Chapter 13
Staring at Kieran’s tight ass and swiveling hips as he left with Cody after breakfast did nothing to relieve Logan’s jealousy as it now appeared he felt the same about Cody as he felt when Kieran had put his hand on Zane’s jeans.
Fuckingbedamned! What the hell is going on!
Maybe I’d be better off in my…what did my brother call it…
oh yeah, my design tower. Out of sight, out of mind.
Then remembering what was going to happen, Logan smirked.
Oh yeah! Kieran will be spending the day with me.
Relishing the thought that Kieran’s sexy ass wouldn’t be seen by anyone but him the whole day put a satisfied smile on his face as he walked into Jackson’s study and sat in a chair facing his brother. Lost in his fantasy world with the pink-loving twink, he never heard his brother.
“Hello, earth to Logan. Come in, Logan,” called Jackson.
“I think it’s more like c-u-m for your brother,” said Steel as he arrived.
Bending down to give his mate a kiss, he added, “Dad took Daniel and Mom told me I needed to be in here with you.” Sitting next to Jackson, Steel continued, “Look at his face? What do you see? Someone who’s thinking sexy thoughts and I wonder who he’s thinking about. ”
Jackson studied his brother and saw what Steel was referring to. Interesting! But that’s for another time. “LOGAN!”
Startled, Logan growled at the abrupt ending to the pleasurable view in his mind. “WHAT?”
Grinning, Jackson said, “As much as I’d love to share your daydream, I think we better focus on our dear uncle.”
Deciding to ignore the jab, Logan asked, “Can I see the complaint Josiah filed against us?”
Handing it over, Jackson sat back, waiting for his twin’s reaction.
“What the fuck? That fucking asshole! He has some balls doing this!” exclaimed Logan. “What a pile of horseshit. Tell me the High Council isn’t taking this seriously?”
“Unfortunately, they are.”
“But anyone can see Josiah is just trying to divert attention away from himself,” said Logan.
“I agree with you, but I also think he’s trying to cast doubt in the minds of the High Council judges.
His complaint suffers from the same weakness ours does…
no eye witness. But by filing his complaint, he’s done two things…
first, creating confusion. Josiah’s affidavit lends an air of validity to his complaint by raising the point we had the opportunity to do the crime.
I’m sure he has proof that shows we left school early in the morning well before the massacre happened.
I believe he did this in case the High Council decided to proceed regarding our complaint against him.
What he’s done is to tip us off to the defense he plans to use against our claim accusing him and his pack of being responsible for the massacre.
“But more importantly, since our complaint and his complaint each lack absolute proof, the High Council has two choices…dismiss both or proceed with both. I’m sure uncle thinks the High Council will dismiss both, especially with his affidavit.”
“I agree with your assessment,” said Logan. “So, if we submit proof we were someplace else while the massacre was happening, the spotlight then goes back on only him and I would think he’d be in a worse spot than before.”
“Exactly.”
“So, what’s this crap about Daniel? He wants guardianship of all and any children that have been born or will be born in the pack? How did he know about Daniel?”
“I don’t know…yet,” said Jackson, “but I want to talk to Dylon after the pack meeting. He might know something.”
“Are you concerned about it?” asked Logan.
“No. Parental rights override Josiah’s demand. I think it’s just another game our asshole uncle is playing. I think he’s trying to provoke us into attacking Silver Point pack.”
“And if we did that…”
“Right. We’d be walking right into a trap and no matter what happened regarding the two complaints, we’d lose.”
Logan mulled over Jackson’s reasoning. Then, he said, “Let me guess, you are concerned how Colton and Cody will act when they find out about our uncle’s claim for their pups.”
“Yes. I’m thinking about not disclosing that part of the complaint.”
Slowly shaking his head, Logan spoke. “I can’t agree with that idea.”
“Why not?”
“Because if they find out later about the threat to their pups and that you knew about it but hid it from them, they’ll never trust you the same way again.
Look, how would you feel if someone did this to you about Daniel?
Would you ever trust them again? Or worse, would you ever forgive them?
No, I see this as a slippery slope that has the possibility of tearing this pack apart.
If you’re worried, then talk to them in private before the meeting so at least they know.
Since the demand…as bogus as it may be…affects you, Cody, and Colton along with your mates, discuss it in private so they can never claim they were blindsided. ”
Jackson leaned back, considering Logan’s points and knew they were valid.
As far as he was concerned, no reason would ever be good enough if it prevented him learning about any danger to his pup.
Jackson heard his mate concur with his conclusion via their mind link and asked him to find Cody, Dylon, Colton and Ian and ask them to come to his study.
After Steel left, Jackson turned his attention back to his brother. “So, what’s up? I haven’t seen you for a while.”
Logan knew where this was leading, but he was going to make his brother work for it. “Oh, I didn’t realize you lost your ability to remember stuff when you had Daniel. Have you talked to Ian about it? Is that normal?”
“Asshole. You’re avoiding my question.”
“I beg to differ. I distinctly remember telling you I was going to be in my ‘design tower’ for a while since I had a backlog of work on my drafting table. How soon you forget.”
“I didn’t forget anything. But that doesn’t explain why you didn’t hear me call your name or that love-sick dreamy look on your face when you sat down. Now fess up. What’s up?”
“Nothing more than a desire to fuck someone I saw on the internet. Maybe it’s time for another visit to Seattle. I could use a break.”
Jackson’s mouth dropped open. His brother said he wanted to fuck?
And go to Seattle again? Of all his brothers, his twin was the most reserved.
He never discussed anything about sex—not even with him and they always had confided in each other.
But now talking about fucking is what made Logan’s statement so strange.
His eyes narrowed as he examined Logan’s face, looking for something that could tell Jackson why the abrupt turnabout.
Before he could explore this new side of his brother, Steel returned with news that Ian and Colton were on their way and Cody and Dylon would follow shortly.
Jackson smiled as his mate told him what was causing the delay.
After Colton and Ian arrived and were seated, Jackson spoke.
“Here’s the complaint Josiah filed against us and I will discuss it at the pack meeting.
But what I’m not discussing there is on the second page and it concerns both of you.
” While they were reading it, Cody and Dylon appeared and Jackson repeated himself and handed them a copy of Josiah’s complaint.
Waiting for all to finish, his eyes moved back to his twin as he contemplated what had changed in Logan’s life because now he could see the subtle differences—lack of tension in his body, lips curved upwards, eyes turning dreamy—all indicating his twin was keeping a secret.
He was pulled back when he heard Colton swear.
“What the fuck is this crap? If my asshole uncle thinks he’d ever get near our pup, he’s fucking crazier than I thought,” Colton growled as he pulled Ian onto his lap.
Using their mind link, Dylon assured Cody it would never happen due to the High Council laws protecting parents.
“Jackson, you don’t have anything to worry about.
There’s a whole section of High Council laws protecting the rights of parents.
This is a ploy your uncle is using but it really is an empty threat. ”
“Are you sure, Dylon? I won’t take any chances with Ian and our pup,” said Colton.
“Dylon’s right, bro,” assured Jackson. “The reason I called you in here is about our reaction to Josiah’s demand for the pups. I think he’s hoping we’ll let our wolves take over and attack without waiting for the High Council to overrule it.”
“Yes, that makes sense,” said Dylon. “Then we would have violated the High Council directive about not harming any member of Silver Point.”
“Correct. If we do that, we will be playing right into his hands,” said Jackson.
“We can’t do that. Look, it’s almost time for the pack meeting, but I need your word that none of you will allow your wolves to shift and go after Josiah.
Even if only one does, it won’t help the rest of us.
We’re a pack and if one’s in trouble, we all attack to protect that one. ”
Dylon looked at Cody and after receiving a nod, he said, “Cody and I are in agreement. We will not go after Josiah.”
“Colton, Ian?” Jackson waited while his brother and Ian reached an agreement through their mind link.
Colton turned to Jackson. “We agree also. No action will be taken; however, we reserve the right to attack in the future if it’s warranted because I guarantee that our pup will never meet Josiah.”
“Then it’s agreed,” said Jackson and, turning to Dylon, added, “after the meeting, I’d like to ask you a few questions about your time with Silver Point.”
“Sure.”
“Logan, I know Zane is better these days, but this might bring up some bad memories so please keep an eye on him. Cody, I’m going to take up the matter pertaining to the boys first and I don’t anticipate any problems, but there might be when I shift to Josiah’s complaint. Any questions?”
“Nope but since Logan’s here, I wanted him to know I’m assigning Kieran to him today. Zane is busy writing a new software program so Kieran would have nothing to do,” said Cody.
“Fine,” said Logan. “Are you and Dylon going to bring him and if so, please plan on staying for a while. I have some ideas for Jake and Jessica’s nursery I want to show you. Are you still planning to use the suite next to yours as a nursery?”
“We’d like to,” Cody replied, “but still need to run that past Jackson. In the meantime, though, we can look at what you’re planning.”
Standing, Logan said, “Works for me. What I want to show you will work in any room you choose.”
“Okay, let’s get this show on the road,” Jackson said, as he and Steel rose.
The rest of the group joined Jackson and Steel as they left the study and headed to the great room where Dakota, Carson, Zane, Kieran, Theodore, and Norman were scattered around waiting for the start of the meeting.
Taking his seat with Steel nearby, Jackson could feel the air of anticipation in the room.
This was the boys’ first one and he noticed Kieran was sitting next to Zane with Theo and Norm on the other side of him.
Noticing Oracle and Maximus missing, Jackson asked Steel if he should wait for them and, after receiving a ‘no,’ he began.
“There are two items I’ll be covering today.
The first one concerns our newest pack members, Kieran, Theodore and Norman.
They are Blackwood Pack’s first new members who joined voluntarily and I’m proud they chose my pack.
However, it’s been brought to my attention that I’ve been a tad over protective.
” Looking around and seeing the smiles, Jackson chuckled.
“I was reminded they are adults, capable of making decisions the same as any other members of this pack. Unfortunately, I was focusing on their ages when they fell into Arald’s clutches and I will not make that mistake again.
They deserve my respect and trust when making decisions regarding their lives.
“Now, I see from some of you that you are confused about why I’m bringing this up in a pack meeting instead of addressing it with them in my office.
Well, because other members of this pack have done the same thing.
What do I mean? Like talking about Kieran, Theodore or Norman as if they’re not present in the room instead of including them in the conversation.
It’s rude and very disrespectful to them as adults.
Or not asking for their opinion or not listening to them when they give it.
I’m not pointing fingers, but I want everyone to monitor themselves to make sure the treatment of our newest pack members is up to the standards I expect.
I also want you to understand that it will take time for them to feel totally at home here.
And I encourage everyone to spend some one-on-one time with each of them to help build bonds between all of us. Any questions?”
Colton spoke up. “I’m guilty of doing it. I’m so sorry Kieran. I promise I won’t do it again. And when you want to, I would really appreciate it if we could talk. I’m usually not such an asshole.”
“I know, Zane told me. Thanks for the apology and maybe later today,” said Kieran.
“Anything else about this topic?” Seeing nothing further, Jackson continued.
“There is no easy way to say this so here goes. Yesterday, I was served a complaint by the High Council. Our uncle, Josiah, Alpha of the Silver Point pack, filed against me, Logan, Cody, Colton, Carson, Dakota, and Zane claiming we are responsible for the massacre of our parents, younger siblings and the rest of the Fox River Pack.”
Kieran didn’t understand what it meant, but he knew his new friend and fellow pack member was freaking out next to him—he could feel Zane tremble.
Without thinking, he reached over and placed his hand on Zane’s arm.
Within seconds, his hand heated up and he removed the fear that had caused Zane’s reaction.
Once it was gone, Kieran allowed his hand to cool but kept it there as a show of support.
Two brothers noticed what Kieran had done. One of them could see Zane’s fear in Kieran’s aura and watched to make sure it faded. The other, again felt jealousy burn through his body.
Jackson looked around the room as his bombshell penetrated Dakota, Carson and Zane’s psyche. And then it exploded.
“What the fuck are you talking about? Are you saying our uncle is claiming I killed my father and my mother? How dare he insinuate that shit! Are you just going to stand there as if it’s nothing?
” Carson couldn’t take it. Standing, he started to shift, but Dylon grabbed him from behind, preventing him from doing so.