21. Finn
Chapter 21
Silas and Sam arrived at the safe house several hours later.
Jaime and Finn had washed and gotten dressed, but otherwise had left the cabin untouched. Their movements and routines as they switched places in the shower stall and dressed in the loft were familiar and hushed—there just wasn’t much to say about the situation until they knew how Sheppard wanted to proceed. But being close to each other was a comfort.
Finn knew that Jaime was avoiding looking at Bishop’s body, which was entirely fair. He didn’t particularly want to look at it, either.
But Jaime did not look away from him, and in the end that’s what mattered.
Jaime’s adamance and pride that he would have defended Finn just the same had healed something in his soul. After being afraid for so long to finally bare everything—all of the violence and anger he was capable of, in all of his forms—only for Jaime to wash him, tend to him, and press sweet words of love and acceptance into his skin, was axis-shifting.
Finn had no idea how he’d gotten so lucky in having Jaime as his mate, but he would be thankful for him every day for the rest of his life, and he would never let himself doubt his devotion and love again.
They were in the process of loading up the truck when their brothers pulled up. Finn heard Jaime’s breath catch at the sight of Sam, like he hadn’t really believed he was coming until now.
Jaime stood there, fingers tangled in the hem of his shirt as he tracked Sam’s movements. Sam halted, unreadable emotions playing across his face while he seemed to be debating with himself about what he should say, but then he threw himself forward, wrapping Jaime up in a tight embrace as they both began to cry.
Turning away to give them privacy, he saw Silas also rushing toward him, before he threw himself around Finn in a great bear hug.
Finn held him tight, patting him on the back. He wasn’t sure what to make of Silas’s confession over the phone, or why he would have kept that from him all these years. But it didn’t matter.
He pulled back just enough to press his forehead into Silas’s. “It doesn’t change anything. You are my brother. My longest friend. I’ll swing for the fences with you every day, every day, that’s never going to change. I don’t give a fuck that you’re an alpha, or that your Uncle is a power-hungry murderer.”
Honestly, he should have seen the alpha thing coming. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t put it together before now—there were several times over the years that his instincts had known and responded to the alpha in Silas, even without Finn knowing.
He’d just always assumed that alpha’s were… well, assholes. Controlling. He’d assumed that their need to order people around wouldn’t let them function in a dynamic like the one the four of them had in the military, with Sheppard in command. And Silas had never balked at being given orders, nor had he ever chafed against Sheppard’s direction at the security firm.
Silas just squeezed him harder, and tried to hide his tears.
And then Finn was crying, too.
It was at that moment that Sheppard pulled up. Stepping out of the truck, he took one look at the four of them, all teary-eyed and hugging each other, and said, “I’ll be inside.”
Silas released his grip on Finn, and stepped in to sweep Jaime up into his own bear hug. Finn thought that he might start crying all over again as he heard Silas rumble out how glad he was that Jaime was safe, how worried they’d been, how awful it had felt that they couldn’t do anything, how happy he was that his brother found such a good man, such a good mate…
He was surprised out of his second round of tears, however, when Sam gave him an assessing look before throwing his arms around him too, squeezing hard. Finn just stood there, arms held out, as Sam embraced him around the middle. He was so short that his head barely came up to Finn’s chest.
“Thank you for protecting my brother. I’m sorry for being an ass back at your house.”
Finn’s arms came around to pat him on the back, head tucked down. “You were protecting your brother from a stranger, I would have done the same.”
Sam took a step back. He assessed Finn again with that intense gaze—weighing him. He nodded once, and Finn felt a wave of relief that he hadn’t been found wanting.
Jaime sidled up next to them. He wrapped an arm around Finn’s waist, giving him a gentle squeeze before he turned to Sam. “Can we talk?”
“You two can sit in the truck, Si and I will go in and catch up with Sheppard.”
Finn pressed a kiss into Jaime’s hair, and passed him the truck keys. He ushered Silas onto the porch, whose gaze was locked back on Sam.
As the boys stepped up into the truck, Finn turned to his dearest friend, lifting one brow. “So. You and Sam, huh?”
Silas tore his eyes away, and gave Finn a look. “I didn’t pry into your business, you shouldn’t pry into mine.”
Finn guffawed. “You absolutely did pry into my business. You pried so far into my business, you started giving me dick anatomy lessons.”
Silas groaned. “Please, Finny. I thought we’d agreed to never bring that up again.”
He smiled at his brother. “Well? Are you two… getting to know each other?”
Silas refused to look at him. “There’s a decapitated wolf in the house, and you’re asking me about my love life?”
Finn nearly choked. “Love life? You’ve literally never called it that before. It’s always been whoever you’re currently fucking. Oh, Silas, have you thought this through? His brother is my mate. We will have to see him. Regularly. You can’t just drop this guy forever when you get tired of him.”
Silas did turn to him then, fire in his eyes. “Yes, I’ve fucking thought it through. No, I won’t tell you any more than that. Back off.”
Finn took a step back, hands held up. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to… sorry.”
Silas shook his head, clapping Finn on the back. “Me too. It’s been a tough couple of days. I’ve been worried sick about you all. Let’s just go inside, and figure out how we are going to deal with this mess, yeah?”
Finn nodded, and followed him into the cabin.
He couldn’t shake the conversation, though. Silas had never balked at being teased about his occasional flings before. Something about this was different.
The sight of Sheppard heaving Bishop’s decapitated head off the floor to inspect it brought him back to the situation at hand, however.
“Jesus, Finn.” Silas whistled.
He wasn’t proud of what he had done, but he wouldn’t apologize for it either. “He had Jaime cornered. He was going to kill him. I did what I had to do.”
“How did he get a jump on you?” Leave it to Sheppard to analyze every detail, and assess how to improve their training moving forward.
“I stepped out first thing this morning to use the outhouse and split some kindling. He got me when I was leaving the outhouse, hit me upside the head with something. When I woke up, I was gagged and bound. In the goddamn outhouse. I couldn’t hear specific words, but I could hear his voice, and Jaime’s, speaking to each other in the cabin. I could feel Jaime’s fear.”
He shivered, refusing to go back down that road right now. He’d have nightmares about this day for years, he knew.
“That sounds eerily similar to what he did to Jaime,” Silas said, inspecting the places that Finn’s claws had dug into Bishop’s body to hold him down.
Finn had thought the same thing when he was frantically clawing and ripping at the ties around his arms, struggling to free himself. An all new sense of respect and pride came over him that Jaime had come so far after experiencing something so terrifying. “It didn’t take me all that long to get out of the bindings once I woke up, but I’m not sure how long I was knocked out.”
“The phone call was less than ten minutes,” Silas answered roughly.
Ten minutes. It was such a narrow window of time, if he had woken up just a few minutes later… Another tremor passed through him.
Silas clapped him on the shoulder, sensing the direction of his thoughts. “You got there in time. Your mate is strong, and smart. Jaime walked Bishop into spilling all of his secrets like a fucking dog, and made him believe that he was in control the entire time. Don’t dwell on what-if’s, Finn. Not now that you’re here, on the other side of it.”
Finn nodded, grateful for the pep talk.
“Right,” Sheppard said. “There’s no sense in you two staying out here once we get this cleaned up, and it would be too difficult to come up with a convincing enough lie to explain to Gabriel why you’re suddenly both back in Silver Rapids, walking around like Bishop isn’t running around on the loose somewhere. I think we have to tell him.”
Silas raised his eyebrows at Finn, mouthing, “Gabriel?”
Finn shrugged his shoulders—Damn Sheppard and his secretive ways. “Do you mean that we tell the DA that Bishop is dead, or that The X-Files is a documentary?” he asked.
Silas snorted.
Finn smiled—Jaime had made that joke a few nights ago, when he’d told him about all of the paranormal beings he knew of.
Sheppard looked at him flatly. “Both.”
“Woah, boss. The DA? Really?”
Sheppard gave a single nod. “It will make our interactions with Monroe PD so much easier. There’s already several shifters on the force, not including the Salt Creek wolves. I don’t see a way around it.”
They both nodded in agreement. Sheppard never did anything without thorough consideration, which meant that he’d been considering bringing the DA up to speed for a while. This was just the final straw.
Together, they heaved up Bishop’s dead body and brought it outside, placing it between the cabin and the outhouse. Sheppard explained that he’d show the DA the phone call as proof of Jeffrey Dugan’s involvement, and let him decide how to proceed with Bishop’s case. He’d offer to show him the shifted body.
It went unspoken that they had the leverage in this situation, if he decided to turn on them. The DA couldn’t really accuse Finn of murder, seeing as there was no human body. He didn’t have much of a choice but to believe them.
They decided against cleaning up the cabin for now. As odd and unbelievable as the situation was, they didn’t want to give the impression that they were covering anything up. Yes, Finn had killed Bishop, but it was in defense of his mate. The real problems would come from the Salt Creek pack if they decided to avenge Bishop, but Sheppard speculated that they would be too busy dealing with Jeffrey Dugan’s arrest to worry too much about a low-ranking rogue.
Rounding the side of the cabin, they saw Sam and Jaime in another teary embrace, having emerged from the truck. They parted when the three wolves approached them, and when Jaime looked up at Finn he saw there was pain in his eyes, yes, but also a clarity and peace that hadn’t been there before.
“We’re getting ready to head back to Silver Rapids. Are you ready to go?” Finn asked gently.
Jaime nodded. “Let me use the bathroom first, then I’ll be ready.”
Sam said the same, giving Silas an unreadable look.
“Sam has a stalker.”
Finn whipped his head toward Jaime. They’d just pulled out onto the highway, having discussed Sheppard’s plan to tell DA Rivera everything when they got back into town on the long, bumpy track from the cabin to the main road.
“A stalker? Since when?”
Jaime heaved a sigh. “Sam earns money online, somehow. He’s never told me all the details. He said the stalker has popped up every now and then for years, but in the last year it got worse. They send threats that they know who Sam is in real life, know where he lives, that he has a younger brother.”
Jaime paused, voice turning rough. “They’ve threatened to hurt Sam. To hurt me. He says it’s why he pulled away. The stalker would send him pictures of his apartment, of us coming and going. He panicked, and thought the stalker would leave him alone if he just didn’t leave the house very often. But he didn’t want them to only see me, either.”
Finn’s heart ached. “So he pulled away from you.”
Jaime nodded, eyes welling up again. Finn reached across the console, taking his hand. “I’m sorry, baby. Did he say why he didn’t talk to you about this before now?”
Jaime huffed, and Finn could tell that question was still a sore spot between the two brothers. “He says he didn’t want to burden me anymore than I already was. That I was already going through it with Bishop and Vera’s murder, and he didn’t want me to worry anymore. He thought he was a burden on me.”
Jaime shook his head. He whispered, “I told him that’s how I’ve felt for the last year. Like he didn’t want anything to do with me, so he just threw money at me, instead.”
Finn squeezed his hand again. “How do you feel?”
Jaime was quiet for a bit. “Better, I think. I understand more, now. Or, well, I have a better idea of what was happening. I don’t understand why he didn’t share that with me. I thought we were always a team. But… I’m better. I think we will be better, too, in the future. If we try.”
Finn nodded. “Sometimes we do things out of love that don’t make sense. But…”
Finn stopped, unsure if Jaime wanted his input.
Jaime looked over at him. “But?”
Slowly, he continued, “But, to me, it seems that he cares about you very much. It seems like the attempts to help you that felt overbearing and judgmental were just his need to do something, to make up for what he thought he wasn’t able to do in other areas.”
A small smile appeared on Jaime’s face. “That’s what he said.”
“Do you believe him?”
Jaime glanced out the car window. “I don’t think he’s lying to me. I think he’s telling the truth. But believing that is going to take a while yet, I think.”
Therapy would help. Slowly mending what had broken between them would help. And Finn would help too, however and whenever he could.
He squeezed Jaime’s hand again. “So, not to change the subject, but…” Jaime looked over at him, raising an eyebrow. “I think there might be something going on between Silas and Sam.”
Jaime’s mouth dropped open. “Oh my God, really? Tell me everything.”
And so the rest of their trip passed quickly, a lightness shared between them as they chatted about Sam and Silas, and how Sheppard had called the DA Gabriel. Jaime called his lawyer to let her know that he was headed back into town, and that the DA would have updates for her soon, and then Sheppard called to tell them to head straight to the security firm’s office in Silver Rapids where DA Rivera had agreed to meet with them.
Sitting across from the DA in the security firm’s large conference room with Jaime’s hand in his, Finn was very thankful that he’d ended up going with the “rip the bandaid off” method of telling Jaime about wolf shifters, because Gabriel Rivera was not taking the “tell then show” method well.
He hadn’t believed them at all, really, accusing Sheppard—who he called Cam—of fucking with him. Sheppard just sat there, raising one stoic eyebrow at the attorney before he stood, and began undressing.
Jaime groaned, putting his head in his hands. “Ugh, not you, too.”
Sam looked from Sheppard to Jaime in alarm at that exclamation.
DA Rivera turned to the two brothers like they were the only three sane people left in the world. “Jaime, what the hell is going on? Have they been feeding you this bullshit the entire time? Why didn’t you tell me? I would have gotten you out, brought you somewhere safe. Jesus Christ Cam, why the fuck are you getting naked?—”
His rant was cut off as Sheppard shifted, skipping right over the partial shift and going straight for the wolf.
Finn could tell that Jaime was surprised by the size of him, taking up nearly half of the conference room with his bulk, noticeably larger than Finn’s wolf.
He smirked, and leaned into Jaime’s ear. “My wolf is smaller than theirs, since I’m only half shifter. It makes me stealthier.”
Jaime swallowed and nodded. “Uh-huh. Yes. I see that, now.”
“Oh my God.” DA Rivera looked like he was going to pass out.
Jaime stood, walking over to where he sat and put a supportive hand on his shoulder. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but I promise, they’re not scary. Well, they are if you’re threatening to hurt someone they care about, but you aren’t doing that, so we’re all good. Right, Finn? All good?”
Before Finn could answer, Jaime’s face lit up in the most adorable way, like he’d just had a great idea. “When they’re happy, they purr!”
Silas choked. “Wait, what? Did you just say that Finn purrs?”
Sam was looking at Jaime like he had sprouted a second head.
Jaime gave Finn a sly smile. “Sometimes.”
DA Rivera was still staring at Sheppard. “I’m sorry, have you all lost your goddamn minds? A man I’ve known for my entire life just turned into a giant dog. Will someone please explain this to me?”
“Good luck with that,” Sam mumbled, shooting Finn a look.
“I did explain it to you already, Gabriel. You just chose not to believe me. Take a few minutes to digest, and then we can discuss arresting Jeffrey Dugan and what to do about Bishop’s body.” Sheppard had shifted back by now, and was putting his clothes back on.
“You’re lucky they aren’t telling you to completely ignore what you just saw because it has nothing to do with you,” Sam groused, earning a look from Jaime.
DA Rivera ignored him though, eyes bugging out of his head as he watched Sheppard get dressed. “Bishop’s body? Did you kill Jackson Bishop, Cam?”
Silas waved his hands around. “I’m sorry, can we please circle back to the purring? What the fuck is Jaime talking about, Finn?”
He blushed. “I don’t purr. When I’m, um. Content. My chest makes a low rumbling noise.”
Jaime snickered. “Content.”
Silas raised an eyebrow, a smirk stretching across his face. “So, you purr.”
“It’s clearly a sex thing, and I don’t want to hear about my brother’s freaky wolfy fucking. Drop it,” Sam sniped.
Jaime turned bright red in confirmation, and Silas gave Sam another one of those heated looks.
Ugh, it was going to start stinking in here if they didn’t hurry this up.
DA Rivera had his face cupped in his hands, massaging his temples. “Will someone please tell me if Jackson Bishop is dead? And how he got that way? I’ve got searchers out looking for him, and there’s a storm system coming in. If I can call them back, I need to know now.”
The rest of their meeting went by slightly less chaotically, and DA Rivera mostly just listened to Sheppard’s explanation of Bishop’s attack, his death, and the phone call confession that implicated Jeffrey Dugan in Vera’s murder.
Afterwards, he made his own phone calls to bring the searchers who were out looking for Bishop back in before the storm, and to have the team that was tailing Dugan bring him in for questioning. By the time they got him to the station, the arrest warrants would be ready to go.
Finn couldn’t help but respect DA Rivera. He may be struggling with all of the wolfy business, but whatever history he had with Sheppard was apparently enough for him to take the man at his word about the phone call’s merit. He told Sheppard to send it to him without even asking to listen, first. Which was good, because Finn wasn’t in any kind of headspace to listen to that.
He wouldn’t be for a while, probably.
Things were still tense between Sheppard and the DA, though, and oddly enough, it seemed like the glances that passed between them were more hurt-laden than anything else.
On their way out, DA Rivera told Jaime that no matter how they decided to handle Bishop’s death, they clearly couldn’t put him on trial for killing Vera anymore, but that he would more than likely have to testify at Jeffrey Dugan’s trial when the time came.
Jaime nodded. Seeing as Bishop’s trial had taken over six months to start from the time of his arrest, that was a future problem.
Right now, Finn desperately wanted to bring Jaime home. Whether that was back to his cabin, or to Finn’s house, he didn’t care. He just wanted a hot shower that they both fit into, and a bed, where he’d remind them both that they were alive—that they were together.
Then, maybe dinner at Andi’s.
That would have to wait a little longer, however, because as they all walked out of the office together before going their separate ways, the group halted at who was standing before them.
Alpha Cain, head of the Salt Creek pack, stood in their parking lot, flanked by two partially shifted wolves on either side.
Finn had never met him before, but he’d seen pictures. He looked to be in his late fifties, maybe early sixties, with salt and pepper hair and light brown eyes, catching almost yellow in the afternoon light. He wasn’t the largest man among the five of them that were facing off, but Finn could sense the overwhelming alpha presence, the command in his gaze.
He looked long and hard at Silas, before skipping over Jaime and Sam, sandwiched between them, to settle on Finn, and then Sheppard. His lip curled in contempt, before addressing DA Rivera. “So, they’ve told you. Good. That will make this conversation easier.”
Finn thought it was a good thing that Sheppard had shown DA Rivera the full wolf shift after all, hoping it took away some of the shock of seeing the five partially shifted men before them now.
A low, rumbling growl, one Finn had never heard before, came from Silas. “What are you doing here, Cain?”
The four wolves flanking him snarled at the lack of respectful address, and Finn, Silas, and Sheppard all stepped forward at once, standing in front of the three humans with them.
They were outnumbered, but they had trained together, fought together as a pack before. If they were able to get the boys back inside, they might stand a chance of fending off the Salt Creek guards until Monroe PD could be called?—
Alpha Cain held up a hand. “I’m not here for a confrontation, Nephew. Stand down.”
Silas shook under the weight of the ignored command, but did not ease his protective stance in front of Sam. And this time, Sam wasn’t trying to elbow his way around the larger man, seeming content to sidle closer to Jaime, angling his body protectively.
Silas asked him again, “What are you doing here?”
The alpha shook his head. “The mess that Jeffrey Dugan and Jackson Bishop caused was unfortunate. I came to say that they were not acting on my orders, and that I will not be protecting Jeffrey Dugan from being held accountable. Bishop’s death was also unfortunate, but it’s probably for the best that it was at your mutt’s hands and not mine, for his insubordination.”
Silas winced. “How do you know that he’s dead?”
Alpha Cain gave him a look that said he wasn’t fooled by the deflection. “I can smell his blood all over your Second.”
Finn blinked at the address.
“Why should we believe that you had nothing to do with Vera’s murder and the attack on Finn and Jaime?” DA Rivera looked a bit less frazzled now, having collected himself from the shock of their arrival.
Cain ignored the DA’s question, but gave him an appraising look. “Prosecute Jeffrey Dugan and let that be the end of it, District Attorney Rivera. I would hate for the career that you’ve worked so hard for to be jeopardized over a few files you shouldn’t be digging around in, anyway.”
DA Rivera paled, and Sheppard’s hackles rose, a low growl rumbling from him.
Cain turned his nasty smirk back on Silas. “And the same goes for you, Nephew. Let’s set the past aside. I would hate for something bad to happen if you go poking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Sam did step forward, then. Not to bat Silas out of the way, but to stand in front of him. “Is that a threat?”
The alpha’s gaze fell to Sam, like he’d just noticed him for the first time. His lips tipped up in a knowing smile that made Finn’s skin crawl. “I would also hate for your growing pack to be held accountable for your meddling.”
Silas’s answering snarl was vicious and terrifying, and he wrapped an arm around Sam’s shoulders, pulling him back into him. “Get out of here, and do not threaten me or mine again, Cain.”
They stared at each other for another long minute, before the alpha cocked his head at his guard and they turned to leave, heading for two large SUVs with blacked out windows.
The group let out a collective sigh when they drove off, and as Finn turned toward Jaime, he caught DA Rivera’s mumbled question to Sheppard.
“What have you all gotten yourselves into, Cam?”