17. Jasper #2
“Dakota, make sure Jake and Sebastian get medical attention and then get me on the phone to the council.” He took a seat next to his mate, looking worried.
“I have to notify them that shifters now claiming sanctuary are here from the aviary. They claim they were attacked near this territory. We should also notify the aviary that we’ve taken the shifters in and we’ll decide their future with our pack as soon as the council clears them of any wrongdoings. ”
“You’re going to make them pack, aren’t you?” Kade looked anxious, almost ready to get off the couch and seek the men out. As alpha mate, he’d want to welcome and reassure the new members.
“Absolutely. Chase is checking that they aren’t hiding anything right now.
” Chase, Blake’s older brother, had the ability to tell when someone was lying.
It was an incredibly useful gift. “Pointless, but it’s protocol.
Even I could tell they were telling the truth.
There’s no secret that the aviary practices a lot of the old ways.
Ones that don’t even make sense. Betas can’t have children, so keeping them apart does nothing but breed resentment in a pack.
” Blake made a scoffing noise. “They say they want to keep bloodlines clear. If it was up to them, whole bloodlines would die out. Keeping like with like suppresses the birth rate. Arranged matings especially.”
That piqued my interest. “How so?”
“Happily mated couples naturally have more children. My father is proof of this. He treated my mother like a queen until she had me, then he changed. No more children after that.”
“That theory has flaws—my own parents.”
“Were unlucky, or very lucky, depending on how you see it. They had you, at a time when they were established in their pack and careers. Had they ever expressed a desire for more children? Were they even trying for you before they had you?”
That pulled me up short. I couldn’t remember a time where they had said they had wanted another child. I had the distinct impression that they had planned for me. Dad had been training in another speciality when he’d met Papa at the hospital where they both worked.
“If you look into trends, arranged matings for pure bloodlines generally have more issues with conceiving. Fated mate bonds don’t have that problem.
Mixed mated pairings make things more complicated, but usually a mixed pairing is because of a fated bond.
Either that or they have such a fantastic connection they are willing to bond, regardless of not being fated.
These pairings have children fairly easily, perhaps not at the same level as fated. Happiness seems to be a major factor.”
“Huh.” It dumbfounded me that Blake knew all this.
Kade grinned. “My mate knows all kinds of random shit.”
Apparently so.
“Go make calls,” Blake ordered, a sly grin on his face. He turned and launched himself at his mate, peppering his face with kisses while Kade shrieked.
The calls were pretty straightforward. My contact with the council confirmed my suspicions that nothing had been documented with them from the aviary. The form locking was unsanctioned. It would be up to Jake if he wanted to lodge a formal complaint against his former pack.
I’d just hung up with a complete dick of an assistant over at the aviary, who gave zero fucks about two missing pack members, when a call came from the main gate. “Hey, Melody.”
“Hey, Dakota. Could you ask the alpha if two betas can come up? They work for the council. Said they are here to visit Jasper, by the way.” Strange. He hadn’t mentioned visitors.
“More betas?”
“I know, right? Four in one day! Two literally landing on our doorstep. How’s everything going with that?”
“Mel, I better check with our alpha to see if we were aware of visitors coming. You can check in on the aviary betas after my dad has finished with them.”
My phone buzzed with a handful of messages coming in at once. Signal must have dropped out.
Blake: Tell Melody to send them up.
Dad: Sebastian has given permission for me to discuss his injury. He shouldn’t shift for a couple of weeks. No lasting damage.
Jasper: I forgot to tell you Grady and Trey are visiting. I’ll message Kade too. They have some more of our stuff.
Right. The guards. The ones that knew Jasper’s ex. Had he told them he was pregnant? Told them anything about me?
“Mel, send Grady and Trey up, please. We should have been told they were coming. I think Jasper forgot.”
“Ah, cool. Will do.”
Kade came to stand next to my desk. “You okay?”
“Honestly? Could have done without being blindsided by my mate’s ex’s friends.” I rubbed my forehead. “My head hurts even thinking about this.”
He rubbed my shoulders, surrounding me with that familiar citrus and chocolate scent that meant pack to me. “Did Papa say why they were coming?”
“They’ve got the rest of his and Angel’s stuff.”
Minutes later, two imposing men approached the office, flanked by Deke and Axel. Both were around the same height, one with blond hair, the other a nondescript brown.
Kade stepped out to greet them, causing Axel to growl low. “Kade,” he said warningly. To his credit, Kade acknowledged the warning, stepped back, putting a larger distance between him and the strangers. Axel moved to his other side, wedging Kade between us.
He gave them a winning smile. “Sorry, my brother-in-law, Axel, is very protective of me because of the babies.” He ran a hand over his bump.
The blond, with moss green eyes, spoke up, tone warm as he spoke to Kade. “Congratulations. Your papa’s so excited about the babies.”
“He is. It’s weird, us being pregnant at the same time.”
“Jasper’s pregnant?” the brunet questioned.
“He is. Didn’t he say? This is his mate, Dakota.” Kade confirmed, putting a hand on my shoulder.
I could see them searching for a mating bite.
It was possible that the collar of my pale blue shirt was hiding one, but shifters could pick up on the absence of them.
Especially since they knew what Jasper smelled like, and though traces of his scent were all over me, our scents hadn’t merged like Kade and Blake’s had.
“Ah, so you are the fated mate, I presume?” The brunet again, now with an edge of sharpness. “I’m Grady.” He turned towards his partner, showing a mating bite in a mock innocent jab, “this is my mate, Trey.”
“Jasper is looking forward to seeing you. Once you’ve spoken to the alpha, I could direct you to our house. It’s just about finishing time, anyway.” I kept my tone measured, ignoring the insult.
“You live together?” Trey spoke this time. He sounded surprised.
“We do.”
Blake exited the office and scanned the vestibule where Roan and I had our desks.
Roan was absent, likely getting snacks for Kade or off on some errand.
“Ah, Grady and Trey, welcome. I’ve just had a message about your visit.
Pass through rights is granted. I hope you enjoy your visit.
” He gave Kade a look, and he followed his mate back into the office, leaving me with the two former guards, Axel and Deke.
The air thickened with tension until I heard the familiar clatter of footsteps that signaled that Angelica was approaching.
“Bear!” Her yell was loud in the quiet. Running for me, she stopped, seeing the group around my desk and her eyes landed on the blond.
“Trey!” Changing direction, she launched herself into his arms.
Trey squeezed her tight, Angelica giggling in his arms. “I’ve missed you, Red.”
“I missed you so much!” she said before rambling on about her new house, friends, and brother. Then she was asking them to come stay with her because she was sad without them.
He didn’t even hide the smug look on his face when I didn’t get a mention. Bastard.