Chapter 19
Jamie chuckled. “Oh? You in a rush to get rid of them, huh?”
Aiden gave a weak version of what Jamie assumed was supposed to be a shrug.
“Mate still weak. Take care of him,” Jamie’s wolf snapped.
“I really like our friends, but they can be a lot,” Aiden murmured.
“You’re not wrong,” Jamie agreed. “Now, let me get help get you dressed so you’re decent.”
Aiden huffed a laugh. “You’re going to have to do most of the work. My body doesn’t want to move right now.”
“That’s fine. Let me take care of you for a change, huh?”
Jamie leaned Aiden against the side of the sofa and placed a T-shirt over his head. He carefully pulled his long, muscular arms through the sleeves, trying not to stare too long. He scolded himself. Focus. He’s in no shape for you to leer at him!
Jamie covered him with a hooded GLPD sweatshirt and then reached for the pair of donated sweatpants. There were also a pair of athletic socks and sneakers.
“No Underoos?” Aiden asked with a smirk.
“Alas no. I’m afraid you’ll have to go commando.”
Aiden grinned. “Positively indecent,” he joked.
“I agree.” Jamie tried but failed to keep a straight face.
Jamie finished dressing him and then crouched in front of the sitting Aiden, leaning back on his heels. “Alright, handsome, let’s get you upstairs. You feeling any stronger?”
“A bit,” a pink cheeked Aiden answered. “I’ll need help standing, but I should be able to shuffle along with some help.”
Slowly, and with one of his arms wrapped around Aiden’s side, they made it upstairs to face… well, face everyone in the house, including baby Amber.
Jamie settled Aiden into one of the soft armchairs in the living room and then turned around to address their friends.
“Yeah, we are going to head out now unless…” He let his voice trail off at the concerned looks in the room. “What’s happening here? Why do you all look like that?” They were staring at Aiden.
Heath cleared his throat. “While you were downstairs, I got a call from Jasper. It seems like your father left a present on the SCB’s doorstep.”
“Literally right in front of the door to their temporary office in town,” Deacon added.
Jamie sighed and planted his hands on his hips. “Well, what?”
“Barbequed Wolf,” May blurted out. She looked furious.
Jamie gasped while Aiden gave a strangled cry.
After shaking his head to clear it. Jamie asked. “What?”
“A burned body was left outside the SCB’s front door in Grey Lake,” Piper said. “My mate thinks it’s one of Ted’s friends.”
Jamie rubbed a hand up and down his face. “Are they sure it was a wolf shifter? I mean, if the body was burned by phoenix fire, how could they tell what or who it was? Doesn’t phoenix fire incinerate?”
“It wasn’t incinerated. There was enough left of the body to tell it was lupine. Based on the size, it seems to be a shifter. His scent was faint, but it smelled like Adam Hendrix, according to Jasper. He sent an agent out to his house. It was empty. They’ll do DNA analysis to be sure,” Heath said.
“Do they have proof that my father did it? I mean, did they see him do it? Were they able to get video of him dumping the body?” Aiden asked, voice rising higher with each word. “Do they have enough to arrest him, for fuck’s sake?”
“Well, no one saw who dropped the body off because it wasn’t brought there by vehicle,” Deacon said.
“Someone carried it?” Jamie asked. “Well, then someone had to see who did it then, right?”
“We believe it was your dad,” May said to Aiden, “because the body fell from the sky still on fire.”
Jamie gasped, and Aiden let loose a string of expletives that would make a biker blush.
“What the hell are we going to do?” Aiden spat. “We’ve got to stop him, but look at me! I can still barely move on my own.”
Mac walked up closer to where he sat and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You are going to go home and recover. Then we’re going to figure out where we can train you in secret.”
“What? Why in secret?” Jamie asked.
“If Daddy sees us training his pride and joy out in the open, what’s to stop him from flying out here and attacking before Aiden’s ready to fight?” May asked.
“What’s to stop him from doing that now anyway?” Jamie asked.
“Doesn’t know about me yet,” Aiden’s phoenix said silently.
“Did you guys hear that?” Heath asked. He glanced at everyone present. “The phoenix?”
“Yes,” replied everyone, including Annie and Ted.
“How can he not know? Doesn’t he have magic powers like Tessa? Shouldn’t he have sensed that you shifted?” Jamie asked.
“Tessa helped train little witch to hide me. Didn’t she?” the phoenix smoothly answered telepathically.
“Piper?” Heath asked.
“I didn’t know it would work,” a blushing Piper answered. “There was really no way to tell if it worked until he shifted. I mean, we still really don’t know, do we?”
“I know. I can sense his emotions. He still thinks of me as his disappointing offspring. Nothing’s changed,” the phoenix said. “He would have attempted to contact me if he knew we’d been able to shift.”
“That’s weird, huh?” Jamie asked Aiden. “Him speaking into everyone’s head while you’re still in your human form.”
Aiden gave him a lazy smile. “That’s probably the least weird thing that’s happened, but yes.” He laid his head against the back of the chair and heaved a sigh.
“Can I take him home to rest now?” Jamie couldn’t keep all the irritation he felt from his tone.
Heath frowned, but Mac gave him a kind smile. “Of course. Remember, he needs lots of protein and rest. Nothing that’ll make him more fatigued.”
“Yeah, behave yourself firewalker.” May smirked at Jamie.
Oh, for God’s sake! He rolled his eyes.
“I like the white wolf. She’s reading my mind,” Aiden’s phoenix murmured in Jamie’s head.
Jamie froze. “Could they hear that?”
The phoenix let out a deep throaty laugh within Jamie’s mind. “No, that one was just for you.”
“Firewalker, huh?” Jamie asked May.
May grinned. “Give me some time. I’m sure I’ll come up with something better.”
“I’m sure you will.” He turned to Aiden. “You ready?” He held out a hand.
Aiden leaned forward and placed his hand within Jamie’s. “Let’s go home.”