Chapter 52
JASE
I kiss her shoulder and she stirs.
“I’m gonna catch up with the guys after their run for a quick chat. Be back in an hour or less.”
“M’kay. Luff loo,” she mumbles and is immediately snoring, mouth open, and too adorable.
I pull the comforter up over her and pull her scent into my lungs before I head out, locking the door, which I’ve rarely done here but know it’s something that’s now a necessity.
I don’t like the feeling I’ve got about that drone, and I want to know where it came from.
***
“Look who it is!” Mase greets as I emerge from the water behind the falls in human shape.
When I pull myself up onto the ledge, The six of them are sitting here having a conference.
They’re all dressed in swim trunks so it’s clear nobody took the chance of running on four paws this morning with what happened last night.
“We have news?” I ask, popping the cooler lid to grab a blue Gatorade, taking a long drink while Joel answers.
“None,” Joel says. “No fingerprints on the drone. Nothing to help us figure out who owned it. But we’ve got patrols out and Linc and I put up four new surveillance cameras at points along the river in the middle of the night.
We’ve already got those new ones along the lake but now we’ve also got one up top of the falls and one here in this cave, for extra safety.
We got caught back with Wyatt Meadows at the lake the night of Erica’s birthday party, so it’s good we’re ensuring the river isn’t another point of vulnerability. After my sister’s jump, I’m also not surprised he put a camera up top.
“What I wanna know,” Linc says, “is whether this means we’re still in the middle of your drama or if this is the start of mine.”
I finish a long swig of the drink and give him a meaningful look.
“Nothing uneventful about any of our matings thus far,” Grey remarks.
Linc begins to pace, looking ready to tackle anything. Looking like a boxer getting himself amped ahead of a fight.
Joel looks off into space like he’s trying to predict how all of this could impact him. Joel’s probably crunching probability statistics in that big brain of his.
Linc ends the pacing and looks at me. “How’s it going now that she no longer hates your guts?”
“Fuckin’ awesome,” I say, blowing out a huge exhale. “So much better than I ever could’ve imagined.”
“You worked for it, brother,” Grey says.
The look on his face feels good.
Tyson says, “Ivy is over the moon about it. She wanted you two to be a match since she met Bailey. Said she knew that first time she met you that Bailey was madly in love with you.”
“Bailey never kept that a secret,” I say. “She was Grey’s sister. I would never have taken advantage of her crush on me.”
“Well, she sure made you work for it in the end, didn’t she?” Grey drops his empty water bottle into the trash can beside the cooler. “And she’s gotta be thrilled about having a wolf. What’s the status there?”
“Still got no control. Pup is still like it’s six weeks old size wise.
Rare, cooked meat or my command bring on a shift and of course I have to command the shift back.
We’re having her shift daily and she’s beginning to feel connected, bit by bit.
Which reminds me…Tyson, when we’re done here I need to get back so do you mind asking your mother to have a look at the riverbank leading from behind my house eastbound?
Bailey’s wolf felt burning pain on her paw when she stepped on some new plant shoots.
Didn’t recognize what they were. Nothing I recall seeing on that riverbank or anywhere else around here before.
Her paw pads were inflamed and shredded, raw.
Fixed within two shifts but didn’t hurt my paws.
Right after this happened, I saw that drone otherwise I’d have called Cat myself last night. ”
“A lot of it?” he asks.
“Not sure. That drone took my attention. Had no scent to my nose, though Bailey said she could smell it but didn’t recognize the fragrance.”
“No problem. I’ll go see my mother as soon as we’re done and we’ll go down to check it out together.”
“Thanks, bro. Knock on my door if she needs us to show her or come down there.” I look at Joel. “So… nothing but shots of the river and lake on that drone?”
Joel answers, “Shots of the lake, the waterfall, then the river. It probably launched from just the other side of the lake. I got your call and grabbed a firearm and climbed my roof. Shot it down as it was doubling back, flying across the opposite side of the river. Path was an abrupt about-face as soon as it got to the end of the village, so that’s unsettling. ”
“Like whatever they’re looking for is here,” I say.
“Exactly,” Linc agrees.
“I’d like to watch it,” I say.
“I’ll send it to you when I get home,” Joel offers.
“Before you got here we talked about me goin’ across the lake to see if I can track anybody,” Linc says. “Though I got no scent from the drone.”
“Still a good idea,” I say.
“I’ll come with,” Mase offers.
“Sounds good,” Linc agrees.
“So, we’re staying at code orange for now,” I say, “But what about this party tonight?”
“Talked it over with Brody and we’ll still have it,” Riley says.
“We’ll have just over a hundred people between his people and ours.
We’ll be making sure everyone gets what the code orange means.
Brody’s people are still getting accustomed to having autonomy over their wolves and we all know that emotions can get amplified when there’s alcohol involved. ”
“I’m staying sober tonight,” Mason says.
“Same,” Riley agrees.
“Maybe it’s best we make the event a dry one,” Grey suggests.
“Good idea. You all know I prefer being sober,” Tyson says.
“Unless someone cracks open a bottle of peach schnapps,” Mase teases.
“True,” Tyson agrees, completely oblivious to the fact that most guys would take that as a dis to their masculinity.
Tyson sure isn’t worried about his masculinity being called into question.
“I’ll talk to Brody,” Riley says.
“Good idea,” I agree.
“You’re coming?” Grey asks. “This soon after mating?”
My eyebrows go up. “You think your sister would miss this send-off?”
“You got me there,” Grey agrees. “You’re avoiding being put back into the doghouse this soon. Smart.”
“Smart yeah, but it’s gonna be rough,” I mutter.
“Give him time,” Linc quips. “He’ll be back in the doghouse in no time.”
I roll my eyes and turn my attention to him and Joel.
“Whatever you guys are feeling is coming, let me just tell you… it’s bigger than you can imagine. The drama part is rough, especially if you land yourself in the doghouse like I did, but the good parts are gonna be better than you’ve ever had.”
“Lookin’ forward to it,” Linc says. “I’m ready.”
Joel says nothing. His eyes are active, though. He’s not blowing this off. He’s taking it in.
Before I leave, I fill them in on the trip I’ve booked as well as tell them there’s a chance me and Bailey are going to Alaska for a couple months. And I get nothing but support from these guys, my brothers.
I’m just hoping that whatever drama looms with Linc, that it doesn’t mean I have to postpone this trip with Bailey.
But my gut tells me there’s more drama on the horizon. Whether it’s got anything to do with that drone or not, I’m guessing we’ll soon find out.
***
When I get home, I find a message on my phone from Bailey. She’s gone to my parents’ place. My folks are driving Gwen to the airport and Taylor had an emergency with one of the kids so asked Bailey to sit with Sher.
I also got a message from my youngest sister saying she’s headed back to school and hopes to spend time with me and Bailey next month when she comes back to bring her boyfriend home to meet us.
My lip curls at the idea of some shmuck laying his hands on my baby sister, but I do my best to put it out of my mind, thinking on how great Grey is being about the fact that I can’t keep my hands off his baby sister.
I pocket my phone and decide to walk over to my folks’ place to sit with Bailey while we wait for them to get back.