Chapter 21
Hearing his phone ring, Jackson picked it up and said, “Hi Jimmy. Did you find anything?”
“Yup. A number of paw prints belonging to the Silver Point Pack.”
“How many?”
“Hard to be exact but probably a half dozen at least.”
“Thanks. Please let Mystia know. In the meantime, I’ll send a couple of enforcers to stay with you.”
“That’s not necessary. Mystia has a spell on this place. Don’t worry. You just take care of my grandson.”
“I will. And please be careful. My uncle is ruthless.”
“Don’t worry. Give Daniel a kiss from me. Bye.”
“Consider it done. Bye.” Jackson ended the call. “Jimmy said there were at least a half dozen Silver Point wolves snooping around where they dumped you.”
“How does he know they were from Silver Point?”
“He knows their scent. So that lends support to the theory my uncle doesn’t know about your beating. We can talk later, I have to go and feed Daniel.”
“And I must get back to Cody. Just so you know, by the time my father gets back here, I expect he’ll have a copy of the recording.”
“Let me think how I want to handle that. On another matter, how is Cody doing?”
“I think a little bit better. He fought to come back to me when we were in your office. That’s a good sign.
With my parents gone, I don’t have to interrupt his training to spend time with them.
He needs to heal enough so he can bite me.
Once that happens, the bonding will be complete, and he’ll be permanently connected to me. ”
Just then, Daniel let out a howl, showing his displeasure.
“Okay, baby boy, let’s go,” Jackson said, kissing his son’s head.
“I want to talk more about this bonding and connection, but it’ll have to be later,” Jackson said as he got up with Daniel and headed out the door.
Before he left the room, he turned to Dylon.
“I’m going to take you up on your offer to contact your friends to see if they’ve heard anything. That’s a good idea you had.”
Following Jackson out, Dylon was eager to get back to Cody.
The two meetings with his father and then with Jackson took longer than he expected, and he hoped his mate hadn’t awakened.
Keeping Cody secure and free from any worry would go a long way in speeding up the healing process.
As he approached their bedroom, he met Dakota wheeling his cart with their rather late lunch.
“That smells great. Thanks for doing this. I really appreciate your extra work. Hopefully, Cody will soon be ready to eat with the rest of the pack.”
“No problem. It seems I got an extra helper these days.”
“Oh, my mother? I thought she went to San Francisco with my father.”
“She did. I meant Zane. It’s his punishment. Jackson asked me to collect your laundry. It was Cody’s chore but, as I understand it, Carson will be doing it for a while; however, he’s been forbidden to go near your room.”
Dylon opened the bedroom door for Dakota who wheeled the food cart into the adjoining sitting room. As he walked over to the hamper, he saw his mate look at him. “Did you just wake up, my pet?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good, I’ll be there in a minute.” Dylon grabbed the laundry bag and set it down near the bedroom door. Joining Dakota, he was surprised to see the table set with a tablecloth, napkins and a bouquet made up of fresh, forest flowers. “This is amazing. Thank you, I know Cody will love it.”
“Ask my brother about seeing his visions when he is in his wolf form,” Dakota whispered, so faintly that if Dylon wasn’t standing next to him, he never would’ve heard it.
After handing the laundry bag to Dakota as he left the room, Dylon shut the bedroom door and hurried over to Cody to unlock the handcuffs.
Scooping his mate into his arms, he carried Cody to the sitting room and placed him in a chair at the table.
“We are going to spend the rest of the afternoon talking about everything and anything. No subject is off limits. I’m sure you want to know more about me as I do about you. Rules are suspended. And I want you to eat everything I place on your dish. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir. I’m very hungry.”
“So am I, but I don’t think we’ll be able to eat all this food. What was Dakota thinking?”
“He believes good food will help no matter what the problem is.”
“Huh. Do you think he’s right?”
“I guess. But he knows more about ‘why’ than I do.” Looking at his plate piled with food, Cody had serious doubts about being able to eat it all, but he dug in, intent on pleasing his mate.
They ate in silence but Cody didn’t mind.
It was nice not to have all the ceaseless chatter that usually accompanied his brothers’ presence.
When he heard his mate’s fork rattle, signaling Dylon had finished, he ate the last two forkfuls on his plate.
Then, he picked up his mug of coffee, and sat back, stuffed and relaxed as he sipped the hot liquid.
Pleased that his mate had followed his orders, Dylon looked at their life thread and knew it was time to ask Cody about what Dakota had whispered to him. “Pet, I was wondering how your wolf reacts when you think about the visions you’ve already seen…you know the ones that cause you pain.”
“My wolf doesn’t see them…I don’t know why but it’s like he blocks them.”
“If I understand you correctly, when you have shifted, then you don’t see visions or feel the pain of these who are in it. Correct?”
“Yes. As I said, I don’t know why but he protects me.”
“Got it. Let’s move to the couch. I have lots of questions about your brothers. I’m an only child but I always wanted siblings,” Dylon said, chuckling as he took his mate’s hand and pulled Cody up into his arms.
After kissing Cody’s pouty lips, Dylon walked his mate backwards over to the couch where they sat down. Tucking Cody into his side, he said, “You go first. What do you want to know about me?”
“So, you’re an only child?”
“Yup, there were complications with my birth and my mother couldn’t have any more pups. There were times in my childhood I thought about how it would feel to have a sibling,” Dylon said, shrugging his shoulders, “but it wasn’t meant to be.”
“Were you ever sad about it?”
“No, not really. I mean I had nothing to compare it to so how could I be sad about something I didn’t know anything about.”
“Did you always want to be an enforcer?”
“Always, much to my father’s dismay. He had hopes I’d join him in politics but that wasn’t for me.
Being a politician means too many compromises to be made about what’s right and what’s necessary.
Don’t get me wrong…I know how hard it is on my father when he’s forced into a decision that’s not 100% right.
I understand the reasons for it…I just don’t want to be bound by those rules. ”
“Where did you grow up?”
“All over. My father had numerous postings all over the world as the High Council Wolf Representative. My mother and I always went with him. It was a great childhood. I saw a lot of the world and met many different shifters as I grew up.”
“Different shifters? Like dragons?”
“Yes, like dragons,” Dylon said with a smile. “Why? Do you like dragons?”
“Yeah, but not as fanatically as Jackson. They remind me of my mother, that’s all.”
“Okay, I have to ask. Why do dragons remind you of your mother?”
Cody’s cheeks turned red and he ducked his head, embarrassed about this childhood memory.
“Come on, tell me, my pet,” Dylon prodded.
“My mom would sing us a song about dragons when I was little.”
“Which one?”
“Puff the Magic Dragon.”
“I know that one. A dragon babysitter I had would sing it to me every night before I went to sleep when I was five years old.”
“Wow, how cool is that! Jackson would be green with envy! A dragon babysitter! He was so into dragons when we were young. Tell me more about the places you lived.”
“Wherever there were wolf shifters…South America, Mexico, Africa, Russia, Northern Canada, Italy, Spain, Japan, China, places in the Middle East and a few countries I don’t remember because I was too young.”
“Holy shit! That’s fantastic! When Steel took my brother to San Francisco for his babymoon, Jackson bought me a book about the history of all the different wolf shifters in the world. I love it and I’ve been reading it a little at a time.”
“What were you studying in college?”
“I was studying to become a social worker. When I was eleven, I read a story in the High Council monthly journal about wolf pups not wanted by their families for one reason or another. I knew right then I wanted to give them all a good childhood. In another year, the trust fund my grandparents left for me will be mine and I plan to set up a home for them. It would be a real home with each wolf pup getting his or her own room but still part of a family. They would never be shuffled to different places at a moment’s notice, having to start all over.
They’d be educated and be taken care of by resident elderly wolf couples who are alone but still want to feel useful.
In short, each unwanted wolf pup would be welcomed and wanted by me. ”
Dylon was astonished at the change that came over his mate as he talked about his inheritance plans.
Sparkling eyes, rosy cheeks, wide smile—and he could feel Cody’s excitement through their life thread.
Oh, my gods! He is so fucking gorgeous when he is like this!
How was I so lucky to get this mate? “I love your idea! How far along are you in making it a reality?”
“Not very far. Until I can control the impact of my visions, I can’t move forward,” Cody said, lowering his head, “I would never want to bring a pup here only to have his world turned upside down if I…”
“Now, none of that, my pet. I promise it will get better. We will talk more tomorrow about your plans and your brothers.”
“Oops. You wanted to know about my brothers.”
“Yes, but that can wait. Right now, it’s time for your spanking. I’m sorry it’s after lunch; however, tomorrow you will receive it first thing in the morning. Understand?”
Cody slipped back into his submissive role. “Yes sir.”
“Come on, my pet,” Dylon said as he stood, holding out his hand for Cody.
~/~/~/~/~
Sitting in Steel’s office with Daniel sleeping nearby in the portable crib, Jackson said to his mate, “I gave Dylon permission to contact his enforcer friends to see if they knew of any new hires who came from Silver Point.”
“I take it you don’t think he’ll find out much.”
“Well, I’ve thought it over and looked at it from all sides and I keep coming back to the same answer. I don’t believe the enforcers who participated in the massacre are alive anymore.”
“Hmmm. Why do you think that?”
“One, too many possibilities of one of them letting something slip. And two, my uncle would be afraid that one or more would make a deal with the High Council for a light or even no sentence if they became a witness against him.”
“That’s mass murder,” Steel said, and then realized how ridiculous his statement was. “Right, your uncle would have no problem ordering their deaths. In for a penny, in for a pound, as the saying goes.”
“Exactly. He’s already killed my family and the rest of the pack so what would it matter if he killed a few more wolves?”
“How many enforcers did he have?”
“I’m not sure. I never really paid attention to the Silver Point enforcers. And besides, most of my family interactions occurred on our land. All I can tell you is I wasn’t comfortable around my uncle’s enforcers…I felt they were just like my uncle…cruel.”
“Why?”
“One day when he was visiting my father, my uncle decided to wrestle with me. I was about eight years old and I wasn’t eager to do it, but my father pushed me saying it would help me toughen up.
At one point my father left the room and that’s when my uncle put me in a headlock and started choking me.
I cried out for him to stop and he laughed and called me a wannabe Alpha plus some other crap.
I nearly passed out before he heard my father returning and released me.
After that, I made sure my siblings and I stayed away when he came over unless my mother was around. ”
“Why your mother?”
“I always got the feeling she didn’t like him; at family gatherings she’d assign some of the older girls in the pack to stay with us, so no harm would come to us.”
Steel mulled over this piece of information about Jackson’s uncle. What a fucking piece of shit! “If Dylon starts asking questions, it might get back to your uncle. What do you think will happen?”
“I’m not sure. Frank delivered a message he had for Dylon from my uncle today…a job offer of becoming the Silver Point head enforcer.”
“What the fuck!”
“Exactly. It tells me Josiah doesn’t know…or didn’t know at the time he made the offer…that Dylon joined the Blackwood Pack. But he probably knows now.”
“Agreed.”
“I also think Josiah had no idea Dylon got beaten or he’d be shitting in his pants, worrying about what the High Council would do to him. But his second, Rudy knows, and I’ll bet he’s the one who ordered it and then had his men dump Dylon by the side of the road to die.”
“Holy Shit!”
“The good thing is Frank believes my complaint is valid and, according to Dylon, his father will look at it very carefully and start collecting information. In the meantime, Dylon thinks Cody is getting better.”
“That’s good news. Did Dylon say anything…” Steel stopped as the cries from Daniel announced he was awake and wanting to be picked up. “Well, hello there. Did you have a good nap?” Steel crooned as he picked up his son. “Uh-oh, does someone need a new diaper?”
Jackson smirked. “Time for Poop patrol.”