Chapter 55
CHAPTER 55
J acob opened his eyes and smiled. He was wrapped in Fran’s arms, lying in their bed.
Robbie had indeed come in and checked on Jacob and, seeing as how Jacob only had a slight headache, let him go home on the understanding that he would rest.
He couldn’t believe his luck lately, poisoned and then shot. What were the odds? W ell quite high obviously , he thought with an internal chuckle. He also couldn’t believe that Fran hadn’t given up on him yet.
Fran moved in his arms and kissed his chest.
“Morning, sweetheart.”
“Hey, babe. How are you feeling?”
Jacob thought for a moment. “I feel fine, no head pain at all.”
“Good. I was so worried I was about to lose you, that I know I would have followed you in seconds.”
Jacob moved, pulling Fran up so he was lying over Jacob. “Neither of us is dying anytime soon, we are both going to have a long and happy life together.”
Fran grinned down at him. “Good,” he said, bending down and kissing Jacob, before making love to him.
Breakfast that morning was a lively affair, with everyone enjoying themselves.
When there was a break in conversations, Jacob looked at Robbie. “Did you know there’s a secret tunnel behind a picture?”
“Wait, what? No, did you find it? Ez, why didn’t you tell me?” he demanded.
“We’ve not found it yet. It was Joe who put us onto it, saying he was surprised there wasn’t one behind one of the large pictures,” Ezzy replied.
“It would have to be a portrait, right?” Finn asked.
“In this place, it could be behind any picture,” Robbie said. “I can’t believe we never thought of looking behind a picture.”
“Secret passages,” Samantha said. “What fun.”
“They really are,” Ezzy said. “We thought we’d found them all, but we’re missing a few and a couple of priest holes.”
Jacob looked at Samantha. “Unfortunately, there are none in your pack house.”
Samantha sighed. “Well, that’s disappointing.”
Romsey shook his head at his wife and then looked at Jacob. “We saw your silver wolf yesterday. Samantha had a relative who was a ghost wolf. When you have a free moment, she can tell you as much as she knows.”
“Thank you, Alpha Mate, that would be useful,” Jacob replied.
“Call me Samantha, dear. We can take a walk later and I can fill you in on everything I know.”
“Thanks.”
“Romsey, I’m going to talk to Nidal this morning, would you like to join me?” Berni asked.
Cresswell nodded. “I would indeed.”
“Good. If the rest of you can carry on your research, that would be helpful. And then at dinner tonight we can update everyone on what has been found,” Berni instructed.
“We can all decamp to the library, that room always makes me want to study,” Ezzy said.
“I’ll have Clairmont keep you supplied with refreshments. But we have to rush or I’ll be late,” Aubrey said standing up. Christine joined her.
“See you all later.” Aubrey kissed Berni and the two ladies left the room.
“Mum’s going with Aubrey again?” Finn queried.
Berni nodded. “Aubrey likes your mum’s company. Pretty sure she’s making your mum her companion.”
Finn smiled. “It’s good she has a purpose. She looks happy.”
“That’s not all mum’s doing,” Robbie pointed out.
Finn nudged his shoulder. “I know.”
“Right, I’m off to the hospital,” Fran said, standing up. “No heroics or dramatics,” he said looking at Jacob.
Jacob laughed and pulled Fran down for a kiss. “I’ll try my very best.”
Fran touched his cheek. “You better. I told the others I’d punch you in the face if you got hurt again.”
Jacob burst out laughing. “Love you too, sweetheart.”
Fran grinned and kissed his nose. “Have fun one and all.” And with a final wave, Fran left.
Jacob looked at Frank. “He wouldn’t really punch me in the face, would he?”
Frank grinned. “Do you really want to find out?”
“Not really.”
“So don’t get seriously injured any time soon,” Joe told him.
“It was one time,” he protested.
“Two, actually. You protected Frank and got hurt, then you got hurt protecting Aubrey,” Finn pointed out.
Jacob huffed. “Fine, it was twice.”
“Maybe don’t leave the castle,” Annfield suggested.
“There is lots of research to do, so I should be fine.”
“We’ll make sure he’s safe,” Finn said.
“Good. And now, Romsey, if you’re ready, let’s go and visit Nidal and get some answers,” Berni said, standing up.
With a quick kiss for Samantha, Romsey stood up and left with Berni.
“So now we need to decide, do we go straight to the library and carry on reading really boring but important paperwork, or do we show our guests secret passages and priest holes, while looking for missing ones?” Ezzy asked.
“That one, totally that one,” Samantha said grinning. “At least for a bit and then we’ll get to research.”
“Fun it is then,” Robbie said standing up. “Let’s get started.”
“I missed your mate,” James said. “I was expecting him to still be here this morning.”
“He healed up quickly, thank goodness. But I’ll make sure you meet him soon,” Fran replied.
“How was he shot?”
“An ex-packmate of my Jacob tried to shoot Aunt Aubrey. Jacob jumped in front of her to protect her,” Fran explained.
James looked shocked and confused. “Why try and kill Aubrey?”
Fran looked around and stepped closer, lowering his voice. “A rogue wolf element wants to kill all Alphas and Betas. The man knew if he killed my aunt, my uncle would follow.”
“That’s scary and disturbing.”
Fran nodded. “It is, but plans are in place to stop the rogue element.”
“If me or Matt can help, let me know.”
“Thanks, James, will do.”