Chapter 10
“Knock, knock,” Dakota said, walking into Jackson’s study carrying a covered tray.
Jackson was looking out the window when he heard his brother’s voice.
Turning around, he grinned and said, “You are a fucking lifesaver.” Reaching out, he took the tray from his brother and set it down in front of him.
“You didn’t have to do this, but I’m awfully glad you did.
” Lifting the cover, he groaned as the aroma of Dakota’s breakfast filled his nose.
Smiling as his brother dug into the food, Dakota sat down in a chair in front of Jackson’s desk. He waited for a few moments while Jackson ate before finally speaking. “You’ve never missed breakfast before…especially when I’m cooking.”
“Couldn’t help it,” Jackson mumbled. After swallowing a mouthful of eggs, he paused for a moment before looking at Dakota. “My morning has been one clusterfuck after another that I’m trying to sort out. Did Mac and Ollie show up?”
“Yeah,” Dakota said, “and everyone welcomed the newest member of the Blackwood Pack, so Mac was happy.”
Jackson grunted before resuming eating. He expected nothing less from his brothers and cousins, but he wasn’t too sure about Smokey.
Hopefully, once he found out the real reason Ollie came, it would erase his suspicions about him.
Setting down his fork, Jackson leaned back in his chair, patting his full belly. “Thanks, it was delicious.”
“My pleasure, and I truly mean that cause I’m back in my happy place. Honestly, I have no idea how Slate survived my daily complaining sessions when Mac had me on bed rest.”
Jackson laughed. “Steel and I had similar experiences during my pregnancy, though your experience was probably worse than mine because your confinement to bed lasted longer. Though ultimately, it was all worthwhile.”
“I agree,” Dakota murmured, pausing for a moment before asking, “Do you think you’ll have another one?”
Cocking an eyebrow, Jackson studied his brother for a moment, before saying, “I’m not sure…
if you asked me that right after Danny’s birth, my answer would have been ‘hell, no’ but now…
maybe. On the rare occasion I see Danny playing by himself, the thought crosses my mind that it would be great if he had some siblings, like we did growing up, but then I remember that I nearly died giving birth and… ”
“But you didn’t.”
“No, but only because of Colton’s gift,” Jackson replied. “I’m not sure I want to put Steel through that again.”
“What if you knew it wouldn’t happen again? Then would you do it?” asked Dakota.
“I don’t know,” Jackson replied. “What about you? Do you plan to have more kids?”
Dropping his gaze, Dakota stared at the floor for a few seconds before murmuring, “Slate wants more, but I’m not ready and I’m not sure if I ever will be.
Please don’t think I don’t love Max, cause I do, but Mom said my son…
or any kids I have…can get my gene and I’d never want them to suffer like I did growing up. ”
“You mean Max could be an empath like you?”
Nodding, tears filled Dakota’s eyes as he looked at his brother. “I won’t know until he’s a little older, but if he does, it’ll break my heart cause I know what his life will be like.”
“And that’s why you don’t want to have any more kids,” Jackson said softly. “Have you told Slate about this?”
“No…he loves being a father…more than he ever thought he would, and I’m afraid it would hurt him,” Dakota murmured, tears finally rolling down his face.
“Oh sweetie,” Jackson murmured, getting up and walking over to his brother. Grasping Dakota’s hand, he tugged him up and wrapped his arms around him, murmuring, “Slate loves you, and I know he would understand your feelings about it.”
Burying his face against Jackson’s shoulder, Dakota stood there, letting his brother’s alpha power soothe his soul. When the tension finally left his body, he took a step back and wiped the wetness from his face. “I know Slate wants me to be happy but…but…”
“C’mon,” Jackson crooned, leading his brother over to the love seat in his study.
Once Dakota sat down, Jackson shut his study door, then sat beside his brother.
“Let’s sort this out, okay?” After getting a nod from his brother, he continued, “First, you don’t have to decide right now about getting pregnant again because you can’t unless Slate is in his toirchigh period.
And according to Oracle, that won’t happen this soon after the birth of Max. ”
“I know that,” Dakota muttered.
“Right, so this isn’t something you need to worry about right now,” Jackson said. “Now, about Max…it’ll be a while before you know for sure if he’s an empath, right?”
“Yeah…Mom said if he has my gene, then it normally becomes active about the age of five.”
“Until then, Max is just a normal kid, right?”
Shrugging, Dakota said, “I guess so.”
“Okay. Does Slate know this?”
Shaking his head, Dakota replied, “I don’t think so…at least I haven’t told him about it.” Sighing, he added, “You’re gonna tell him…”
“No sweetie, but I think you should,” Jackson said softly. “And my recommendation is for both of you to sit down with Ian and Mac to talk about how likely it is that Max carries the gene.”
“They would know this?” asked Dakota hopefully.
“Maybe not about the empath gene exactly, but they certainly know about genes and might be able to give you the probability of Max becoming one,” Jackson said.
“That would be good.”
“Yup…but you should also talk to Mac or Ian about the feelings you are having. Right now, your hormones are still running wild, and it will take some time for them to settle down, so I wouldn’t be surprised if, in six months, you feel differently about everything.”
“Maybe…but…”
“Hey…I’m not saying you will, but all you really need to remember is nothing’s going to happen for a while…plenty of time to figure things out.”
Nodding, Dakota leaned over and hugged his brother. “Thanks…I feel better about it already.”
“I’m glad...but you have to talk to Slate about it. And the sooner the better. Promise?”
“I will…tonight after Max is asleep,” Dakota said, getting up and picking up the tray. “I better get back to my kitchen and start on lunch.”
“I’ll get the door,” Jackson said, rising and heading over to it. But before he got there, someone knocked.
“Hey Jackson, you in there?” Smokey called.
“Perfect timing,” Dakota said, grinning.
Rolling his eyes, Jackson pulled open the door and , seeing Norm and Smokey, said, “Hi guys…c’mon in and have a seat.”
“Oh hey, Dakota,” Smokey said, stepping aside to let him out of the room before entering with Norm. After everyone was seated, he said, “Theo is showing Ollie his garden.”
“Good, because…”
“Norm knows about the threat.”
“We agreed Theo doesn’t have to know right now…not until Zane finds out if it’s real,” Norm said.
“Okay,” Jackson said. “But something else has come up. It’s about Theo’s parents. Ollie says that the Ghost Bear Alpha has chained Theo’s parents in his basement and keeps them as slaves. That’s the reason Ollie came here…to ask Theo to go with him to rescue them.”
“What?” Norm gasped.
“I knew he wasn’t telling the truth last night,” muttered Smokey.
Holding up his hand, Jackson said, “He had every intention of telling Theo last night, but changed his mind when he discovered his cousin was pregnant. I found that out this morning. Dylon is coming up with a plan to rescue them.”
“Count me in,” Norm said. “Maybe my parents are being held as well.”
Smokey glared at his mate and snarled, “No fucking way are you or Theo getting near that asshole again.”
“If Theo’s parents are there, then I’ll bet anything so are mine! And I don’t need your permission, mate,” Norm snapped back.
“Enough! It’s up to me who goes on the rescue mission,” Jackson said, letting his Alpha Power fill the room. “I will decide after Dylon gives me his plan. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Alpha,” Norm murmured.
“Good,” Jackson said, pulling back his Alpha power slightly. “Now, the reason you’re here is I need to know Theo’s view of his parents. Has he expressed any interest in contacting or seeing them again after they sent him to Arald’s?”
Norm exchanged glances with Smokey and, after seeing his nod, he looked at Jackson. “Theo told us he’d tried calling his parents a couple of months earlier, but their number had been disconnected.”
“After he told us that, I asked Ghost to see if he could find them, but…shit, now that makes sense,” Smokey muttered.
“What does?”
“There wasn’t any trace of them that Ghost could find,” Smokey said. “They just disappeared, and Ghost thought they were dead.”
“Not dead, but chained up and forced into slavery, according to Ollie,” Jackson said.
“Well, that wasn’t on my bingo card,” Smokey muttered.
“Did Ollie say if he saw anyone else in the basement?” Norm asked softly.
Shaking his head, Jackson replied, “He didn’t say, but then I didn’t ask him. Do you think your parents might be prisoners, too?”
Shrugging, Norm said, “I don’t know…they always had a good relationship with the Alpha but…”
“Yeah…the Alpha could’ve changed his mind, and decided four slaves were better than two,” Smokey muttered. “What a fucking asshole.”
“I’ll tell Dylon to plan for four hostages,” Jackson said. “Regarding Theo, Mac doesn’t want Theo to know about his parents now, but I disagree. Whether Theo is told, you should know, we will rescue them. No shifter may enslave another shifter.”
“Theo has a right to know,” Norm said emphatically. “And it’s his decision whether he wants to see them again.”
“Smokey, do you agree with Norm?” asked Jackson. “Or do you think it would be too stressful for him?”
“Theo tried to contact them because he needed answers,” Smokey growled. “This is a chance for him to get them. Denying him the right to decide whether he wants to see them is wrong and you know it.”
Norm nodded, linking his fingers with Smokey’s, before saying, “Alpha, when Theo told us about his attempt to talk to his parents, it was because he wanted his father to walk him down the aisle. We…Smokey mainly…tried to make that come true for Theo, but after Ghost failed to turn up any information about where our mate’s parents were…
well, we couldn’t bring ourselves to tell Theo his wish would not come true.
But now…it can, and we are absolutely certain that Theo should be told about his parents. ”
Leaning back in his chair, Jackson reflected on what Norm said, concluding that, in this case, Mac was wrong. Yes, there was a risk, but in his opinion, it was small. “Okay…I’ll talk to Mac. In the meantime, say nothing to Theo about his parents until I say so.”
Smokey glanced at Norm and, after getting a nod, he turned to Jackson. “We won’t, but we want to be with Theo when you tell him.”
Before Jackson could answer, his phone rang.
Picking it up from his desk and seeing who it was from, he immediately accepted the call.
“Tristan, thanks for calling me back…give me a minute.” Muting the call, he looked at Smokey and said, “That’s fine…
talk to you later. And please shut the door on your way out.
” After he was alone, he unmuted his phone and asked, “Did you come?”
“Asshole! Yes, and don’t pull that shit again.”
Laughing, Jackson said, “Next time you shouldn’t answer your phone when you’re in flagrante delicto.”
“Fuck off,” Tristan muttered.
“Listen, I’m really sorry about interrupting your morning…”
“Blowjob…your fucking call interrupted my morning pleasure.”
“Hey, you should be happy it was me and not CeCe calling.”
“Ain’t that the fucking truth,” Tristan grumbled, a shiver running down his back at the thought. “Kahn told me since I was her oldest brother, it was my responsibility to answer her questions about sex.”
“Aww…that’s so nice of Kahn…handing over the big brother role so willingly to you,” Jackson said, smirking.
“Right…so fucking nice,” Tristan said, laughing. “When I asked Reeve, he told me Kahn tried to pawn that job off on him and after my brother saw how much CeCe was flirting with Reeve, he decided it would be better if I did it instead.”
“Well, he has a point, but why don’t you do what Steel and I decided?”
“And what’s that?”
“We decided Colton can do it, since he’s a nurse.”
“That’s fine for you, but I don’t have a brother who’s in the medical field.”
“No, but you have a cousin,” Jackson said. “I bet if you asked him, Colton would help you.”
“Okay…that might make up for this morning,” Tristan groused. “Maybe I’ll have Heath ask him…he’s better at that kind of shit.”
“Speaking of your mate, is he there?”
“Yeah…just a minute,” Tristan replied. Then he passed the phone to his mate and said, “My cousin…the cockblocker…wants to talk to you.”
Laughing, Heath said, “Hi Jackson, what can I do for you?”
“Do you know why your ancestor issued a challenge to his father?”
“Oh wow, that’s like ancient history,” Heath replied. “Do you want the long or short version?”
“Short should be fine.”
“Cause his father was a homophobe and targeted anyone he thought was gay, including his son…who was gay, by the way. Anyway, when my ancestor found his fated mate…his male fated mate…his father ordered them killed. My ancestor issued a challenge and got rid of his father, kept his fated mate, and from that point on, my home pack has prided itself on being a safe place for gay wolves, even when the rest of our world turned against gay wolves. Why did you want to know?”
“My twin brother, Logan, is over in Scotland and plans to drop in and introduce himself. A friend cautioned him against it but couldn’t give a good reason he shouldn’t except that the Alpha had put out a kill order on him and he thought it was because he was gay,” Jackson explained.
“But I’m glad to hear that isn’t the case anymore. ”
“No…no, it most certainly isn’t,” Heath said. “Hey, I’ll call my father today and let him know to expect Logan.”
“Along with his mate, Kieran,” Jackson said.
“The Shaman is there too? Holy fuck, my father is gonna be so gobsmacked that the head Shaman is visiting too.”
“Yeah…well, maybe you should just tell him my brother and his mate will visit,” Jackson said, chuckling. “Kieran is not exactly the run-of-the-mill shaman.”
“My father would never forgive me if I did that,” Heath replied. “Don’t worry, Kieran could turn up wearing nothing and my father would act like it’s perfectly normal.”
“Hmm…a true Alpha, huh?”
“One of the best, but my mate is still tops,” Heath said, smiling at the lust in Tristan’s eyes. But when Tristan bared his chest, he unsuccessfully fought back a whimper and murmured, “Got to go…talk later.”
Chuckling, Jackson ended the call and turned his attention back to Logan’s email. Satisfied with Heath’s answer, he would tell his brother to go ahead and set up the meeting.