Chapter 12
Grayson
The ringing of Jay’s phone from somewhere on the other side of the nest pulls Grayson from a sleep that had been, thankfully, devoid of dreams. Groaning, Grayson rolls into a warm spot to rub his nose in a pillow that smells like Leo and home.
Like the rest of his pack, Jay is nowhere to be seen, but the sound of the shower and Nix’s giggles tells him his Alpha is in the nest’s bathroom.
The music cuts out after three rings, going to voicemail, and doesn’t ring again.
After he and Nix had crash-landed into a pile of crap in Kirwan’s kitchen last night, Grayson had thought it might be hard to fall back asleep. But his Alpha had pulled him into his arms, his pine scent convincing Grayson’s wolf—as it always does—that everything is going to be alright.
Something about strong arms and experience convinces his wolf that there’s nothing they can’t handle together.
Glancing at his own phone, he sees it’s just after seven. He’s had three hours of sleep. It won’t help him keep on an even keel at the Guild, but he’s not soul-deep exhausted like he had been before they’d destroyed the foci.
Still, he can’t go into the Guild with this level of focus. He has just enough time for a run to Common Grounds to get his blood pumping, and if he can catch Gideon before he goes to Ruckus, Grayson might get him to join him and foot the bill.
It’s not that Grayson can’t pay for his own coffee and breakfast sandwich—it’s that Gideon is happy to do it, and Grayson likes it when Gideon is happy.
He’s sitting on the side of the nest, gathering energy to look for his running shoes, when he hears Leo’s steps in the hallway. He slides into the nest room on socked feet, cheeks flushed and a frowning mouth kissed red.
“Shit, shit, shit. Where’s Jay?”
Grayson’s stomach drops into his toes, only to threaten to come back up on a wave of foreboding.
“Leo?” Nix growls from the restroom. He appears dripping wet in the doorway, with a very aroused Jay braced behind him.
“Jay, you gotta get dressed,” Leo says. “Dad says shit has hit the fan. The Guards showed up at Ignatius’s hotel. He was allowed one phone call to his attorney.”
“We knew this was coming. Where are we meeting them?” Jay doesn’t waste time asking who called or why they’re being detained. “Is the Guarda coming here?”
This is bad. So very bad.
The Guarda is the magical branch of the police force governed by Interstate joint standards, though still influenced by the culture and traditions of each country. Its official title is a mouthful—Global Association Symposium on The Plain—and ironically goes by the acronym GASP.
The pack had run into the Floridian equivalent when they’d been looking for Winnie and Ansel.
There had also been some present at the Guild versus the Federal Branch of the Were Rights contingent when they were deciding Grayson’s temporary fate back in February, after Rowan’s run-in with crafting supplies.
In Grayson’s experience, this branch of GASP had tunnel vision regarding laws and could, as a group, lean toward being abrupt, aggressive, and narrow-minded—unlike their Floridian counterparts. That did not bode well for Ignatius, Nimue, and Elysia.
Jay grabs a towel from inside the bathroom door and wraps Nix up before doing the same for himself. “Dammit. I’d hoped we’d dodged that bullet.”
“Still too soon, Jamie,” Nix says, understandably—as they all are—still holding a mini-grudge for the near miss on Jay’s life. He throws on Grayson’s t-shirt from the nest and tries to offer Jay one of Gideon’s, too.
“Sorry, but I’m gonna need my suit, baby boy.”
They form a little entourage as they follow Jay like ducklings down the hall and into the living room, where Gideon and Luca have the babies on the counter in their bouncy chairs and Skye in his booster, coloring a picture.
Grayson can see Rowan-wolf in the backyard, with Tsuki darting in and out of the trees—both inspecting the perimeter, noses to the ground as if the Guarda is scaling the walls as they speak.
Finn watches from the rose bench: the voice of reason in case Rowan-wolf takes matters into his own hands and tries to rescue their allies.
When Skye sees Jay, he climbs down from his chair with his picture and stops their procession with his arms up, insisting Jay pick him up.
Their pack Alpha doesn’t hesitate, but loses his grip on his towel in the process.
“Whoa!” Leo manages to save him from flashing the kids, tucking the edge in with a little extra attention to the front.
“Hey, little guy. What’s up?”
Skye doesn’t answer, sticks his nose into Jay’s neck, only to pop his head up with a sneeze and a narrow-eyed look of suspicion.
Grayson can’t blame him. Jay’s scent is a little smoky with worry, and a lot pissed off—it makes his nose tingle, too.
“I’m okay, baby. What did you make?” He’s admirably trying to make his face match his words, careful not to oversell “happy” when he’s clearly not.
He shows Jay the picture of a big wolf-like dog he’d colored in so much reddish-orange crayon that the outline isn’t visible underneath. He’d given it red eyes, though, and added some dark pink squiggles around the outside. There’s no doubt it’s Rowan-wolf.
“Wow, that’s impressive. Did you show Rowan already?”
He shakes his head, gaze going toward the yard where Rowan is sitting at attention, head on a swivel as he surveys the back of the property.
“When he comes inside, then? That’s a good idea.”
“What are we going to do?” Luca asks, and he’s careful to keep his tone even, but his black eyes are flashing with anger. “They’re here to help us, and now they’re in jail. It’s not right. It’s stupid that they have to have permission outside state lines. We’re all American.”
Jay squeezes Skye before setting him back in his chair with a gentle hand over his hair. “Agreed. But after what happened in Professor Kirwan’s apartment, I’m not surprised. We didn’t follow protocol, and now we have to deal with the consequences.”
They’d called Ignatius, Antonio, and Lauren last night after he and Nix had debriefed the pack.
Their friends had insisted that they weren’t going to be run off by threats of interference—despite Jay’s offer to spirit them away home.
They had considered this as a possible outcome before even coming to Tennessee, after all.
Leo’s voice is quick. “Dad doesn’t think the Guarda will come here. As we talked about last night, they’re not talking until Dad and Blair Shepherd can get there. Besides, there’s no way they’ll throw us under the bus.”
Jay exhales through his nose, the sound sharp as the words that follow. “No, but the jet was booked and paid for by us. Our fingerprints are all over this, so I need to know what the worst-case scenario is for them and for the pack. Did Antonio say where they’re being held?”
“At the Guarda.” Leo is already fishing out his phone, words clipped now. “He and Blair will meet us there.”
Gideon and Nix growl at the same time, and it would be funny if Grayson weren’t freaked out that his mentors were under lock and key because of him.
“Let’s hope things go according to their plan.”
The lawyer had set into motion something that would change the Rhodes pack dynamic forever, and Grayson finds his wolf is happy about it.
Gideon has a soft blue apron over his running clothes. It looks like he had the same idea as Grayson, but was just waiting for Grayson to ask.
“Love, I need you and Finn here with the kids.” Jay tips his head toward the yard where Rowan is standing, ruff up as he watches a squirrel run along the fence. His look encompasses Luca and Skye as well.
Skye wouldn’t tolerate Luca leaving him behind—he will probably balk at Jay going out the door, too.
He’s catching up on all those years without a pack and sees Jay as the leader he is.
Luca has been his emotional anchor, and he has small outbursts when Luca isn’t within sight to filter out the hard things or ease the way.
Grayson is so proud of Luca. He’s a great dad to the girls, but has hit the ground running with a traumatized toddler who has no idea of what it means to live life as part of a pack.
He takes a step toward the kitchen so he can kiss his mate’s cheek, maybe grab his juicy butt under his t-shirt, when Jay’s voice stops him.
“Pretty, you and Nix will need to be on guard today. We only got part of the story from Professor Kirwan, and so far, we don’t know why she is so fixated.
It’s clearly bigger than just an overeager teacher trying to make a name for herself with a talented student and whatever The One means…
that shit never bodes well. Is there anyone on staff who you can talk to about the foci? ”
The offense is serious enough that they could take it to the Headmaster Percival, but he hasn’t been the staunchest Grayson-magical-Were supporter despite his original pride at stealing him away from Florida’s Guild. He especially dislikes Jay.
Gideon has an opinion on that. He thinks it’s that the headmaster is envious of both Grayson’s and Jay’s power. No, Percival wouldn’t be Grayson’s first choice for help.
“What about your Earth professor? The one with the sculptures and scones?” Leo asks. “Professor Shaw? She seems like she’d be aboveboard.”
Gideon has his phone in his hand and scrolls through his phone until he stops to read something. “Hmmm…Augusta Shaw. Nothing to note on Adam’s report except a bit of rebellion in her early twenties. I like her.” He doesn’t say what Professor Shaw had been up to, but it has put a smile on his face.
“You investigated her?” Grayson asks, and while he shouldn’t be surprised, it does beg the question of why Gideon hadn’t been suspicious of Professor Kirwan.
“Gideon, I thought we talked about this—” Jay interrupts.
Gideon ignores his disapproval and the narrow-eyed glare that promises this discussion isn’t over. “Of course I did, and before you ask, Kirwan looks perfect on paper. But Adam does mention she’s almost too squeaky clean, and I have to agree.”