trouble, and wanted me here just in case anyone was hurt,” Mac said, scrutinizing them. “What about you, Alex?”
Shaking his head, Alex grinned. “I’m fine…it was so exciting…like I was in a movie. My tiger mate handled the SUV like a pro. Hey,” he asked Glenn, “did you have to take high speed driving lessons before you became a spy?”
“I don’t know about that, sweetheart,” Sawyer said, grinning, “your trailer wasn’t looking so good there for a while.”
Clearing his throat, Glenn pointed to Alex’s SUV and trailer. “They look good to me.”
Walking up to the group, Dylon said, “Glenn, can I speak to you for a moment?”
“Hey, thanks for helping us out,” Sawyer said to Dylon. “Have you met Alex yet?”
“You mean Delicious Surprise?”
“That’s my code name but my tiger mate isn’t too keen on it,” Alex said, grinning.
“Oh…good to know.” Dylon smirked.
Inwardly groaning, Glenn refused to lend any credence to Alex’s statement, knowing if he did, Dylon would use it just to annoy him.
Moving away from his mates and Mac, Glenn headed to the other side of the trailer.
Whatever Dylon wanted, he figured it wasn’t going to be good.
Glancing back over his shoulder, he was relieved to see Mac and his mates in a conversation.
Then looking at Dylon he growled, “Did you put a tail on the assholes following us?”
“Yes…two actually. Plus another couple of teams that will be switching vehicles with them. Do you know who they were?”
Nodding, Glenn pulled out his phone. Scrolling through the shots he took, he found the ones he wanted, forwarding them to Dylon’s phone.
“When we stopped at a truck stop, these jackasses were staring at Alex…and not in a good way. I sent their photos off to Riley but he hasn’t turned up anything yet.
Maybe your guy can find out who they are. ”
“Shifters?” Dylon asked, flipping through the pictures.
“Yeah…but what kind? Don’t know. Alex was freaking out, so we had to get away from there fast, before I had a chance to scent them.
But I don’t think they were acting alone.
As we left, Sawyer watched them hurry into the restaurant, so either they were hungry, needed to piss, or get new orders from their boss. ”
Snorting at Glenn’s assessment, Dylon sent the photos to Zane. Then looking up at him, he asked, “Anything else I should know?”
“Yeah, we were attacked in LA a few days ago. My spidey-sense is telling me it’s all connected but so far Riley hasn’t been able to identify the goons who were after us down there.”
“Did you see who they were?” asked Dylon.
“No, but Sawyer was able to take their photographs.”
Raising his eyebrows at that piece of news, he asked, “How?”
“Got them after he killed them.”
“Impressive…I can’t wait to hear how that happened but in the meantime, do you think this is connected to The Collector and his effort to acquire Alex?” asked Dylon.
“Maybe…but…”
“Yeah, I don’t see it that way, either. He doesn’t like leaving a trail of dead bodies.”
“Exactly. The other thing you should know is some of the men Sawyer killed were humans even though their leader was a shifter.”
“Yeah…definitely not The Collector’s modus operandi,” Dylon mused.
“Hey, you guys,” Sawyer called. “Are you done making up? We’re hungry.”
Dylon smirked at Glenn. “I guess you told him you lied to me about him not being your mate?”
“I did…he didn’t have a problem with it so you shouldn’t either.”
“I don’t…just giving you shit,” Dylon grinned. “Jackson’s waiting for me, so let me be the first to welcome you to the Blackwood Pack.”
“Smartass,” Glenn muttered, heading back to his mates.