Wulf took the opportunity of asking her about her father and foster parent that she had mentioned while they were arguing, as they walked outside. At first, she was quiet, he thought she wasn’t going to say anything as he could see her reluctance, but after a while looking away from him she started to speak.

“My mom died at child birth, so it was just my father and me. He worked hard and tried to be with me as much as possible. A year before he left he started drinking heavily and coming late to pick me up at the sitters. One day he just didn’t pick me up anymore. I was eight when I was taken into foster care. The first couple who I was with were friendly and took good care of me until I was twelve and then they noticed the art works I was painting.  When I painted my foster mom’s car accident where she was hurt quite badly by a drunk driver, they started to look at me differently and whispered behind my back. Three months after the incident I was integrated back into the system.”

She was standing next to him looking at the trees, but Wulf could see that she was seeing the past and not what was around them. She had her arms wrapped around herself as if she was cold or to protect her from the memories. He wanted to hold her and try to keep her memories at bay, but he also knew that he had to know about her past, that it was a big part of her insecurities, of her fears.

“Fred, took me in when I was thirteen. From the beginning, I was wary of him. He used to drink quite a lot and went into rages where he shouted and threw things, but he never hurt me at the time.” A tear slipped down her face at this stage. Wulf could feel his heart constrict and he knew that he wasn’t going to like the rest of this story.

“The first time I went into a trance at Fred’s, he laughed at me and made fun of what a retard he had got, but two weeks later when the train derailing I had painted happened, he started trying to force me to paint other things, but it doesn’t work like that. I can’t paint when I want to, it just happens. He didn’t understand that and started to beat me and locked me up without food. Then one day a friend of his came to the house. That day I painted a house on fire. Apparently two days later, this friend’s kitchen caught fire and the house was nearly engulfed in flames. This made Fred think that he would be able to make money with my paintings, so he started to bring people to the house. For some I would be able to paint occurrences, but for others I couldn’t. When I couldn’t paint anything, he would get into a rage and beat me. Once he beat me so badly that I had to go in for stitches and a concussion.”

Wulf was glad that she wasn’t looking at him. He wanted to find this man that had hurt her like this and make him suffer. He could feel his rage growing at her pain. A few times through her recounting he went to hug her but then he held back. He had to let her finish her story. He had to try to get the fucker’s full name. As soon as he had his name; Fred did not know it yet but he was a dead man.

“Just before my eighteenth birthday I heard him talk to someone about how he was finally going to make a lot of money with me. That night I ran away. It wasn’t easy but I managed to dodge him for eight months before he found me. I was living on the streets then. I managed to slip away but it was close. After that time, he nearly caught me twice more, but I manged to keep ahead of him. I knew that if he caught me I wouldn’t live long as I wasn’t able to do what he wanted me to do.”

By now the tears were running down her face. Wulf couldn’t take anymore. He wrapped his arms around her, bringing her head against his chest. He stroked her hair, trying to calm her and drive the memories away. He was also trying to calm himself but he knew the only way he was going to calm down was when he found the weasel and ended his life.

“What was his last name, Angel?”

“Fred Steytler,” she whispered. He could feel her shudder at his name. Just the thought of her fear made him want to leave right now and put an end to him. Steytler would feel the pain. The fear that he had made her feel, before he died. Before he left to stake out the building he would ask Celmund to find this Fred Steytler and then he was going to go and pay him a visit.

“Angel, don’t think about him anymore. I promise he won’t hurt you anymore. Come with me, let me show you the horses.”

They had been outside for about an hour. Wulf had introduced her to the horses. She was patting one of the horse’s flanks when Wulf tensed, raising his head. After a few seconds, he relaxed. “Draco’s coming,” he said.

A few minutes later she heard the bike. It still amazed her how good these men’s hearing was. Draco came into view. He was riding such an unusual bike. It was a real beast of a bike but it suited him; full of character.  Stopping the bike next to them, he said, “I’m glad to see you two here.” He was smiling, but she noticed that the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“Yeah, Wulf twisted my arm until I agreed to come outside,” she teased.

“Oh really, well then maybe we should go back inside, seeing that you’re not enjoying yourself,” Wulf threatened playfully, taking hold of her upper arm and making as if he was going to march them back inside.

“No. Draco help me, take him away.”

“Hey, don’t drag me into this. I would just put you over my shoulder. He’s just being nice.” They all laughed when she stuck her tongue out at him, moving away to go and pat another horse a few metres away.

“How did it go?” Wulf asked when they were out of her hearing.

“It didn’t. She will only speak to you.” Wulf was standing with his legs braced apart and hands on his hips. At his words Draco could see the turmoil in his eyes.

“How’s it going with you two?” Draco asked. When he had left his heart had been heavy for his friend. He was pleased to see that they were doing better. He had been worried that their problem would upset everything again, when they needed her help to get the children and women out of the way, before they attacked the building.

“It’s going to take time for her to trust me, but we’re okay. Draco, I’m not going to jeopardize my relationship. I hurt her even though it was unintentional. I will not do it again.” Draco could see the conviction in his eyes. He understood his friend, he even envied him. For centuries, he had dreamed of finding his mate, of finally ending his loveless, empty existence. Even with the upheavals he had seen and heard about with Wulf and Jas, their love was plain to see. To have someone to share your every thought, to be completely open with, someone who would not judge you; Draco craved that, but all he could do was carry on, hoping that his mate was out there and that she would cross his path soon.

“She said that she had info on Vercin. If you want to meet her tomorrow same arrangement again.” he looked over Wulf’s shoulder as he saw Jas approaching.

“What’s wrong?” she asked holding Wulf’s hand as she reached him. His eyes were shuttered but he was standing stiff as if at any moment he would explode into movement. She looked across at Draco, feeling his eyes on her. He seemed guilty in a way.

“I was …” Draco started.

Wulf growled, “Leave it!” Draco looked at him for a few seconds. Jas could feel there was silent communication going on between them. Draco shrugged, started his bike and rode into the garage.

“Wulf?” she was looking up at him questioningly. He brought her hand to his lips, nipping her fingers “Come, let’s go in, I have to start preparing to leave, Ceric must be waiting.”

“Wulf, what’s upsetting you? What did Draco say?” There was concern in her voice. She could feel that he was angry even though he was trying not to show it.

“Nothing angel, don’t worry about it.” He hugged her with one arm around her shoulders. Entering the garage, they found Draco talking to Ceric. Both looked up as they approached. Ceric smiled, winking at Jas.

“Glad to see you’re out, I’ve missed you,” Ceric flirted, with a grin on his face as Wulf frowned at him.

“I think that what you missed was my cooking, you flirt.”  

“You wound me, but speaking of that, some of that chocolate cake you make would be nice. I would even get rid of that grumpy man of yours for a slice of that cake.”

“She’s not your cook. If you want cake go buy yourself some!” Wulf grumbled, earning a punch from her on his arm.

“Nonsense, I love to cook and bake. If you promise to bring this grumpy man of mine back with a smile, I will have chocolate cake for you when you return,” she promised, with an impish smile at Ceric and a wink at Wulf.

He slapped her backside, making her jump in embarrassment. “Wulf!”

He lifted an eyebrow in innocence. “What?” She laughed at his playfulness, even though she felt that he was still upset.

Walking up close to him, she lifted onto her tiptoes and kissed him on the lips. “Be safe,” she whispered, moving back so that he could leave. He nodded moving towards his bike.

“See you later, looking forward to that cake!” Ceric called out as he mounted his bike. Jas went to stand next to Draco as the two men were preparing to leave.

“Ask Celmund to give me a call, I need him to investigate something for me!” Wulf called out to Draco then looking at her, he accelerated and was gone, Ceric right behind him.

“How much longer are you going to stake out the building until you attack? Are you going to attack?” she asked Draco. He was pensive as he looked down at her.

“We are going in next week. Usually Merdor visits the building on specific days. We want to make sure that he’s there when we attack. We also need to make sure that there are no children or women in the building. We’re going to get the FBI involved.” They started walking into the compound.

“Draco, why was Wulf upset? What were you two talking about?” She saw him hesitate. He stopped; looking down at her, he was quiet for a few seconds, pondering what to say.

“Wulf won’t be happy about me talking to you about this. But I want you to understand, sometimes we must do stuff, that goes against what we want. But because of what we are, we must sacrifice. Wulf was angry because of what I said to him when I arrived.”

“I went to meet Katya in Wulf’s stead. You see, we need her team to intercept the trucks of children or women coming into the building next week. She also has Intel for us on Vercin.”  

“You’re telling me that he was upset that you went to meet with her?” If that was the case then it meant that he was jealous and if he was jealous then he had feelings for this woman Katya. She felt as if someone had pulled the earth from under her feet.

“No. No. That’s not it. You see, he didn’t want to meet with her that’s why we agreed that I would go. The problem is that she won’t speak to me. She will only communicate with him. That’s why he was angry. He doesn’t want to hurt you. He loves you Jas, but he knows if he has to meet her, you’re going to be hurt thinking that he wants her.” Draco had grabbed her upper arms as he spoke, trying to comfort her with what he was saying.

“You see she told me she had Intel on Vercin, but she won’t share it with me, only with Wulf. We have been after Vercingetorix or Vercin as you know him, for centuries. He is the Keres MC President. We have only been able to get close to him once before, but he escaped. If we can take down Merdor and Vercin, the Keres MC will be leaderless. They will be lost, then it will be easy to stop them from doing so much damage.”

He knew this was unfair of him, but he had to try or they might never get an opportunity like this for a long time to come. “What does she want from him?” she asked, hoping against hope that she might be wrong.

“You know what she wants from him. You also know that no matter what, Wulf will never again give her that.” Tears were threatening, but she refused to show how this information made her feel insecure.

“Don’t be sad Beautiful. If Wulf knows that I made you sad he will be furious,” he tried to appease her.

“So, what you are telling me is that he must go and meet with her, even though he might have to sleep with her. How do you expect me to accept that? How am I supposed to face him after that?”

“Jas, you know he would never do that. He would never cheat on you, it is impossible, when we bond we mate for life; there is no one that can tempt us away from our women. Can’t you see that, can’t you feel it?”

“What if she won’t give him the info unless he sleeps with her?”

“Well then, we tried, but I know for a fact he won’t sleep with her, maybe he won’t even go and meet her. He told me in no uncertain terms that he won’t hurt you.” He looked down at her, knowing that this was a huge thing for her, but he had to try. Wulf was going to be as mad as hell with him.

“Come on let’s go in, forget about this, everything will resolve itself. Come.” He guided her into the compound. 

“Thank you for telling me.” She turned, leaving him standing there looking at her walk away in the direction of hers and Wulf’s room. She closed the door behind her and sat on the bed just staring at the wall. Her mind was going over everything Draco had said and everything Wulf had said to her, when he was trying to calm her. She believed in him, she trusted that he did not want to cheat on her. She believed that he loved her, but what if this woman didn’t give him the info without him sleeping with her. Would he do it because they needed the info? 

No! She didn’t believe that he would. One thing that she knew about Wulf was that he was loyal to a fault. He wouldn’t hurt her in that way, but it was so hard knowing that she might throw herself at him, kiss him and try to tempt him. Oh, what could she do about it? She knew that she had to tell him to go. She couldn’t make him betray his brothers, but she knew that every minute would be torture. There was a knock at the door.

“Jas, you in there?” Bjarni called.

“Yes.”

“I have Wulf on the line. He wants to speak to you.” She opened the door, looking up at him as he handed her the phone, frowning at the sadness he found in her eyes.

“You okay?” he asked, worried. She nodded, placing the phone to her ear.

“Hey!”

“What’s wrong?” Wulf asked, dispensing with formalities.

“Nothing’s wrong.” She tried to keep her voice as light as possible. She didn’t want to worry him, especially when he was in possible danger.

“I can feel your anguish, you were fine when I left, but halfway here, I started to feel you getting upset. What happened?” She could hear the worry in his voice. How could she doubt him when he was always trying to protect her?

“Nothing, just me being silly it’s over now. Please don’t worry about me. Concentrate on what you are doing. I will be fine.”

“How do you not want me to worry if I know you’re not okay? You want me to come back?”

“Wulf, I’m fine really, I was just being silly. I’m going to go make the cake now, I promise I’m fine.” She was trying to convince him, the last thing she wanted was for him to come back and find out that Draco had told her about what was going on.

“We will talk about this when I get back. I love you,” he said and the line went dead.

“Thank you Bjarni. Sorry that you had to bring me the phone. I will walk back with you, as Ceric requested a chocolate cake,” she said, placing the satellite phone in his hand.

“I didn’t know you took requests, I would have asked long ago.” She smiled, walking the rest of the way in silence. She busied herself with the cake. When that was finished she decided to make some biscuits. She needed to keep busy. She didn’t want her mind wandering and there was enough of that already, even with her being busy.  Once she had finished, Wulf still had a few hours to go before he came back. She decided to prepare for bed, thinking that she would be awake when he arrived, but the turmoil of the day soon got to her and she fell asleep.