Chapter 37
Jackson knew it was time to talk to Norman and wanted to do it in person, which meant getting Tristan’s permission to enter Silver Point land. He turned back to his desk, picked up his phone, and called his cousin.
“Hey, cousin…good timing,” Tristan said, laughing.
Grinning, Jackson replied, “Fuck…I’m slipping…I’ll have to try harder.”
“Asshole,” Tristan said. “That’s not what I was referring to.”
“Then what?”
“I just finished checking out the renovations on the clinic and found out it’ll be ready to open tomorrow.”
“That’s good news.”
“Yup…all I need now is a doctor.”
“Mac and Ollie should be there later today,” Jackson said.
“Fanfuckingtastic!” exclaimed Tristan. “Will ya shoot me a text with the time so I can be at the Alpha house to greet them?”
“Will do,” Jackson said. “Anything else?”
“Just the reason for your call.”
Chuckling, Jackson said, “I want to talk to Norman, so I need…”
“My permission? Consider it given. When will you get here?”
“I’ll be there shortly.”
“Okay, see you soon,” Tristan said before hanging up. Then, turning his head, he smirked at his mate. “You’ve been cock-blocked by my cousin. We’re meeting Jackson at the Alpha house shortly, so you better tuck it back into your pants.”
“What the fuck?” said Heath, struggling to stuff his semi-hard dick back into his pants without entangling it in the zipper of his fly. “Is he fucking omniscient?”
“I don’t know about that, but he’s one powerful Alpha.”
“Yeah…he is,” Heath muttered. “I haven’t ever met an Alpha like him before.”
“Really?” asked Tristan.
Zipping up his jeans, Heath said, “Yup…Alphas…at least the ones I met with my father…love throwing their weight around.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Shrugging, Heath said, “They flaunt their power…you know, like flooding a room with it so everyone knows who they are. Jackson isn’t like that. He keeps it under wraps…I mean, it’s there cuz I can feel it, but it’s hard to tell how powerful his Alpha power really is.”
“Not like the others you've met?” asked Tristan.
“Exactly,” Heath said.
“I know what you mean,” Tristan said. “My cousin keeps his cards very close to his vest.”
“Very, very close. I’m just glad he’s on our side.”
“Me too,” Tristan said, taking Heath’s hand. “Let’s go greet him.”
~/~/~/~/~
In a flash, Jackson arrived at Silver Point—a place he never thought he’d see again after Josiah killed his father and younger siblings. But here he was, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Looking over at Remy, he said, “Thanks.”
“Glad to help,” Remy said, his eyes searching Jackson’s face. “You okay?”
Jackson’s eyebrow rose as he shrugged, “Honestly? Not really. My brothers and I spent a lot of time here when we were younger, so it feels familiar…like an old, well-worn shirt…but then…”
“Yeah, I know,” Remy murmured.
Nodding, Jackson knew Remy did; it was clearly evident on his face, so he said nothing more.
Instead, he turned around and, as his eyes roamed over the Silver Point Alpha house in front of him, he noticed details long forgotten.
It had been years since he’d seen it, and he wondered if it had really changed that much since his childhood.
According to Reeve’s report, it had, but then, maybe he’d just wiped the house from his memory after the massacre.
When Jackson remained lost in thought, Remy said, “Let me know when you want to return home.”
“I will,” Jackson replied, glancing over his shoulder at the magic user. “Thanks for the magic ride.”
Chuckling, Remy said, “Ever since my brothers heard Carsy refer to it that way, they are now eager for their magic lessons to begin so they can start giving magic rides to the rest of the kids.”
Quirking an eyebrow, Jackson asked, “How soon will that happen?”
“Luckily for us, not until they are much older. I haven’t told them that yet since it’s a lot easier to teach them when they are eager to learn with that goal in mind.”
“Spoken from personal knowledge?”
“Yeah, once I found out I would only have the most basic of magic skills as a low-level magic user, my parents struggled with getting me to practice.”
Curious, Jackson asked, “Do the lessons differ depending on what magic level you’re born at?”
“No…actually, every magic user learns the basics, and once the low-level users learn them, then the lessons stop for them, but continue for the upper levels of magic users.”
“Like the different degrees you can get, hmm?”
Nodding, Remy said, “That’s a good way to describe it. Galen and Eamon are first-level magic users, so they have many years of lessons ahead of them, unlike me, who stopped when I was thirteen.”
“What about Jessica?” asked Jackson.
“Because her magic is old and powerful, she has much to learn.”
Snorting, Jackson said, “That doesn’t bode well for Cody and Dylon since she’s pretty headstrong.”
“Yes, but luckily they have me teaching her,” Remy smirked.
“Lucky for all of us,” Jackson said, turning his attention to the Silver Point Alpha house when he heard the front door swinging open. “I’ll see you later.”
“Good luck,” Remy murmured before disappearing.
“Hey, Jackson,” Smokey said. “Come in…Norm and Theo are waiting for you.”
Walking up the front steps, Jackson paused at the door. “How’s Theo?” he murmured to Smokey.
“Good…better now since he spoke with his parents…oops, forget I said that.”
“Don’t sweat it…Ollie already told me about the call.” Stepping inside, Jackson surveyed the interior of the living room, pausing as the figures painted on the ceiling caught his attention. “Holy shit!” he whispered.
Following Jackson’s gaze, Smokey smirked, “Yeah, I know…freaky, huh?"
“Yeah, it is,” Jackson muttered disgustedly, realizing his uncle had probably spent a shitload of money on a ceiling fresco glorifying himself instead of using it to take care of his pack members.
He wondered if his father was aware of Josiah’s actions and, if so, whether he’d have approved of them.
Snorting at the thought, Jackson realized he knew the answer.
His father would have mocked Josiah endlessly.
Shaking images of the past away, he asked, “Where to?”
“They’re waiting in the dining room,” Smokey said, pausing for a moment before he asked, “Is there a problem with Theo’s parents? Ollie said Ian was waiting for some test results…?”
“No, they’re fine.”
“Thank fucking gods,” Smokey muttered under his breath as he headed to his mates.
Following behind, Jackson silently agreed with Smokey’s sentiment, but whether the grizzly bear would feel the same way once the purpose of his visit became known was anyone’s guess.
Entering the dining room, he glanced around the grandiose space before his eyes landed on Norman and Theo, revealing the worry in their faces.
“Hey guys,” Jackson said, sitting down opposite them.
“This place has certainly changed since the last time I was here.”
Glancing quickly around, Norm said, “Hopefully not for the better.”
Chuckling, Jackson said, “Nope…back when we were young, it was more kid-friendly. Now, it feels like you have to be in a tuxedo before you can sit down to dinner.”
Theo giggled. “The rest of the house is that way too. When Tristan gave us a tour, he said it was much worse—crammed with gold doodads everywhere.”
“Doodads?” Jackson asked, raising an eyebrow.
“That’s what he called them,” Theo said. “Though I’m not really sure what he meant.”
“That’s okay…don’t need to have that image etched in my mind,” Jackson said, shaking his head. “The way the house is now is bad enough.”
Losing whatever patience he had since learning Jackson wanted to speak to his mates, Smokey asked, “Why are you here?”
Jackson glanced at Smokey before turning to Theo. “I spoke with your parents, and I’m convinced they didn’t send you to Arald’s.”
“Was it my parents?” asked Norm.
“I don’t believe they had anything to do with it either,” Jackson replied.
“Then who did?” growled Smokey.
“I’ll get to that in a minute, but first I have a few questions for Norm,” Jackson said.
Shrugging, Norm said, “Okay…I don’t know if I can answer them since the last thing I remember was eating dinner before waking up in one of Arald’s cells.”
“That’s fine…just answer what you can,” Jackson said. “When you were at Arald’s with Theo, could you read his mind?”
“Yes.”
“What about before…were you able to read anyone’s mind?” asked Jackson.
“No…”
“What about now…whose mind can you read other than Theo’s?”
Norm paused for a moment, worried about why Jackson was asking about his ability. Deciding to be cautious, he said, “Smokey’s.”
“When did that happen?”
“I don’t know…maybe when I found out he was our mate?”
“Was it before you claimed each other?” asked Jackson.
“Yeah.”
“Same as it was with Theo?” asked Jackson.
“Uh-huh,” Norm said.
“Are you asking if we share a mind link?” asked Theo.
“No, honey bunch,” Norm said softly, looking at Jackson. “This is something else, right?”
Nodding, Jackson said, “It is…not every Ghost Bear has that ability.”
“But I do,” Norm murmured.
“It would appear so.”
“Who told you about me?” asked Norm.
“Not about you specifically,” Jackson said. “However, Wesley mentioned that the son of a Ghost Bear Alpha gains the ability to read the minds of pack members when he meets his mate. According to Dylon, Kieran told him you could read Theo’s mind when you were in separate cells.”
“Ki figured it out because I insisted he give my food to Theo on the days he was very hungry.”
“When he asked you about it, what did you say?” asked Jackson.
“I told him the truth…that I could read Theo’s mind even though we hadn’t claimed each other,” Norm said. “But Theo’s father got it wrong because I’m not the son of the Ghost Bear Alpha. My parents are members…that’s all.”
“Hmm…were your parents close to the current Ghost Bear Alpha?” asked Jackson.
“Don’t you mean ‘are they’?” asked Theo.
Norm glanced at Theo for a moment. He wasn’t sure what his mate was implying, but then he looked at Jackson and saw…No way!…sympathy written all over his face. Unable to voice the thought, he merely shook his head in denial.
Jackson saw Norm’s shock first before it morphed into disbelief, and it broke his heart.
He knew those feelings as his mind flashed back to the moment Jimmy told him about the death of his younger siblings.
And he wished Norm didn’t have to go through this, but as he and his brothers had learned, it was better to face the truth than avoid it.
“I’m sorry, Norm…according to Theo’s mom, the Alpha killed your parents shortly after you were sent to Arald’s,” Jackson said softly.
Theo gasped, then leaned over and wrapped his arm around Norm, tears filling his eyes. Looking over to Smokey, he silently begged him for help before whispering in Norm’s ear that he was sorry about his loss.
Growling under his breath, Smokey pulled Norm onto his lap, tucking him against his chest as he tried to quell the trembling of his mate’s body.
But it was the coldness of Norm’s skin that alerted Smokey to the danger his mate was in.
Wasting no time, he pressed his lips against his mate’s forehead and murmured the ancient words he’d learned from his grandfather.
Smokey repeated them over and over until Norm’s body quieted and his mate’s spirit found some relief from his grief. When that happened, Smokey gently kissed the top of Norm’s head and asked, “Do you want to stop? Jackson can come back later.”
Norm thought about his parents. They hadn’t doted on him, but they made sure he was well cared for.
And while neither of them was overly affectionate, he never felt unwanted.
Raising his eyes, he looked at Jackson and said, “No…I want to know why the Alpha killed them. It just doesn’t make any sense. ”
“Why not?” asked Theo.
“Because they were very close friends,” Norm explained.
“How close?” asked Jackson.
“I don’t know…just close,” Norm said. “The Alpha would visit at least once and sometimes twice a week. None of my parents’ other friends came that often. Does that sound like they didn’t like each other?”
“No, it doesn’t,” Jackson said. “It sounds like they were tight…would you say the Alpha trusted your parents? And vice versa? More so than other pack members?”
Shrugging, Norm said, “I guess…my parents did nothing without asking the Alpha’s permission…especially regarding me. The only time they didn’t was the day I told them about Theo.”
Nodding, Jackson said, “According to Theo’s mother, the Alpha was angry that Norm’s parents had ruined his plan.”
“What plan?” snarled Smokey.
“I don’t know,” Jackson said. “But I think it might have to do with Norm and his ability to read minds.”
“You’ve lost me,” Norm said. “My parents were killed because I could read Theo’s mind? Impossible…they didn’t know that because it only happened after we were at Arald’s.”
“I’m confused, too,” Theo said.
“Yeah…just what are you implying?” Smokey snapped.
“I think Norm is the son of the former Ghost Bear Alpha,” Jackson said. “I know it sounds impossible, but it’s the only explanation that makes any sense.”
“You’re fucking joking,” Smokey growled.
“Can you prove it?” asked Theo eagerly.
“Maybe,” Jackson said. “Right now, it’s only my opinion, but I have Zane doing some research, and I asked Ian to run a DNA test on Norm and the current Alpha. That’s one reason I’m here…to ask Norm if he’ll provide a sample. All Ian needs is a couple strands of your hair with the roots attached.”
“How can you do a match when the former Alpha is dead?” asked Norm.
“Ian can use a hair sample from a sibling of the former Alpha…”
“That would be current Alpha,” Norm whispered.
Nodding, Jackson said, “Yes, we’ll get a sample of his hair…”
“How?” asked Smokey. “I can’t see the current Alpha willingly handing over his DNA.”
“You’re right,” Jackson said. “That’s why Remy has volunteered to get it.”
“Using magic?” asked Theo.
“I didn’t ask him, but probably yes,” Jackson said.
“You said my DNA sample was one reason you’re here…what are the others?” Norm asked, pausing for a moment before continuing, “You wanted to know if I could read Theo’s mind before we claimed each other.”
“That, and I wanted to know if there were any other things you could do that Theo can’t,” Jackson said.
“Before our claiming or afterwards?” asked Norm.
“Both,” Jackson said. “Wesley thought there were other abilities the son of the Ghost Bear Alpha got when he found his mate, but he didn’t know what they were.”
“You already know I can read Smokey’s mind…” Norm said, his voice trailing off as he thought about Jackson’s request. Then, his eyes fell to Theo’s baby bump, and he grinned. Looking over at Jackson, he said, “I can also read the mind of our cub.”
One of Jackson’s eyebrows winged up at the news. “When did that happen? Could you do it early on, or has it happened lately?”