Chapter Two
TWO MONTHS in that god-awful camp had been more than enough for Jamie. He’d taken dozens of showers and still didn’t feel clean. How Jake had put up with it for more than thirty years, he would never know. Jamie was thankful the Gerans had sent him to the same camp.
And now we have time to get to know each other.
Except that might have to wait a while.
He’d been watching Jake ever since Fielding’s interrogation, and he wasn’t happy.
Nor was he fooled. Outwardly, Jake tried to maintain an air of strength and quiet dignity, but Jamie couldn’t help but notice how he shrank back whenever loud noises filled the air.
The least little thing seemed to startle him.
His eyes were forever darting around, and it didn’t take a genius to work out Jake was keeping a lookout for—and being ready for—trouble.
The shoe hasn’t dropped yet. He still doesn’t feel safe.
Jamie guessed he might feel the same way if he’d been through half the shit Jake had. It wasn’t until he noticed how Jake kept his head down most of the time that Jamie finally understood.
They all but broke him, but he still refuses to give in.
Jake’s mask had to slip sometime. What he really needed was to talk to someone—a professional—who could help him heal.
Doc didn’t count. Doc was too involved.
Maybe I could use a little therapy too.
In less than three months, Jamie’s world had changed beyond recognition. He’d been a Geran who’d been brought up to believe they were superior to both humans and Fridans, and what they were doing was the right thing, preparing shifter kids for the world they would inherit.
Then he’d discovered the truth.
Bombshell number one—his parents had lied to him his whole life. And they weren’t his parents.
Bombshell number two—Dellan was his half brother.
Bombshell number three—Jamie was probably the result of the Gerans breeding Dellan’s dad, Jake, with other shifters before he was adopted. As for who his mother was, unless someone found it in the records they’d taken from the camp, he might never know.
Was I taken from her? Did she simply give me up?
At least he had Jake, Dellan, and Seth.
Bombshell number four—any kids not accepted at the school for shifters where Jamie worked, suddenly “disappeared,” their parents seemingly unconcerned as to their whereabouts. The consensus of opinion was that they’d been sent somewhere to be trained—as foot soldiers.
Cannon fodder was probably a better description.
All of which added to a swift one-eighty, and Jamie changed lanes. He’d gone back to the school in Boston to learn whatever he could—undercover—that might help Horvan and his team, only to be taken the moment he crossed the school’s threshold.
Almost as if they’d known everything.
Jamie had never figured out how that could have come about. Once he’d gotten over the shock of finding himself a prisoner, they’d whisked him off to someplace in the middle of nowhere and kept him isolated. As soon as they’d let him out, he’d found Jake and Seth.
Every cloud, right?
Of all the Fridans to sweep in and liberate the camp, it had been Horvan and his guys. So here Jamie was again, about to head back to Dellan’s home in Homer Glen, with no idea of what lay in his future beyond working with the Fridans to rescue more prisoners and close down more shifter schools.
He should have been happy, right? He was free, wasn’t he? Then what the fuck was wrong?
It took him a day to work that out.
One of Horvan’s team was avoiding him like the plague. The polar bear, Brick—the one who’d torn Fielding into itty-bitty bad-guy pieces—wouldn’t meet his gaze. He kept a constant distance of at least twenty feet from him. Sometimes if Jamie walked into the hangar, Brick walked out.
Is my BO that bad?
Joking aside, whatever the problem was, letting the situation continue without trying to fix it somehow was not an option. And seeing as Brick wasn’t about to do anything, it was up to Jamie.
Like, now. Before Brick got sent off on another mission. Horvan had already said they were packing up .
Jamie had nothing to pack anyway. All he had were the clothes on his back. Dellan had promised to do something about that when they returned to Illinois, and in the meantime Jamie was making do with fatigues loaned to him by Hashtag, who was a similar size.
The thought made him smile.
Those three are something else. Anyone seeing how Eve, Hashtag, and Roadkill interacted would be forgiven for thinking they’d spent years together, not weeks. Watching them made him yearn to find his own mates.
And that was something else that had changed—his belief in mates.
How could he do otherwise when he was surrounded by people who’d found theirs?
Jamie wasn’t sure how he’d feel if one or both his mates turned out to be human, it would be hard to overcome his years of programing, but who was he to argue with whatever higher power saw fit to join them?
Saul and Crank clearly adored the ground Vic walked upon—not to mention the water he swam in—and as for Eve, she was a tough little cookie, but it was plain to see she was smitten with her two human mates.
I want that too.
Judging by the speed with which the others had found their mates, he had to believe it wouldn’t be too long before someone strolled into his life and turned it upside down, the same way Rael and Horvan had done to Dellan’s.
That still left him with his present predicament.
Jamie strolled into the hangar where Brick was cleaning his weapon. There was no sign of either of his mates.
Perfect timing.
He walked toward Brick, his heart pounding. Brick turned his head, his eyes widened, and he rose.
Aw fuck.
“Please, don’t leave,” Jamie blurted. “Not again.”
Brick froze. “I… I can’t talk to you.”
“Fine. You clearly don’t like me, although I’m not certain why. I’m a decent guy, I have a great sense of humor, and I’m kind to animals. So I guess it’s just my personality you can’t stomach.”
Brick paled. “What? No, you’re a great guy.”
“Then why do you avoid me? And don’t tell me I’m imagining it, because we both know that’s bullshit. ”
“I….” Brick swallowed. “You really don’t want to talk to me, okay? I’m not the guy you think I am.”
“Well, I’m never gonna get to know who you are if you keep walking off every time I get within a few feet of you.”
Brick’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “I’m the reason the Gerans threw you into that camp.”
Wait—what?
Of all the possible answers Jamie had anticipated, this wasn’t one of them.
He blinked. “You?”
Brick nodded. “I told them all about you. And Saul. That’s why they knew he was coming.”
Jamie couldn’t see through the tide of red that rose up and blocked his vision. He was this close to shifting and tearing every scrap of white fur from this bastard’s back—until his brain kicked in.
Now wait a minute. Horvan trusts him. Why would Horvan trust a traitor? Why would he even keep Brick on his team, knowing what he’d done?
Unless he didn’t. There was always that possibility, even if it seemed unlikely. Horvan was one smart bear.
Seth obviously trusts Brick too. And Seth was no slouch in the brains department either.
That left one avenue to be explored.
“There’s more to this story, isn’t there?”
Brick hesitated for a moment, and then the words tumbled out of him.
Jamie listened in growing horror as Brick revealed how the Gerans had taken his parents, threatened them if Brick didn’t supply the information they needed—and how it had emerged that the Gerans had killed them anyway, never intending to release them.
Jamie was ashamed to have been a Geran… and thankful he’d learned the truth at last.
Brick regarded him with glistening eyes. “I’m so sorry. As soon as I heard Dellan had lost contact with you, I knew they must have taken you, and that it was all my fault.”
Jamie’s rage had subsided. What was two months in a camp compared to what Brick had suffered?
“You did what you had to do to save your parents. And because you did, I was reunited with my real dad and a new half brother. I might never have found them but for you.” Jamie threw his arms around Brick’s large frame and hugged him.
Brick stiffened for a second, then relaxed, a sob escaping him.
“Thank God.”
Jamie turned his head toward the voice. Seth was smiling.
“I was about to arrange an intervention. I kept telling Brick it would all work out fine, but he wouldn’t believe me.” He gave Brick a pointed stare. “See?”
Brick chuckled. “Okay, okay, you told me.” He wiped his eyes.
Seth came over to them and put his arms around them. The three stood in silence, and for the first time in a long while, Jamie was at peace.
I have my real family at last.
And it didn’t matter that only a few of them were his flesh and blood.
MILO PACED up and down the hallway of the wing where the Maine inmates were staying. He’d been on edge ever since the plane had landed in Boston and he’d lost sight of Jana.
Except that was a lie. He knew she was okay—he could hear her in his head, and she sounded cheerful.
She was in good hands. Aelryn’s people had been kindness itself.
Okay, so the accommodation was not unlike the camp in that they slept in dormitories—understandable when their present location was a school—but that was where the similarities ended.
Comfortable beds, showers, and oh my God so much food.
The clothes had arrived only hours after they did, and judging by Jana’s squeals, she was more than happy to be out of her previous clothing.
More likely she’s happy to be out of anything that reminds her of the camp.
No, Jana wasn’t what concerned Milo—it was his future, and how he’d be treated by the Fridans. The latter had been on his mind ever since they’d liberated the camp.
It doesn’t matter that I helped the Fridans. I was still the enemy.